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Ask HN: Ideas and Getting 'Stuck'

by inquiryaccount on 5/17/20, 1:02 PM with 3 comments

Hi HN

How does the community take an idea and prevent themselves from getting stuck or even better, how to 'unstuck' yourselves to be able to move beyond and work on a side project?

  • by saradhi on 5/17/20, 1:56 PM

    > "getting stuck or even better"

    This ain't stop with one. To me, it's just I already lost interest in the current one because my sense felt (or I realized) this is not as worth as what I thought when started. It's okay to move on rather than being stubborn. Since 2017, as a solo developer, I launched 5 projects. Now, most of the time, I'm working on only 2 projects (90-10 split) along side my full time, not a developer.

    Also, I was never stuck at an idea phase, I do extensive Google search to validate the idea and readily jump on buying a domain as a commitment to turn idea into the product, with a landing page deployed with in 2 days.

  • by soonnow on 5/17/20, 1:11 PM

    Heres a bunch of ideas.

    1) Reduce your ego. Your are not the project or the ideas that went into it. It's ok to take a step back and revise decisions. It can help to document the factors that went into a decision.

    2) For me reading a book that actively engages your brain can help. Let's say a book about software architecture or creativity can do it. Brainy books can take your mind out of that dead-end.

    3) Go for a walk, or for a run. Put on a podcast. Allow yourself to will drift away. Which is ok, there's not going to be a test.

  • by giantg2 on 5/17/20, 10:57 PM

    If you are really stuck, move it to your backlog and make some notes about why you are stuck. Then go do something else - a hobby, a project, etc. Sometimes the answer will come to you while doing something else. Otherwise, revisit it in a couple weeks or months.