S03E45 – Strength in Numbers
Good morning 👋
Working on multiple projects at a time can be tough because progress on each is theoretically reduced by at least half. But what’s arguably even worse is regularly switching projects after a lengthy break. The time it takes to re-adjust is an unnecessary waste. I’m a strong advocate that the start of any point in time, whether it’s a week or year, is the best time to make a change. At least that’s what my brain optimally responds to. That said, I consider the preceding period ideal to prepare optimisations for so that when the day comes, your training is complete. That is, I don’t want to press a hard reset button on January 1, but to soft launch during the next couple of months to make sure 2022 is my most prolific. I know for there to be multiple releases, I’ll need to dedicate similar attention to both, and nail my timing.
I finished the week on the second unannounced project, after taking a break from it for a month. It was a painful initial restart, but once I got over it, it was a net positive. A lot of UI building blocks originally built for Appy Weather were generalised to be app-agnostic. These are foundation pieces that will significantly reduce boilerplate code for future projects. More relevant were architectural differences between the two that made me question the approach I had taken with Appy Weather. It was a more simple take. And unless there’s a strong argument for rejecting simplicity, it’s usually the best option. So that’s a change I intend to make next week.
When you work on something, you’ll make mistakes. And those mistakes are the learnings for the next thing you work on. But when you work on more than a thing, it benefits from your learnings in real time. And, actually, even if the second project doesn’t offer any valuable insights that are directly applicable to the first, any time away from its grind mean you come back to it with fresh eyes. You questions things that you wouldn’t have seen if you were at it constantly. I know over the last year I’ve routinely weighed the pros and cons of spreading my focus. But approaching a new year, it’s become clear that I must make it work because it scales my possibilities. I’m reaching a level of technical competency whereby a generalist mindset could actually be my weapon of choice. That is, solve any problem in a way that I – not the app it’s originally for – benefit from it the most.
Have a great Sunday!
Best,
Bardi