It is indeed irritating and confusing at times. I like to do many things and explore new ideas. Curiosity takes me in different direction. At times, I question my personality and character. Perhaps the feeling of "curiosity killed the cat" is applicable when we are feeling this way.
But let's reframe this!
What if we start to accept this trait, not as a flaw, but as a part of who we are? Once you come to the realization, you start holding yourself accountable.
I have been working on a side project (www.wisecharlie.com) for almost 3 years and continue to do so for many years to come. To give you a background, I am a developer and I enjoy the creative side of code and design. So, it is natural for me to keep exploring new ideas, but I also know the importance of execution. Following are the ways I have held myself accountable to this particular project:
1. No expectations (goals) other than a form of exploration.
I have a revenue generating product, but that does not mean, my goal is to sell the most I can, get as many people to come visit my project and get the most sign-ups. I care about the topic, constant work-in-progress and iterate over it periodically. The process itself brings me joy.
2. Sticking to one project at a time removes a cognitive load of finding new ideas.
For some, creative block is a real thing. From the creative standpoint, I have built the website using plain JS/HTML/CSS, then built the blog using Gatsby. I wanted to learn about webflow so I re-built it during Christmas. I don't have to think about new ideas every time I want to learn something new.
3. Incremental steps as opposed to a giant leap.
I assign myself one task at a time on a monthly basis. That is it. I don't set ambitious goals of 100k users or any of that. This has allowed me to work on this project for over 36 months without feeling burnt-out. It is a turtle race so take incremental steps and make frequent progress as opposed to a giant leap. If I complete my assigned tasks, I allow myself to jump on to other ideas. This allows me to stay accountable and execute consistently.
4. Pick a hobby that has nothing to do with side project.
With lack of human interaction amid global stay-at-home orders, I find myself to be draining my productivity (rarely, but it does happen). To fix this, I picked up on sketching because I wanted to forget about everything that is happening around me. Sketching helped me with that because if I don't focus, my shapes don't follow the desired form. Here is the link to my sketch work https://twitter.com/mihirchronicles/status/12160752161594859....
I am sharing these resources so I can share real cases from my own life and inspire you to take steps that may work for you. Good luck! It is okay to feel how you feel, but I would suggest you to make incremental steps, define your process and take a long-term view.
The advice I share took many years of learning and doing. Curiosity brought the cat back and you can too! :)
It is indeed irritating and confusing at times. I like to do many things and explore new ideas. Curiosity takes me in different direction. At times, I question my personality and character. Perhaps the feeling of "curiosity killed the cat" is applicable when we are feeling this way.
But let's reframe this!
What if we start to accept this trait, not as a flaw, but as a part of who we are? Once you come to the realization, you start holding yourself accountable.
I have been working on a side project (www.wisecharlie.com) for almost 3 years and continue to do so for many years to come. To give you a background, I am a developer and I enjoy the creative side of code and design. So, it is natural for me to keep exploring new ideas, but I also know the importance of execution. Following are the ways I have held myself accountable to this particular project:
1. No expectations (goals) other than a form of exploration.
I have a revenue generating product, but that does not mean, my goal is to sell the most I can, get as many people to come visit my project and get the most sign-ups. I care about the topic, constant work-in-progress and iterate over it periodically. The process itself brings me joy.
2. Sticking to one project at a time removes a cognitive load of finding new ideas.
For some, creative block is a real thing. From the creative standpoint, I have built the website using plain JS/HTML/CSS, then built the blog using Gatsby. I wanted to learn about webflow so I re-built it during Christmas. I don't have to think about new ideas every time I want to learn something new.
3. Incremental steps as opposed to a giant leap.
I assign myself one task at a time on a monthly basis. That is it. I don't set ambitious goals of 100k users or any of that. This has allowed me to work on this project for over 36 months without feeling burnt-out. It is a turtle race so take incremental steps and make frequent progress as opposed to a giant leap. If I complete my assigned tasks, I allow myself to jump on to other ideas. This allows me to stay accountable and execute consistently.
4. Pick a hobby that has nothing to do with side project.
With lack of human interaction amid global stay-at-home orders, I find myself to be draining my productivity (rarely, but it does happen). To fix this, I picked up on sketching because I wanted to forget about everything that is happening around me. Sketching helped me with that because if I don't focus, my shapes don't follow the desired form. Here is the link to my sketch work https://twitter.com/mihirchronicles/status/12160752161594859....
I am sharing these resources so I can share real cases from my own life and inspire you to take steps that may work for you. Good luck! It is okay to feel how you feel, but I would suggest you to make incremental steps, define your process and take a long-term view.
The advice I share took many years of learning and doing. Curiosity brought the cat back and you can too! :)
Cheers and stay safe!