Why I'm launching my project before it is complete
Just start
I've decided to launch a project I've been working on [1] for some time publicly even though it is nowhere near complete; It is not complete by even MVP standards.
What is this about?
Early in my life, I noticed I may have a problem with long-term focus and self-motivation. You see, I seem to develop interests in... err... stuff - quickly; pour all my attention into them, then abruptly find them uninteresting. I will not bore you with too many details, but it suffices to say that this extended into building personal projects.
I did not like this. I did not like starting projects and not completing them, I did not like trying to do too many things without really getting deep into any of them. And worse, this was messing with my confidence. I doubted my ability to work on serious projects for clients or companies.
Anyway, I did work on client projects, and for companies. This is how I noticed that I don't seem to have this issue when there is any external pressure and responsibility. I have worked on projects spanning years, and just the fact that I have someone else to talk about technical problems with - that and clear deliverables - always makes the difference.
The problem then, I conclude, is that personal projects I start do not have any urgency to anybody but myself, most of the time nobody even knows I'm working on anything. This makes it very easy to slip and stop working on it, especially if something else comes along (many such cases in my experience).
The idea
My idea is to build a platform that allows me to start working on projects alone, but not in isolation. When I say "projects" here, I mean it in very general terms. I want the ability to start on some interest I have and sustain it for longer than I normally would.
The idea is quite simple: I (and users of the platform) would join a community of people with similar interests, start a "journey", and then update the journey as we make progress. Interested community members can follow your journey, learn from your experience, and possibly give you some advice based on their experience. [2] I'm calling it Journeytopic - I know, very creative.
Why am I launching an incomplete project?
It is simple. I started this project a little over 3 years ago, it should be complete by now. It is a pretty simple project, as it should be. I've worked on much more complex projects in that time frame. The only reason it is not is because nobody knows that I'm working on it so I do not have to finish it, and so I haven't. But I want to.
In other words - I'm having the issue that Journeytopic is intended to help solve - while I'm working on it. It is time to see whether Journeytopic can help with making progress on itself.
I considered removing some of the elements I've not worked on, but I think I'll leave them on to show some of the things I intend to add.
What makes Journeytopic incomplete
Over the last few years, in my attempt to improve myself, I've learned a few things about how to get things done. A short list is this:
Clarify your thinking by writing more things down.
Break problems into smaller chunks, and also write them down. [3]
Get more competent.
Understand how to extract essentials.
I believe Journeytopic as of this moment already helps with all of these in different ways.
But two important things I should add to this list that aren't solved are:
A sense of responsibility
Long-term motivation
Both of these require the platform to send you reminders about your goals. My notification system has not been built out - though it has been designed.
Outside these core journey functionalities, there are important features that are not built out:
Moderation tools (for both community mods and journey creators)
Content discovery
Search
Better visual communication.
On a more personal level
Last month I turned 24, it seemed only a short time back when I was 20 and started a project to help me with myself. Time flies, I have dreams and aspirations of things I want to achieve - it is past time to take a solid first step.
One of the more minor things I've learned over time is that the first versions don't have to be perfect. While Journeytopic is not complete by the standards I set for completeness, it already has the skeleton for essential things I want: The ability to create and join communities, the ability to create journeys and post updates, and the ability to comment. All the other functionalities will be added with time.
Footnotes
Well, mostly been working on it.
The core idea is inspired by Blackhatworld Journey discussions, where I felt inspired watching people attempt hard things.
Big shout out to Getting Things Done by David Allen. A book you should read if you have my problem.