Recently I’ve been trying to pare down my projects into more manageable bites and experiment small. I have a habit of getting a big idea, attacking it with lots of initial enthusiasm, and then abandoning it once the drive wears off. By creating full but tiny projects and quickly getting to a ‘success’ I prevent burn out (see using experimentation as a way of life).
This feels like an extension of ‘chunking’ tasks but for creative projects or maybe even Successful habits through smoothly ratcheting targets
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chunking is the act of taking a large problem and breaking it down into smaller, more manageable problems/tasks.
The corkscrew method Simone Giertz on product innovation - https://www.youtube.com/shorts/cq0wJWQmVE8 {{video: https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/firescript-577a2.appspot.com/o/imgs%2Fapp%2FMattVogel%2FJItjuNdbYe.mp4?alt=media&token=6c6a48f2-73e3-4c23-9a9f-b300bcb4d3a9}}}
- What feels like closed loops up close is actually a spiral upwards
{{[[drawing]]}}
Already I cycle projects and interests roughly in seasons. This emerges naturally, bottom up instead of top down
- Code projects mostly happen in the early summer
- hardware projects happen midwinter
This has been especially useful while learning to code. Do little projects, learning something specific each time, and before you know it you have a toolbox full of useful skills. Also keeps the ADD boredom at bay
Examples of small experiments
- Custom AI holiday wrapping paper
- cataloging the mundane
- pretty much all of my RoamDepot extensions
- Ben’s CCMLS tracker app
- Jogging around the block