Little Things
Zach Waugh •
I almost went an entire year without writing a single blog post, so might as well go out with a bang: trite new years observations.
Five months ago today, I had a baby, which as far as time consuming life events go, is pretty close to the top. I also recently shut down Giant Comet, my side project for the last 4 years. Taken together, I now have no side projects, and even less free time to do them. Since I always have a need to have a project though, these constraints help form a concrete goal for 2015: create more little things. I want to do projects where I might be done in a day, or even an hour. Where I can feel good (or bad) about it, and then move on. Too often I think about tackling big projects, that will take months or more to complete, and end up becoming a burden.
Like most constraints, it ends up being more liberating than restricting. It helps me decide what to work on, limiting it to things I can bite off in small chunks. It encourages me to worry less about perfection, and more about completion. It builds a positive feedback loop from actually finishing a project so that I’m motivated to start the next one.
I have a few ideas for projects, but the first one I’m going to tackle I’m stealing from Austin Kleon – keeping a logbook.