I don't get things to a state of "done" very often. Here's how I try to change it.

My problem with value

I am bad at finding value in what I create. Bad to an extent that I don't deem my own work 'worthy' enough to be published or even kept on my hard drive or backup storage.

I delete stuff I had been working on for hours, sometimes days.

The finance tracking app, that had a couple of cool features? Deleted.
That article I wrote about number systems and their use in our day to day live? Gone.
60+ pages of a fantasy novel I wrote back when I was twenty? Bye bye.

Yes, you read that right.

There is a constant cycle of me creating and nearly inevitably destroying my work that goes on and on and seemingly never ends. Today I am here to stop that.

The 'solution'

I reached out to my near-to-zero followers on twitter, asking for advice. Luckily, @MayADevBe shared a rather simple but striking view on in:

[...] just not expecting "anything to come from it".

Now don't get me wrong. This is neither new nor a revelation in itself.

I heard it over and over again.
Just do what you like. If there's something to come from it: fine.
If not? Well, you had the you of creating, right?

Setting it to action

Why would I start changing my behaviour just now?

Honestly, I don't know. There are quite a few things changing in 2021. New home, new city, new ideas. But this time I want them to stick around for time. Maybe that's the reason. We'll see.

To follow through, I made a simple set of rules.

• write down Ideas
• sort them by difficulty
• start small
• publish
• review if necessary

But most important for now: publish.
Maybe the Idea of "it being out there" takes away the doubts.

To make sure I do, I allow me to add to my new office space only, if I check a box on a topic I wanted to cover or learn.

Need a lamp? Write and publish something.
New book? Write about something you learned and publish.
You get the idea.

So what's more than to hope that I follow through and keep doing it?

Ah, right. Create. Publish. Repeat.

Here's to the new lamp ;)
Cheers

Photo by Steve Johnson from Pexels