Consistently making progress
It just has to be modular enough.
I've been trying to get more sleep. Which, sadly, means the amount of time I have to hack on things has been greatly reduced. After getting a full time job, and doing things after work. I only really have free time after 8 pm. I used to go to bed at midnight, and wake up at 5 or 6. But I'm being better now - and my bed time is 10 pm (mostly). This isn't 2 hours less - it's a full 50% reduction in my free time!
Unfortunately, sleep has become non negotiable. So I actually have to fit all of my hacking in this tiny sliver. I've had to come up with a solution. And I think I've come up with something that works.
Everything I want to build is made up of a set of modules. Before my time got crunched out, I could just go on 8 hour hero stretches and bang them all out. But now, I can only get through my projects with piecemeal. I need to break it down. I need to only do things that fit in a single hour.
I just need to plan
Paradoxically, this has made me more productive. The extreme time pressure has forced me to plan, and the planning is making me more productive per-day-time.
The planning is like compressing a spring. Storing up potential energy, preparing for the time of action. And when the time rolls around, I focus. I lock in. I spent so much time thinking about what I am *precisely* going to do, that I don't have to spend any cycles in relative inaction.
I've been amazed with how much I can get done, in such short bursts.
A lot of my progression across the axis of productivity has only come about from extreme external pressure. Whether its high expected job performance, or some life event. I'm kind of surprised I had always free-roamed my projects, with 0 planning. I guess it makes sense, given that they are honestly leisure activities (I am one of those freaks that relaxes by working).
But the additional pressure of my niece had made it that I couldn't make any progress at all, just free roaming. Me working without planning has no point. So I got good at planning!
Modular project progress is great for people with side project ADHD
I have multiple projects going at any given moment. Hell, this is even true in my dayjie wagie work. Modularity helps you make progress on more than one project than any given moment.
A single module might be useful for more than one project. I broke down all of the robotics projects I need to blast through. What I found was; they all needed camera modules. They all needed actuator modules. They all needed power modules.
So, if I make progress on one of those modules, I'll make progress on all of my projects at once.
With modularity, you can double dip on progress!
The important thing is that you are consistently making progress. It may be the case that you need to plan, a little. Most people would give up. But don't. It's possible. I've seen my co workers do it. It's just a question of habits. It's just something I need to figure out
I'm not going to get one shot by being a wagie
