I don’t like having outstanding tasks that I’m responsible for doing. At the same time I like working on projects rather than little individual items like returning emails or fixing bugs. I like creating something from nothing and introducing it to the world. That feels like magic to me.
When our business is building software from nothing for clients we have to have a handful of projects all going at once so we have make enough money to survive. That reality is stressing me out a bit because I want it all done right now. I want to finish things and instead I’m making a little bit of progress across a number of different tasks but some days it feels like I’m barely moving or even moving backwards. I just want to cross it of the list and forget about it!
So I need to find a way to make this situation work for me. I think it is ok to feel uncomfortable and overwhelmed at times, which I do right now. I think that’s healthy, even. And part of my problem right now is that projects I hoped would be done months ago are still hanging around, not because I’m not working on them but because I can’t because I’m waiting on someone else.
I don’t know what the answer is yet. I’ve had to fight my finisher tendencies already because they were pushing me to build lower quality products. Luckily I have a business partner that tends in the opposite direction so we balance each other out and she is willing to say that something isn’t ready yet and I’m willing to listen to her.
But fighting my natural tendencies isn’t new and I thoroughly believe it is necessary to be successful. The first step is recognizing those tendencies.