Momentum-driven development

Earlier this month I questioned if the features I’ve been building for Lifelog recently is pushing the envelope enough. I wanted to pivot Lifelog, but I didn’t know what.

I wanted to rethink, research and re-explore this side project.

I thought I wanted that.

But it woefully failed.

I got stuck by over-thinking, and couldn’t figure out what to do. I ended up shipping slow, most of the time unsure what features I should be building, and that killed all my momentum.

The end result is nothing got shipped.

I thought I needed a higher purpose. But it seems like I was so damn wrong. I simply needed momentum. By building what I wanted, what gave me joy, it kept me building, kept me going weekend after weekend.

True, I wasn’t always building what people wanted (sorry guys), but look what happened when I tried to solely build based external feedback? Nothing. At least by following my momentum, I shipped. I iterated. I learned.

Perhaps when I just build, I will eventually get to place where it becomes purposeful. But I’m not there yet. I just need to keep building first.

Momentum-driven development, not purpose-driven.