Ask HN: I have so many ideas and not enough time | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: I have so many ideas and not enough time

10 pointsmynewusername11 comments

Hello fellow HN'ers,

I have an issue that I am confused with.

I have 6 ideas that I want to work on. Web sites/apps. One of them I have up and running, but it is requiring a lot of time to keep new content addd.

The others are ideas that I have, all that will require significant time to implement.

1. There is not more than 24 hours a day and my day job eats up, say 8 hours.

2. I have a small contract to port an app that I have been working on for a year that should be done soon.

3. I dont have money to contract to someone to help with my ideas.

4. I cannot stay up and work all night every night after 2 nights in a row, I have to sleep.

5. I dont have any friends that know jack about technical stuff.

Can anyone give me some thoughts?

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This is totally normal; it's nothing to feel guilty about. Just pick one idea, then follow Steve Blank's methodology to find out whether it works or not, then either fix it or throw it away. Repeat. Ignore all the other ideas; they were never worth much to begin with so you're not losing much by ignoring them.

Do you have a link to Steve's methodology?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5E38frHo1U

http://steveblank.com/category/customer-development/

http://www.slideshare.net/venturehacks/customer-development-...

http://www.amazon.com/Four-Steps-Epiphany-Steven-Blank/dp/09...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Gary_Blank

Do one well, and follow it through to a level of completion that you are happy with. Afterward, decide if you want to iterate and if not move to the next.

As for your work, contract, and other ideas you need to prioritize. If you need to build up a social circle that you trust to have a co-founder, then begin actively looking. Hackathons, former classmates, people at work. In the meantime, maybe some of your ideas will be taken by others. But there's little point in worrying about that.

Do we have a Hack-A-Thon site where I can ones around?

I've got a list of about 15 compiled over the past few years, each with a domain name. I am working on 2, both for the past 1.5-2 years. Just pick your favorite and go from there, or spend some time figuring out which of your ideas are likely to result in the best business. Be thankful you have a day job, and good luck!

I have the opposite problem. I have too much time and nothing to work on. I just have "idea block". Whenever I do come up with something good, I google it and it is already there with a better design and a head start. Where do you get the creative spark? The ideas? I need some help.

I struggled with this for months until i realized one thing. And trust me on this: Follow the one you're most passionate about.

You WILL NOT be able to sufficiently execute on an idea if you're not passionate about it.

You know the most about your life and your ideas -- you decide! I'm trying to come up with some more wisdom but I don't think I can.

Simple: you value your time to little. This is a classic tech mistake for younger / less experienced programmers. Your time is worth a lot. Demand more, take less jobs. You will be happier in mind and body for it.

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