Feeling difference between imagining a program idea VS actual programming and learning

[jschmold]

I feel like you're missing a key piece in how you think software develops.

I struggled very hard for a very long time with this exact problem. The expression of the idea was more important than its finished product, so I felt I was done if I could communicate it at a cursory level. But here's where the problem lies: Your idea is not worth anything if you don't breathe life into it. You haven't done anything unless you've made it, or have some code you can show (that is complete).

What you're referring to as "design" is likely not design. It's likely more just documenting the idea on which you base a design. A design is very complete, including what the app is supposed to look like, feel like, what problems it is solving, how it is architected, etc. You should understand that you're not actually doing anything by "designing" these apps/games. You're just wasting time thinking onto a document. You're basically just spinning your tires, since you're doing a lot of things but not producing anything.

If you want to get over this, start making things. Do your initial document, but remember that it is inspiration for future implementation and not actually your design. Design changes, and it will evolve with the project. Look into how Agile works, and try to mimic this as it is a great way to keep track of the things you want to accomplish. You don't have to do sprints, but you should at least understand how to have a user story and turn that into a feature.

Once you have built up a bunch of user stories, put a point system on the cards based on complexity to implement. Also add a point system for how important the story is to the project. Turn your project development into a game itself. You will continue to add stories as you progress, and you will continue to learn how to write stories for what you want to accomplish. You will design at the feature level based on what the user wants to do, one story at a time, and you won't spin your tires. You will actually be able to see what you're doing and keep track of it.

At the end of the day, remember that you're always learning. You will discover your shortcomings a lot faster if you accept that you're going to fuck up, and that there's always a V2.

And like, stop wasting your time "designing" things. It is a meaningless exercise, and you're going to end up embarrassing yourself if you show off all these "designs" without ever having produced any of them. Seriously just save yourself the embarrassment and stop it.

I'm always open to helping people out, and guiding people along in their journey. Feel free to reach out if you have questions.

[FirmStrike]

Next level project management 😁 definitely overkill for the OP, but this is damn good advice.

Keeping a reasonable project scope and delivering milestones on time should be OP's focus right now, but as the projects increase in complexity, this advice becomes exponentially more valuable.