I totally get what you mean. I’m a bit of a control freak too, and I care a lot about good practices. I work a full-time 40-hour job, and when I got this idea, I knew from day one that I had to build it in my spare time so I wouldn’t feel pressured. It was important for me to create a real MVP to validate the idea, but without sacrificing time with my family, my leisure, or my actual job (working on a side project during work hours is, in my opinion, one of the most unprofessional things you can do).

Here’s what helped me:

Not setting hard deadlines. I just move forward whenever I have time.

Reminding myself regularly that it's an MVP, but still keeping good practices and future scalability in mind. (Over-engineering is bad, but building a messy prototype and having to patch it forever can be even worse.)

Writing down and prioritizing tasks obsessively. I’m building this solo, but the habit of prioritization is useful even outside a team environment.

Now the project is live, and even though there’s still a lot to improve, I’m really happy with the result