This is an experience problem. As you become more experienced, and see how you've wasted your time coming up with a "perfect" solution that ended up not mattering, then you'll be fine not having a perfect solution.
At some point you realize your best days are the days when you delete more lines of code than you write.
But that being said, chasing rabbits is what will eventually make you more skilled than your peers. Which is awesome, except now you'll have put yourself in a perpetual category of being paid less than your worth because you don't fit the same performance evaluation criteria as everyone else.
All anyone cares about is a) are you easy to work with, and do you b) get things done to contribute to profitability.
Continutally stressing yourself out by spending more time on problems than they deserve and eating away at your work/life balance does not contribute to a) or b).
> All anyone cares about is a) are you easy to work with, and do you b) get things done to contribute to profitability.
This gets to the crux of the matter. I think we all here have an intuitive sense that being a bit of a perfectionist and regularly chasing a few rabbits down holes can lead to better long-term results. But it's very hard to quantify, certainly it's impossible to quantify objectively; all you can do is be a good salesman about it.
There is another path though—put your money where your mouth is. Start your own business based on your chosen principles and standards of software engineering. It will certainly bring you joy and if your instincts are right then it could even become a competitive advantage as your competitors drown under mountains of technical debt while you nip it in the bud at the first sign of trouble.
Yea experience of wasting your life in rabbit holes, combined with getting older while getting little accomplished may help you focus. Unless you really find something in the rabbit holes, then down you go.
If you never find anything and still can't help yourself it's some lethargy/depression ADD brain dysfunction. Make sure to exercise enough to be in shape, eat, etc.
Comments
This is an experience problem. As you become more experienced, and see how you've wasted your time coming up with a "perfect" solution that ended up not mattering, then you'll be fine not having a perfect solution.
At some point you realize your best days are the days when you delete more lines of code than you write.
But that being said, chasing rabbits is what will eventually make you more skilled than your peers. Which is awesome, except now you'll have put yourself in a perpetual category of being paid less than your worth because you don't fit the same performance evaluation criteria as everyone else.
All anyone cares about is a) are you easy to work with, and do you b) get things done to contribute to profitability.
Continutally stressing yourself out by spending more time on problems than they deserve and eating away at your work/life balance does not contribute to a) or b).
> All anyone cares about is a) are you easy to work with, and do you b) get things done to contribute to profitability.
This gets to the crux of the matter. I think we all here have an intuitive sense that being a bit of a perfectionist and regularly chasing a few rabbits down holes can lead to better long-term results. But it's very hard to quantify, certainly it's impossible to quantify objectively; all you can do is be a good salesman about it.
There is another path though—put your money where your mouth is. Start your own business based on your chosen principles and standards of software engineering. It will certainly bring you joy and if your instincts are right then it could even become a competitive advantage as your competitors drown under mountains of technical debt while you nip it in the bud at the first sign of trouble.
Yea experience of wasting your life in rabbit holes, combined with getting older while getting little accomplished may help you focus. Unless you really find something in the rabbit holes, then down you go.
If you never find anything and still can't help yourself it's some lethargy/depression ADD brain dysfunction. Make sure to exercise enough to be in shape, eat, etc.