You have three half-finished projects.
A SaaS you launched but never really marketed. A side project you started in a burst of enthusiasm. An idea you've been "researching" for months.
None of them are getting your full attention. All of them are stuck.
I know this pattern. I've lived it.
The New Idea Trap
New ideas are seductive:
They're fresh. No baggage. No known problems. Pure potential.
They're exciting. The dopamine hit of starting something new. The vision of what it could be.
They feel easier. The current project has hard problems. The new one doesn't—yet.
But this is an illusion. Every project eventually has hard problems. You're just trading hard problems you know for hard problems you don't know yet.
Why Half-Finished Doesn't Work
Multiple projects divide your attention. Divided attention means:
Nothing gets to good. Each project gets a fraction of effort. None reaches its potential.
Context switching kills productivity. Mental overhead of juggling multiple codebases, multiple audiences, multiple problems.
No compound effects. Learning, reputation, customers—none of these compound when split across projects.
Perpetual starting, never finishing. You become expert at beginning. Never at completing.
One excellent thing beats five mediocre things. Every time.
The Grass Is Greener
The new idea seems better because you don't know its problems yet.
The current project: You know exactly what's hard. The bug you can't fix. The feature that's complicated. The marketing that isn't working.
The new project: Pure abstraction. No known problems. All upside.
But the new project has problems too. You just haven't discovered them yet. You will. And when you do, another new idea will look even better.
The cycle never ends unless you stop it.
What Focus Actually Looks Like
One product. One focus. What does that mean practically?
Kill the other projects. Not "pause." Kill. Delete the repos if you need to. Remove the temptation.
Say no to new ideas. Write them in a notebook and forget them. They'll still be there in a year if they're worth doing.
Commit to depth. The current project isn't exciting because you haven't gone deep enough. Depth creates engagement.
Sit with the hard parts. The problems you're avoiding? Those are the problems to solve. Not run from.
The Power of Constraint
Constraint creates creativity.
When you can't start something new, you have to make the current thing work. That constraint forces:
Deeper problem-solving. You can't escape the problem, so you solve it.
More creative marketing. Can't launch something new, so you have to find new ways to reach people for what exists.
Actual completion. Shipping becomes the only path forward.
Constraint is a superpower. Self-imposed focus is the constraint.
When to Actually Switch
Sometimes switching is right. But be honest:
Are you switching because it's hard? That's quitting, not pivoting.
Is there evidence this can't work? Not "it's not working yet"—evidence it can't work.
Have you actually tried? Really tried. For a meaningful period. With real effort.
Most project-hopping is disguised as strategy. It's actually avoidance.
One Thing, Done Well
Here's the truth:
One product, done well, is worth more than ten products done halfway. The founders who succeed aren't the ones with the most ideas. They're the ones who stuck with one idea long enough to make it work.
Pick the project. Kill the others. Focus.
It's less fun than starting something new. It's more effective.
Related Reading
- The Art of Saying No — Focus means rejecting distractions.
- Simple Wins — Depth over breadth.
- When to Quit — The difference between focus and stubbornness.