Ask HN: Feel stuck and overwhelmed by tech choice
No synthesized answer yet. Check the discussion below.
You already know the answer. It is hard, but only because sticking with something means making a choice, investing time, and taking accountability to learn and do something with your new skillset.
> I have a lot of ideas I want to build/prototype quickly, but every time starting a project I feel stuck and paralyzed with many choices, end up reading internet and HN for 3 days on all possible tech choices and find myself tired even before starting project.
A few things. You mention you want to build/prototype quickly, but the tech stacks you mention aren't really rapid development environments. You might be getting frustrated because you're playing in objective-c when you should be on a whiteboard working out an idea.
The situation you describe isn't easy to get out of until you address whatever fear is causing you to over-worry about every step.
Overthinking is an escape. As you're learning, it leads nowhere. You will have to break this cycle by actually creating something and making a choice and sticking with it.
The comfort of knowing what you're doing the way you feel with obj-c is likely years, not days, away in any new language. If you actually want to feel like a deep expert in something, go back to what you know and freshen up. Anything else needs more than "3 days reading HN" level of devotion and energy. There's no shame in not having the energy, interest, or whatever, to learn something brand new.
I generally think people who are in this mindset of feeling paralyzed when they're fully equipped to succeed need a real wake up call.
Be honest with yourself about what your day looks like: how many hours are you spending in your head or looking at a screen vs. in the world interacting with your community?
I am just guessing, but based on reading this, you probably need to immediately change up your routine to get out of this rut of thinking or you will wake up old with every opportunity behind you and no chance to take it.
Thanks for the reply, I think this is exactly what I needed to hear; will try to reflect on this.
From the very top of my head: I know exactly what I need to do but I feel like with every tech choice I need to either learn "how" or refresh my previous knowledge.
Wearing multiple hats in rapidly popping up and fading out tech startups didn't really help to go deep with one thing (as I managed to with objc/ios)
It sounds like you have been through the transition from a career rewarding complete knowledge and understanding to today... where a "complete understanding" and depth of knowledge is not possible in the same way.
Rolling releases, CI, and cloud dev cycles with dependencies have completely changed what is expected of you - it is OK not to know every edge case in most situations today. The answer is a google or prompt away if a problem appears.
This wasn't really true 18 years ago... even though it doesn't feel like tech has changed a ton, it has.
If you decide to keep doing a rotation of hats and languages, you have to become very comfortable with identifying the value you add as a person involved in the process, even when you don't have every answer in your head.
In other words, being able to pop in and out of various startups tells me you have the ability to learn quickly. Why not just truly sit back and ask yourself what you want? Even if it doesn't fit the HN front page expectations, doing what you want with a lucrative skillset is as close to a good work/life balance as I have ever found. Holler if you wanna talk more, but otherwise I hope others will chime in.
I think this is very good perspective, thank you for the advice
At least I think that's how I'm paying for it
I've just given it a folder and a description of what I want, and iterated until I got what I needed.
It's great for trying out ideas.
I have a lot of projects I want to design/prototype quickly, but every time starting a new structure I feel stuck and paralyzed with many choices, end up reading engineering journals and CE forums for 3 days on all possible material and structural system options and find myself exhausted even before breaking ground.
I know I should just pick one system and stick to it, but it's very hard. I spent most of my career working exclusively on residential concrete construction and I know that system inside out. I was efficient and could estimate quantities quickly. With the rest I feel like everything is at the same level of unknowns and I have zero engineering judgment.
Do you happen to experience the same and how do you fight it?
What do you want as output?
Do you want it web based?
Do you want it to run on which platforms? (important if it's iOS and Android)
Are there any language specific features you want to use? (i.e. mapping may want to use PostreSQL)
What devices do you want it to run on? and are those devices disconnected from the internet?
Game oriented (high-end gaming?)?
User-Friendly to install.update?
Integrates with say Microsoft AD?
Open source with a large potential community?
These answers will help whittle down the choices. One language might do most of that stuff but not as good as picking the right tools for the job. (which also includes the ones you really like to work with - which is a major point)
Then pick one and start - If it doesn't work out, switch. One of my favorite mantras: "stop shopping - start doing".
Web development is exactly like this.
Apple gives you a limited choice of supported languages to build iOS and macOS apps - i.e. Swift (default) or Objective-C which means less focus on seeking alternatives, context switching on the stack and is why you are productive with the technology and know it inside out.