In Case of Analysis Paralysis, Just Start!

When tackling a problem or learning a new technology, we coders can experience “Analysis Paralysis” – getting overwhelmed by the enormity of the entire task, or trying to learn everything at once, and not creating something because I “just have to learn just one more thing or figure out every possible scenario before I can start.”

We have analytical minds that are constantly trying to prepare for every possible issue.

              Wife: “Honey, I think I might be pregnant”

              Coder: “In 19 years, how is our future son Bilbo going to get into Harvard, and where will we get the tuition?….”

              Wife: “Maybe we should find out if I’m pregnant first…”

We’ve already given the possible zygote a gender, a name that will get him bullied at school, have set his goals for him to include an Ivy League college, and are worried about the cost of it 19 years in the future – and we’re not even sure that she’s pregnant yet!

We love to code, but the paralysis can hold us back from creating anything. Imposter syndrome, table for one!

I am part of a group called DevBetter (check them out at www.devbetter.com). When this topic comes up in its various forms, the advice is very simple and straightforward: when the paralysis sets in, “just start”.

Do “something” – pick something small, and just create. You can iterate on it and make it better.

Console.WriteLine(“Hello World!”); can be refactored. An idea in your head can’t.

In DevBetter, we are also encouraged to blog about what we’ve learned.

I want to learn Blazor Web Assembly – I’ve read a little about it, and have had discussions in the DevBetter group, but I have little experience with it. I have an idea for a website, and I’m just going to dive in, and learn as I go. It will be a vehicle for me to learn Blazor, and I will be sharing my journey as I go.

Stay tuned for my next post – the “Drog.”