In dire times, I like to think of what a friend of mine says: "Swim your own races"

That being said, I think it's only half the picture: looking at what more "accomplished" people did/do (whatever that means) can also be a very powerful motivator.

Always sticking to your own races may lead to tunnel vision, a somewhat apathic journey, etc so use with moderation :)

@philcr: Agreed, but you were spot on with the white paper thing; there's always the possibility they read this one thing you haven't. So usually I'll just throw my best "I'm onto you" look at them ^^

@philcr: same here, I avoid the word "expert" like the plague. And I get extra suspicious when people claim to be one of those famed creatures.

Always a dilemna. If you're absolutely positive it can be done in less than 2 weeks, I'd say go for it -- if only to get rid of that I'm-working-on-old-distusting-tech feeling.

If it's more, be sure to think long and hard about the benefits. Sometimes refactoring code is just writing code differently; sometimes it's a never-ending rabbit hole which leads you to dark and depressing places...

True, there's a whole bunch of things to set up at first -- and a lot that requires you to think differently, but I find it really worth the effort.

Found JSX ugly as hell at first, but it's really convenient.
Redux (without which React would be just "ok" I find) did require a full mini-project before I'd start really getting it.
I also switched to ES2015 syntax at this point

It was a bit hairy for a few weeks, but I don't regret it one bit :)

My thoughts exactly when an uncle complained about his daughter begging for a "500€ phone"

I was like "What is this phone thing you're talking about ? Battery usage for the phone app is below 1% on mine..."

Congrats !

Couldn't agree more ! I was bored with C++ and 3D programming and considered a pretty drastic career change when I stumbled upon web programming via a Python project for my former employer. Then onto JS, node.js, etc

Back at it again !

I want to avoid another Tay-like debacle 😅

@Glitch: Well, that's pretty much the hope I've been clinging onto so far! I did have ideas but turning them into reality would take several months of development, a Narrative Chief Officer of sorts and someone to handle the marketing side. And I've pretty much burnt through the money I'd set aside for this project -- and then some.
On a side note, I did postpone the marketing side of things for way too long. Aaah, the mistakes you make even though you KNOW. Many thanks for your wishes!

@BellAppLab: That's what I keep telling myself -- but omg god, is it hard to let go of a passion project! Why don't you shoot me an email at contact@spiffre.com so we can talk about it!

Thanks for the support! I was quite sure I wasn't the only one struggling with this!

@byoigres: I hear you. We devs have fantastic (mostly free!) tools nowadays to develop our own projects and put it in front of people. But working products have so many more moving parts... and money still is the best way to solve those moving-part problems.

@anas: I've found focus to be the most decisive of the two: once you find an idea you really want to stick to, freeing half a dozen hours a week becomes doable. It's not a lot, but if you stick to the MVP approach, it's enough to have something you can put in front of people. As a side note, devRant really is a great example of this: plenty of features were "missing" at launch time but it didn't matter; the community provided feedback and they're iterating -- fast. Much deserved kudos to @trogus and @dfox for that!

Done !

Yep, been using Trello for a few years now, it's great

Touching to see so many similar stories! After he bought a Pentium 75 for the family, my father was all disappointed that I didn't seem to be interested in it... If he could see me now, he'd be proud to see his investment paid off a thousandfold :)

I used to think that, one day, I'll be good enough to throw together an app without resorting to one of those damn things, but...They're not going away, are they?

@benleah Tried emulating IE10 just in case, but no joy ^^

Same here: I tried to switch from Sublime twice, but that tiny delay when I create a new document... unbearable

And crushed I was! Know what the worst thing is? I still might take the job. Sometimes, you need the money...

Guess I'll be back with one of those "I'm not proud of what I work on" rant in a few weeks...

@mags24 Sometimes, socializing with management is a means to an end ^^