I spent ten years writing a TV show about Silicon Valley.
Because every time I thought I had a handle on it, I thought of a better version.
I chased every idea at once, until the project loomed grand and unwieldy in my head.
I was building up a mountain of idea debt.
Idea debt is the pile of ideas you keep revisiting but never finish, or even never begin.
It feels much more impressive than the projects youre actually carrying out, with all their disappointments and compromises.
Asscreenwriter Craig Mazin says, The most exciting script in the world is the one youre about to write.
The least exciting script is the one youre on page 80 of.
Like financial debt, a little well-managed idea debt is healthy.
But sometimes you better pay that debt down.
Luckily youre your own debtor, so you have plenty of options.
Make it now
Take one of your big ideas.
How small can you make it?
Whats theminimum viable product?
It shouldnt be perfect, or even good, just done.
The greatest thing about this trick is that you could always expand on the idea later.
So give your ideas away to a good home.
The easiest method is to tweet out (or blog or Instagram) your idea.
If its really that good, someone else will try it.
Theres just one big rule for this method: You really have to give it away.
That means you dont sell it, rent it, or remain involved in any way.
Business ideas are similarly unsellable.
Unless the Patent Office will let you register it, its worthless.
Just get it out there, and if the experts want it, theyll find it.
I was also surprised when someone who actuallydoesrun a fiction podcast emailed me for permission to write the story.
(I gave it freely, of course.
Its not my idea anymore!)
Even without that response, it was satisfying enough to get a few faves and replies.
Dont worry about saddling someone else with your idea debt; it isnt zero-sum.
Once you hand your idea over, youll feel the pressure slip away.
Dump it out
After all the above, whats left over might look good.
But most of it will just never get done.
Ideas might feel like pets or children, but theyre not; its healthy to abandon most of them.
Youre probably dreading the thought of just deleting all your old ideas.
So instead, make a grand gesture: Publish them.
you could talk a little about each one, or you could just paste the raw file.
This is the Spark Files counterpart, the Bonfire.
Its a shame Sexton couldnt complete any of these.
But more ideas will always come.
Ideas are cheap, Beschizza wrote.
If you want one, take it.
Ill cheer from a safe distance!
Theres a thrill and a pleasure to this approach.
This is your magnum opus!
The abandoned ideas are the new idea!
Still, you gotta get this done in a day or two.
Meta-idea debt carries a high interest rate.
Make a plan
Youre not going to get rid ofallyour ideas.
Some are worth holding onto, worth doing.
But now that youve stripped away everything else, you oughta get started.
it’s crucial that you make a plan.
Lifehacker has, of course, plenty of help for you.
Choose a planning system:Getting Things Done,a Bullet Journal,Agile development.
Choose goals, make a to-do list, and set deadlines.
A couple of years ago, I decided to buckle down and finish my Silicon Valley pilot.
I set a schedule, I worked on it daily, and I ended up writingtwopilots.
For decades Id dreamed this would be my very best project, and now Id finally tested that theory.
Even though Id disproved it, I considered this a success: It cleared that part of my mind.
I archived the pilots and the giant Evernote file.
And I moved onto making my next projectfor real.
