Milestones

Milestones

The other day I was browsing YouTube over lunch, instead of working on the next step in my side project when I came across an intriguing video by Jonathan Blow. In the video he discussed how to stay productive while refactoring code. High standards for output was one of the highest points on his list. He continued on in his ever focused nature. Eventually, he said something off the cuff that didn’t seem to have as much importance as some of the other things. Though, I’m sure he thought it was still important. Then I realized… Out of all of my projects that made significant headwinds, this was the one thing that tied them all together. You guessed it. Milestones.

When you’re programming, just like any other task in life, it’s important to know what you’re working on now and what’s next. Some people keep those ideas in their head as they go, especially if the task is small enough. Some use obsidian or another note taking app, but I’ve found a much simpler solution that you can see in some of my public projects like Subtidal. The README.md file.

The Readme

A README.md is one of the most important files in any project I work on. I keep most of the overarching ideas in there. A description of the project and its purpose helps, but I also include shell scripts or other steps to run it near the top so they’re always at hand when needed. I’ll keep other notes as well, like color palette choices, potential names, etc., but the main map of my projects also resides here. The checklist.

Checklists

A markdown checklist can seem a bit self serving in a project of one, but it can be satisfying completing a task that you set up for yourself and then being able to literally check it off. It’s also a great way for past me to discuss ambitions with future me and it’s a great way for future me to look back at how much past me has accomplished. Or, maybe sometimes, where I need to step things up.

I generally break things up into a prototype checklist, and a longer running list of “nice to haves.” which will always grow beyond scope, but that’s why it’s there. To avoid scope creep in the bare necessities needed to get the protoype going.

Some other things I like to add are any deadlines, either decided for me or self imposed, random ideas that may just get axed later, and just fun messages or encouraging boxes near the end. Heck, sometimes I even put notes in them that will slowly form into more fleshed out checkboxes later. If obsidian is a second brain, think of this a a nice little pile of neurons to offload some long term thinking to. It’s portable, direct, and attached right to your project so you never lose it.

I hope you get some new ideas of how to use those READMEs of yours or your company’s from this article! Let me know if there is anything else you do with your READMEs as well, I’m always looking to make nice, efficient or fun additions to mine!