Apparently, the dopamine rush of telling someone about your project, you going back to school, you getting healthy, improving yourself, etc is so strong it's basically pre-rewarding you for it. The result is scientifically-documented drops in people following-through and achieving their goals... You want to succeed? Don't tell anyone until you're already almost there!
I almost didn't finish a PhD because of this. It's like telling people about makes it feel like you've accomplished something and made some progress on it - when that's factually wrong.
I'm sure that there's a name for this phenomenon, something in psychology.
I am convinced the entire actual point of college is to test "ability to finish a project". A Bachelor's degree is a four year project. A Master's degree is an additional two year project. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) is an additional five to eight year project. (Do remember that a Master's is not needed for a PhD.)
This is not a judgement on the many reasons for stopping.
Quick, what was your last project you didn't finish?
For me it was app to prepare for nautical exams. I wrote a scraper that downloaded all official tests and answer sheets, trained image recognition model to find the marked answers and started working on parsing the question PDFs but then I had to find a new job and never got back to it.
This is fine. Projects that require specialized skills can require that you get heavily invested before you discover the implications, scope and yeah your own lasting interest.
Tbh at the moment I just have an idea, tell everyone about it, and I have no energy for it for 2 weeks and forget about it. It's more frustrating because you don't even get the satisfaction of starting anything and seeing the early rapid progress before ditching it
21 Comments
Shaper@lemmy.world · 43 pts · 1y
Let's be real... telling everyone goes before actually starting it
WhyJiffie@sh.itjust.works · 8 pts · 1y
you all have someone to talk to about your projects?
jubilationtcornpone@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 1y
My wife. She often has no idea what I'm talking about but she listens patiently and at least looks like she's interested. I appreciate her for that.
Szyler@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 1y
Getting all that dopamine of a theoretical finished product, so you have no motivation to actually build the product. /cries in ADHD
sundray@lemmus.org · 22 pts · 1y
I am desperately hoping the people I tell about my ideas will steal them so the project will exist without me having to do anything.
Empricorn@feddit.nl · 15 pts · 1y
Apparently, the dopamine rush of telling someone about your project, you going back to school, you getting healthy, improving yourself, etc is so strong it's basically pre-rewarding you for it. The result is scientifically-documented drops in people following-through and achieving their goals... You want to succeed? Don't tell anyone until you're already almost there!
henfredemars@infosec.pub · 9 pts · 1y
All I see is that this cycle is more efficient.
veganpizza69@lemmy.vg · 9 pts · 1y
I almost didn't finish a PhD because of this. It's like telling people about makes it feel like you've accomplished something and made some progress on it - when that's factually wrong.
I'm sure that there's a name for this phenomenon, something in psychology.
MNByChoice@midwest.social · 4 pts · 1y
I am convinced the entire actual point of college is to test "ability to finish a project". A Bachelor's degree is a four year project. A Master's degree is an additional two year project. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) is an additional five to eight year project. (Do remember that a Master's is not needed for a PhD.)
This is not a judgement on the many reasons for stopping.
null@slrpnk.net · 2 pts · 1y
I'm not gonna go hunting for it, but I'm pretty sure this has been studied and you're spot on.
cannon_annon88@lemmy.today · 1 pts · 1y
Yeah it's definitely a thing.
MonkderVierte@lemmy.zip · 5 pts · 1y
No, seriously, i am working on it!
WhyJiffie@sh.itjust.works · 4 pts · 1y
last commit: 7 months ago
axEl7fB5@lemmy.cafe · 3 pts · 1y
"This repository was archived by the owner on July 12, 2025. It is now read-only."
MuskyMelon@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 1y
Well I'm triggered
ArchmageAzor@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 1y
You can put this on the ADHDmemes community too and it will fit just as well.
ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.net · 3 pts · 1y
Quick, what was your last project you didn't finish?
For me it was app to prepare for nautical exams. I wrote a scraper that downloaded all official tests and answer sheets, trained image recognition model to find the marked answers and started working on parsing the question PDFs but then I had to find a new job and never got back to it.
MNByChoice@midwest.social · 2 pts · 1y
I enjoy that "reading the book" and "taking a practice exam" were not listed as activities done. :)
2deck@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 1y
This is fine. Projects that require specialized skills can require that you get heavily invested before you discover the implications, scope and yeah your own lasting interest.
gerryflap@feddit.nl · 2 pts · 1y
Tbh at the moment I just have an idea, tell everyone about it, and I have no energy for it for 2 weeks and forget about it. It's more frustrating because you don't even get the satisfaction of starting anything and seeing the early rapid progress before ditching it
Zookeeper@programming.dev · 1 pts · 1y
Looks like me ye indeed