0:00:00Hello and welcome to Developing Perspective. Developing Perspective is a podcast hosted by me, David Smith.
0:00:05I'm an independent iOS developer based in Herndon, Virginia.
0:00:07Developing Perspective discusses news of note, interesting things related to iOS, Apple, things like that.
0:00:13Things of note to someone who maybe is an independent iOS developer or Mac developer or just interested in these types of things.
0:00:19This is show number 31. And today I'm going to be talking a bit more on a, I guess, maybe a more personal side rather than a
0:00:26more technical thing.
0:00:28So one of my favorite podcasts that I listen to a lot is build and analyze which is a five by five show with
0:00:34Marco Arment and Dan DeBenjamin and one of my favorite episodes is from way back when it uh
0:00:39Was first starting out and was called cycles of motivation and which I'll have a link to in the show notes
0:00:45Which is a great episode. It's a fairly timeless one. It's not one of the more topical shows they've done and
0:00:50The I remember about it specifically as he was talking about Marco that is was talking about how
0:00:56Now, he goes through on a more daily basis different cycles of motivation, different
0:01:02levels of engagement, interest in what he's doing, how he's doing it, and how that kind
0:01:08of impacts and focuses on how he chooses to work, how he tends to work, manages time in
0:01:14his day, so that if, for example, he gets really engaged and interested over late at
0:01:20night, he'll work late at night, and if he's not really interested in the morning, maybe
0:01:22he won't rather than kind of being like, "Oh, well, I'm going to work 9 to 5 because that's
0:01:26what I always do."
0:01:27I always thought that was an interesting thing and kind of very true, I think, for a lot
0:01:31of creative work.
0:01:32And what I was going to talk about here is rather than sort of cycles of motivation,
0:01:37maybe it's even taking one step up and kind of building on that concept and saying cycles
0:01:41of inspiration.
0:01:43And specifically, it's something that is topical and timely for me is the way that I kind of
0:01:49find myself, my attention, maybe it's even cycles of attention, is even better, is as
0:01:55I work on something for a long period of time, you know, say an app that I've had in the
0:02:01store for a long time or a consulting project or something, once I've been doing that for
0:02:05a certain amount of time, I find myself less interested in it than I used to be. And maybe
0:02:12it's just a short attention span, but it's an interesting thing that I've found, pattern
0:02:16that I found over and over and over again. That after I've been working on something
0:02:22and for a couple of months, I become less interested in it. And I think the hardest
0:02:27part of that is that I become less motivated to do a good job on it, which sounds like
0:02:34an awful thing in many ways. But the problem is it no longer doesn't have that thrill of
0:02:41excitement. And some of it has to do with often you're working on the tasks that aren't
0:02:45is interesting. It's like the fun part of building an app is building an app. It's not
0:02:49really maintaining an app. And so I think that that plays into it. But I think, moreover,
0:02:54there's just something exciting about the creative, about taking something that doesn't
0:02:59exist and making it new, or about the freshness of coming into something and sort of hitting
0:03:06it afresh after a break or something like that. And so this is topical and timely for
0:03:11me because I'm wrapping up a consulting project that I've been doing for probably about five,
0:03:18six months, depending on how you count it, which is a longer project than I've almost
0:03:22always worked on.
0:03:23Typically, my projects are much closer to about three months, which is usually my attention
0:03:28span.
0:03:29This one went a little longer, and I'm kind of heading into a place now where it's like,
0:03:32"Okay, I'm going to transition back from consulting and focus on my own apps."
0:03:38I've done some work on my own apps in the interim, but primarily I've just been focused
0:03:42on this consulting work, and that's, you know, fair enough, that's what they pay me for.
0:03:46And I found this to be a very healthy pattern for me, and it's something that I wanted to
0:03:50share here in case it would be helpful for other people who, for a while, I would always
0:03:54think, "Okay, I want to make my own apps.
0:03:56I want to make my own apps.
0:03:57Like, that's my dream.
0:03:58I want to be an independent app developer."
0:04:00And I kind of hit there, you know, like I make a living from the apps I have in the
0:04:03app store.
0:04:04And that's great, and that's fun.
0:04:06But what I found is if I just did that over and over,
0:04:10I'm just so focused in there, I lose perspective
0:04:14about what's important, what are the things
0:04:17that I should be focused on in building apps.
0:04:20I get pigeonholed into certain technologies,
0:04:24the things that are related to my app.
0:04:25So I have an audiobooks app, so I know the audio stuff
0:04:28in iOS backwards and forwards,
0:04:31but I haven't done other stuff.
0:04:34I haven't done Mac development.
0:04:35I haven't done all kinds of other places where these are skills that'd be very helpful and are good for me to learn,
0:04:40but I've just never learned them because they're not related to my projects.
0:04:45And so a pattern that I kind of found myself getting into is,
0:04:49"Okay, I'm going to work on my own apps for a couple of months, and then I'll do a consulting project."
0:04:52And even if you're an iOS app developer of sort of any skill,
0:04:56it's fairly easy to find consulting these days.
0:05:00And then I would do that for a couple of months,
0:05:01Basically what I'm looking for in that consulting project
0:05:03is to work with an interesting team,
0:05:05which combats some of the problems of working on your own,
0:05:07that you're only as good as,
0:05:10you're learning from yourself,
0:05:12which is often not nearly as good
0:05:14as learning from someone else.
0:05:15So it combats that by working on a good team,
0:05:17and then working on a technology and a platform
0:05:20that I'm not as comfortable on.
0:05:22So it's working on something that deals with text,
0:05:26where I'm used to dealing with audio,
0:05:27or working on the Mac rather than the iOS, or whatever.
0:05:30doing something that's different.
0:05:32And it's kind of fun to be able to play around and learn
0:05:34and kind of build interesting things
0:05:37and be paid for it in a non-risk way.
0:05:40Or in a non-risky way, I guess.
0:05:42And so, when I'm building an app, I'm not taking a risk.
0:05:45I'm going to put in several, several hours,
0:05:48several dozen hours, 700 hours, whatever,
0:05:50I'm going to turn it on the app,
0:05:52and I'm hoping that other people
0:05:53are going to like that and buy it.
0:05:54With consulting, you're selling your time, essentially,
0:05:57and you get paid for it kind of either way,
0:06:01in the sense that you're being paid
0:06:03for that time and that attention.
0:06:05It's not this kind of thing that you're building
0:06:07and you're making an investment
0:06:08that you're hoping to be paid off later.
0:06:11And so I find it to be a great pattern
0:06:12for me to learn things, to stay engaged.
0:06:14And then what often happens,
0:06:15I mean, it's incredibly predictable,
0:06:18is about three months later, I'm like,
0:06:19"Hey, you know, maybe I want to work on my own stuff again."
0:06:23And I kind of wind myself down off a project
0:06:25and focus on my own apps,
0:06:27and then kind of switch back and forth between them.
0:06:30And it's a pattern that I'd really recommend
0:06:32if you're an independent iOS developer,
0:06:34or would like to be, or those types of things,
0:06:36to kind of view it as a good way
0:06:37to kind of structure this business in a sustainable way.
0:06:41So if my app income started to fall off, for example,
0:06:45I have this consulting base,
0:06:47both in terms of income on a yearly,
0:06:49it's like if I'm spending, say, half my time consulting,
0:06:54that's a good amount of money that can kind of provide
0:06:56for me and my family.
0:06:58And on the flip side, I have those relationships,
0:06:59those experiences, those marketability things,
0:07:01of being able to say, yeah, I do consulting.
0:07:04If I ever needed to, like my apps just collapsed
0:07:07and I started making no money from them,
0:07:09the next day I could be like,
0:07:10call up a couple of people I've worked with
0:07:12and be like, hey, I'm looking for work.
0:07:14And I'd be able to fairly easily, I'd hope,
0:07:17sort of pick that up and keep my income coming.
0:07:20And the flip side, it still creates that opportunity
0:07:24that if I, one of my apps does well.
0:07:27I've had the best app success for a couple of my apps
0:07:30that did much better than I would ever have expected them to
0:07:33and it's the benefit of, okay, I've been able to do those
0:07:37and sort of benefit from that income in a passive way
0:07:40while I'm doing other things
0:07:42and while I'm focusing on other things.
0:07:44I mean, it's one of the most remarkable things to me in iOS
0:07:46is I have an app for like audiobooks, for example.
0:07:49It's been in the store for about three years now.
0:07:52in various forms, and it still makes up a good part of my income.
0:08:01And I don't work on it very much anymore.
0:08:03Like the concept and the implementation is fairly stable, and at some point I'll probably
0:08:07do maintenance updates and add content to it and things, but at its core it's been fairly
0:08:12similar for a very long time.
0:08:14And as an investment, I mean, that's huge that I put in that time early and now it just
0:08:19keeps paying back while I'm working on other things.
0:08:23And so that's kind of what, it's nice to have that balance,
0:08:25is something that I found.
0:08:26And I think even more for me, that I am now,
0:08:29it kind of gives you the best of both worlds.
0:08:32That I used to not,
0:08:34like when I was working for a normal line to five job,
0:08:38the challenge I often had is, you know,
0:08:40even if you work on a project,
0:08:41and say it's the same in the last three months,
0:08:44you're often then kind of, okay, well that was version one.
0:08:48Now you're going to go work on version 1.1.
0:08:50Now you're going to work on version 1.2.
0:08:51And that really, I think that my attention suffered
0:08:56as a result and my ability to focus on something.
0:08:59And some people I know, they can really just work
0:09:02on something forever.
0:09:03And they'll polish it and polish it and polish it
0:09:05and keep working on it, and that's great for them.
0:09:08I just find that I'm not that kind of a developer,
0:09:11that kind of, you know, my mind just doesn't work that way,
0:09:15that I get very frustrated by that.
0:09:16I kind of find myself being like, you know,
0:09:19this is kind of boring.
0:09:21Can't I do something else?
0:09:23Can I find something fun to do?
0:09:25So this is kind of the pattern I found into
0:09:27where I have these cycles of attention
0:09:29where I was like, okay, I'm going to work on my own stuff.
0:09:30Okay, I'm going to work on consulting for someone else
0:09:34for a little while and so on.
0:09:36And the interesting thing that I find
0:09:37that is a sort of markers for this activity
0:09:40that is so consistent is I know it's time
0:09:44to start working my own apps when all the time
0:09:47I'm thinking about cool apps and things and ideas
0:09:49and things that I can do.
0:09:51It's like I'm taking a shower and I'm like,
0:09:53wait, what if I did that?
0:09:55What if I did this?
0:09:56And my mind is just racing with those types of things.
0:10:00It's almost like to escape the consulting.
0:10:02And I know the flip side, I know it's time
0:10:04to sort of stop working my own apps and get some perspective
0:10:07when that stops, when that creativity's there.
0:10:10And it's like, OK, I need a change of scenery.
0:10:12I need a change of pace.
0:10:13I need to start working on a project for someone else,
0:10:15where someone else is saying, hey, build this
0:10:18with these features, X, Y, Z, and it kind of
0:10:22takes that creativity out of the process a little bit,
0:10:25where I'm not thinking constantly about,
0:10:27how would I do this, what features could I add to this app,
0:10:30what would it do?
0:10:31Someone else is doing that and it kind of pulls back
0:10:33and gives you some perspective.
0:10:35So it may not be for everybody,
0:10:36but I just kind of wanted to share about it.
0:10:37It's kind of timely for me, like I said,
0:10:39'cause I'm transitioning back into that.
0:10:40At this point, I'm really looking forward to it.
0:10:42I got all these ideas and things that I'm looking forward
0:10:43to building, and then I'll probably in a couple of months,
0:10:46or a month or whatever, and I find that I'm bored
0:10:50with it again or wanting to look for something else,
0:10:52I'll go back and do some more consulting,
0:10:53and kind of that cycle will continue.
0:10:56And like I said, it's been good for me,
0:10:58and definitely something I'd recommend at least trying.
0:11:02If you're an independent developer,
0:11:04you're like, "Oh, I don't want to be a consultant."
0:11:08It's like, well, maybe try it.
0:11:09Just do a project for a couple of months.
0:11:11It's not like you're, you're not buying a house.
0:11:13It's not something you're investing in.
0:11:14It's like, okay, well, if you don't like it, don't do it.
0:11:17Or simply if you're a consultant, it's like,
0:11:18hey man, can I take a month, two months,
0:11:21and just work on your own app?
0:11:23And that experience is far,
0:11:26its value is far more beyond the financial.
0:11:28I think it'll make you better at what you do,
0:11:30and more motivated and focused in what you do.
0:11:34All right, that's it for today's show.
0:11:35I hope that's interesting.
0:11:36Happy Friday.
0:11:37If you like the show, best things you can do.
0:11:39Tell a friend, I'd love that.
0:11:41that. I'm rated on iTunes. Apparently that's a helpful thing. And otherwise, if you need
0:11:45to get a hold of me, I'm on Twitter @_davidsmith, underscore D-A-V-I-D-S-M-I-T-H, and my website
0:11:52is david-smith.org. I've been blogging there a fair bit recently. I'll probably be picking
0:11:56it up a lot as I move off consulting and can focus on my own things. One of those projects
0:12:01that I'll be focused on is my blog and probably this podcast. So if you like it, expect more
0:12:05of it. All right, thanks. Happy Friday and happy coding. Bye.
0:12:08Thank you.
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