Why I give all my projects a name
I have more hobbies and projects than I can count, and the list keeps growing. I’ve given them all names; Project Firefly is my personal favorite: I want to have beautiful lighting in my room.
Every project I have has a name like this, and that’s really important to me.
Is this helpful for time tracking?
No, I don’t track any of my personal time. I’m not opposed to the idea, but the times I’ve tried it in the past it just takes too much mental overhead. With the tools I have now it might be easier, so I may try it at some point this year.. But no, this has nothing to do with wanting a nice pie chart at the end of the year.
Why, then?
I’m so glad you asked.
1. To limit scope creep.
The list of things I want to do kept getting longer. For many items on the list, there’s no deadline. I felt overwhelmed by the sheer amount of work and number of projects I wanted to do. Then I put names to them, and the scope creep was kept in check.
Making smart devices is different than putting up lights is different than writing blog posts, and I needed a way to keep them separate in my head.
2. To motivate myself.
If all I remember on a Saturday is “I must practice this song or it will sound bad,” that’s no fun. But if I reframe it and instead get to work on Project Jericho, it becomes fun again.
I think the NSA realized this when they put all sorts of cool names into the programs they ran. Like project PRISM. How cool does that sound?
2.5. To remember all my projects.
Sometimes I don’t just get bored, it’s worse: I forget what brings me joy. It’s hard to remember “that one app you wanted to make that one time;” it’s a lot easier to remember “Project Cassandra.”
3. To provide more meaning to my projects.
One concern as my list of hobbies and projects kept growing was that if I’m the only person who ever gets to enjoy this, that’s kind of sad. Yes, it’s cool to integrate ChatGPT into my calendar so I get useful summaries of my day, but what ultimate purpose does that serve?
Providing names is a memorable way for me keep track of a project’s ultimate purpose. “Why am I doing this?” goes a long way as a question, and it’s too much mental overhead to have to readdress it every time I sit at the workbench or start reading a book.
I don’t want to do too many things that are only for me; that will make me more selfish over time. If a project lends itself more towards virtue, that project gets priority.
Last thoughts
This blog post? It’s part of Project Inkwell, which will soon likely spawn some other projects. For instance, I put together an Obsidian script that automatically puts a new file into the correct folder. If I want to initiate a new project, it’s as easy as hitting Ctrl+n then Ctrl+m and typing the name. I need as little friction as possible when I'm coming up with new ideas, but I also need to have them organized.
Names are a funny thing. It gives my projects meaning, scope, and memorability. If you have lots of things competing for your time — goals, hobbies, classes, etc. — try giving them a name.