Never done (10/18/23 Wed)

Many years ago Anne learned by asking me "isn't it done?" that software is never finished. There is always something left that you can add, or something that could be rewriten better. While never done, at some point you really must stop working on it and refocus on something else.

One great way to determine when to move on and call it "done", is when the original intended purpose has been satisfied. Futher work is really just refinement. If it does the intended job then it should probably be considered completed.

A more common ending trigger is running out of time. The solution needs to be deployed at some point and that time arrives. Time is up, you need to deploy the current solution now. Ideally this occurs after you have met the minimum requirements and are working on the nice to have features or refinements. Worst case is that it fails in it's current state, and delays the launch until it meets the minimum required functionality.

Another end path is when a higher priority project interupts work on the initial software. The priority demands more attention and the first project is paused, or receives much less attention and progress slows. This ending could become a slow long death for first project, eventualy discontinued because it is no longer relevant.

Until today I had never considered other things with this "never done" trait. One example is visiting with great friends like Erik and Nancy.

I hung around Erik's ong enough to have a lot of conversations and do a lot of catching up. But we can never really discuss, do or plan everything that we would like to. The original intent of catching up has been met. But we will never really feel like we're done catching up, there will always be more.

Technically I haven't run out of time. But eventually cold weather will come to New England, and I would prefer to be back home well before it. My weather window may slam shut with little warning.

Approaching one month into this trip, and 1/3 of this year on the road, my priority of getting back home is increasing. I still want to enjoy time with friends, see new things and complete this journey, but I also am ready to be home and spend more time with Anne.

Everywhere in our lives there are examples of things that are never done: time with friends, chores, cleaning, education, travel, fitness, nutrition, wellbeing, caring, giving, helping, love, money, balance... I'm certain you can list another dozen in five minutes of brainstorming.

Looking over my example list, it is clear that most are endless. It's also clear that some of these will at times be priority interrupts for others. Maybe less clear is that actions focused on any one is bound to drop it's priority ranking relative to the others. Meaning any current list of these is dynamically changing their priority rank order over time as our focus changes and we move through our life interactions. A near perfect example of a moving target, or whack a mole game.

Confused? Welcome to the club. Nobody navigates life making only perfect moves. We're all jugling a lot of balls, always wondering which we will drop next.

My suggestions? Don't panic. Review priorities and take action on one. Repeat forever.