12 Feb 2025

For the past two months, I found myself trapped in a frustrating loop. I would get excited about a new product idea, start building, and then—midway, I’d trash it. Over and over again. The question haunted me: Why am I like this? Why can’t I finish what I start?

Eventually, I turned to ChatGPT, sharing what I’d observed about my patterns. Its response hit me like a lightning bolt: “Why are you overbuilding?” That simple question cracked open my entire mindset. I realized that I was trying to make each product perfect before it even had a chance to breathe. I wasn’t just building, I was overbuilding. And that constant pressure to do it all perfectly was exhausting my mental energy before I could even finish.

In that moment, a new strategy clicked into place: What if I gave myself a hard 14-day limit to finish the first version of any product? If it wasn’t done by then, I’d reflect and ask, “Am I overbuilding again?” This new boundary would force me to strip away unnecessary features and focus only on what really mattered.

Testing this approach led me to break free from my cycle of overbuilding. I used this 14-day rule to push out the first stage of my gift card web app, Kliq. Was it perfect? No. But it was real. And for the first time in a while, I felt free. I had escaped the mental prison of perfectionism.

This experience taught me that finishing a product is not about doing everything—it’s about doing just enough to get it out into the world. Now, I’ve embraced the idea of launching imperfectly, learning, and improving along the way. The 14-day rule isn’t just a time limit—it’s a mindset shift that helped me unlock progress.

So if you’re stuck in a similar loop, ask yourself: “Why are you overbuilding?” The answer might be exactly what you need to finish that project you’ve been sitting on for too long.

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