Reasons to quit

It's easy to put your head down and just work on what you think needs to be

done. It's a lot harder to pull your head up and ask why. Here are some important

questions to ask yourself to ensure you're doing work that matters:

Why are you doing this? Ever find yourself working on something without

knowing exactly why? Someone just told you to do it. It's pretty common,

actually. That's why it's important to ask why you'reworking on______. What

is this for? Who benefits? What's the motivation behind it? Knowing the

answers to these questions will help you better understand the work itself.

What problem are you solving? What's the problem? Are customers

confused? Are you confused? Is something not clear enough? Was something

not possible before that should be possible now? Sometimes when you ask

these questions, you'll find you're solving an imaginary problem. That's when

it's time to stop and reevaluate what the hell you're doing.

Is this actually useful? Are you making something useful or just making

something? It's easy to confuse enthusiasm with usefulness. Sometimes it's

fine to play a bit and build something cool. But eventually you've got to stop

and ask yourself if it's useful, too. Cool wears off. Useful never does.

Are you adding value? Adding something is easy; adding value is hard. Is

this thing you're working on actually making your product more valuable for

customers? Can they get more out of it than they did before? Sometimes

things you think are adding value actually subtract from it. Too much ketchup

can ruin the fries. Value is about balance.

Will this change behavior? Is what you're working on really going to

change anything? Don't add something unless it has a real impact on how

people use your product.

Is there an easier way? Whenever you're working on something, ask, "Is

there an easier way?" You'll often find this easy way is more than good

enough for now. Problems are usually pretty simple. We just imagine that

they require hard solutions.

What could you be doing instead? What can't you do because you're doing

this? This is especially important for small teams with constrained resources.

That's when prioritization is even more important. If you work on A, can you

still do B and C before April? If not, would you rather have B and C instead

of A? If you're stuck on something for a long period of time, that means there

are other things you're not getting done.

Is it really worth it? Is what you're doing really worth it? Is this meeting

worth pulling six people off their work for an hour? Is it worth pulling an allnighter tonight, or could you just finish it up tomorrow? Is it worth getting all

stressed out over a press release from a competitor? Is it worth spending your

money on advertising? Determine the real value of what you're about to do

before taking the plunge.

Keep asking yourself (and others) the questions listed above. You don't need

to make it a formal process, but don't let it slide, either.

Also, don't be timid about your conclusions. Sometimes abandoning what

you're working on is the right move, even if you've already put in a lot of effort.

Don't throw good time after bad work.