As a fellow nerd, I enjoy playing with technology. I love digging deep into computers and controllers to understand how they work to the nuts and bolts. This is fine when you are learning, but if you are actually trying to get something finished it is very distracting.
Since I love to tinker, I find myself looking for problems to solve with a specific set of technology. This is a totally backwards approach. The only reason for technology to exist in the first place is to solve a problem.
Lately, I’ve been working on automated hydroponic systems as a hobby. I thought to myself “hey, I’ll make everything from scratch!” as I began making custom power banks, relays, and software frameworks. After a while, I realized I was quite busy - and it felt good. But the more I analyzed it, the more I realized that I wasn’t actually growing plants any better. I was reinventing the wheel, solving problems that have already been solved for decades.