I get lots of ideas, too many ideas. Often I'll get excited about a thing and jump right into building it, but after a couple of days or even just hours, the enthusiasm is gone, it wasn't as fun or as interesting as it first seemed.

To avoid these 'false starts', I've started letting ideas 'simmer'. This basically amounts to immediately noting down the idea in its rawest form - usually just a single sentence. I will then add to or update the note over the next few days/weeks if any other further thoughts develop. Most ideas don't get updated or revisited, these ideas are the time-wasters. Periodically I'll go through the list and delete the stale ideas.

When I have time for a new project I'll pick one of the good ideas and start drafting a blog post about it, partly because I like writing, but also because I think differently when I write long form. I can quickly explore the idea and figure out what the first prototype might look like. I'll usually make a list of 'requirements' but also keep note of any 'side quests', things which aren't core to the idea but might be fun to do later if I keep the project going.

This process has made a noticeable difference to the quality of my free time. I've gone from jumping from one poorly formed thought to the next, leaving a trail of barely started projects, to focusing on a couple of my best ideas.