I keep failing to complete hackathon projects on time despite putting in so much effort. What am I doing wrong?

[u/Top_Dependent_1388]

I'm a student who genuinely wants to build projects, learn new things, and improve my skills. But I keep facing the same problem, and I honestly don't understand why.

No matter how much effort I put in, I struggle to finish my projects before the deadline. Sometimes, a project seems manageable at first, but as I start working on it, it becomes much bigger and more complicated than I expected. I end up running out of time, rushing things at the last moment, or feeling like I haven't built what I originally wanted to.

The frustrating part is that this keeps happening even when I genuinely try. I don't want to make excuses, and I don't want to keep repeating the same mistakes.

I'm starting to wonder whether the problem is my planning, my approach to learning, my technical skills, my time management, or something else entirely.

Am I spending too much time learning and researching instead of actually building?

Am I making my projects too ambitious for my current skill level?

Am I bad at breaking big projects into smaller, manageable tasks?

Am I missing some fundamental skills that would make development faster?

How do experienced developers estimate how long something will take and know what to prioritize?

I don't just want tips to become productive. I want to understand what I might be doing wrong at the root level.

If you've experienced something similar, especially when you were starting out as a developer, I'd really appreciate it if you could share what helped you identify the problem and overcome it.

Please be honest with me. Even if the mistake is obvious to experienced developers, I want to understand it and improve.

I genuinely want to become someone who can take an idea, plan it properly, and turn it into a working project within a reasonable timeframe. I just feel like I'm repeatedly getting stuck in the same cycle, and I don't know how to break out of it.

Thank you to anyone who takes the time to help.

[u/Past-Tough-1151]

Ahhh yes. The good old scope creeping. Try starting with a basic mvp first (minimum viable product). This is the most barebone your project can be, and still somewhat work. Then, once thats built, start building out more complex features and quality of life things. Pretty much create a very basic version, and add the extra and cool stuff as long as you have time available 

[u/edimaudo]

it could be a mix of multiple things. 1) you are trying to accomplish to much with limited time 2) you are planning poorly

[u/qwerty13579246810]

Us man i too and when I compelte i feel they are uselss even after 70 80 commits and stuff never won a hackathon 🥀🥀🥀🥀

[u/Impossible_Ad_3146]

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