Do more by doing less
But all wasn’t lost. When I started the project I had carefully designed it to really be three distinct projects disguised as one: a motion sensing algorithm, a telegram bot, and an integration project which put it all together. I had completed the first two projects! That would not have happened without me relentlessly cutting scope.
And every project was useful. I’d designed the motion sensor and telegram bot to be independent of the exact application I was developing. Now in any of my future projects I’ll be able to reuse those components if needed, saving me days of work and letting me complete more ambitious projects in that same two week period. I have new tools in my tool belt. That’s still a win!