One of my favorite topics to read about is personal finance.  I don't really benefit much from the advice directly (I already know that credit card debt is bad) but it can act as an analogy for a lot of other topics.

One trick that people use in personal finance to prevent impulse buys is to set a rule that they have to wait a certain period of time before buying expensive things.  For example, I might decide that for every $100 I want to spend, I need to wait a day before finalizing the purchase.  If I want a new $1,200 tv, I can't buy it until 12 days after I decide that I want it.  The idea is that the item doesn't generally seem like a smart purchase after you have some time to think about it.

The same thing can work with product development.  It's natural to get excited about new ideas and lose perspective.  Whatever's on your mind is always going to seem like the most important thing and so it's tempting to get going on it right away.

When I (or anyone else at Zane) have a good idea, I find that it really helps to sit on it for a while before acting on it.  If the new idea would take a month to complete, I think it makes sense to wait at least a couple weeks before getting started*.  Most of the time I've forgotten all about it a week later and it's obvious that starting right away would have been a huge mistake.

This is not a way to rationalize being lazy or conservative.  I always talk about how I'm a proponent of getting started now and planning later.  The goal here isn't to use the extra time to think about the project or plan or forecast or speculate.  The goal is to let the idea sit on the backburner to make sure that you actually need it.

By putting things on hold like this, you end up having a backlog of the good ideas that actually do stand the test of time.  This way, when you come up with your next great plan, you have old ideas to work on while you let the new ones marinate.  It's kind of like a CD ladder.  Hey, another personal finance analogy.  I'm on a role.

*Note: This only applies to ideas related to a mature product.  If you have a totally new idea that isn't going to be added to an established system, by all means, get started right away.  The best way to find out if your new idea is any good is to try it out.