When you don’t know what to do, scratch your own itch. That’s a rule I’ve taken up for myself recently.
“Scratching your own itch” is an aphorism I’ve mostly heard coming out of Silicon Valley related to entrepreneurship. Successful product companies like Apple, Twitter, Dropbox, and Kickstarter are allegedly based on the founders developing something to solve their own need. It makes a lot of sense that you can be successful with this strategy: as a potential user, you know the problem, you did not find someone else in the market that solves it for you (i.e. you already did the market research and know the competition), and thus you know you are creating a unique solution by solving the problem for yourself.
I am using this aphorism as a rule on a much simpler level, to make day to day decisions. If I have a bunch of tasks, I prioritize the one that directly helps me the most.
Having a bunch of ideas and projects in mind, I usually end up not doing anything because I can’t decide. By choosing whatever helps me the most ensures that I stick with it and that it will be useful for at least one person.
Others may find it useful later as well. So it’s not a purely selfish decision but more a way to keep my motivation high.