The sunk-cost fallacy in architecture and personal projects

The more time I’ve invested in a solution, the harder it becomes to abandon it.

This applies to technical architecture decisions just as much as it does to my own products. A library may have seemed plausible at first but gradually become an obstacle. An app idea may no longer convince me. An implementation may work in principle while becoming more complicated with every new feature.

Rationally, the only thing that should matter is which option is best from today onwards. Psychologically, however, everything I’ve already invested still counts.

Stopping no longer feels like making a new decision. It feels like admitting that the previous work was wasted.

But it may not have been wasted at all. Perhaps it taught me what doesn’t work. Perhaps the prototype was necessary to reveal the real problem. Perhaps what I learned is more valuable than the code.

The most useful question for me is:

Would I choose this solution again today if it didn’t already exist?

If the honest answer is no, that does not automatically mean I should rebuild everything immediately. But it is a strong signal not to keep investing blindly.