I think a lot of us technical minded people fall into the same trap; we start with the technology, trying to solve problems of making a site dynamic and secure

I think a lot of us technical minded people fall into the same trap; we start with the technology, trying to solve problems of making a site dynamic and secure before considering the content. With the exception of sites solely aimed at demonstrating new technologies, the purpose of a site is to provide content (OK, sometimes to provide functionality too; but that's content in a sense). The key is to work out what content needs to be on the site & start with that. Once you've got that down you can consider how it can be improved; and that's where these other pieces start coming in. But start by defining the problem to be addressed, then look for the tool to fix that problem; don't go off and find something trendy then work out how you can make problems that it can handle, or how you can force your problem into being the kind of problem which that tool could fix; move on and find the tool that makes sense. This is all obvious at the start of the project, but the moment you see a rabbit hole it's very hard to resist going down it. For that, keep a list of what's important nearby, and each time you get back from a break check that list and ensure you're obeying it. That list will start with a bunch of don'ts; to keep you away from bad habits, followed by your priority task list of what you need to create your MVP / the MUSTS of your solution. Once you have a working solution and have ticked off all the musts from your list, you can then play safe in the knowledge that you've got a checked in working version; and the remaining time is just experimenting / tweaking / playing. Anyway, that's the theory... I've not managed to stick to it yet; let me know if it works for you though ;).