Ask HN: How do you organize yourself as a solo founder | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: How do you organize yourself as a solo founder

51 pointsbapetel16 comments

I have a 9:5 job and work also alone on a side project where I have to do tech related tasks as well as market sale (content creation, emails and sometime calls).

So, I'm asking if you are in same position as me, how are you organizing yourself to do everything ?

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I'm going to assume organize yourself to do everything means that you a) know what to do and b) are having trouble keeping track of all of the things you need to do, have done, and want to do.

I generally break it down into - [ongoing] text file with all of the todos - [daily] categorize added todos since the last day - [daily] calendar things into when I have agreed with myself that I'll work on $project - [weekly] if I find myself doing repetitive tasks, then I do a recurring calendar item with the specifics

So I only need a calendar of choice (google calendar for me), text file (apple notes/reminders), email (superhuman for delayed email functionality).

For me, I generally want to: a) put out new content once a week b) create emails c) answer calls d) build tech

All of that sounds recurring other than c), so I first time box a daily time limit each day and slowly start figuring out what goes in where.

It changes as things progress (lots of tech needs to be built, content creation for a week I"m on vacation, etc)...

Happy to chat (my info in the profile). I've done the 9:5 + side project as well as stay-at-home parent + side project + a mix and can share more of what has worked for me.

I'm going to assume organize yourself to do everything means that you a) know what to do and b) are having trouble keeping track of all of the things you need to do, have done, and want to do.

I generally break it down into - [ongoing] text file with all of the todos

- [daily] categorize added todos since the last day

- [daily] calendar things into when I have agreed with myself that I'll work on $project

- [weekly] if I find myself doing repetitive tasks, then I do a recurring calendar item with the specifics

So I only need a calendar of choice (google calendar for me), text file (apple notes/reminders), email (superhuman for delayed email functionality).

For me, I generally want to: a) put out new content once a week

b) create emails

c) answer calls

d) build tech

All of that sounds recurring other than c), so I first time box a daily time limit each day and slowly start figuring out what goes in where.

It changes as things progress (lots of tech needs to be built, content creation for a week I"m on vacation, etc)...

Happy to chat (my info in the profile). I've done the 9:5 + side project as well as stay-at-home parent + side project + a mix and can share more of what has worked for me.

Sounds good So i think the only thing i have to add is a categorized todo list Thanks

First, you need to divorce yourself from the idea that you can do EVERYTHING that needs to be done. There just isn't enough time in the day even if you are highly organized and even if you didn't also have a full-time job.

You have to focus on the tasks that are most important to the overall success of your project. The problem is - that set of tasks does not align up perfectly with the tasks you personally find the most enjoyable or have the most talent with.

You have to spend some time doing things that are not pleasant to do and doing things that you struggle to figure out how to do. You will find yourself being constantly drawn to tasks that are in your 'comfort zone'. But you can't allow yourself the luxury of only doing those things and neglecting other critical items.

Divide tasks into a couple categories - Fun and not fun. When picking the next thing to work on, make sure you choose something in the latter category at least a few times each week.

By categorizing, I understand :

- Marketing (content creation) - Sales (calls, email) - Tech (fix, improvements)

So having a to-do list for each week with these days would be good

Leave your work in a way that it is easy to get started. Make schedules for anything routine. Decide what has to suffer from lack of attention, and put it out of your mind. You can only manage so many projects.

Aside from all the useful tips already written here, I'd add the following: Identifying and focusing on the areas that really push the needle forward is the biggest challenge for most but a very critical step. It is easy to fall into the trap of "looking busy, but getting no results".

What worked for me and my startup is committing to split testing / A/B testing of various initiatives. Before any initiative we identify what is the best outcome, the worst outcome and the probably outcomes. Then we test A strategy for a few days, after which we experiment and switch to B strategy. At the end we see which one is better, eliminate what doesn't work and stick to what does. From there it's just further experimentation and split testing of strategies until you hit your end goal.

This experimentation and identification of what pushes the needle forward takes time to refine which is why most startups (and businesses overall) take around 2 years to breakeven.

My ADHD meds, coffee, GitHub Issues and Discussions, and using a simple ‘todo.txt’ file in my local box.

For content creation, I created this little React based Wordpress alternative that is free to use and 100% open source: https://github.com/elegantframework/elegant-cli

For emails, I use ConvertKit to collect email signups and send out updates to my subscribers.

Pomodoro method when things are really hectic and on fire. I’ll set a timer for 20 minutes and won’t leave my terminal until my task is complete or time has run out.

P.S. I have a daytime developer gig as well; and a family at night. As well as I have small stakes in past ventures that need tending sometimes.

I have a very detailed roadmap with all of the tasks which need to be completed. Some are simple, some are complex. No special tools needed, I just put the whole thing on the Notes app on my phone.

For code, I keep a private repo.

For docs, I use grip to edit markdown to html files.

Hi, I'm in a similar position as you. 9 to 5, working on my MVP after hours.

Basically, working on this has replaced all of my TV and movie watching, and some hobbies. I'm able to do about 5hrs during the week and about 10hrs during the weekends doing it this way.

I keep a spreadsheet logging all of the time I'm putting in, and just trying to stay focused - 'fake work' was really easy to fall into in the beginning but I've been much better about that recently.

Love the idea of logging time spent. I do the same. Care to elaborate on what you mean by 'fake work'?

Fake work is working on things that seem cool or useful, but don't actually contribute to success.

Examples:

0) On my company's mobile site, the navigation header wasn't centered. I almost spent time fixing it until I realized it literally didn't matter

1) I'm using some open source code in my MVP, I almost went through and cleaned up the code - but it worked without doing so, so why would I take the time to?

Depends what you're having most trouble with.

One big thing for me was to keep track of small bugs/improvements that don't immediate attention as well as some larger features I wanted to add going forward. For both of those I use the issue tracker in my private repo.

I keep all the random data I accumulate in Logseq, but sticky notes next to the trackpad are the default GTD system, because I need to physically scratch off completed items to get the dopamine needed to roll over into the next one.

For that matter, how about a high responsibility person working from home? What’s your practices that help you be at your best?

dedicate one night a week to marketing and one night a week to sales.

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