Beautifully written. I think the second to last paragraph is the most important piece of information, the why...the wisdom.
I'm curious, have you always been such a cool customer and had this mentality even when you were in middle or high school? Or was the "boring" methodology adopted after achieving a certain level of business/professional success? Or after having a child?
Maybe not as eloquently as you, but I think the majority of people end up with the "boring" approach because our bodies start to insist sooner or later...Which is NOT the best way to go.
This article is really important because, ideally, you want to fix things before it affects your health.
Hopefully this article resonates with any of the young guns reading it. History repeats itself so it's not hard to predict the lifespan of a motor revving at 8k RPM for long periods of time.
Thanks for this great reminder.
1
in my early days i definitely favoured a less boring approach. but i've been working for myself online for 20 years, so i had to take a more moderate approach otherwise i'd have burned out long ago.
2
great article. Thank you for sharing!
2
After 1 1/2 years of putting in "as much time as available" into my business I am finally learning the concept you described as "boring".
I am finally able to be as militant with my breaks as I am with my focused times. I went from tired at 7 pm each day to, feeling as if I didn't push myself too hard today yet I got the same amount of stuff done.
Thanks for sharing this, seems like I have more improvements.
1
Great article, thanks for sharing your thoughts Paul. I've got a natural inclination towards reactiveness and procrastination. Learning to be proactive and consistent has been a necessary challenge.
I'd offer a counter point to short deadlines. Deadlines help combat procrastination and provide motivation to stay focused. I think an ideal product launch schedule would include several "artificial" deadlines along the way to spur progress. It's too easy to put things off in favor of more "urgent" tasks when the deadline is off in the psychologically distant future.
1
true, but short deadlines forever and ever are going to burn you out. the point of the article was balance :)
1
Great post! Are you still using the same "stack" to build online courses? Any tips for someone building an online course from scratch?
Excellent article, and you described our day to day. It's a challenge to get "up on the crest" so that you can turn down the "crazy deadlines".
But, it always comes down to expectations. Set them clearly on your terms or walk away. Time freed up can be used for better clients or better projects, like yourself. You may go hungry, but you will be happy ;)
2
I've never gone hungry - the point of my article was that working NOT at a frantic pace helps you get more done.
1
@pjrvs 💯. What I meant was that it takes discipline to get “boring” but that actually allows you to do your best work and as creatives we have to overcome the fear that oh my god he won’t hire me if I don’t promise it in the time they are expecting...and doing so frees us up to do great work, which will ultimately be a win win for both. I think “boring” allows you to get more done and of much higher quality than rush the deadline.
That’s what I think I wanted to say. Happy Chimp Essentials customer here trying to be boring everyday.
1
Hi Paul, what are the qualities that makes something a boring business you would pursue?
3
Hi David - ANYTHING can be made a "boring" business :)
But you do have to consider the maintenance costs of anything, for software, that's mostly how much support for customers is required, how often, how long it takes. As well as marketing/acquisition time/energy costs.
This is what I would like to call: "Dope"
Beautifully written. I think the second to last paragraph is the most important piece of information, the why...the wisdom.
I'm curious, have you always been such a cool customer and had this mentality even when you were in middle or high school? Or was the "boring" methodology adopted after achieving a certain level of business/professional success? Or after having a child?
Maybe not as eloquently as you, but I think the majority of people end up with the "boring" approach because our bodies start to insist sooner or later...Which is NOT the best way to go.
This article is really important because, ideally, you want to fix things before it affects your health.
Hopefully this article resonates with any of the young guns reading it. History repeats itself so it's not hard to predict the lifespan of a motor revving at 8k RPM for long periods of time.
Thanks for this great reminder.
in my early days i definitely favoured a less boring approach. but i've been working for myself online for 20 years, so i had to take a more moderate approach otherwise i'd have burned out long ago.
great article. Thank you for sharing!
After 1 1/2 years of putting in "as much time as available" into my business I am finally learning the concept you described as "boring".
I am finally able to be as militant with my breaks as I am with my focused times. I went from tired at 7 pm each day to, feeling as if I didn't push myself too hard today yet I got the same amount of stuff done.
Thanks for sharing this, seems like I have more improvements.
Great article, thanks for sharing your thoughts Paul. I've got a natural inclination towards reactiveness and procrastination. Learning to be proactive and consistent has been a necessary challenge.
I'd offer a counter point to short deadlines. Deadlines help combat procrastination and provide motivation to stay focused. I think an ideal product launch schedule would include several "artificial" deadlines along the way to spur progress. It's too easy to put things off in favor of more "urgent" tasks when the deadline is off in the psychologically distant future.
true, but short deadlines forever and ever are going to burn you out. the point of the article was balance :)
Great post! Are you still using the same "stack" to build online courses? Any tips for someone building an online course from scratch?
https://www.indiehackers.com/interview/how-one-founder-makes-courses-books-podcasts-and-saas-products-d1575410d6
yes, pretty much.
Excellent article, and you described our day to day. It's a challenge to get "up on the crest" so that you can turn down the "crazy deadlines".
But, it always comes down to expectations. Set them clearly on your terms or walk away. Time freed up can be used for better clients or better projects, like yourself. You may go hungry, but you will be happy ;)
I've never gone hungry - the point of my article was that working NOT at a frantic pace helps you get more done.
@pjrvs 💯. What I meant was that it takes discipline to get “boring” but that actually allows you to do your best work and as creatives we have to overcome the fear that oh my god he won’t hire me if I don’t promise it in the time they are expecting...and doing so frees us up to do great work, which will ultimately be a win win for both. I think “boring” allows you to get more done and of much higher quality than rush the deadline.
That’s what I think I wanted to say. Happy Chimp Essentials customer here trying to be boring everyday.
Hi Paul, what are the qualities that makes something a boring business you would pursue?
Hi David - ANYTHING can be made a "boring" business :)
But you do have to consider the maintenance costs of anything, for software, that's mostly how much support for customers is required, how often, how long it takes. As well as marketing/acquisition time/energy costs.