8
2 Comments

4 Reasons Bootstrappers Procrastinate and How to Overcome [summary]

Aytekin Tank - Founder of Jotform, shared what he learned about procrastination while scaling his startup to 4.2 million users.

Here is a summary:


All founders procrastinate. But VC-backed founders are motivated to pay investors back and grow the business to survive the next round.

Real reasons we procrastinate

1. The feeling of not making progress makes you think your work isn't being rewarded. To overcome, create "small wins" to provide the incentive to move toward the finish line.

2. Not sure where to start when having too much to do, or spending your time on low-value tasks. To overcome, prioritize tasks to know what to do next. Give no room for guesswork

3. Afraid of pressure or to fail when having others watch over your shoulder, makes you question your worth. To overcome, consistently remind yourself of the difference between who you are and what you achieve.

4. Dislike the task, is the most common reason. To overcome, identify specific steps, where and when you will do it using "if-then planning". For example: If it’s 11 a.m. then I will stop what I’m doing and cold email prospects.

Not all productivity hacks will work for you, and that’s okay. Do your best not to hit snooze in the morning.

posted to Icon for group Productivity
Productivity
on August 18, 2020
  1. 2

    Agree with all of these, specially 1 and 4. I totally hate doing the marketing part and reaching out to people and end up being not rewarded for the work done.

    1. 1

      hate doing the marketing part and reaching out to people and end up being not rewarded

      I can feel that pain 😅

      Ironically, I'm often aware of productivity, but also often guilty of not making progress. I keep do it anyway.

      It seems more like progress when looking back in a week or a month.

Trending on Indie Hackers
4 months to go. Chrome extension live. Web search integrated. 4 users. $0 revenue. Still here. User Avatar 27 comments Solo → Pre-Seed: The Tool Stack Decision That Will Either Save or Sink Your First 18 Months User Avatar 25 comments I built a launch coach after my own product launch got 11 upvotes and 3 signups User Avatar 21 comments Two-way is not the same as symmetric User Avatar 21 comments Show IH: Apollodorus Video - browser-based video editor that runs locally User Avatar 12 comments Most directories forget you exist after you list. We're trying something different. User Avatar 11 comments