How do you balance learning and doing?
Hi
I am doing it all mostly for the first time (yet again) solo founder here.
For example, I'm learning Bubble to build the MVP and I also do other things like content creation, non-scalable marketing, BIP on Twitter and such.
The problem is, I love to zone in. I get all focused on the bubble thing and keep building or I should say, learning to create features by watching youtube videos. Needless to say, getting stuck when things don't go right.
How do I toggle my mindset from learning to networking/content writing every day, so that I can balance out? Because without early users and feedback, whatever I build won't matter.
Thanks
Having a structured plan and tangible goals can be really helpful.
Here's what I suggest:
It will take some time to calibrate what a good size task is, but the key is that you are being thoughtful about what your priorities really are and you are regularly giving yourself checkpoints to reflect reprioritize if needed. This process has helped me a lot!
Thank you Justin! It is a solid plan, I do follow some of your suggestions, like defining what I must do this week, but I'm not doing the end of week. Thanks for pointing this out!
Great you have mentioned such a valuable tips. I will definitely apply it on myself so that I could enhance my https://besttechi.com/best-monitors-for-triple-monitor-setup/ business. I haven't planned before but now I will do proper planning.
Create a new ritual of some sort. When you switch tasks, try forcing yourself to do some jumping jacks, meditate or step outside for a 5-minute walk. Focus on something entirely outside of work before you switch tasks. You can habituate yourself to code-switching.
Right now I dedicate the final 2 hours of my workday to learning and cultivating a new skill. It's been a nice change of pace from what I'm working on, as well as stretching me in new directions.
A challenge for me is that I'm not always as motivated at the end of the day. I will likely switch this up to twice per week in the morning.
Great idea! something physical which'll shake up the brain. Thank you Denise.
I'd love to talk more about how your 2-hour plan is going.
It varies a lot for me. Right now, I'm in doing mode, so there's not a lot of intentional learning. But that'll surely change again before long. Going back and forth like that works for me.
I guess I do still learn a bit, but I save most of that for my free time, and only things that I'm really really interested in.
Thanks Jacob. I'm trying to pick up speed so I want to switch modes in the same day! But your method has worked for me before , I'm comfortable with that..
You're talking about balancing between doing and putting your product out there to be used. I've seen people use various "ratios", some spend 50% of their time building/learning and 50% promoting. At the end of the day, it depends on your context and what you're trying to achieve. But 50-50 is a ratio I've seen a lot of people use for a start (until it becomes obvious you should spend more than 50% on one of the 2 things).
Thank you Darko! Yes, I'm yet to figure out this ratio. ATM, I'm blocking full weeks/days for each separately.. I'll trial the split over the coming days..
I actually struggle to make room for both sometimes. I feel guilty taking time to read/watch/listen to something educational throughout the week because it means I'm not executing (in the short term). So, I often leave all the 'learning' I want to do for weekends, but it means my mind never really switches off and relaxes, for weeks sometimes. I'd definitely be interested to know how people balance both things throughout the week.
Yea, I have trouble switching off too. Sometimes, I block a day or two at the end of th month or whenever I feel overwhelmed.