My simple approach to fighting the overwhelm of solopreneur life
As I sit down to plan, a number of tasks jump out and claim themselves a priority. Being a solopreneur it’s kind of the norm. You are a one-person show. And most of the time I enjoy the diversity of roles. Still, having a list of 17 priorities also brings in the dread both to my mind and my body. Where do I even start?
In comes the one main thing that helps me. That’s my solution — choosing the
one-main-thing.
Why does it work?
It gets me to start
Choosing the one-main-thing moves me from a world of ideas to a decision. Once I’ve prioritized, I know where to start. I work with it on a macro and micro level. For instance, I will commit to one main thing for the week and one main thing for the day.
I create depth in my progress
I used to have 5-6 to-do tasks, but over time I noticed that I would feel all over the place. When I started to focus, I could see growth and over time it got easier, I got faster and more knowledgeable in the chosen area.
I still get lured to add tasks to my list. Or I get ideas that tickle my curiosity. I add those to my ‘ideas’ list and continue working. Then I revisit them, but only after one main thing is finalized. That way I know I am progressing and keeping myself open.
Am I (doing) enough?
Yes! That’s another major benefit of this approach. It brings the feeling of accomplishment. If I slip into multitasking, by the end of the day I am haunted by the feeling of is-this-enough. And, unfortunately, sometimes even am-I-enough! But now instead, I feel satisfied. It doesn’t mean that the result is perfect, but I am certain that I chose my work in a mindful way.
Wrap up
Defining one main thing helps me go from overwhelm to lets-do-this! It is a very simple approach and makes me feel accomplished at the end of every day. As with most things in life, I am not dead strict with it, but this approach has helped me prioritize and be mindful about how I work. How do you structure your productivity?
P.S. I am creating Playground (a productivity platform) that supports solopreneurs to keep weekly consistency. Among other tips, we use the one-main-action weekly. Is it for you? Check here >
Way to go! Working on one main task is ideal.
Yet, I so often fall into the trap of spreading my focus over multiple things.
I have to keep reminding myself that:
(from https://www.slowdownnow.org/how-to-slow-down/)
Hey Lukasz, I just subscribed to Slowdown :) The list made me smile!! Love it. Did you write it or do you 'only' recommend it as a member?
I only came across this gem a few weeks ago. The point about multitasking stuck in my mind. Your post was also a good reminder. 🙂
A great find! Do you know 'How to be Idle' by Tom Hodgkinson? First point reminded me of his book, which i love.
I didn't know the book. Looks promising. Adding to my reading list.
Perfect, let me know if you start reading it :)
I have another problem. How to know which jobs/tasks/things are essential, it is not that you have a blueprint for what you are doing, it is open-ended unfolding in real-time.
I agree, deciding on the priority task is another essential process. Maybe it should be another post🤓 . If I shorten it, my method is: I make 2-3 big goals for 6 months, then break those down on a monthly level, weekly level and daily (not all at the same time). So my one main task feeds one of the main goals. Is that explanation helping?
How do you know whether the big goals you are defining or choosing are the right ones?
I kind of gave up on being sure about what is truly critical, essential, must do, I surrender to my intuition. It is messy and looks disordered but at least I limit inner conflicts.
I agree. I've also tried calling my goals 'intentions' and I feel this way I am more open. But generally, my goals are connected to WHY I am even making Playground. Which is to support more people do what they care about & not take themselves too seriously while at it 😊
Yesss!! Keep doing one thing. Thank you for sharing!
If you want, let me know how it goes! And thanks for your support 🤗
I'm with you on the one thing thing.
Each day I have one main task to accomplish. I'm only happy once that's done and the rest of the completed tasks are just bonuses for me 🙂
Glad to hear I am not alone in it 🤗 I guess it's minimalism meets productivity 💪
Thanks for sharing!
I totally agree with this! Every day before start working I write down my goals for the day in the WBE Space slack channel. I always end up doing more tasks. But just taking a moment to define a few crucial tasks it helps me to structure my work much better!
Hi Tiago, writing down is also great, supposedly it increases a chance to do them by 42% 🤓. I've heard about WBE several times now, maybe its a sign I should join :)
It does help. Plus we have a bot that keeps count of our streak which gamifies a little the process :) I am sure you will like it :)
Hehe perfect! My approach with playing & working is more of a philosophical side than gamification but elements of play make a difference! I see that you have a podcast too, really nice! Let's keep in touch 🤗
Yes I do :) hope you like it and to see you soon in the web space :D
See youu 🎈
As a solopreneur myself, here is how I organize my tasks and decide what to get out of the way on a daily basis.
First and foremost, it is essential for me to write down every task I have on something. What I use is a combination of a whiteboard and a list on Google Keep if I'm mobile, but preferably I use a whiteboard as it keeps me in line because I have to view it every single time I pass by it and if I don't remove any tasks I feel like I have not accomplished anything.
Second, I prioritize my customers needs first as I don't want to lose any clients by delaying support. Once I'm done answering my customers questions or issues. I move on to development and marketing as every business always needs to improve and reach out to potential new leads/clients.
I try to accomplish 3-5 tasks every day whether it's a habitual or one-time task. I feel like completing this set amount of tasks will help me move on to the next stage of where I'm at. Lastly, if you do this for more than 30 days, it will become a habit, and you will become comfortable with this routine, so your productivity may get hampered after a while as you start to get comfortable. So what I do in this case is move to a new environment to get my focus back.
Hopefully, my routine will help others as well.
Hi Bill, thanks a lot for taking the time and sharing the different steps. I like the idea of writing the goal on a board and kind of in your face :) I use Trello but I will try it out :)
Thanks for sharing. The aim each day is to complete one main task that will provide my business with the most return. Everything else is a bonus for me.
Do you have some tips on how do you decide on your one main task?
Develop a method to manage your time by setting goals, planning activities, and prioritizing your tasks. Once you have created a system that works for you, stick with it until you need to modify it based on the need.
Thank you 🤗
I've been having the exact opposite problem as a solo maker. Everything is kinda cracking on and instead of a whole bunch of things I need to do, I'm struggling to find things to keep me busy, so I dick about and then feel really unsatisfied 😄
Still trying to figure out what to do, so now I'm faffing about on Indie Hackers.
Haha I love it! Sounds like a nice problem to have 🎈 Do you want to share what helped you get most impact?
I've been running JustSketchMe for a few years now and the product is quite mature. The most marketing impact was good SEO and a relatively untapped niche. I also (once profitable) hired someone to run the socials/content marketing/PR and all that, and have found myself having to create tasks to keep myself busy. I then started an open source project Bear and that's community funded and running about 10k blogs.
Now I'm just feeling a bit aimless. There is stuff I can do, but the impact each of the tasks has is much smaller than in the early days (diminishing returns and all that). I think I'll have to start something new at some point 😅
Aha I see. Hmhm have you tried the 5-whys game? Also if you ever want to share a bit more I would be grateful. I love what I am making and at the moment I exploring to see how can it be more impactful. Let me know if you want to connect.
The struggle is real for solopreneurs. Thanks for sharing Ida
I've been bootstrapping Famewall with a full time job and there's always so many tasks to do that context switching kills a lot of my time.
True story 🙂 I love minimal solutions and Famewall looks great, so simple!
Thanks Ida :) You had a shot at trying it?
My customers don't use Twitter or Reddit. Or at least so far :) I need something for Instagram :)
That's a good point. But with Instagram do they converse in the comments or the posts, Ida?
Most common way to show appreciation for a product is that customers would post it as a story with a comment or send a personal message. Most creators screenshot and show those comments in 'highlights'. I still haven't done that on mine. It would be nice to have some solution :)
Interesting. Thanks for sharing this.
Great post! When you think about it, we're physically only able (in 99% of the cases) to do one task at a time. Multitasking mostly means switching focus between different tasks in short time frames. I've tried to do this when working on BotMeNot and I saw that it was not an efficient approach to getting things done.
This is why I've started allocating larger uninterrupted time frames for tasks that I consider more important than others.
Don't get me wrong, sometimes switching focus can work - for example, when you need a mental reset, or encounter a mental roadblock.
But, for the most part, I agree with your suggestions.
Thanks for sharing!
I agree, it's not black&white and sometimes switching does help with getting a fresh eye. Botmenot looks great!
Thanks!
Nice, I appreciate this reminder! 🌹
Thank you! I've also been exploring it on and off, meaning, I 'slip' into multi-multi tasking, feel the same burden and then go back to simplifying 🙂
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