Super confused! How to plan time and goals as a solo founder, working 5-9pm on the side project? 🙏🏼

@yongfook does a 50-50 split of his time.

https://codingweekmarketingweek.com/

Hey Pluto,

It's more challenging when you have both a job and a side hustle.

I use different supporting systems:

For working

1. Make a simple monthly plan (up to 4 focus goals)
2. Brake goals into weeks
3. WRITE IT DOWN (I use trello) it increases your chance to do it by +41%
4. Do a simple review

Other humans for the support :)

1. Have weekly accountability buddy meetings - not feel alone & review how the goal went and set a new one
2. Join a solopreneur slack community - learn from others

Well-being:
Don't forget to rest & exercise & socialize

Trying to find and then set up accountability buddies and a system takes extra time and dedication. If you need one and want also a structured and creative programe I combine gamification, procrastination and buddies. Check here at www.enterplayground.com

When creating turbolink.io, I found that simple solutions for productivity are sometimes the greatest. Three sheets of loose-leaf paper, marked up with bulleted todo lists, got me from nothing to launch day. Every time I completed a task, I scribbled it out of the todo list. By the end, those three sheets of notebook paper were totally greyed out with pencil marks.

In short, I keep a consistent schedule
Do my work before business hours, then do some work for others in that time, then evenings it's either gym or more work
I use pretty much every day white sounds and the accountability buddy system you mentioned (I swear by it, it's freaky how well it works)
I don't want to advertise, but if you want I can send you a link
You can even co-work with me. I'll be your accountability-buddy

Some other stuff, I use jira, calendar notes to remind me to do X on specific date / time, and sticky notes on my screen.
all over the place but works for me

Hi @plutoisaplanet,
Here are some advice

Planning
I start each day by planning what should be done during the day. A simple todo list that I write on a rough book / apple notes. Then I do the work mostly at night.

Tools
What I found to work best for me is to drop all the cool online tools (notion, trello etc.)
I use Apple's Notes. It syncs across my devices. It's enough. KISS principle.
2 states : todo, done.

Hope this helps :)

For my startup I used notion, I basically setup a board with multiple different statuses, those being:

1. Idea
2. ToDo
3. Bugs
4. Planning
5. In Dev
6. Done

This was my system to take big goals and then break them down into much smaller tasks to keep myself focused and away from realising the scale of my project. I hope this helps!

I completely understand where you're coming from! As a solo founder myself, I know how overwhelming it can be to navigate through various tools and resources. In my experience, having multiple tools can often be a distraction and take away valuable time from actually building your business.

Personally, I found that using Startup OS by https://www.notionstartup.com/ was a game changer for me. Not only does it have everything I need in one place, but it's also incredibly user-friendly and easy to use.

Additionally, I'm currently upskilling myself in Notion and would love to help other founders find their footing with the platform. Whether you're just starting out or looking to streamline your workflow, I'm here to offer my support and expertise. Don't hesitate to reach out to me for help - I'm happy to assist in any way that I can.

If you're at zero looking to go to one, the solution I like is to cut unnecessary BS and get to making your first sale, period. If you're already doing alright, then it's time for something else- get into a mastermind, hire some good folk, etc...

Hey, I'm a solopreneur working a startup job and a part time job (I also have ADHD). I find the tool clickup really helps me structure my days better. It also helped me establish my weekly processes that I need to do to keep my businesses running smoothly. I'd be happy to help you set it up if you end using it. I like it so much I became an affiliate, lol: https://clickup.com?fp_ref=myles68

Recently, I started outlining goals by sprints as you would on a product team.

I started by grouping my initiatives into projects and then prioritizing them based on the customer's needs (I'm iterating on my MVP right now). Then each sprint, I create several tasks based on pushing these projects forward. The hardest part is prioritization and time estimating, but I've been doing quick 20-minute retros at the end of the sprint to review my estimates vs reality. Hopefully, this will help me hone this muscle over time.

I've found 2 week sprints to be a happy medium for pace. Hope this helps!

Hope the below strategy helps. It works great for me
https://www.indiehackers.com/post/one-simple-strategy-to-overcome-feeling-overwhelmed-with-massive-todo-list-742a387b97?utm_campaign=forum-notification&utm_medium=email&utm_source=indie-hackers-emails

You should only be working on ONE of the following at any given time:

Strategy
Content Creation
Sales
Administrative

Keep yourself on check constantly and avoid distractions. If its not one of these items, your off target with time.

I would say that if you optimize to build something important it is important to schedule but there is some magic in just doing your project day and night without optimizing for health. I am sure you understand what I am trying to explain.

From my personal experience, utilize your free time. Even a little work on side project is more than enough and be honest to yourself - dont be lazy!