Issue 12

March 18, 2024

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Stop Planning, Start Doing

On my mind

When it comes to work and life, I'm a planner.

I use to-do lists.

I like to make plans.

I don't like surprises. 😆

For better or worse, I've always been like this. I used to think this was the best way to work and live. However, as an entrepreneur, I'm learning this mindset can be dangerous.

Don't get me wrong. Roadmaps and task lists are not inherently bad, but spending too much time on them is. If you're building a business on the side like me, you can quickly become your own worst enemy.

You only have so much free time. If you spend more energy planning than executing, you won't get anything done. No one else is going to do the work for you. Focus on task completion instead of task creation. Which sounds better?

Or

You have to strike the right balance between planning and execution. If you don't plan, you can waste time on the wrong things. When you sit down to work, you should know exactly what you're trying to accomplish.

On the other hand, too much execution can be a bad thing. You can spend hours perfecting the smallest details, but to what end? If you're trying to get to MVP or validate what you've built, you just need something to work.

There is no finish line when it comes to product development. New features can always be added. Code can be refactored. Embrace the iterative process.

• Plan
• Execute
• Ship
• Repeat

Valence

Some of us met last week and I left the meeting with more questions than answers about our direction. However, one positive takeaway was that it lit a fire under me.

When you first build something, you have questions like:

• What should the onboarding flow look like?
• Which settings should be customized?
• What should we use for the button text?

These questions can wreak havoc on your sanity and productivity, especially if you're a solopreneur and building independently. My advice is to make the best decision you can and run with it! If you have some co-workers or friends who can help you decide, great. If not, no problem.

• Make the call
• Get it done
• Move on

So that's exactly what I did and now we have something to show off. I recorded a demo video of the app. The next step is to get feedback and validation.

The idea behind our app is simple, yet powerful — tag messages in Slack so they don't get lost. We're starting with decisions, ideas, and to-dos. Want to know the best part? All you have to do is react to a message with an emoji for the app to work. When you do that, the app will save the message, send you a notification, and display your tagged messages in the App Home tab.

Here are two screenshots of the app in action. If you have any feedback about this or want to learn more about it, just let me know!

Agendaful

I made steady progress on database integrations for my app last week. I'm using Supabase to store data and Prisma to save data.

It feels good to say that Agendaful is now using a database. I posted about this small win last week. As a Frontend Engineer, I don't do much database work, so figuring this out felt like a major accomplishment.

My app has a decent amount of data to store. There are users, meetings, agendas, and agenda items. For each collection, data needs to be created, read, updated, and deleted. These are referred to as CRUD operations for short.

It will take me several hours to fully integrate Agendaful with the database. I decided to break all this work down into small tasks that can ideally be done in 30 minutes or less. As a solopreneur with a full-time job and a family, I have limited free time. During the week, I have short blocks of time before work, on my lunch break, and after work.

I shared one of my favorite productivity hacks recently. I took all of the database integration work I needed to do for Agendaful and broke it down by functions. This allows me to start and finish tasks on the same day. By making progress each day, I can celebrate small wins, create forward momentum, and be motivated to keep going.

One last thing…

I posted some exciting news last week.

I've been accepted to join the 2024 Deepwatch Mentorship Program.

During this 6-month program, I will meet regularly with my mentor. My focus area will be leadership. I'm so excited about this!

I’ve dedicated the past few years of my career to learning as much as I can about engineering leadership and seeking opportunities to lead at work. I've been an official manager and unofficial team lead.

The reason why I want to become a better people leader and eventually manage again someday is simple — I want to help people grow. I've reached a point in my career where doing that is more rewarding than individual achievements.

Furthermore, everything I learn about leadership can be directly applied to entrepreneurship. Whether you're building a business alone or with a small team, leadership is essential. You need someone who can step forward, make decisions, and take action. It's no wonder many great entrepreneurs also happen to be strong leaders.

Thanks for reading this week. See you next week! 👋