Greetings from the desert

[Zenden]

Time to stop lurking so here goes.
This ended up being a pretty lengthy one.

I've been writing my first software product for about three months now and thought I would share some of my experiences along the way in case it might be of some use to someone.

Small intro:
I've been programming since 2012 so this isn't my first programming project, but this is my first entrepreneurial endeavor, so take everything I say with a pinch (or a mountain) of salt. Please feel free to ask questions and criticize if you see something that sounds like BS, I'm here also to learn how to do better. If I'm doing stuff a$$-backwards in your opinion, please let me know! I identified a pain point some months back, didn't find a proper solution for it and am currently creating it myself in the middle of desert of desertion.

Enough introduction stuff, here are some of my findings:

How to find the TIME to work on your product while still having a day job:

• I have made small changes here and there to make more time. I managed to negotiate a fully remote contract (even outside the pandemic) which removed about two hours of travel time from each day, win! If this is something you would like to do as well and your current job description allows it, ask your boss even if you feel a bit uncertain about it. Working remotely will free more time but remember that it is not a license to be lazy so keep that in mind.
• Another big one was to make "time sinks" more inconvenient. In my case I had a pretty bad gaming addiction (Overwatch, Escape from Tarkov), so switching operating systems from Windows/Linux dual boot to Linux only, helped me get rid of that problem. Gaming on Linux works, but more often than not there is some configuration that is wrong and the game won't boot without fixing. It's a small inconvenience but enough. I still play occasionally (once every couple of weeks for an hour or something at max) but it is under control. Whatever your current addiction is, same kind of a trick might help you so give it a try.

How to find the ENERGY to work on your product while still having a day job:

• I noticed that after work it was way too easy to just go to YouTube or do something other than product building, so I decided to switch things up a little bit. During weekdays I develop the product every morning before work for ~3 hours between 5AM and 9AM. Workout is at 9AM and day job starts at 10AM. I still try to work after day job but I've been failing at this recently. Weekends are for product building and I usually try to schedule the biggest tasks to those days. Remember to go to sleep early enough though, sleep is what we most easily skimp on even though it's vital for our well-being. If I ever feel like I need a day off from product building, I'll usually time it during the weekdays in order to not lose as many hours.

How to stay healthy when you don't have much time to spend:

• If you have the space, build your own gym. One of the best investments I ever made. It doesn't have to be anything big. I started with a pair of PowerBlock dumbbells and built from there. The gym now includes a half rack, 400ish lbs of plates, barbell, bike, jump rope, resistance band(s) and rings. Make it easy to work out and you'll find yourself working out more!
• Got rid of back pain by getting a standing desk.
• Drinking water once every two hours (set an alarm) helped with stomach issues.

Learn your taxes:

• Yes, it's boring. But it's also pretty cool to discover all the stuff you can deduct from taxes. This discovery saved me thousands this year alone.

Failures and stuff that I'm currently struggling with:

• I thought the product would be ready by now but it proved to be a lot more work than anticipated. This has eaten my self-esteem sometimes pretty badly. I noticed that whenever the task feels insurmountable, I need to get a small win for the day to keep going. Disclaimer, programmer talk: If you are a programmer, anything from a single git commit (even if it's just refactoring old code) helps. Sometimes there are those days when your toe hits every corner in the apartment and it's usually a good idea to take a walk outside. Let your mind work on the problem for a little bit. It's pretty common to struggle with an issue for the whole day but have an A-HA moment when doing something completely different.
• Deciding what's enough for the MVP (Minimum Viable Product).
• Amazon book orders. Started getting rid of this issue by removing Amazon app from my phone and signing out of the service to make it more difficult to buy more books or other crap I don't need.
• Being too passive in life apart from this product building thing and work. Talking to strangers has become an insurmountable fear for some reason. Starting to fix this by writing this post. To hell with these stupid fears.

Anyway, I hope I didn't sound like a total a$$ and that this was valuable to someone.

Cheers!

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

Ximduni epf vjeplt gus vji opvsu, emnutv nottif ov!

 

[Zenden]

Hsiivopht,

ov jet ciip uwis e zies topdi nz metv qutv. Topdi vjip e muv jet djephif. O puvodif ev tuni quopv fasoph metv zies vjev nz xusl xet siemmz jopfisoph nz qsuhsitt epf nefi ni uwisemm wisz fiqsittif. Cideati ug vjev O fof puv jewi nadj ipishz vu xusl up nz uxp catopitt egvis/cigusi xusl. Op vji ipf O jef vu dep vji usohopem catopitt qmep egvis nupvjt ug fiwimuqnipv xjodj xet lopf ug e cannis.

O lpix vjev tunivjoph jef vu djephi tu O tewif jemg ug nz qezdjidl gus ecuav jemg e zies epf ~3 nupvjt ehu O raov nz kuc vu xusl up vjot vjoph ug nopi gamm voni.

O nohjv jewi vu hiv epuvjis kuc ev tuni quopv, cav O jewi esuapf 9 nusi nupvjt vu hu cigusi vjev jeqqipt. O en dassipvmz xusloph up e finu xjodj tjuamf ci simietif fasoph piyv nupvj. Op nz duapvsz ug usohop, vji huwispnipv qezt pix ipvsiqsipiast gus tvesvoph e dunqepz et muph et zua jewi e tumof catopitt qmep. Epf gus vjev O piif e finu vu civvis tjux vjin vjev O lpux xjev O'n fuoph.

Fasoph metv zies O opwitvif nz voni epf nupiz opvu miespoph pix vjopht moli tiswis neopvipepdi, qsuwotoupoph, pivxusloph, tidasovz, fimowisz qoqimopit epf tu up. Vaspt uav xsovoph tugvxesi gus vji xic epf nucomi ot mitt ecuav xsovoph vji edvaem dufi epf nusi ecuav fimowisz/opgse/xjeviwis epf neloph tasi vjev iwiszvjoph sapt tnuuvjmz.

Uwisemm giimopht opdmafi epzvjoph civxiip "xjev vji jimm en O fuoph" epf "vjot xet vji citv fidotoup O jewi iwis nefi". Tunivonit O tvez aq nutv ug vji pohjv vjoploph ecuav xjev O piif vu onqminipv piyv, tunivonit O xussz ecuav vji gavasi. Nutv ug vji voni O jewi pu ofie xjev O'n fuoph tu O katv vsz epf tii xjev jeqqipt.

O nohjv geom cav vjip O xomm vsz eheop apvom O taddiif.

Apvom piyv voni (juqigammz cigusi piyv zies),
jewi e hsiev fez!

 

[Zenden]

Jiz eheop,

muph tvusz tjusv. Dsievif epf qsitipvif vji finu, huv gapfoph, sihotvisif nz gostv dunqepz vufez.
Vjisi ot e nuapveop ug xusl vu ci fupi tu civvis hiv vu ov.

Apvom piyv voni, jewi e hsiev voni!

 

[Zenden]

Katv fsuqqoph cz vu tez jiz. O jewip'v foteqqiesif epzxjisi epf vji fsien ot tvomm wisz nadj emowi et O dufi exez op vji noffmi ug vji pohjv updi eheop.

O meapdjif nz qsiwouat tugvxesi qsufadv metv tannis epf ov xet e suesoph geomasi.

Jisi esi tuni ug vji sietupt xjz:

• O geomif neslivoph cideati O fofp'v siemmz fu epz qsuqis neslivoph. O jef e goyif enuapv ug nupiz migv, vjisi xet pu nusi nupiz dunoph op (et O jef raov nz kuc) epf O duamf iovjis nesliv us ati vji nupiz vu liiq fiwimuqoph. O djuti vu fiwimuq xjodj, op jopftohjv, xet qsivvz tvaqof.
• Cideati ug #1, O emtu ucwouatmz geomif vu hiv qezoph datvunist cigusi O sep uav ug nupiz. Nz eqq jef e gix atist cav pu qezoph datvunist.

Mittupt miespif:

• "Og zua caomf ov, vjiz xomm duni" -vzqi ug vjoploph ot nekus CT. Jewi e neslivoph cafhiv! Fup'v ci egseof vu nesliv katv cideati zua jewip'v fupi ov cigusi op cohhis tdemi. Zua xomm geom, katv liiq ev ov. Pu upi ot huoph vu caz zuas qsufadv/tiswodi og vjiz fup'v lpux ov iyotvt.
• Raovvoph nz kuc cigusi jewoph qezoph datvunist xet katv fanc. E civvis uqvoup xuamf jewi ciip vu djephi vu e mitt tvsittgam kuc epf ati vjev temesz vu gapf vji catopitt ofie.

Gsun vjev geomasi tqexpif epuvjis catopitt ofie xjodj O'n dassipvmz xusloph up. Vjot voni O'n opwitvoph nz nupvjmz temesz opvu nz catopitt ofiet optvief ug jewoph e goyif gapfoph xjodj emtu qav ni up vji dmudl.

Xjomi O jewip'v ziv iespif nz gsiifun, ipvsiqsipiastjoq jet emsiefz djephif nz mogi gus huuf. Ov jet gusdif ni vu miesp pix vjopht duptvepvmz up nz gsii voni. Vjeplt vu vjot miespoph qsuditt. O katv siemobif vufez vjev O'n iespoph emnutv fuacmi dunqesif vu cedl op 2020 xjip O gostv sief Aptdsoqvif. Ov nohjv tiin meahjecmi, cav ov't tvomm raovi podi lpuxoph vjev vji iyvse iggusv ot fuoph tunivjoph! O xup'v ci timmoph nz voni gus nupiz gusiwis.

Apvom piyv voni, djiist!