Intro

Just want to warn you about this early on -- there is a distinct difference between being "busy" and "productive."

When we load our day with administrative tasks like emails, meetings, invoicing, and project management, it can feel like we're getting a lot done, but we never actually move the needle.

As a Solopreneur, the stress of revenue will constantly weigh on you, especially in the early days.

Yet, it's so easy to be intoxicated by fancy productivity software, which promises to save us so much time each year and turn us into optimized machines.

However, one of the quickest realities I faced when going out on my own was realizing just how distracting this type of software can be.

It's very easy to get lost in the "tool" for it's own sake, only to realize an hour has gone by and you haven't really done anything.

I feel busy, but I'm not being productive.

The Liberation of being Human

In his book Four Thousand Weeks, Oliver Burkeman (a self-proclaimed productivity nut) eventually came to the realization that he would never be able to fully optimize his time.

He felt he was a productive person but he was completing mostly insignificant tasks, and the more he tried to conquer his time, the more he felt frustrated and stressed.

Eventually surrendering to the unknown and embracing the finitude of our "abysmally brief" lives (~four thousand weeks), he was able to focus on what matters and live a more fulfilling life.

Why Get so Philosophical?

I tell you that little tidbit because early on that was me.

I have a busy family at home and I was trying to cram every ounce of optimization into every minute of my very short day.

It worked for a while at first, but then I started to feel the burnout and stress that the author describes above.

I stumbled upon his book and it helped me embrace a similar mindset.

Now, I do my best to forgive myself for off days, unproductive days, slower email responses.

I just keep my eye on the critical items:

• Meeting client deadlines
• Making a tiny stride towards my long-term goal each day

In other words, actually doing the work that grows the business.

It can be short-term in nature, such as client work on a model, or longer-term, such as building a marketing strategy or working on a course.

Everything else is just a shiny object. A distraction.

So What's My System?

Just for fun if you're curious, I've tried:

• Pen and paper
• List in Excel (with some fancy macros)
• Trello
• Asana (and others like it)
• AI-powered productivity software (this is what I use now)

Honestly though, it doesn't matter at all.

What works for me may not work for you and vice-versa.

Maybe you're fully engrained in productivity software or perhaps just use pen and paper.

Both are perfect if they work for you.

The key is to have "just enough of a system" in place so that you're spending 80-90% of your time on valuable work, and very little on admin.

Action Items

Take stock of what your schedule looks like each day.

How much "stuff" are you doing that doesn't really get you anywhere?

Be honest with yourself and see what you can trim.

For your business to succeed in the long-term, you need to continually focus on being productive, not busy.

That's it for today. See you next time.

—Chris

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