Distraction: The Solo Founder's Adversary

A single notification can drag us away from what we need to do, to a rabbit hole of unproductivity.

A single notification can drag us away from what we need to do, to a rabbit hole of unproductivity. Solo founders often has to juggle the roles of CEO, CTO, HR, recruiter, sales person, customer success manager & sometimes the developer. I’m not doing most of these right now, just writing down what can and have distracted me in the early days of building ToolJet.

Notifications

The cost of looking at a notification is not a fraction of second. It is a disruption to the flow of your thoughts. Does 99% of your notifications requires instant attention?

A good business opportunity

Is it worth chasing a deal with Fortune 500 company when you clearly is not in a stage to provide support across 5 timezones?

Customer feedback

You have to listen to customers. There will be customers who ask you to do things that aren’t aligned with your vision. Is it the right path? or are you just overthinking in the fear of losing a customer?

Repeated questions

Giving direction will help them find the answer themselves next time same situation happens. Giving the answer will make them ping you again when same situation arises in future. Whoever they are.

Do you usually give answers or point at the direction?

Fundraising

Just acknowledging. There is not solution if you need to raise fund. It is time-consuming and a distraction from building your product.

Imposter syndrome

Believing that you are not as competent as others perceive you to be can lead to procrastination.

Meetups

Building relationships is crucial. But is it worth attending every networking event in your city?

Over-planning

Having a plan is important but execution is equally important. Striking a balance of planning and executing is vital.

Perfectionism

Striving for perfectionism = time wasted on insignificant details. Is it worth it? nope.

Personal life

Just acknowledging. Sometimes not in our control.

Chasing new ideas

We must be open to new ideas but chasing every other idea out there is a perfect recipe to lose focus.

Burnout

It is not humanely possible to concentrate for hours. Acknowledge it and plans tasks accordingly.

The journey is overwhelming. Acknowledge the distractions, many of them might be unavoidable, you need to strike a balance.