Project update #9 - Fighting the inner urges

by Lukáš Petr

I am having bit of a crisis here with how to start this post. Maybe I could start by mentioning something:

This is one of the earliest times that I ever started with the project update. It's 18:19, to be exact. So this means that I will have enough time to do a better job with this. More structured, focused and informative post than those before.

..Right? I am not sure, because I have a lot to cover today and most of the things do not relate very much. A wiser way would be to split it into several post, and focus on just one idea in each one of them.

Although I do plan to do it that way in the future, for now I want to preserve and stick to what these project updates were intended to be, and that means documenting my path of building a new exciting iPhone app and releasing it in the iOS App Store.

But enough with this, and let's get started!

What I've been up to these last 3 days

1) Pushing forward my new Glimsoft website

I've spent sizeable part of Monday and most of Tuesday working with Martin (the coder of the new website). There were a lot of things that we/he fixed, improved and/or implemented. To name a few:

  • Syntax highlighting using PRISM.
  • Implementing contact form and newsletter forms.
  • Fixing all sorts of positional and/or functional errors.
  • Implementing the Disqus commenting system.
  • General Wordpress sorcery.

It was a lot of work but I am glad he was willing to fix even the little things that I asked him to. I have to admit that I am a bit 'shocked' how much of my time did the new website take (and I haven't even coded it!), but at the same time I am excited that it will launch very soon (possibly this Friday if everything goes as planned) and it will be huge step forward from the current site.

I am also looking forward to the lowered barrier to writing new posts. Namely because:

  • I will be able to use markdown. I've been using it on this personal blog and it's amazing! Not having to worry about html is a huge relief.

  • Uploading pictures will be more convenient. Before, I had to upload them manually and paste in the urls myself. That was obviously a huge pain and time waste.

  • Better result in mind when I am writing a post. Before, due to the suboptimal looks of the site, I wasn't that keen on writing new posts partly because they didn't look very good when published. Now that I will know along the way that the result will be nice and shiny, it will be much better motivation to write new things more often.

2) Working on New App.

This series of project updates was supposed to be mostly about my building of this new app, yet here we are. Project update #9 and this new app didn't take nearly as much spotlight as I've hoped. But that's about to change, trust me.

Anyway, during Monday and Tuesday, at times when I wasn't working on the new website, I'd worked on the new app. I've pushed forward the core part of it, and that was all good, but I wish I had done more. Once I will get the website out of my 'worry plate', I believe it will be much better.

3) Getting some 'mind rest'.

Today, I spend most of the day just getting rest from the work. Which is ironic, because in the morning I was quite upset that I did so little on the new app this week and I was thinking about ways how will I manage to make time for it today and what all I want to accomplish in it.

Fighting the inner urges

Long story short, that's not what happened. And I am glad it didn't. Because in the morning, when I was in the gym, I was starting to feel that this 'busy-ness' and this feeling of being late on things was building up in me, and I've felt this way too many times now to know that it is not a good mental place to be in.

So when I got back from the gym, I did what seemed counter-intuitive back then but brilliant now. I relaxed. I caught up on my weekly reviews and filled in all the numbers. (Note: I do weekly reviews each Sunday, and part of that review are various stats about how are my apps doing in the store, how many visitors were on my website etc.).

Then, I caught back up on my studying of the Zen Habits book and made 'habit plans' for 2 new habits that I am determined to stick with: daily marketing and tracking of my spendings/earnings. I will let you know in some future update how it is going.

In the afternoon, I went cycling. Just 40km, nothing too hard, but I got cleared my mind quite well.

Then I did the marketing habit for the first time. Just 5 minutes. I wrote down a couple of captions for the New App. Leo Babauta recommends in the book to start small, and it is truly a great advice. I started my writing habit with writing just 5 minutes each day and slowly built up from there, and today it was the 81th time I did it without missing a single day.

After that, I started with this update. So I haven't worked on the new app at all. In the morning, I thought it will be upsetting, but as I said, I am glad I took the rest from working. I needed it. Now I am refreshed and ready to jump into it tomorrow. With clear mind.

The lesson

When I was starting with this update, I had almost no idea what it will be about (which is usually the case with these updates), but I think I've found a great lesson to share today.

When you feel the rush that you are not making as much progress as you imagined, and when you are being annoyed by it, don't try to fight it by jumping into work at all cost and postponing everything else.

Take a break. Do something that will clear your mind. And when you feel that you are calm and peaceful, only then continue with the work.

Now, again. This might not be universal. But it definitely works for me. Because I've been through these feelings so many times now. I know that it's not easy take such counter-intuitive approach when it occurs, but I will try. I believe it's worth it.

This will be all for today. If you made it all the way here, thanks! You have my utter respect. And if you have a tip on what works for you when you feel late and unaccomplished, please tell me in the comments. You would be the first person who commented on this blog (wouldn't that be wonderful?). Anyway, have a nice rest of the week! And don't forget to check back here next Sunday for another update.