Monday, May 6, 2013

Routines for Employed Bootstrappers

Edit: I've setup a page to keep this up to date. Hopefully you can glean something from it.


Here's my current daily routine. Maybe it helps someone come up with ideas for squeezing more productive time into their day.

M-F

Wakeup, shower, dressed... out the door at 7am.

Driving for 60-minutes
  • Dictating content for target keywords
  • Watching saved videos
  • Catching up on world events via NPR

Arrive at work, working ~4 hours
(Incl. 10-minute morning walk around the block during which I capture ideas)

Lunch
  • Compiling keywords for targeting
  • Compiling ideas for drip marketing channel
  • Coding up a small feature, or getting it started 
  • Meeting with other entrepreneurs
  • Generating content

Continue working ~4 hours
(Incl. 10-minute afternoon walk around the block during which I capture ideas again)

After work, preparing to leave - 15 minutes, downloading OTR content
  • Anything from Rob Walling
  • Anything from Business of Software
  • Anything from MicroConf
  • Anything from RailsCasts
  • Stanford classes via iTunes

Drive Home, 60 minutes
  • 15 minute call with co-founder (2x weekly)
  • Watching downloaded content
  • Compiling list of evening action-items

Arrive home, dinner, evening activities, playing with kiddos.

Evening working hours begin ~9:30
  • Acting on any items started at lunch or discussed with co-founder
  • 15 minute break to get my wife a soda before the store closes
  • Wind down, maybe a game.

Secret Sauce: Friday nights, you have to hit them hard. If you do, Saturday and Sunday will tend to be more productive. If you start off Friday nights with lazy activities, it will color the entire weekend


Saturday, Sunday

Hit and miss, primarily due to how I handled Friday night. My routine isn't quite up to par there yet, regardless. Working on it.

A Thousand Tiny Steps

One day, for good or ill, you may look up to find yourself in an altogether unexpected place. And in that moment, you might consider how you...