Difficulty Focusing at Day Job (startup on the side) is Building

4 points by jhacks 13 years ago | 3 comments

It has always been hard.

From time to time I get very invested and lost in my work (I work in finance) but I usually drift and think of my startup. I make sure to never actually work on anything at work but sometimes I'll read relevant news, Google to solve coding questions / issues I have and so on. Then some days it is just terrible. Literally just sit there staring at my computing in this sort mental pain and frustration.

My job is actually pretty good! illt really is ideal for what it is (accounting background and in corp finance). I certainly would be happy (presumably) if not for my newfound love of coding and creating spurred by my startup. But I can't help be so passionate for my startup that it remains on my mind all the time.

I just wish I could get a REAL month to work on it. Wake up and get to have nothing else in my way. The day job tires me out.

What do you do to get through it? I really can't afford to be without any income just yet unfortunately. At least the startup has monetization strategy baked in but with that isn't an option yet.

Any insight would be great. I'm going crazy.

keenahn 13 years ago |

Well, you will inevitably get the advice that you should quit.

Barring that, I say create strict barriers for yourself to ease the mental context-switching. Say for example, you will focus 100% on your day job from 10AM to 7PM weeknights, and you will go nuts on your startup at all other times. Even just writing down these rules will help you focus. By working more effectively during the day, and assuming your boss isn't a nazi guarding your time, you can actually finish your work earlier and spend more time on your startup.

Another suggestion, wake up one or two hours earlier to work on your passion project. Since you mention being too tired when you come home at night, this is a way to make sure you are making incremental progress day by day.

Eventually, you really will have to "burn the boats" so to speak and quit. I'm not sure what's keeping you from quitting, but I'm assuming you have good reasons (mortgage, kids, debt). It will be tough to bootstrap all the way until profitability. Is there any way you can work on contract while you continue developing your startup?

Best of luck

xpop2027 13 years ago | |

I am currently doing #2 on my own startup. Getting up earlier in the day to work on a passion project is ideal since I have the most mental capacity at that time of the day. Also, giving a strict 2 hours workspace, I know exactly what I need to focus on for that day.

whichdan 13 years ago |

What about taking a break from your startup? I noticed back when I was working on mine that I got into the habit of working at my job all day, then working on the startup all night, and it was way more stressful than I realized.