In my previous post, I talked about how Stephen King has a daily goal of writing 10 pages (roughly 2,000 words). After that, he stops writing and does other things instead. He honors his limit so that he can stay productive over a long consistent period of time and never get into a slump.
Since being a solo software founder is also a creative profession, I’ve been wondering how to apply that work ethic to my work. What should be a good “daily target” for a solo technical founder?
The answer I’ve come to so far:
1-2 “customer-worthy commits” (CWCs) per day.
A customer-worthy commit is exactly what it sounds like — the kind of code commit that you could proudly tell a customer about.
Meaning that it’s bigger than a small cosmetic change. It has to meaningfully move the needle in terms of how well you are serving your customers.
In fact, I believe that ALL meaningful work in the company (especially as a solo operation) can and should be reframed in a way that it directly benefits the customer. This includes refractoring / maintenance work. If it can’t be justified to your most important trading partners, it shouldn’t be done at all.
Of course, these 1-2 CWCs are just for the creative side of work every day. Other managerial and admin work is secondary. “Make” before you “manage.”
This article is from my codex.
