Blokky
Automated Custom Slack Statuses
you would have had no idea!
Recently I learned a lesson: users aren't looking for outcomes, they're searching for workflows. The vision of my product is to help people be more productive, but it's near impossible to get people to sign up for a tiny web app based on a promise of reclaiming productivity.
This urged me to refocus. What actually does Blokky do right now? I landed on one thing, and I'm focusing on doing it right:
⭐️ Blokky automates your slack status based on the type of work you're doing.
Knowing this, what was next?
To start, I rebuilt my entire landing page. I trimmed it down a ton, so that you can understand the value of the app in a quick glance - connect to slack, set your schedule, and your statuses will follow your work.
Then, I deleted a half-baked feature. I had basic reporting on how you spend your time, but it was a distraction to my other work and made the landing page more confusing. It actually felt great to delete. I can't wait to bring the feature back in more glory when the time is right. But for now, it's a distraction.
Then, I tested and slimmed the critical workflows. I patched minor annoyances in the flows, and made things easier where possible. There's no room for fluff right now.
Blokky isn't perfect, but I now have a workflow that I can support and get value out of every day, and expand into the larger vision over time.
When I was first digging into my project work, I learned of a habit building strategy called 30x30.
The concept is simple, but hard. Spend 30 minutes a day on whatever habit you want to build (in this case, building your project 😎), for 30 days. Here's the hard, but important part - you can not spend more than 30 minutes.
Some days, 30 minutes will be easy. You'll flow through a bunch of work. But some days it will be really hard, you'll get distracted or finish very little. By limiting to 30 minutes, you'll be able to sustain the commitment, which is the most important thing for building the habit.
I made an addition to the typical 30x30 strategy -- the micro retro. When I wrapped up the 30 minutes each day, I wrote down three things:
- What did I accomplish that day?
- What got in the way?
- Most importantly - what's next?
The micro retro was super helpful in understanding where I was wasting my time, and refocusing me on the goal. Here's a harsh callout - you should not be fidgeting with tiny design improvements when your core workflow doesn't work! If I found myself adjusting border colors while my core workflow didn't work, the micro retro was a great process to refocus me on what was most important for the next session.
By understanding the most important piece of work that's next for you, the daily 30 minutes become highly productive. If you want to continue improving your focus and productivity, check out timewillow.com.
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