Day 845 - Context switching is a muscle - https://golifelog.com/posts/context-switching-is-a-muscle-1682400918882
Here's a hot take for ya:
Those who think focusing on one project is a better approach to indie hacking just needs to learn how to better organise their time/costs of context switching.
I might be biased because I'm already all in on the portfolio approach. But that doesn't mean that I don't face challenges managing multiple products. Context switching is the hardest. And it's not even the time. It's the cognitive costs of switching. And worse if you switch multiple times within a day! I think my brain would turn to mush doing that (and it did on some crazy days).
So even while we small bettors run multiple products, there's definitely a skill to doing it well versus doing it poorly. It's something like a muscle. If all along you're used to doing just one thing, then the muscle of context switching will be under-trained, and the first few weeks you'll struggle, and then call it quits because it's too hard or unproductive.
Truth is, there's many ways to better manage the costs of context switching. The most common seems to be building products *serially*. Build, launch, iterate till stable state, automate, then move on to the next bet. Influential makers like Pieter Levels and Tony Dinh comes to mind for this approach. If you create digital downloads, self-paced courses, info products, or any product where the after-purchase support is minimal, doing it serially is even easier.
Another way is to timebox. Jon Yongfook does the 1 week coding, 1 week marketing approach exactly to manage the cognitive costs of context switching. It could be 1 week Product A, then another week Product B. It doesn't have to be 1 week if that's too short for you. Think in sprints, 1 week to 1 month.
So here's my point: Running multiple bets is possible and can be done sanely. But it's an approach amongst many. Focusing on one is an approach too. Sometimes it's a personality preference. Ultimately it's a choice and comes with different trade-offs.
But saying it costs too much in context switching isn't one of those trade-offs you have to make.
It's intellectually dishonest and disingeuous to say so, because context switching can be managed. At best, you can say you don't *prefer* it. You can't say it doesn't work when you've never committed to learning and doing it well. It's like saying running doesn't benefit you because you get out of breath the moment you try.
Context switching is a muscle. Use it or lose it.
Those who think focusing on one project is a better approach to indie hacking just needs to learn how to better organise their time/costs of context switching.
I might be biased because I'm already all in on the portfolio approach. But that doesn't mean that I don't face challenges managing multiple products. Context switching is the hardest. And it's not even the time. It's the cognitive costs of switching. And worse if you switch multiple times within a day! I think my brain would turn to mush doing that (and it did on some crazy days).
So even while we small bettors run multiple products, there's definitely a skill to doing it well versus doing it poorly. It's something like a muscle. If all along you're used to doing just one thing, then the muscle of context switching will be under-trained, and the first few weeks you'll struggle, and then call it quits because it's too hard or unproductive.
Truth is, there's many ways to better manage the costs of context switching. The most common seems to be building products *serially*. Build, launch, iterate till stable state, automate, then move on to the next bet. Influential makers like Pieter Levels and Tony Dinh comes to mind for this approach. If you create digital downloads, self-paced courses, info products, or any product where the after-purchase support is minimal, doing it serially is even easier.
Another way is to timebox. Jon Yongfook does the 1 week coding, 1 week marketing approach exactly to manage the cognitive costs of context switching. It could be 1 week Product A, then another week Product B. It doesn't have to be 1 week if that's too short for you. Think in sprints, 1 week to 1 month.
So here's my point: Running multiple bets is possible and can be done sanely. But it's an approach amongst many. Focusing on one is an approach too. Sometimes it's a personality preference. Ultimately it's a choice and comes with different trade-offs.
But saying it costs too much in context switching isn't one of those trade-offs you have to make.
It's intellectually dishonest and disingeuous to say so, because context switching can be managed. At best, you can say you don't *prefer* it. You can't say it doesn't work when you've never committed to learning and doing it well. It's like saying running doesn't benefit you because you get out of breath the moment you try.
Context switching is a muscle. Use it or lose it.