Mac app paused, recalibration, and content: update #12

This week wasn't the most successful one. It's Saturday, and I'm trying to restrain myself from doing dev work because I told myself this weekend was for content creation and planning, which I think I wrote down when I was hitting my Claude weekly limit.

Luckily, I got some of the critical parts done on Thursday and Friday. My flagship SaaS was seriously flawed, and I believe the hardest part of that is behind me, for now at least.

Pausing the Mac app

I need to pause any Swift or Mac app development. My web app wasn't just missing logic in certain features. There were critical flaws in areas I hadn't caught. Claude tells me those are fixed now, but I'm still running a full QA check until I've confirmed everything myself.

Read also: Claude said we fixed the SaaS MVP bugs, but I don't fucking know

This means I have to recalibrate and set new goals for the upcoming week. One thing I've noticed about myself: when things start going downhill, I take a lot of notes or save chats and information from Claude.

It works like a defense mechanism, a way to make sure I don't forget anything, so I can deconstruct everything later and puzzle it back together.

Recalibrating

Recalibration is needed, and I have to set priorities. One thing is certain: I can't afford to be random anymore. It's September, my podcasts are about to fly, and even with the issues this week, I need to stay disciplined.

This is why I like to stay ahead. It's the one thing I always keep in mind: variance can show up anywhere. This time it showed up as a broken, flawed app and an evening of recording that went south.

I was ahead going into September, but now my room for variance has narrowed, so I need to fix that.

The plan for next week

Tomorrow, on Sunday, I plan to write content: two posts for TWO Docs, so I'm done for next week, and one more for indiehacker.blog, so I'm set until the end of the month.

I also published again today on my life in Taiwan blog, which I think I said I'd keep at one post a month, so that's covered too. Even though it wasn't my greatest blog post, I am still finding my way and tone of voice there.

Other than that, I need to work out a stricter workflow: mapping out my podcasts in some kind of mind map, or at least writing my thoughts down before building a real structure. So I am betting this will be a two-post setup again.

Read also: I think I found my place in content creation

I also need to sort through my notes from the SaaS audit, because there's a lot more than the seven initial bugs I already fixed. That's prep for the week ahead.

On top of that, this week showed me a few flaws in the app, but also that I need a better website, with stronger CTAs and more knowledge base and help content. Fucking hell, the more I write now, the more I realize that it's going to be a hard week.

I'm ditching Study Brew development for a week. That's fine, since it's not live yet, and I'd rather record more stories before touching app development again.

Some of the structure from TWO Docs has already been adopted into the language app, so it would be pointless to work on both while one isn't fully solid or is still missing basic logic.

From next Monday through Friday, it's one SaaS, content creation, and hopefully a batch of recordings.

After the honeymoon period

I'm past the honeymoon stage now, in the part where you have to eliminate noise, drop projects, and get far more disciplined.

Still, I want to leave some room next week for a stupid idea, or a one-afternoon build. Something to balance the serious development with whatever might expand my portfolio of absurd projects for OnPoint VC. It's also nice to just throw stupid questions at AI and see what comes back.

Read also: $12, a typo, and the dumbest website I've built

I've also been thinking about expanding the blog with a public ledger, an idea bench of sorts. I'd log an idea, then decide whether to build it or scrap it and rate it a 1 out of 10 on stupidity.

I keep going back and forth on whether to put that idea bench out in the open, or keep it to myself. Someone could steal the idea. But they can copy the idea, not the journey or the documentation behind it, so maybe that's not something worth protecting after all.

I might also try to fold this into the $168 million challenge, since right now I'm sitting in the negative. What if I could combine some of that stupidity with real traction, something that earns me my first dollar?

There's a lot to do, a lot to write, and a lot to prepare for. But underneath all of it, I'm genuinely fucking motivated.