Ask HN: I'm a solopreneur and I feel demoralised - <AUTHOR> Created a throwaway for a variety of reasons. I am currently running a profitable service business, making $10k+/mo. But I feel miserable and I don't understand why. The work I get to do is easy and enjoyable. The clients I get to work with are great. Once I get started working I get stuff done pretty quickly, but the problem is getting started every morning. ONCE I get started, everything is fine, but every day I feel demoralised to GET STARTED. The time period of waking up until getting started feels absolutely miserable. I have no idea how to solve it since, from my perspective, it isn't clear what the problem is. Like I said, the work + customers are fantastic. But why do I still feel so demoralised and horrible every single morning? How could I solve this?
Update: Additional info
* I work from home
* I only work 5 days a week, around 3/4h a day.
* Don't follow a specific diet and don't exercise regularly
I've been struggling with this feeling for a few months now and I can't seem to see why. My days are not long, the work itself is fun, but to get started in the morning is absolute hell. I keep postponing work until late in the afternoon sometimes. <comment><USER4> If it's earning you $10k+ a month then you can probably afford going to specialist and by that I mean psychotherapist. Just do it. Don't listen to random advice from random internet people. If you're feeling miserable (especially if it's going on for quite some time) that might be the symptom of some bigger underlying issue.

<comment><USER5> > Don't listen to random advice from random internet people.

> [Go] to [a] specialist and by that I mean psychotherapist.

It sounds like you've got a great setup. The way you're feeling could destroy what you've built, however, and you may not recognize how. Drop a few Benjamins and get professional advice from a psychologist.

You might also consider seeing a doctor and getting a physical, and start the Couch to 5K if your doctor advises you to get some exercise.

<comment><USER6> Assuming you have health insurance and are based in the US, your plan most likely covers this. Check your insurer's website or talk to your doctor's office. Many insurance plans also have remote mental health services.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> What helped for me is build a team around you. The moment there are others that join your mission, everything changes. I started out my service based UI design business ([http://fairpixels.pro](http://fairpixels.pro)) as a solopreneur. At some point, I started getting the same feelings as you're describing and realised (from past projects) that having a team for support had always worked for me. If you don't have the budget, no worries. You don't have to hire full time people. These can be VA's, freelancers that occasionally help you out or even a mentor that actively pings you to keep updated on the progress you're making. Knowing you're not by yourself has been a huge motivator for me and might be the solution you're looking for. Good luck & feel free to ping me if you have additional questions.

<comment><USER8> fairpx has the right advice. I can echo it nearly word for word. Get some help even if you are specifically carving out say work that takes you 10 hours a week to do and you hire a VA or freelancer to do it each week.

A few additional things I'll add, make sure you are eating well, getting some exercise/activity everyday and make a plan to take say a week off 1-2 months from now. Part of your job during that 2 months is to make it so you can take the time off and not panic. Just remember this, if you can't take time off you don't have a business you have a job.

One other suggestion which I have personally done. I was having trouble with doing the above personally, but I knew I was going to implode if I didn't do something. So in my case I took my laptop got a hotel room on an island and worked from the pool, hotel room, etc during a week. I found I could work a few hours a day and accomplish everything and had enough time to go explore and relax. That helped energize me, I think just getting out of my pattern was the most important part.

Good luck!

</comment></comment><comment><USER9> I used to be the same way.

Wake up at 5am, meditate, exercise, and shower before starting your day. Stop eating processed carbs and sugar. Get off the computer at 9pm and sleep at 10pm. Clean your room. Schedule sprints of work for yourself, drag yourself over to your chair, and force yourself to start typing anything. Talk to your friends more often. Set 1-3 large goals at the beginning of the day and explain to yourself why they're important.

There are lots of reasons you might be feeling this way, and it's different for everyone. Maybe you're disorganized, or you feel your work is too easy, or your health is bad. You'll have to find out which one it is by trying a lot of different things.

If after doing all this you still feel the same way, please seriously consider the very real possibility of clinical depression, and seek professional help.

<comment><USER10> This goal is too hard to achieve! It is like the 10x programmer, it is just too much to be a realistic goal. I mean, good for you if you can wake up every day at 5 am and meditate. But aside from the 0.0001% of people on the world that can do this, most people can't.

This is a way of life which seems like living in a monastery to me. Totally unrealistic.

<comment><USER11> Neither getting up at 5am or daily meditation are all that rare or difficult. And if you take perfection out of the equation, as you should, then aiming to do them 80-90% of the time makes it even easier.

I'm a natural night owl, but I routinely (80-90% of the time) go to bed early and get up at 4am. It's really not that hard.

<comment><USER12> > It's really not that hard.

Based on the current research on chronotypes [0], you seem to be the exception, not the norm.

'"If people are left to their naturally preferred times, they feel much better. They say that they are much more productive. The mental capacity they have is much broader," says Oxford University biologist Katharina Wulff, who studies chronobiology and sleep.'[1]

[0] [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronotype](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronotype)

[1] [http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20171114-why-you- shouldnt-t...](http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20171114-why-you-shouldnt-try- to-be-a-morning-person)

<comment><USER13> Throwing a bit of anecdotal evidence out: throughout high school I had to get up at 6:45 every weekday for four years, and constantly felt tired throughout the day, but it cleared up at night and I'd be energized at 1am. I had to take naps after school, but even if I didn't I'd still be unable to sleep at 11pm. Something about everyone else around me being asleep and not distracting me allowed me to focus on things better.

Now I have a job with very flexible hours so I go to sleep at 2am and wake up at 10am like clockwork. I feel and perform much better all around. I'm convinced that if I had had a sleep schedule that worked for me in my teens I'd have been able to achieve much more than I did.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> In basically the same situation, here's what's helped me:

1\. Hard limits on screen time (e.g. no screens after 5pm)

2\. Basketball, tennis, chess (find a social activity - physical ones are a double whammy)

3\. Personal training

4\. Spend time learning - I spend a good portion of my free time learning about my craft, but also about other things. Variability spices life up a bit.

5\. Working from coffee shops

6\. Writing. Serves mainly as a way to process my experiences, and the large positive feedback has been rewarding. (example: [http://www.programmerfu.com/2017/04/20/fast-is-slow-slow- is-...](http://www.programmerfu.com/2017/04/20/fast-is-slow-slow-is-smooth- smooth-is-fast.html))

My most recent strategy has been to wake up, make coffee and bust out an hour of focused work before I do anything. My wife works with me during this time, which is nice for accountability and togetherness. Generally, getting that first hour out of the way without "easing into it" with reddit/HN gives me a feeling of accomplishment that empowers me to tackle the rest of the day. And if I'm unmotivated the rest of the day, I know I've gotten a decent slice of work in already.

<comment><USER15> Fun nitpick: Can "double whammy" be used in a positive context? I think it implies two negative things no?

<comment><USER14> Clearly I was referring to the original meaning: shooting curses at people with your fingers, which is a fun social and physical activity ;)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER16> Without knowing anything specific, lets check the basics

\- Sleep: Do you sleep around 8 hours per night and shake that rhythm up sometimes (go party once a month or whatever to give you some change)?

\- Sport: You should definitively do something, like go running half an hour twice a week.

\- Diet: Not following anything specific doesn't say much ;-) I mean, when you say that, I would assume you are probably eating more suggar/fat than the WHO recommends and less vegetables. So try to bring the sugar consume to a recommended level and try to find out what a healty diet is about.

\- Vacation: When was the last time you left the place you live for at least two weeks without even thinking about work? You should do that _at least_ once a year.

\- Partner: Do you life alone? For many people it is helpful to have a relationship with someone, but that really depends, as some people are also alone pretty happy.

Last but not least: Finding a good psychotherapist is also something worth mentioning. Its not like you have to have some mental illness to visit them. They are more like consultants on how solve personal pain points.

PS: My personal advice: Do not read news pages before you work. At least for me it kills my productivity and makes it really hard to concentrate at the task at hand (might not apply to you).

<comment><USER17> Re: therapist, years ago it was estimated that a good, listening friends has about the same effect as a good therapist. So maybe cheaper (if you can find one at all).

<comment><USER18> If you can afford do both. Specialists have a bigger toolset with these things to help. Their advice is independent from a friend or family relationship. But hanging with them 1-2 hours every day as you might with a good friend can get expensive... Both types of support are useful in different ways.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER19> I'm also a solopreneur making a healthy profit who has dealt with this. Some days, I'll make up tasks to perform just to keep me busy so that I don't have to go sit at the computer. Or, when I am at the computer, I'll close my email only to reopen it a few moments later. It's the worst cycle of nothingness, especially as a developer, whose primary motivation is to figure out how things work (or, why something isn't working.)

You know what has helped me, contrary to all the advice I've been given?

Stepping away. Stopping trying to fight against the feeling and really listening to it and embracing it. Putting my best effort into the _other_ thing that is keeping me motivated at the time. Slow down, breathe.

Ideally, maybe you can incorporate some of the other healthy advice into your routine or interests. Need to eat better? Maybe you'd enjoy putting more time into the intricacies of cooking. Need more exercise? Try picking up a fun activity where you can level up, like mountain biking.

Consider building a team who can help you to grow your business and become your professional family. Surround yourself with people who you can learn from and help out. Leverage the fact that your healthy solo profit provides the benefit of choosing your hours. We're made to feel so bad if we don't perform 40 hours of work per week, but that's total BS and an outdated social construct.

If you want to talk more about this, I'm on Twitter. @davekiss

</comment><comment><USER20> Do you work from home? If you do, consider going somewhere else to work, and make that place your workplace. Coworking spaces are especially good because you'll be around people working all day, which will stimulate you to work too, without having to actually employ anyone, like other comments suggest.

Some people are not made to work alone year-long. I know I'm one of them, working for home has been exactly what you described. Now that I'm in an office, I spend most of my workday actually working.

<comment><USER21> This co-working thing can backfire a bit. I work alone in a shared office. There are plenty of people around, but they are all in teams and no one really talks other people from not their team / company.

</comment></comment><comment><USER22> Because there's more to life than being successful and earning money: being part of a team, having successful relationships with family/friends/lovers and other factors is 90% of your happiness..

So the problem is not probably the money, nor actually the diet / exercise, it won't make you happy because you are already disciplined enough in many ways so more discipline to you will not make you more happy. Instead you should focus on these other valuable aspects of life:

 __\- Learning to have fun __

 __\- Learning to be crazy __

 __\- Deepening your relationships. __

You 're depressed because there's a lack of something and clearly it's not money so i would say it's relationships / feelings maybe.. or maybe a bit of craziness ? We (SWE/maths guys) live in a world of rule and order but it's not most of the essense of life. Life is messy and cahotic and we are made to embrace it somehow... (edit: even it looks hard or if there is a voice in your head saying 'this advice is stupid')

Finally a quote that i like: "sex is like water, it only becomes important when you don't lacking of".. it's actually not only sex the same for food, personal relationships, money, family. Life is pretty much about equilibrating a few of these "basic needs". Just find what is missing to you.

<comment><USER23> This is really great advice. Balance is something I think many of us forget. Without it I think it's hard to appreciate the good things. It reminds me of a Bible quote I seen in a book the other week that reads like a nice poem. I think it's relevant to anyone.

There is a time for everything,

and a season for every activity under the heavens:

a time to be born and a time to die,

a time to plant and a time to uproot,

a time to kill and a time to heal,

a time to tear down and a time to build,

a time to weep and a time to laugh,

a time to mourn and a time to dance,

a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,

a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,

a time to search and a time to give up,

a time to keep and a time to throw away,

a time to tear and a time to mend,

a time to be silent and a time to speak,

a time to love and a time to hate,

a time for war and a time for peace.

Interpret it however you want, I don't personally feel it promotes violence but I do think it shows how one might not appreciate the good without the bad. It personally reminds me that life needs balance & importantly, life needs much of the above not just being productive & wealthy which many of us focus on to much.

</comment></comment><comment><USER24> I'd move to a co-working space or simply rent a small office. I did that while freelancing and startupping and never had trouble starting the day.

However don't be shy to take @dkns's advice try a professionals help, there's nothing wrong taking care about mental health too.

<comment><USER25> I completely agree with this. While there can be many other issues that are worth seeking professional advice for, being on ones own for prolonged periods is definitely bad for one's mental health. I recently watched a documentary on the effects of solitary confinment on prison inmates and saw that I was developing very mild symptoms described by working on my own at home for many days consecutively. Even having people in view helps immeasurably.

</comment></comment><comment><USER26> I imagine it's from a lack of mission/end goal. It may feel that you're just "floating by" right now. What are your end goals? What's your mission? I would recommend working backwards from that and setting timelines/goals.

Also, personally working from home as a solopreneur sounds like a nightmare for me. I interact at my best when I'm surrounded by others, though ymmv. If hiring is out of the question - spend $500 of that $10k per month and get a coworking space (WeWork, etc). If that doesn't help you, cancel the monthly contract.

<comment><USER27> I'd second the getting an office or joining a co-working space - i'm in a very similar situation to you and being alone all day was demoralizing. Getting up and going to an office makes the day much more bearable.

</comment></comment><comment><USER28> That's a pretty good situation to be in.

I think that maybe it's partially because you spend too much time on Hacker News. On HN, you constantly read about people who are luckier than you who complain about their lives... Then you think "Whoa; these people have way more than me and they're unhappy about it; how am I supposed to feel?" \- Answer: "Depressed".

</comment><comment><USER29> I've been through depression and this sounds like how I felt at many points in my life.

Assuming I'm not simply projecting my feelings, there's a good news: the hardest for me was acknowledging I had a problem (which you just did). Once you pass that and get help you'll get the ball rolling quickly.

I hope you solve that issue promptly, the sooner the better.

</comment><comment><USER30> Getting into a habit of exercise is the obvious answer. A less conventional advice that has sometimes worked for me is to totally embrace the feeling of being somber, and binge on some of the classic sort of _miserable apathetic existentialist_ books. Things like Albert Camus' The Stranger, Sartre's Nausia, Beckett's Waiting for Godot, and Dostoyevsky's Notes from Underground. Sometimes after I have read those works, after I have stopped trying to ignore the feeling and just went all in for a few days, do I even get bored with being miserable and then start to look for other emotions to experience, and usually they're a lot happier in flavour. Obviously this advice could also exacerbate the problem, so try it at your own risk.

</comment><comment><USER31> What is your nutrition story like? Do you have a healthy diet?

Your symptoms could also be caused by a vitamin deficiency.

</comment><comment><USER32> * Don't follow a specific diet and don't exercise regularly *

\</comment><comment>-

Honestly, this is the biggest red flag for me. Yes, you may have other personal/emotional/mental health things you want to get support for, but regular exercise can do absolute wonders for your overall well-being.

My advice: watch a couple youtube videos about navy seals -about how disciplined they are and the will power they develop to get up every day and attack the day during their training. Challenge yourself to get up early and do a good quality workout for about ~2 weeks straight, then re-evaluate how you feel. I bet you'll feel 5x better.

<comment><USER33> What's a good workout for a beginner w/o access to a gym?

<comment><USER32> I got into recreational gymnastics about a year ago to challenge myself and have really taken to simple body weight exercises with no weights... But people have different bodies and need to find what works for them.

Here is what i may do in 30-40 minutes in the morning: * stretch quick. * ab/core workout for 5-10 minutes. Then 2-4 rotations through the following: * hand stand hold against the wall. * air squats or power jacks. * push ups. * calf raises. * variations of pullups.

The only equipment i have is a pull up bar over a door frame.

Super simple super effective.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER34> For what is worth, you are like my kind of hero. My dream is to someday accomplish something like that and be able to work from home. And on top of that, you have so much time available for other things, that's awesome.

</comment><comment><USER35> At the end of the day, save yourself something very simple to start with the next day.

There are different stages in the life of a buisness, this stage may not appeal to you. Maybe it is time to start another one?

\- The recommendation to stick to the parts of business development that you love comes up occasionally on the [http://www.startupsfortherestofus.com](http://www.startupsfortherestofus.com) podcast. Rob Walling actually does another podcast specifically targeting mental wellness: [https://zenfounder.com](https://zenfounder.com)

</comment><comment><USER36> Check this out . . . if you haven't already.

I think this could help. [https://zenfounder.com/services/solopreneur/](https://zenfounder.com/services/solopreneur/)

Congratulations!

It's tough being a solopreneur.

One thing that helps me get started is setting up a task I really look forward to working on to be the first thing I work on after some warmups.

Warmups are tiny tasks that are quick and easy to knock out, I usually try to have 4 to 5 of these at the top of my trello board for the day. It literally warms you up to tackle more challenging work.

Start eating a better diet, if you drink soda/sweet coffee try switching to tea and more water during the day.

Since you work from home if you find yourself not getting things done stop. Spend some time with family, go for a walk, go for a bike ride exercise. There are many times during the day where you just get in a lull and aren't doing anything productive at the computer.

Service businesses are tough, you should check out StartupsForTheRestOfUs.com and start learning about building a product or SaaS. This can give you something to look forward to working on and help supplement your services revenue and replace it in the future.

Good luck hope things are going better next week.

</comment><comment><USER37> Given that you've come here to ask relative strangers about what might help you solve this, it would be easy to presume that you might not have friends and family you can turn to for advice.

But if you do know anyone with a bit of life experience (could be any age or background, but as a general guideline at least late 30s with similar professional accomplishments to yourself) who can make time to talk with you in person, reach out to them.

Let them know you'd like to get their advice on something personal that's affecting your professional life. I'd also recommend refraining from intoxicants for this meeting but the face to face is the most important part.

Others have already suggested ensuring that your personal footing (exercise, meditation, self-care) is solid. This is essential, and as I've grown older I've noticed that I've needed to change the balance and kind of things I do to maintain my mental and spiritual well being.

On occasion, I've gone outside my personal network and sought the help of a therapist. If you haven't already considered doing so, add professional counseling in the list of possible options to help you through this phase of your life.

Emotional and mental well being are, to my mind, the entire point of everything we can do for ourselves and for each other and finding the balance can be hard, solutions elusive.

Given how well you've done for yourself so far, I'm guessing you will get through this even stronger than you were before.

Good luck.

</comment><comment><USER38> Hey man, there may be a LOT of things going on here, but I can relate. If I don't get my day STARTED by 6am (or so), I see it slipping away from me. Others below have alluded to it, also. Diet and exercise are important (but the world is jacked when it comes to 'exercise', pushing gyms and supplements and dumb sporting events. Honestly, just keep lights low at night before dusk, don't be on devices after dark, read only paper books after dark, and start getting up early (tons of info out there if you search). Get up at 5am, go for a walk and get a coffee (not a sugar bomb - just a small coffee like your grandfather probably would do) and be back at 6:30a to start work. According to you, you'll be done well before lunch. Make plans for a lunch date with friends/family (sounds like you can afford it) and have a healthy fun salad- ish eating out time. Then go do something fun - or go see a movie matinee - <USER2> go do things for other people (volunteer, visit your kids if you have any, go make some if you don't... ha ha, or go help other business owners solve problems since you sound like you have good ideas in that area, or go talk to wayward youth at schools... something! Switch it up so you look forward to that afternoon 'you-only' time. Then, do your personal errands at end of day (like the rest of us working stiffs) like groceries, laundry, house cleaning, etc... one last check of devices before dusk, then it's either date night, relaxing at home, maybe a night out 1/2 times/week on the town, etc... No coffee after noon, no alcohol before noon, walk everywhere you possibly can (and keep stretching that), no devices after dusk, and I promise you, no matter what, you'll be feeling at LEAST 3x better in a month or so. Happy holidays, dude.

<comment><USER39> > Get up at 5am, go for a walk and get a coffee (not a sugar bomb - just a > small coffee like your grandfather probably would do) and be back at 6:30a > to start work.

I never understand these suggestions of waking up at 5am, I, on contrary feel myself much better if I can enjoy a late dinner/Netflix with my wife after kids are in bed or going out with friends. Waking up at 5 am means you need to fall asleep at 9pm. It means that if on a weekend your friend invite you to hangout or on Friday after work - it will be hard to adjust to this time change on a fly and you will feel miserable with them and the next morning too.

<comment><USER40> people are different when it comes to a good time to get up. what works for one doesn't work for another. some are naturally early birds, others late risers. personally i had a job for about two years that forced me to get up at 6am and i felt sleep deprived and miserable for the whole two years because even after all those months it still felt natural for me to go to bed after midnight.

this is also the case without screens; i used to attend a training camp a couple of years prior. up at 6am, morning sport, breakfast, nap, training, lunch, nap, training, dinner, cards then off to bed at ~10pm. after 2, 3 days i get used to it and start staying up longer until i'm back to going to bed at or after midnight and then sleeping through the morning sport.

i guess people are just naturally different when it comes to sleep times.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER41> Well, there is very little data here, but let's guess from it.

You say your job is easy, but feel miserably, so it looks like your body is telling you it needs something you are not providing him.

Let's review the basics: -Do you sleep well? -Do you eat well? -Do you exercise regularly? You answer that question, no. -Do you have friends, wife, partner or children? -Do you spend too much time in front of a computer? -Do you spend too much time sit down? -Do you see the light of the day every single day or work in the dark?

Normally someone will postpone a job that is tedious or hard or makes you suffer(mental). If that is not the case, odds are that it is just a physical thing.

When I started working at home I had to be in front of a computer 8-10 hours per day, but I could not be more than 1 or 2. So I bought a stool, put my screens at eye level while standing up and started going out in sunny Madrid every single day to exercise.

After one year of doing that(it took training of my muscles to be able to work standing up) I could work for more than 8 hours in front of a computer without issues.

There are things like the lymphatic system that needs movement of the body in order to work. If you do not move your body will alert you into stopping whatever you are doing to fix this issue first.

</comment><comment><USER42> Holy cow you are in a great position. I am guessing you are missing social and health elements because your work life would be the envy of 99.99% about the people on this planet.

You already know how to fix the other stuff: exercise, find new hobbies, find new friends/relationships. Just do it. There are no shortcuts or secrets to getting in shape, getting good at stuff and meeting new people, it just requires a little courage.

</comment><comment><USER43> When was the last time you took a vacation? It might be worth it to spend some time to find someone to try and hold your clients at bay while you take off for a month or even to just tell your clients that you wont be available for that period.

If you can't take the time off, you can try and travel and work at the same time. You can join a coworking space and meet people and build a community and you might gain some perspective. Developers outside the US make significantly less and you may discover a sense of gratitude that you gain from this perspective.

I've been working remotely mostly in Asia with short stints in South America and Europe for a few years now and this has worked wonders for me. I mostly work alone and I can't imagine being back home doing the same thing.

A change in environment may be all you need to engage in new healthy practices like exercising. For example, if you're near a beach in Bali, like I am, it's easy to jog along the beach during sunset. And if you're not, being surrounded by yogis might get you in some regular classes that may help with being more mindful.

Hope this helps.

</comment><comment><USER44> Do you have access to a co-working space? What about some meetups in your area?

I work from home significantly and find that I struggle when the social aspect completely disappears from my job. I'm not a particularly social person, but I absolutely need some social interactions to feel positive and happy throughout the day.

<comment><USER45> Agree completely. Being isolated from people and not making connections can be detrimental. Being in a co-working environment and being able to have small interactions can make a big difference.

</comment></comment><comment><USER46> Separate your living space from your working space.

I started working from my home and after a few years of productivity and motivation sliding down, I'd spend entire day trying to motivate myself to work to only actually produce a couple of hours of useful work.

I rented a small office nearby that forced me to go out, walk a bit, and separate work from leisure. This has helped me tremendously. Ff there were coworking options nearby at that time, I'd use that - it has the added benefit of having other people around, which will motivate / inspire you.

Additionaly, try to end each day's work with a small, well defined task/thing - leave that bit for tomorrow. It'll be easier to start with, and it'll help you get rolling.

Excercise helps - but dont't try to attack several problems at once. Start gradually.

</comment><comment><USER47> Seems you are into a light depression, what helps the most is routines! Go to bed the same time every day, wake up the same time every day, eat at least three good meals, at the same times every day. Go to work at the same time, and go away from fork at the same time _every_ day. Get some exercise, like go to the gym, and you guess it, same day, same time every week. Also how long time since your last vacation ? Get at least four straight weeks of vacation every year where you do not work at all. And how does your life look like outside of work ? Do you have relationships, friends and family ? Relations are essentially how much time you spend with someone, so go work on your relations, eg spend more time with people you like.

</comment><comment><USER48> It sounds like you're depressed, possibly you're in a rut. You should definitely exercise (I know, easier said than done). What's helped me? Going for an hour long walk everyday (I don't do it everyday like I ought to but even 3x per week has tremendous benefits). Walking is enough. Don't feel like you have to change your whole routine, just try walking 3x per week for two weeks. I guarantee that you'll feel better. After that, reassess and see if you need to add/subtract other stuff to/from your routine.

Other things to experiment with: Meditation, social life, meetups, weight- lifting, juicing, etc etc.

</comment><comment><USER49> It sounds like you might be having a difficult time transitioning from the non-work (personal?) mindset to the work mindset. If this is indeed the case, I have found the following to help: develop a middle ground that warms you up for whichever mindset you shall transition to.

Find some topics within the work domain that interest you personally. (Maybe jot some down as you come across an idea or two while working, then set them aside for this semi-work period.) Allow yourself to look into these, slowly getting yourself interested in moving into the work mindset.

This may feel like you're further postponing work, but it may in fact lead you to start work much sooner than if you did not do this.

</comment><comment><USER50> First of all congrats on your business success, many here dream of having this.

Could it be that your day misses structure? Is joining a tech hub/shared office an option for you?

I have been working from home for many years. The trick for me is that I have to be careful that my daily life doesn't become too comfortable. I absolutely need to start working first thing in the morning.

What also works for me is getting out. Physical work is important. I do weightlifting and really enjoy sweating and working out.

Go to meetups, do networking or meet clients. This works especially well if you don't like socialising! Because once you have done this, you will feel eager to be back at your home office to work.

</comment><comment><USER51> As you're getting close to the top of the Maslow Pyramid. Maybe you need to gives more sense at what you're doing and how you are living.

Also as you are working from home it is easy to lose real life socialization opportunities, could it be that?

</comment><comment><USER52> 1) Can you perhaps schedule a brief 10 minute meeting with a client at, say, 9.00am each day to get the ball rolling? It seems like once you get started you are OK.

2) Another option - get a business/life coach - you can afford it. He might give you a call at 9.00am each day for say fifteen minutes to get your 'state' activated.

3) Try starting the day with a workout. Good thing to do anyway.

4) Another thought ....

I'm curious how much of that 10K a month are you saving?

Let's say you save 8K - that's 96K a year savings. Do it for a couple of years and you have 192K - a tidy sum with which to perhaps take a year or two out, doing something that gets you more pumped.

</comment><comment><USER53> This is what I do. I use a canary pad and I write down specific actions needed. When I complete actions, I cross them out in red. When I get distracted, I look at the pad. I sometimes gamify it a bit, like cross off 3 items then I can play a game or similar.

Also, I have a special DNS set up in my router that shunts certain sites to localhost.

Couch time is a good suggestion. Any therapist worth a damn is going to tell you to walk 20-60 minutes a day, eat right, and supplement B and magnesium at a minimum because all that exercise and nutrition will minimize the funk. And yes, I do that too.

</comment><comment><USER54> What you describe sounds awful. I'm sorry that you're going through that. Some of the advice already mentioned is good. I would add that everyone needs something outside of work, a social life, hobbies, etc...It doesn't sound like your business suffers if you don't start work first thing in morning. If that's the case, don't worry about it and spend the time from when you wake up on other non-work things. Things that engage your imagination, passions, and body. Then come to "work" in the afternoon refreshed. I wish you the best of luck.

</comment><comment><USER18> Are you _sure_ all of your work is fun? When you have trouble to get started with something i'd assum There must be _something_ about it you don't like.

At least for me that is when i an in a similar state as you describe. It happens every 1-4 months depending what im doing. If i see no sense in my work, have ugly code bases to work with abd colleagues who don't bother to think crappy code, processes and communication could be a problem, i get into that state... i can then try to change my attitude about it, try to improve the situation, or leave if both don't work.

</comment><comment><USER55> At $10k/mo, you can easily afford to hire someone else. That'll both give you a community to keep you encouraged and give you a bit of breathing room, which you should use to take a vacation.

</comment><comment><USER56> Hey. I was in the same situation a while ago (running a profitable service, making about the same and feeling miserable). What eventually helped was moving from Norway to Spain(Madrid), where I started exercising and for the first time had a proper social life. My body and mind were full of energy all the time. It was like being on opium. Of course, there were some downs now and then. Then in 2014, I meet my wife, we got a child together (now 2y old) and since then my life has been filled with meaning every day.

That is my two cents.

</comment><comment><USER57> I've in a similar situation in the past. For me, the problem was ultimately boredom and lack of fulfillment. It was the prospect of doing the same thing all day every day with no end in sight, with no purpose other than paying bills.

Consider how much of that $10k/mo it would take to hire 1-2 other people and make yourself unnecessary in the business. Turn it into a passive income as much as possible. If you succeeded in this, you can reclaim your time and do anything with it which is a freeing experience.

</comment><comment><USER58> You feel miserable. Why? Also, try getting a solid routine. An accountability buddy who you meet with every day at the same time. Perhaps you feel miserable because it is a battle every day, rather than a mindless routine. When you wake up, get up. Don't go back to bed. Get up and make coffee. You can always take a nap later, but eventually, you'll get used to waking up only once. Go watch the sun rise if you wake up too early. Trust that when you wake up, you should just get up.

</comment><comment><USER59> Though I'm not a solopreneur, I've been through similar streaks of difficult mornings. One thing realised - I was pretty weak on a sense of purpose those days. I wasn't sure what my immediate / 1 year / 2 year goals were and this led to complacency. Maybe deciding where you want to be in a year's time might help. A goal/mission to look forward is certainly a good thing to have. All the best!

</comment><comment><USER60> Your point #3 about diet/exercise could only help contribute to this feeling...or in other words you're really killing yourself not doing this.

</comment><comment> jonesss-s Don't even try to start in the morning. For a couple of weeks, just plan on working in the afternoon maybe starting at 2pm.

Everyone keeps talking about wanting to start work early so they're done early. But relaxed, free mornings are such a wonderful thing! Have breakfast, read the newspaper, enjoy doing stuff that is annoying at other times because everyone is doing it then. Everyone's at work now, so lines are short ;)

</comment><comment><USER61> Why not just become a digital nomad for a while and go to Thailand for a month, where you can just chill at the beach for $100 living expenses a week, then Argentina, then Israel, then Germany and get to know the world.

Here is a good resource [https://m.facebook.com/groups/859952234028551](https://m.facebook.com/groups/859952234028551)

Let me know if you have any questions of course.

</comment><comment><USER62> Similar situation here - positive reinforcement helped me.

Every morning, I'd reward myself with something that I like - sometimes I watched a good TV show, sometimes I went to the gym and worked out. I also have a girlfriend but I guess that's a different point. Anyway, I just found stuff I like to do. I eventually associated waking up with happiness.

YMMV. Just what worked for me - try it out if you want.

</comment><comment><USER63> There's lots of great advice here- especially regarding the importance of being connected to other people and taking care of yourself physically (sleep, exercise, diet). Those are the most basic things to tend to when you're feeling off. I'm a psychologist who works with founders (zenfounder.com) and I can assure you that you are not alone in feeling off your game, even when the business is going well. Sometimes the answer to the question "why am I feeling this way?" is really hard to come by. It might take some time to sort it out. I'm really glad you're talking about it here. That's an important first step. It may be a good idea to see your physician and check your thyroid and testosterone levels. Both can wreck havoc on motivation and can affected by sleep-wake cycles (ie. why you feel so low in the morning). A psychologist or therapist can also help you sort out whether you may be experiencing depression or burnout (low motivation is part of both). Being successful and having a great life don't also protect us from physical problems or from depression. Its a good idea to see a professional to check out a variety of possible causes. If you have a clean bill of health, then it might be time to ask some existential questions: Are you bored? Is your work meaningful to you? Are you as connected as you want to be to other people? A therapist, coach, priest, or good friend may be able to talk you through some of these questions. Feel free to reach out to me directly if you'd like more ideas or resources.

</comment><comment><USER64> You might have just found a good level. You must have worked really hard to get to this point and now a few hours in the afternoon might be all your body wants to do for good reason.

I go through the same writing my PhD literature review. It comes and goes and I've decided to accept it rather than defeat it.

When I go through periods of making little PhD progress, I don't hate myself and do something else.

</comment><comment><USER65> You are burnt out. Have a holiday. Take a break. Life isn't about work, work is the process by which we attract coins to live.

</comment><comment><USER66> Hey,

I am currently also working remotely but without a team back in the company, struggled with depression and such for most of my life. What helped was a team sport, 3 times a week. Besides all the things the other posters say (sport in general, meditation, psychotherapy) bonding and having a human connection to other people is probably the most important one, IMHO.

I hope you are getting better, friend.

Cheers

</comment><comment><USER67> Clearly, to me, you need to find the purpose of your life here on Earth. There are people that may help you, although you have to choose carefully. Not psychiatrists or anything like that. Look for indigo people that have a "highway" connection to the Universe, that came to show the way to others. Read and practice about meditation and spirituality.

</comment><comment><USER68> Is your current work challenging? You said repeatedly that it is easy and enjoyable but, if you aren't being challenged enough, work can begin to feel pointless even if the work itself is enjoyable.

      In my experience, overcoming regular (but not constant) challenges with cultivated skill(s) creates motivation to continue.

Good luck.

</comment><comment><USER69> How's your social life both during and outside of work? I personally think working with great comedies is invigorating.

</comment><comment><USER70> Widen your horizons. It's tabu for some to mention but perhaps your lack of fulfillment is of a spiritual kind. I don't mean to become a born-again christian or a hippie, but if that's your thing that's fine too. I'm just saying there's more to life than making money in a pleasant and safe environment.

</comment><comment><USER71> The good news is, you already know the right things to do, as do we all: diet, exercise, sunlight, meditation, build a good community of friends/family around yourself. In short, take care of your whole being, body, spirit, emotions, social, etc. But the trick is doing it.

Read Superhuman by Habit, and acknowledge and do something about the deep effect community has on you and on your ability to start and maintain habits. This should help build these habits that we all know we should do.

But I also agree with the others on here who said to seek some sort of professional help. If you really want to overcome this, you're going to need someone else's perspective who knows you. Best of luck, I hope you come out of this better than ever!

PS I've been doing 5BX exercise program for a couple of months and it's great. It's designed to increase your chance of sticking to it, which is what so many of us need. Once I started doing this very light workout, a lot changed for me. I started thinking of myself as "the kind of person who works out", and that kind of person also eats well, gets up early, goes to bed early, doesn't drink much alcohol, etc.

</comment><comment><USER72> I've had morning anxiety for a while. It meant that when I woke up, I had these terrible depressing thoughts running in my mind, and I couldn't get out of that circle of thought. I couldn't get out of bed, and could stay in that mood for hours. I knew that once I got out of bed that it would be over, but I just couldn't do that and wanted to stay there forever. I got out of bed for work, but in the weekends I could waste half a day like that. Turns out that somehow I had stomache or belly tensions (probably caused by overweight). When I figured that out, the problem was solved immediately. Now I wake up, feel that tension, go to the toilet, have some water and let my belly relax for a moment (google for high vs low breathing). I go back to bed and have some sleep. (NB: If this is anxiety, I don't say that this will work for you, but who knows!)

Alternatively, you may be depressed or you sound like that. Find a good therapist to get things clear. Therapies nowadays can be very focused, so it's not about endless talking about vague feelings. If you don't want to say that you have a depression, say that you feel depressed, or that you have decided to go into therapy to find out what is going on. You have the money and the time!

Meditation, dancing, theater sports, book club, fitness, yoga can be therapeutic as well. If you really have a depression, these won't solve that problem, but they make things lighter and life more enjoyable.

Stop working from home. Go to one of those places or bars where people work all day, rent an office for a day, so you meet people. It seems like your lonely maybe? Hire someone or partner up with someone. Having a (business) partner and working from the same place daily will make things more enjoyable.

</comment><comment><USER73> The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg gives incredible insight into how to build habits. I highly recommend it.

</comment><comment><USER74> Create a recurring task for yourself, a very easy one to be done, something mechanic that doesn't require any big thinking, problem solving or making decisions. Design it in a way you could be transitioning from it into actual work for your business. Give it a try. Adjust. Re-do.

</comment><comment><USER75> Likely unhelpful question but would you be willing to share how you got to your level of success? If you have a blog or something similar, plenty of folks would love to read about your solopreneur experiences. Perhaps some morning writing would help get the day going?

</comment><comment><USER76> I think you should prepare a solid morning routine, like workouts, running, meditation, etc whatever feels you good to do because it will pump adrenaline in your body which will motivate you to Kickstart your day full of energy. Try it one day and see what works for you.

</comment><comment><USER77> I walk my dog before and after (occasionally during) my working day - <USER3> five hours per day five days per week. Exercise, fresh air, quiet with the odd chat to fellow walkers.

It makes working from home enjoyable and a bit more sociable. I do one day a week from a co-working space, too.

</comment><comment><USER78> You may benefit from a bit of life coaching. I have a friend who specializes in this. You've created something awesome but just need to fix a few things in your life. Happy to make a referral if you're interested. E-mail is in my profile.

</comment><comment><USER79> I'm exactly like you but make $250k per year. Making more money wont solve the issue.

</comment><comment><USER80> There's been a lot of good advice thrown out there, so I'd just add that you might consider looking into a sleep study. I had untreated sleep apnea and it was like waking up with a hangover every morning.

</comment><comment><USER81> I hate working from home. Generally if I have something that needs to get done, I go to my office. No distractions there. I feel down/negative if I try to work at home because I see I'm not achieving.

</comment><comment><USER82> How about selling me the services business? ;)

Jokes aside, loneliness is a serious problem ignored in tech circles. The water cooler talks and that annoying co-worker is missed only when that is missing. So build a team.

</comment><comment><USER83> > Don't follow a specific diet and don't exercise regularly.

Exercise every day.

</comment><comment><USER84> Journal, meditate, exercise _before_ you work. Before you even touch your phone. When you get in touch with the WHY each day first, you're more likely to stay aligned with where you're going.

</comment><comment><USER85> I've posted this kind of answer a couple times:

I started ZeroTier (www.zerotier.com) initially alone. Being a sole founder is tough for many reasons. The biggest one I've found is not so much time in the raw sense but cognitive load. There are _so_ many things to pay attention to at once: fund raising, economics, product dev, HR, engineering, devops, talking to customers, ... it's endless.

Then there's the standard issue rollercoaster of entrepreneurship which you have to weather alone. Some weeks it feels like ZeroTier is going to conquer the world. Other weeks I feel like "wow I'm an idiot this is doomed." I've learned to just ride that up and down thing and always apply a consistent forward pressure no matter how I feel.

Paul Graham always harped on single founders being a bad idea and in general I kind of agree with him. It's a tough thing to do. Doesn't mean it can't be done though and there are lots of success stories. There are many reasons you might be solo. In my case it's because I founded ZT after just moving to the area and developed it alone, so there wasn't a good co-founder. (Just picking a co-founder for the hell of it like getting married by Elvis in Vegas to someone you just met. It's a worse idea than going solo.) If you are solo just count it as one of your disadvantages (every team and venture has them!) and therefore something you'll have to work around/through. Honestly founder drama is way worse. Being solo means you get the problems of solo but in exchange you get to pass on founder drama.

One of the best things I did early on is to move into a co-working space. We are in LA/OC (SoCal) and are here:

[http://peoplespace.us/](http://peoplespace.us/)

It's a friendly hacker space with many tenants from other small startups to consultants and solo people. Lots of events like code camps, maker meetups, and OWASP meetings are hosted here too.

Being at a co-working space makes you feel like you're not totally alone, especially if other entrepreneurs are present. If you have some in your area (most major cities do these days) then I highly recommend using one. If there are options other than the larger franchise ones like WeWork I'd recommend those since they're more likely to feel like a community.

(There are now four of us but we're still here. We occupy a corner office upstairs.)

Other things I highly recommend include talking to other entrepreneurs and independent consultants who are in the same boat. Then there's the basic health stuff. Exercise, eat well, and get enough sleep. Bad health practices can wear you down quick. Imagine you're an athlete trying to keep up on training for your career. You _are_ , but your muscle is your brain. Keeping your whole body fit keeps your brain fit because it's part of your body. The myth of the out of shape genius nerd is just that. Being out of shape makes you less intelligent.

Finally if you are really feeling symptoms of depression go see a psychiatrist. Depression can be biochemical and we have good fixes for that available. The stigma here is silly. If your feet hurt you go to a podiatrist. If you have an issue with your brain you go to a psychiatrist. The brain is an organ like any other and it's one of the most important you have. There should be as much stigma about seeing a brain doctor as there is about seeing a foot doctor.

Edit: if you are in SoCal stop by and visit! My contact info is in my profile.

</comment><comment><USER86> What is your purpose in life? Does your work align with your purpose?

</comment><comment><USER87> My thoughts are from extensive research into self-improvement and from personal experience. They are things you could try. Some may not apply as I do not know your personal situation.

\- Are you feeling challenged? I found myself in a situation like this in the past. I was wanting nothing, yet felt unsatisfied. It took some time to realize that I was not feeling challenged and felt a bit like I was cruising through life. Things that helped: hobbies, a side-project, and a realignment of how I think.

\- Are you getting enough sleep? This one is very easy to get wrong. Everyone is different. Things that helped: going to sleep earlier. Sleeping a minimum of 8 hours per night. Kids got older and don't wake me up as much.

\- Are you feeling overwhelmed? I sometimes I would feel overwhelemd in the morning, for no discernible reason at all. It felt there was so much to do, and it created a self-reinforcing cycle that would make it tough to get the day started. Things that helped: getting enough sleep. Having a morning routine that I don't need to think about and just do: get out of bed, go to the bathroom, drink a glass of water, make coffee, brush teeth, hot shower w. cold shower ending, light stretching + exercise, drink coffee, eat breakfast. By doing these things automatically I start the day without actually having to analyze anything. I start moving. Blood start pumping. When I'm done, I'm ready for whatever I need to get done that day. It's a warm up to get the engine going.

\- Do you drink alcohol? I found that even small amount of alcohol have an effect on the next day. If you do consume any amount of alcohol, take a week break. Nothing. Nada. See if it helps. If this makes a positive difference, consider changing your habits. Perhaps limit drinking to one or two nights and give yourself a good sober week between the weekends.

\- Exercise. This one is tough to get into a routine. I do it on and off. In general, when I do it, I sleep better and the following day just flows better.

\- Depression. If these things don't help, you may have light depression. It's not always easy to tell. Go talk to a doctor. It's a sickness like any--no shame in it.

</comment><comment><USER88> Maybe you're burnout or depressed (see depression signs) ?

</comment><comment><USER89> I suspect if you take the time to look back at the last few months, and then the last few months +, then run a mental diff, you will find your answer.

</comment><comment><USER90> It could also be that you are just very bored, no? I mean, maybe you are the type of person who needs a constant challenge to keep going.

</comment><comment><USER91> Maybe a question of how long you are doing this?

Getting a month off could help if you are in constant "work mode" for over a year or something.

</comment><comment><USER92> Maybe you dislike the tools you use, or the domain you work on...

Without details, it's difficult to point the issues.

You could try to ask that to someone you trust.

</comment><comment><USER93> I've lived this type of life for the last 5 years (solopreneur as you put it). Reading the other comments it seems like you don't have very strict boundaries of work time. You're getting a lot of good feedback. I agree with others you are likely experiencing burnout. You obviously like your work, but if you aren't motivated to get started then it will probably not get any easier. Again, from experience, spend your off time not doing or thinking too much about your work.

</comment><comment><USER94> Are you sure you don't need another goal? sounds like you might have hit a plateau and it's time to find another goal.

</comment><comment><USER95> try to analyze what you're doing when you're postponing your work.

what are you doing instead? what are you seeking out? it might give you an indication to what're you subconciously seeking

a lot of suggestions here about what it could be... maybe you're bored, maybe you're seeking socialization.

</comment><comment><USER96> PM if you are in Austin, TX. (my current HN username @gmail.com)

I've been in similar situations. Having people to talk to matters.

</comment><comment><USER97> Make a list at the end of the day of what you should do tomorrow. Use that list in the morning to get started.

</comment><comment><USER98> get some exercise first, THEN start work

</comment><comment><USER17> A food change can be an immediate, large improvement. Cut out the sugar entirely. That includes the lattes.

</comment><comment><USER11> Are you maybe bored? Or feeling unchallenged? Maybe you're lonely?

These are all things I struggle with as a solopreneur.

</comment><comment><USER99> Go find a coworking space. Being in a good one has, quite probably literally, saved my life.

</comment><comment><USER100> Run, meditate, find a way to give back. Perhaps set a challenge to make the business turnkey.

</comment><comment><USER101> The advice you might get here are worthless compared to a few hours talking to a shrink.

</comment><comment><USER102> Sound like you need a vacation.

</comment><comment><USER103> Exercise. It'll really help mentally and physically. Seriously.

</comment><comment><USER104> .. and when is the last time you took a vacation longer than a week?

</comment><comment> the-dude Do you work every day?

<comment><AUTHOR> yea, but usually not more than 3h

<comment> the-dude Start taking weekends and holidays like normal people do.

I take days off whenever I feel like it.

Also, if it was me having trouble to start, I would consider it as an early burnout symptom.

Good luck.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER105> From my point of view, your professional situation seems really enjoyable.

I guess the first step is to be proud of you. Next, go to the gym, and spend more time with your loved ones (friends/family). Do you have a hobby?

</comment><comment><USER106> You might be bored.

</comment><comment><USER107> It sounds like you don't have clarity of purpose in your life. Work is just a comfortable distraction. Diet and exercise won't solve your problem.

</comment><comment><USER108> Get into a spiritual practice that is non sectarian or religious. Yoga and meditation can help you.

</comment><comment><USER109> Hope you feel better soon.

</comment><comment><USER110> Creating an anonymous account to respond for obvious reasons as well...

I've been a _de facto_ solopreneur for a couple of years now, and I deal with the same feelings every day. I don't particular like the market I'm in—I really don't think there's any kind of social good that comes out of it (arguably its a social ill), although on an individual basis I do like my customers. I have a partner who's been basically AWOL since taking a couple of new jobs (consecutively—neither of us was full time and she's an attorney in her day job). Its basically on me to handle not just the tech but sales, marketing, design, etc, most of which I'm really not good at (everything but tech, basically.) On top of that, because of the way we're structured and the agreement we negotiated when I started trading time for equity, back when she was more active, she's getting about 30% more of the cash-out from an impending sale.

(side rant: I used to be opposed to vesting schedules on a company that's bootstrapped—no more. If you have one or more partners, you need to be on a vesting schedule. Period. There's a reason those are a thing. As far as that goes, I basically made every mistake you can make in getting the company to this place—the fact that I'm even seeing a prospective payday is almost in spite of the mistakes we've made, not because of anything special we did. Someday I'll be able to tell that story.)

On top of all _that_ I rolled out the new version of our platform a month ago and overall its not going great. It was premature but because its been delayed several times and our work is seasonal, there was a hard deadline on getting it out and I had to release it missing several features that were part of the old product. (As I'm writing this, I'm cringing—another rookie mistake from someone who ought to know better.)

All that to say, you're not alone in finding yourself in this position. Something I spend a lot of time thinking about when I'm not fantasizing about accidentally stepping in front of a bus is what gives me meaning and self- worth, and how fucked up it is that so much of that is tied to my career. I'm also a father (so no, won't be intentionally accidentally stepping in front of any busses) and a husband, and when I'm being objective, a friend to many and mentor to more than a few. There's more to me than just my career, but damned if I could prove it right now.

So now I'm really trying to consider how to claw my way out of feeling this way. I see both a therapist (two, actually—one personal and one couples) and a psychiatrist, I'm on an antidepressant, and before anyone goes dropping medical advice without a license— I've got years of experience with different meds so yes, I'm certain this one is the right one for me. No, I'm not exercising or getting enough sleep, and yes, I recognize that's likely part of the problem but its difficult mental hurdle to get over to take time away from (unproductively) coding. As I'm writing all this down it sounds even worse.

Sorry, I keep trying to get to my point but I get sidetracked (also I'm super ADD, and depression and sleep habits accentuate that). My therapist and I talk a lot about how people with a certain kind of mind/mindset need stimulation, and part of the problem for me is that the work simply isn't stimulating. I've got too much free time (until I've got not enough) and I haven't always done a great job at finding something new to engage in on the side. I picked up a new platform a couple of years ago, which has been a lot of fun to work in (but then I decided to port our platform over to that, which arrested all forward momentum product-wise—like I said, I've made every mistake you can make as a company here...) Maybe what you need is something engaging to start your day with—learn AI (that's what I keep promising myself after this exit happens, assuming it does) or get into some side of technology you've always been less good at. For me that's hardware—I dropped out of my CS program well before we got to the more advanced circuits classes, so while I understand digital logic the EE side of things is a black box for me I've always wanted to grok.

Maybe you just need more work to do—sounds like you've got a lot of free time, thought about consulting work or mentoring at an incubator? As boring a the business may be, I'm certain you've learned a lot of things the hard way, and that's valuable knowledge to share. Maybe if you put something in the afternoon that you really want to do, getting work out of the way early would be easier. But also, maybe you're just not a morning person. If your company is making you enough money, and it really only takes 3-4h/day, is it so bad you don't start til the afternoon? Some people just don't click in til then. Also worth noting, the average american worker only spends about 2-3h/day doing actual work [[https://www.inc.com/melanie-curtin/in-an-8-hour-day-the- aver...](https://www.inc.com/melanie-curtin/in-an-8-hour-day-the-average- worker-is-productive-for-this-many-hours.html)]

Getting out of the house would probably help some too. Do you have a dedicated work environment? I bought a house recently and one of my favorite things about it is that I have a dedicated office now. (I also get an inordinate amount of pleasure out of yard work, which is difficult to explain. When I'm not fantasizing about bus factors, I fantasize about pulling weeds. Go figure.)

I've been kind of thinking about starting an accountability group or something with a couple of friends. That might be something to consider.

Anyway, I'm sorry to hijack your post with my own problems. I hope there's a kernel of something in there that points you in a direction that makes you feel more fulfilled. Best of luck, friend.</comment>


Pipelining Consensus Writes to Speed Up Distributed SQL Transactions - <AUTHOR> https://www.cockroachlabs.com/blog/transaction-pipelining/ <comment><USER2> > Finally, the third assumption we'll make is that the CockroachDB cluster is > operating under a steady-state that does not include chaos events.

> they shouldn't represent the cluster's typical behavior –– so, for the sake > of this performance model, it's safe to assume they are absent.

These events can be made somewhat rare within a datacenter. But they are actually very typical and very normal in communications between datacenters over the internet. Ignoring them is basically ignoring 90th percentile latency in such "geo distributed" configurations.

Which is fine, I always believed that Cockroach should focus on local clusters. But marketing it as "geo distributed" would just bring people disappointment, not necessarily a feeling you want potential customers to have.</comment>


Price Manipulation in the Bitcoin Ecosystem [pdf] - <AUTHOR> http://weis2017.econinfosec.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2017/05/WEIS_2017_paper_21.pdf <comment><AUTHOR> From abstract:

"We identify and analyze the impact of suspicious trading activity (STA) on the Mt. Gox Bitcoin currency exchange between February and November 2013. We discuss two distinct STA periods in which approximately 600,000 bitcoins (BTC) valued at $188 million were acquired by agents who did not pay for the bitcoins. During the second period, the USD-BTC exchange rate rose by an average of $20 at Mt. Gox on days when suspicious trades took place, compared to a slight decline on days without suspicious activity. Based on rigorous analysis with extensive robustness checks, we conclude that the suspicious trading activity caused the unprecedented spike in the USD-BTC exchange rate in late 2013, when the rate jumped from around $150 to more than $1,000 in two months."</comment>


Ask HN: How to Bootstrap a Startup Effectively? - <AUTHOR> Title is self-explanatory <comment><USER2> The best way is to build a product for a single customer, who will pay you upfront (early bird discount) for the solution with the agreement that it's your product (not client work). Make that one customer super happy and then find more people that have the same problem you just built a solution for.

<comment><AUTHOR> What if its in the consumer market?

<comment><USER2> Avoid that at all cost if you are trying to bootstrap a startup effectively.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER3> I don't think the title is self-explanatory at all. It is a very broad question that could have been answered through a lot of different angles.

You want advice on how do you effectively manage your time? How do you effectively manage your money? How do you manage your effectively team/contractors? How do you effectively find a good product? Good customers?

<comment><AUTHOR> I am sorry for not explaining a bit more in the title. I wanted to ask about finding ways of funding for a bootstrapped startup. Without savings, bootstrapping seems pretty terrifying

<comment><USER3> Then I think krm01 answer is the right path: _" best way is to build a product for a single customer, who will pay you upfront"_.

About it being B2C product, there you have the exact reason why it is better to bootstrap B2B products than B2C.

Building a B2B product is how you bootstrap a startup effectively.

If building a B2C is "non-negotiable", then you should try to minimize the cost of building a product the most. For example, not coding a product.

There is a new site that aims at this sort of solution: [https://www.makerpad.co](https://www.makerpad.co). Validating business without code. Might be useful.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> 1\. Build a product customers want (kind of important)

2\. Write efficient code (have low technical debt too while your at it) so you can keep hosting and operating costs low

3\. Get users to use and buy your product

4\. To become profitable: either charge enough to reach profitability, or sell more to reach profitability

</comment><comment><USER5> The goal is often to hit "ramen profitablity" as soon as possible.

If you're doing enterprise, get that one customer who's paying you enough to sustain yourself, and make them very happy.

For consumer facing, find something you can build 10x better that people are already willing to pay for. Then beeline towards building and selling it. If they aren't buying it, it's not valuable enough.

There are exceptions like reddit, but you can't really bootstrap those. Anything with network effects needs a very long runway.

</comment><comment><USER6> Take your time. Overnight success is a myth. Spend more time on marketing than coding. Talk to users a lot.

<comment><USER7> This! Try to focus your energy on finding _your_ market and less on throwing your product at tire-kickers from Product Hunt, Reddit and Hacker News. As a bootstrapper, you're not looking for affirmation from your peers, you're looking for customers. Definitely put a ton of effort into talking to prospects/customers -- even if you just receive radio silence in return -- it is so important to have these conversations even if they're super rare. Experiment with different marketing avenues to see what sticks.

I wrote about this more here: [https://www.indiehackers.com/interview/2fa6c5e1eb](https://www.indiehackers.com/interview/2fa6c5e1eb)

</comment></comment><comment><USER8> bootstrap a startup is an art. no decision is final, many of your decisions would become invalid in days.

if the product is for general public then 1) can be started as a side project 2) Friends and family may use first 3) Experiment the idea with 1000 lines or less code. 4) Don't prefect the idea, let it evolve 5) Don't go for startup events, mentors, investment etc 6) No co-founders until you get n number of users 7) Where can you get early users ? 8) do you use the product yourself ? 9) simplicity of the product is the key 10) no one is waiting, no one is caring your idea until it gets some traction. the list goes on..

many ideas i stopped in the middle, because myself not interested to continue. because ideas seems to good in one time, later it is boring to do.

</comment><comment><USER9> The best way I have learned and follow myself is find clients willing to pay THEN build the product. I have used powerpoint, PDF's, Balsamiq and lots of manual ways to demonstrate ideas to potential clients before code ever was typed into an IDE.

<comment><AUTHOR> What if the market is the general public, the consumers?

<comment><USER9> Still the same, test the idea before you invest lots of time. It is even easier when the market is consumers usually. Go to the Gym, Starbucks etc ask people if they'd use it, pay for it etc. Talk to humans face to face to get a read on their feedback. Collect their email and name to offer them a free preview when the product launches. If they resist, they weren't really interested and just trying to be nice.

If you get good initial feedback from people you talk to then it is good to setup an online signup form and do some simple advertising with FB/Google and see if you can get 500 or 1000 signups. And get feedback on the features so you know what to build. If you have good traction with signups and solid feedback move forward.

If instead you get very few signups as a percentage of visits then you aren't on the right track. Change the approach and retest before you build.

The #1 mistake I think most developers make is trying to build a product before they have a client/market.

<comment><USER9> I do want to clarify one point, consumer market is not an easy market in general. My "even easier" comment is about getting initial product validation because you don't have a lot of gatekeepers like B2B can have before you talk to a decision maker.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> Read the books:

The Lean Startup

Four Steps to Epiphany

Both books will give you everything you need. The rest comes down to your personality and your tech/sales skills.

</comment><comment><USER11> do all the coding yourself... do it in Python... use Stripe as your checkout vendor:)

<comment><AUTHOR> That would probably take me 3 years all in all :D I need an option where I can establish a cofounding team to work on it with me, and we all need to be ramen profitable

<comment><USER12> One thing I learned over the past years is a v1 should be the bare minimum to get sales. You can add all the bells and whistles later.</comment></comment></comment>


Cellular Automata Laboratory - <AUTHOR> https://www.fourmilab.ch/cellab/manual/webca.html <comment><USER2> I'm trying to understand the NLUKY rules... I think I've almost got it, but one thing is throwing me off: if Conway's Game of Life is NLUKY 0,3,3,2,3, how does a cell's state get back to 0 from 1? Rule 3 means that when a cell "dies" it gets set to 2, but if N = 0 then it looks like Rule 5 will never kick in and the cell will be stuck at 2 permanently.

I'm guessing this is a bug in the specification of Rule #3 (newC should be 0 if the cell "dies" and N = 0), but I just wanted to make sure I wasn't misunderstanding something.

</comment><comment><USER3> Fourmilab is chock-full of interesting things. Be sure to check out the gravity detector, too.

And the SlideScreen screen saver for Windows is still the best slide-show screen saver on that platform, after 15 years or more.

Not to mention how interesting John Waters, the creator of the site and Autodesk founder is.

<comment><USER4> (John Walker)

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> Folks interested in playing with cellular automata might also be interested in the desktop application Golly ([http://golly.sourceforge.net/](http://golly.sourceforge.net/)).

</comment><comment><USER6> Some of the scenes in the demo remind me a lot of an old "game" I played with as a kid, Burning Sand. It's a Falling Sand game.

\- [http://burningsand.de/](http://burningsand.de/)

\- [https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Falling- sand_game](https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Falling-sand_game)</comment>


Sahara Desert – Could you believe? The Sahara was once green - <AUTHOR> https://www.matrixdisclosure.com/sahara-desert-green/ <comment><USER2> A hypothesis called "The Saharan pump theory" explains how flora and fauna have migrated through a physical link between Eurasia and Africa. This hypothesis postulates that long periods of heavy rainfall for thousands of years that have alternated with periods of drought in Africa, are associated with a so-called "wet Sahara" phase, during which large lakes and rivers such as mega-lake Chad, existed alternately with an immense desert, the Sahara. The wet Sahara was probably a mosaic landscape of rivers, lakes, swamps, woodlands, forest islands, wooded savannas and grasslands. Earth regions higher than 45° of latitude where under a heavy shelf of ice. Mediterranean sea was much lower than today.

The Middle Paleolithic was a period of African prehistory that began about 280,000 years BCE and ended approximately between 50,000 years and 25,000 years BCE.

Even during periods of drought, humans were most often able to follow the Nile to cross the Sahara, as flora and fauna persisted on its banks. Migrations between Eurasia and Africa were, however, interrupted when, during a desert phase of 1.8 - 0.8 million years, the Nile at times stopped flowing completely and at another period because of a geological uplift (movement of elevation) of the Nile region.

This has resulted in changes in the flora and fauna in the region which have made traveling at great distances very difficult. Evaporation exceeds precipitation, water levels in lakes like Lake Chad, fall very low and rivers become dry wadis. The once widespread flora and fauna must be retreated northward into the Atlas Mountains and south into West and East Africa in the Nile Valley and from there to South-East to the plateaus of Ethiopia and Kenya or north-east to Asia via Sinai.

This separates the populations of the different species in zones with different climates, thus requiring them to adapt either by migration or speciation (evolution towards new species) or by exploiting different resources.

The Saharan pump was invoked to explain three waves of human migrations outside Africa, namely: Homo Erectus to Southeast Asia, perhaps twice, once as far as China and India, once again to Pakistan. Homo heidelbergensis to the Middle East and Western Europe. Homo Sapiens Sapiens towards the Middle East and Western Europe, the so-called "out of Africa"

Between approximately 133 and 122 000 years BCE, the southern parts of the Saharan desert had the beginning of the so-called "Abbassia Pluvial" period, which is a very wet period with monsoon precipitation. This allowed the Eurasian animals to travel to Africa and vice versa.

The Abbassia Pluvial period brought humid and fertile conditions to what is today the Sahara desert, which then benefited from lush vegetation, fed by lakes, swamps and river systems, many of which disappeared later in the drier climate that followed the Abbassia Pluvial period. African wildlife, now associated with the savannas, meadows and woods of the southern Sahara, had penetrated all of North Africa during this period.

The Stone Age cultures, especially the Mousterian and Aterian have grown significantly in Africa during the Abbassia Pluvial period. The transition to more severe climatic conditions that accompanies the end of this humid period may have encouraged the emigration of Homo Sapiens away from Africa.

The coastal road around the western Mediterranean was open during the last glacial period and may have promoted exchanges. Wet periods were limited to only tens or hundreds of years.

During the Pluvial Mousterian, the dried-up regions of North Africa became again very humid, as during the rainy Abbassia period 50,000 years earlier. There were lakes and even small inland seas (mega lake Chad), swamps and hydrographic networks that no longer exist today. Where the Sahara Desert is located today, there was the African wildlife typical of meadows and woods, herbivores such as the gazelle, the giraffe or the ostrich, predators of the lion to the jackal, hippopotamuses and crocodiles, As well as species that have now disappeared, such as the Pleistocene camel.

The Mousterian Pluvial was caused by large-scale climatic changes during the last glacial period. At about 50,000 BCE the Würm glaciation was well advanced in the northern hemisphere. The ice caps in North America and Europe were increasingly shifting the climatic zones favorable to human life to the southern hemisphere. Temperate zones in Europe and North America were transformed into arctic tundra, and rainfall strips typical of temperate zones declined sharply at latitudes in North Africa.

Curiously, the same influences that created the Mousterian Pluvial also seem to have made it disappear. At its maximum development, there are between 30 and 18,000 BCE, the Laurentide ice sheet covers not only an enormous geographical area but reaches an altitude of 1750 meters. This creates a specific meteorological system that affects the jet stream on the North American continent. The jet stream splits into two entities, creating a new climate over the northern hemisphere, which sets harsher conditions in several regions of Central Asia and the Middle East, the end of the Mousterian Pluvial and a Return to a more arid climate in North Africa.

Human settlements then move northwards. The late Paleolithic began in Egypt about 30,000 BCE as evidenced by the skeleton of Nazlet Khater. The excavation of the Nile exposed the first stone tools of that period.

Another example of climate change introduced by the Saharan pump occurred after the last glacial maximum around 22,500 - 17,000 BCE. During the last glacial maximum the Sahara desert was more extensive than it is today, with a considerably weaker extent of tropical forests than today. During this period, lower temperatures reduce the strength of Hadley's atmospheric cell, whereby tropical climbing air brings rain in the tropics, while dry air descending to about 20 degrees north latitude, Flows back to Ecuador and brings desert conditions to this region. This phase is associated with high levels of wind- borne mineral dust found in marine cores from the northern tropical Atlantic.

Around 12,500 BCE, begins a period of much more humid conditions in the Sahara, bringing a savannah climate to the Sahara.

Analysis of Nile sediment deposited in the delta also shows that this period had a higher proportion of sediments from the Blue Nile, suggesting higher precipitation on the highlands of Ethiopia. This was mainly due to a stronger monsoon activity in all tropical regions, affecting India, Arabia and the Sahara.

The African wet period that took place between 12,800 and 3,500 years BCE, was the last occurrence of a "Green Sahara". Climatic conditions in the Sahara during the African wet season were dominated by a strong monsoon with heavy rainfall. With the considerable increase in rainfall, vegetation in North Africa is transformed into vast grasslands. The Sahel region to the south of the Sahara becomes a savanna.

The African wet season was also characterized by a network of vast rivers in the Sahara, large lakes, rivers and deltas. The four largest lakes were Megachad Lake, Megafezzan Lake, Ahnet-Mouydir Lake and Lake Chotts. There were large rivers in the area such as the Senegal River, the Nile River, the Sahabi River and the Kufra River. These river and lake systems have provided corridors that have enabled many animal species, including humans, to extend their geographic range to the north, migrating across the Sahara.

A brutal climatic event occurred around 6,000 BCE. It is characterized by a sudden drop in global temperatures that lasted several millennia. This sudden cooling event may have been caused by the collapse of the Laurentide ice sheet in northeastern North America, probably when the Ojibway and Agassiz glacial lakes suddenly emptied into the North Atlantic Ocean. The melting pulse may have altered the thermohaline circulation of the North Atlantic, reducing the transport of heat from the tropics to the north of the Atlantic.

The sudden movement of the Hadley atmospheric cell towards the south causes sudden cooling followed by slower warming, linked to changes with the El Niño cycle, which leads to a rapid drying up of the Saharan and Arab regions.</comment>


Packetdrill network stack testing tool  - <AUTHOR> https://code.google.com/p/packetdrill/

<comment><AUTHOR> The research paper (Usenix) is published at this location:

[http://research.google.com/pubs/pub41316.html](http://research.google.com/pubs/pub41316.html)

Proceedings of the USENIX Annual Technical Conference (USENIX ATC 2013), USENIX, 2560 Ninth Street, Suite 215, Berkeley, CA, 94710 USA, pp. 213-218.

packetdrill: Scriptable Network Stack Testing, from Sockets to Packets Abstract: Testing today's increasingly complex network protocol implementations can be a painstaking process. To help meet this challenge, we developed packetdrill, a portable, open-source scripting tool that enables testing the correctness and performance of entire TCP/UDP/IP network stack implementations, from the system call layer to the hardware network interface, for both IPv4 and IPv6. We describe the design and implementation of the tool, and our experiences using it to execute 657 test cases. The tool was instrumental in our development of three new features for Linux TCP—Early Retransmit, Fast Open, and Loss Probes—and allowed us to find and fix 10 bugs in Linux. Our team uses packetdrill in all phases of the development process for the kernel used in one of the world's largest Linux installations.</comment>


Target to phase out gender-based signage - <AUTHOR> https://corporate.target.com/article/2015/08/gender-based-signs-corporate#sf39850073

<comment><AUTHOR> "Right now, our teams are working across the store to identify areas where we can phase out gender-based signage to help strike a better balance. For example, in the kids' Bedding area, signs will no longer feature suggestions for boys or girls, just kids. In the Toys aisles, we'll also remove reference to gender, including the use of pink, blue, yellow or green paper on the back walls of our shelves."</comment>


Truffaut's early essays on auteurism - <AUTHOR> https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-front-row/the-truffaut-essays-that-clear-up-misguided-notions-of-auteurism <comment><USER2> Richard Brody is a guilty pleasure of mine. He's such a grumpy old man when it comes to film criticism. Reading his review of Avengers is like hearing someone kvetch on the subway, except with innumerable references to Godard, Brecht, and Marx. Every film concept, premise or plot has been done better, but just in a more independent, more obscure, more directed-by-Jean-Luc-Godard fashion. Occasionally he'll toss out a glowing review but it's often with a heavy layer of political commentary that I'm not entirely sure was necessarily intended by the filmmaker (not that this is a necessary condition for the film to be political in nature). See his Us Review for that

One level of auteur theory that I've wondered about is its political ramifications. For one, it's not a very communist theory. There's no real collectivism or equality in the idea of a singular mind behind a film. Which is probably why Godard (partially) rejected the theory later in his collaborations with Gorin. Also why Third Cinema purposefully distinguished itself from the tradition of French New Wave (a tradition of un-quality?) by categorizing it as the "Second Cinema".

Likewise, auteurship was and is a title mostly populated by white, male directors. Oh sure, there's a few notable exceptions: Agnes Varda, Claire Denis, Ousmane Sembène, etc. Nonetheless, it's important to question whether auteur theory succeeded due to the power already allocated to the canonically white, male director. And whether auteurship erases the contributions made by the editor and screenwriter, positions usually more diverse in gender and race (for instance, Marcia Lucas in Star Wars and Taxi Driver).

Personally I view auteur theory as a necessary weapon against the studio system and against the "tradition of quality", but not necessarily a theory that reflects the state of an actual film production. Truffaut, Godard, et al used it as a banner to wage war against the powers above them—producers, financiers, etc—but in doing so they also negated the work of those below them, the grips and gaffers, the cinematographers and editors. I don't believe this was their intention, but hey, they did make a theory about how filmmaking is all one dude's creation. Not exactly hard to see how that'd ignore other people's contributions.

</comment><comment><USER3> The essays as they are summarized here don't seem to controversial when it comes to the production itself- everyone on a production answers to the director no matter what.

The issue is the line between the producer and the director which is usually contentious, but I feel like most of the time it's over money issues rather than studio censorship or interference. Or if the director is taking more artistic liberties than usual regarding the script or whatever, the studio may want both the original line and the updated line shot to compare.

Certain 'auteurs' would probably get the benefit of the doubt from a producer, but only after an established body of work; unless, the director also happens to be one of the producers or an executive producer where in the latter case they would be partially financing the film- like sitting on the board and also being the CEO.

</comment><comment><USER4> I didn't know, so I had to look it up:

au·teur·ism. noun. The definition of auteurism is the belief that a movie should primarily reveal the director's feelings and beliefs as if he has written it himself. The theory that the director's vision should be clearly seen in a movie is an example of auterism.

<comment><USER5> Which makes little sense without a reference to the opposite, which was common practice at the time (and even today):

the movie as a commercial product, built to spec, and designed by committee to appeal to the largest market...

So, the auteur is the "director as artist" as opposed to the "director as hired executor of the studio's will".</comment></comment>


Show HN: Founders Bundle – All the tools you need in one subscription - <AUTHOR> https://foundersbundle.com/ <comment><USER2> It would be interesting to see what you're saving on each tool and why they beat free alternatives. I think the only one that doesn't have a compelling free option is getresponse but there's sendfox for email that does the job well.

<comment><AUTHOR> Thank you for pointing that out, that's a great point. I will try to find a way to clarify what they are saving. I do plan to do a fair amount of content marketing explaining that further including alternatives, etc. It could be interesting to create a page for this on the site as well.

Regarding the current offering, unfortunately, we did not have much leverage when approaching the companies this time around. I do hope we will be able to increase the value of the bundle over time while remaining affordable.

Thank you again for your feedback, it is much appreciated!

</comment></comment><comment><AUTHOR> Hello Everyone,

If you have been working on your own company, side project, all the way to being a-part of a startup, you have likely noticed the ever-growing amount of tools you are using.

I personally find it interesting, it is definitely better than one company doing everything for us. It also gives them the chance to really focus on certain pain points. However, it is not always practical to manage. All the bills are coming in on different days, some are still trying to trick you with unstable bills, different account logins, etc. This is often an unnecessary distraction and tends to make the accounting much more complicated than it needs to be.

After looking into this problem a bit, I noticed different kinds of bundles. Some offered lifetime deals which are neat but you also want to make sure the tools you are paying are getting recurring revenue for them to stick around and improve. Then, I found others offering discounts only which is not bad but it was still not what I was hoping for.

What I believed would be the most useful, and sustainable for everyone involved would be a subscription model that includes numerous tools within that subscription, at no additional cost.

I decided to email back and forth with companies about potentially joining a bundle. After getting on many calls and digging into the details we realized it would be a bit time consuming, and hard to get everyone involved within the paid subscription.

Instead, we believe it is better to slowly grow the list based on what is suggested by the subscribers. The subscription will currently include 4 partners (GetResponse, HelpCrunch, Vectera, and Qlearly) and credits towards 1Password, Twist and many others.

Additionally, we wanted to give discounts for many other great tools we believe a high percentage of our subscribers could really benefit from. By potentially getting your feedback on the tools you use the most or are likely to use the most, we could see which tools should really be included within the subscription. All of this and more is what we are hoping to learn during this beta, which is currently limited at 500 subscribers.

This is also why we are holding off just a bit on building a backend for your account and our own payment system. We will have this ready by April 2020. The codes will be emailed to you 15 minutes after the checkout. You will receive an email with the link and password to an Airtable sheet.

Some may call this a beta, others an MVP. However, something I have learned is if someone is willing to go through a bit of an unfamiliar process to access what you are offering, it is a good way to tell if you have something good on your hands.

Thank you again for willing to learn more about our beta. We hope this is something you will find helpful. If you have any suggestions to help us improve, I would love to hear from you: firstname.lastname@example.com

Please note:

Discounts: You can purchase access to the discounts only.

Accessing the codes: The codes will be emailed to you 15 minutes after the checkout. You will receive an email with the link and password to an Airtable sheet.

Refunds: Unfortunately, since you will receive access to the codes within 24 hours, we can not offer refunds on your 1st transaction. However, if you become a subscriber you can request a refund within 48 hours of your 2nd transaction. In this case, your subscription will be canceled and refunded.

Do you have any feedback or suggestions? I'd love to hear it as the project is still not launched. We plan to do so next Monday!

Our main goal is to increase the value of the subscription over time while keeping it affordable, however, we simply don't have enough leverage when approaching companies. At least for now.

Thank you for your time :)</comment>


Taking Steps to Combat Your Own Decision-Making Bias - <AUTHOR> https://www.strategy-business.com/article/Why-Our-Brains-Fall-for-False-Expertise-and-How-to-Stop-It <comment><USER2> \- _Set up "if-then" plans [such as] "If I catch myself agreeing with everything a dominant, charismatic person is saying in a meeting, then I will privately ask a third person (not the presenter or the loudest person) to repeat the information, shortly after the meeting, to see if I still agree."_

\- _Get explicit, and get it in writing._ Document how decisions are made and conclusions reached.

\- _Incentivize awareness._ Reward people who point out systematic issues. Tom Brady pays defenders who intercept his passes in practice.

\- _Set up buffers._ Take a walk before making a decisions or to jostle loose unconsidered issues. Use "pre-mortems" to see how the yet to be made decision could go wrong, and work backward from there to mitigate and give insight into the best decision.

\- _Cut the cues._ Set up blind decisions that mask potential biases such as gender, ethnicity, background, hometown, and so on.

</comment><comment><USER3> I liked in particular adding a short "cooling off" period for a group to break and relax before coming back to make a decision.</comment>