project_log: 011

Last week was tough.

I felt anxious for no apparent reason, couldn't focus on anything, and honestly felt like quitting. This mental breakdown lined up perfectly with a trip I had planned back in December 2024.

My partner Erin and I just spent the weekend at an off-grid cabin in the woods. All I did was think, read, and surf.

The timing was perfect. Resetting my focus and igniting a fire to get shit done.

I felt a new level of appreciation for the work I've put in over the past 6 Years

Being able to pick up my laptop, drive down to Raglan (a surf town here in NZ), surf in the evening, and then jump back into work the next day at a co-working space is fucking cool. I'm not grateful enough. This is something I dreamt of doing when I picked up that JavaScript textbook from the local library 6 years ago.

Reflecting over the past two days made me realise a few things I wanted to share:

1. If you don't set priorities, you'll never say NO. I find it hard to say no to clients because of the money it puts in the bank today. Having a set few priorities to focus on allows me to have that reason. So the priorities moving forward are:

   1. Build, design, and market a product that supplements my income in 2025.

   2. Learn how to leverage AI better. (The goal being 1 input = 100 outputs)

   3. Learn how to convey my ideas through writing and producing digital content to support priority number one.

   Understanding this creates a frame for making decisions. If a new client comes along and it doesn't aid the mission, the answer is NO.

2. Stop trying to be interesting. Start trying to be interested. There should never be a period where you sit down and think: "What should I write about today?" without a cornucopia of ideas to pull from. Being interested in things is what makes you interesting, not the other way around. So the lesson here is to go deeper into the priorities, and you'll naturally be more interesting in the things you share.

3. Status isn't bad. Status that's represented in material things is. Earning respect through doing hard things is the status I crave. It was nice to find this distinction. The example I love here is surfing. You could be on the shittiest board with a wetsuit that's ripped to shreds, but if you're out there ripping, you have everyone's respect—AKA you have high status. I don't care about the stuff you own; I care about what you can do.

4. Financial wealth is not the only type of wealth. Being financially wealthy but time-poor sounds like a shit time.

5. Time is finite. This one hit pretty hard. The 5 Types of Wealth by Sahil Bloom has reminded me that time is the most important and valuable asset we have. As a 27-year-old individual, I never think about death. But one day it's coming. And I don't want to sit there looking over the people at my funeral thinking, "I wish I did more." Life is for living. Balance is possible (as long as you know your priorities).

This reflection was done from an off-grid cabin in the woods:

Things aren't all bad. Let's talk about Ballpark, the product I'm building

Last week's progress kinda sucked (as you read above above). But progress was made nonetheless.

For context, Ballpark is an estimation widget that plugs directly into your website. You define a flow of questions for prospective clients, and after answering, they are provided with an automated quote.

The goal of the product is to remove noise for both freelancers / small studios and prospective clients. Saving time on both ends.

The Flow Builder

You create a questionnaire flow via a workflow builder, similar to how Zapier and Attio build flows if you're familiar with those tools. You can add a series of blocks that act as either questions or messages. You can also split the flow at multiple-choice questions to ask follow-up questions based on the answers.

For example, I need to ask a client different questions if they’re building a marketing website versus an e-commerce store.

The flow builder is 70% complete. The remaining 30% involves adding more question types and implementing the frontend design. Right now, it looks like shit. And I'm embarrassed to even show you this but here's a quick demo:

The Frontend Widget

Before writing this newsletter, I made solid progress on the frontend widget build. Question types are pulling through correctly, and the widget is adapting its next question based on the previous answer. I'm stoked with how this is working, as navigating a tree-like structure of questions is not an easy task.

Quick demo:

(Stop laughing. I know it looks like shit. The design will be implemented soon.)

It's probably helpful to share that I only spend 2 hours a day on this

When I was at my 9-to-5 developer job, I would spend the first two hours of the day learning. At the time, I was into crypto and smart contract development. From 5:30 AM to 7:30 AM, I would learn about crypto before heading to work.

Now that I'm a recovering crypto degen, I've replaced those two hours with building Ballpark. This works because the first two hours of the day are my most productive. I'd rather spend my most productive time on my future self rather than on my clients (sorry guys).

The amount you can accomplish in two hours is incredible. Set the limit and watch your task list shrink.

I'm changing the cadence of project logs.

One week doesn't feel like enough time to share a valuable update. I'd rather give you a bunch of juicy updates once a month than a series of haphazard updates every week. So that's what I'm going to do.

Next month's project log will focus entirely on project updates. This will include a section on current numbers, where I share actual progress on things like revenue, marketing efforts, etc. It'll be centered around the projects I'm building (whether client or internal).

The other three weeks are going to be focused on growing as a freelancer or small studio. Think strategies on client acquisition, AI, content marketing, skill development, productivity etc. I want to share the shit that get results for me rather than just general blanket advice.

That's all for this week. Looking forward to sharing a progress update on clients, Ballpark, and numbers next month.

Keep crushing.

Will