Solo Founders! What's a habit or routine that keeps you sharp and motivated? I'll go first 👋
So I've been a solo founder for almost 3 years, first two years was a b2b company and a lot of sales, meetings and "people to people work".
This year its been a lot more me and my computer when starting a tech/ai company. which have really tested me and my sanity...🙃
So to keep sane I have two things that I know will keep me fresh, motivated and frankly just positive.
Running 🏃
A must. It's a form of meditation and bloodflow to your brain which really helps with creativity. So if I'm doing a lot of work in canva, figma, design or writing I love to get a run in before and then just lock in.
Walking in the woods WITHOUT any input such as podcast, music etc. 🌳
Walking in the woods without any input has shown to be about 80% as effective as meditation for your brain. You kinda just sort though your thoughts, worries, goals. If I have a problem I'm stuck on, I go for a walk and then I have 5 ideas to try on it and i get by - HUGELY RECOMMEND it.
I would love to try new habits , so please tell me.
What are some or one habit that keeps you at your best? 🙏
Replies
@markus_kask
The woods without input thing is so underrated.
I started doing this about a year ago after reading something similar, and honestly, it's where I've solved more problems than at my desk. There's something about your brain just... working in the background when you're not forcing it.
For me, the game-changer has been morning pages – just dumping 3 pages of stream-of-consciousness writing first thing in the morning. It sounds tedious, but it's like taking out the mental trash before the day starts. All the anxious thoughts, random ideas, things I'm stuck on – they go on paper, and then my actual work time is so much clearer. It's especially helpful on days when I'm context-switching between technical work and creative stuff.
I'm curious – when you're doing those woods walks, do you go at a specific time of day? I've noticed my runs are way more "meditative" in the morning versus evening, but I can't tell if that's just me or if there's something to timing these things.
Also, three years solo is no joke. How are you handling the lack of a co-founder to bounce ideas off of in real-time? That's the part I struggle with most.
@dushyant_khinchi Totally agree! I have a dog, so i doe the walks about 4 times a day without even thinking about it, so i get a free habit 🙏 But i would sayn that the morning walk is the best.. im just talking to myself och planning the day and getting some of the demons out of the way in my head you know..
Yeah i would really love to have someone to bounce things with... i guess AI is kinda my co founder in that way! I kinda like the challengeof doing it alone.. might prove to be the dumbest thing ever but it really forces me to keep sharp , being a coach to myself and build a genuine belief in myself and im getting really good at pickung myself up and just keep going... if that makes sense?
@markus_kask That makes a lot of sense, actually. Having those built-in walks sounds like the perfect kind of discipline - you don’t have to negotiate with yourself, it just happens. And yeah, mornings really do feel like you’re clearing the fog before the day even starts.
I like how you put it: being a coach to yourself. That’s such a different muscle than just having someone else to validate or redirect you. It’s uncomfortable, but it’s also where real confidence gets built. And honestly, using AI as a thinking partner is probably the closest thing to a modern solo-founder superpower we’ve got right now.
Appreciate you sharing how you think about it - it’s refreshing to hear someone embrace the challenge instead of just complaining about it.
@dushyant_khinchi Thanks for the kind words!
For me, it's lifting weights 3-4 times a week. It's not just physical, it reminds me progress comes from consistency, not motivation. That mindset transfers directly to building products solo.
Honestly, sunlight first thing in the morning. I go outside for 10 minutes with coffee, no phone. It stabilizes my mood and helps me feel human before becoming a founder again.
@balakrisnan_h That's a great habit! I try to have a no screen rule for the first hour, i thankfully have a dog so i get the walk and no phone for free but it's hard to not jump on the computer/phone during breakfast
I schedule one "no-input" hour weekly where I just think and sketch ideas on paper. No screen. Some of my best product decisions came from that quiet space.
@jack_mark8 Awesome! I think we all could benefit from doing more "thinking work" like that
Walking is absolutely amazing.
Not only does it activate your parasympathetic nervous system*, but it just does something for thinking and reasoning that nothing else does.
When I wrote my trilogy, I had to get up and walk to reason through some fairly complex things. Even in the winter when it was -5 out, I would go for a walk.
Structure for one person can be a cage for another person so I'd say don't beat yourself up if your methodology seems chaotic. It may not be.
After a while, you learn when your brain is more in tune with a certain kind of activity. For example, you may be all about reasoning in the morning, but creativity at night. Or it may be the exact opposite.
*I did an episode on that in fact.
Thank you for the great question!
@markbradford Great input! I find that i am way more creative in the evening, and have to fight more in the morning to get started ... so i try to get going as fast as possible to get the slow part out of the way
Wow this post is so needed for me right now ! Thank you a lot. I am usually go to gym or try to ground myself in physical world with any hand work , house keeping , diy projects etc.
Also meditations helps a lot!
@ilia_ilinskii Yeha i think Meditation is the most "bang for the buck" for focus, handling stress and so on!
One more thing, I think solo-founders do need community and collaboration between each other cause post like that shows how important for us to be not isolated.
@ilia_ilinskii Yeha its easy to just be by yourself and then 6 month go by and you havent really talked to anyone but an ai 😆