In my last post, I wrote about setting up domains and getting everything in place that would allow me to write and create the app.
So far, I have set up notic.cc, running the Twenty Twenty theme. There is no content yet, although that will be coming soon. I have set it up with a static home page and have set it up so that notic.cc/blog can be used for product announcements as well as content about meetings and PMK. This particular domain is being used as the site for the Notic Meet and Notic PKM products. Eventually, there will be a web app and perhaps a community, but those are not in the six-month app challenge that I am doing.
Speaking of the content on notic.cc, it doesn’t feel like a high priority as working on the actual app, but essentially, it is. I won’t spend much time writing content for it but will be happy with a consistent post cycle, perhaps once a week, when things get moving. As for the home page, this will need to come soon, but I’m not quite ready yet because I have no product to show except for some rough drawings.
I set up an email form on ConvertKit and added it to show on all blog pages. I haven’t tested it yet, but I will do it when I get content on the site. This particular email list will be for those interested in product updates. I have no idea at the moment how many people will be interested in a meeting note app, but if it’s only a handful then that’s fine, although I hope there are more people interested.
I wrote last time about learning SwiftUI. I am a little behind on this, but I intend to finish it after finishing this blog post. With me being experienced in software development, I don’t expect re-learning SwiftUI to take long.
After the refresher on SwiftUI, I intend to build up the user interface based on my sketches from the last couple of years. There’s still some refining to do on those sketches, but I would estimate I am most of the way there. Part of it will be deciding how the app is laid out and how users interact. Another part will be slicing away some of the features that won’t be included in MVP, although they will almost certainly be added in a later version should this app challenge be successful.
Back on to domains for a few minutes. I have another notic domain that I need to set up for two weekly newsletters that I want to send out. One will be a newsletter about Meetings and will share links to other apps in this niche and other related info. The other will be about personal knowledge management or PKM for short. This field is getting quite large, and I think there is a lot that can be shared about this subject. Note-taking has been a big part of my life for probably 30 years, and PKM seems to be the right tool or mindset for keeping organised and making notes useful. I am looking forwards to creating this particular newsletter.
Something I am struggling with at the moment is getting into a routine of when to do things. My goals are not too lofty, but the path to reach them also isn’t an easy walk. It will take commitment, but rather than trying to cram everything in every few weeks and feel overwhelmed; I feel that I need to create a steady pace and just get into a good routine of when to organise certain things and when to do things.
I wrote last time about getting organised in OmniFocus for the main tasks. I set up projects and repeated reminders for these things, but I think some of these items need to go into my calendar so that I can schedule them. Doing it this way will allow me to plan times when I have the most energy, which is usually first thing in the morning, but it will also block out some time where I know that if I am in the mindset to work, then it will get done. OmniFocus is good for tasks that need doing by a due date, as well as when no due date is needed, but creating content, researching, and building software all require a focused effort, and it’s hard to just think that I’ll fit it in “before I go to bed”, or “just after dinner”.
An alternative way will be to keep due dates in OmniFocus but begin reviewing the next day each night so that I can insert items into my calendar based on the needs for that day. This way might work better for me and how I work.
I feel my progress overall has been lacking the past couple of weeks, and partly it’s overwhelmed with setting up. I have a good amount of time today to finish getting things in motion to free up my time and mind for getting the project moving in a good direction. I think normally, at these times, I would likely “do it later”, but because I’m committing here, it seems like I need to get moving.