Charlie says: I’m frustrated that I haven’t hit $10k a month yet. I blame my limited time as a full‑time student, but I hear Maker School participants who work 9‑5 jobs still reach $10k or more, so it must be my lack of skill rather than time. If you were in my position, how would you allocate your time? Any suggestions?
Many people think lack of skill stops them from hitting their goals, but the harsh reality is you probably already know more than you need to win. After a certain point, learning more actually becomes counterproductive—just look at 17‑ or 18‑year‑olds in accelerators who blaze through the roadmap and start making $5k–$10k a month despite having almost no skills. What they do is develop a minimum viable skill set, then try everything under the sun until something works. In your case, as a student you’re actually at your least busy point in life, and you already have plenty of skill from what I know about you (you were in Maker School). So the issue isn’t time or skill—it’s application. You need to consistently apply yourself. If you had been doing that, you’d be tracking metrics like how many cold emails you sent, how many responses you got, and noting that they flaked. Since you didn’t, you likely haven’t taken any action at all. It’s not complicated; it’s simple but not easy. Pick a few high‑revenue‑generating actions—like reaching out to people—and do them every single day for a long period of time.
I wouldn't do it all at once, as sexy as it sounds and as incredible as the big gurus on YouTube make working for yourself seem. There are a lot of problems with it too. The main one is you're going from an environment where everybody essentially has their day structured for them to an environment where you actually structure every waking moment of your day completely yourself. One of two things happens: it's really overwhelming and you end up not utilizing that time effectively, which leads to you making less money. That's basically the only thing that happens. You're starting this off as an infant — if this is the first time you've ever done self-employment, you have to learn that skill. It doesn't matter how long you've been in IT or how much time or energy you've invested in a specific niche; you're learning an entirely new skill from scratch. So rather than going from 100% corporate to 0% corporate overnight, I'd recommend tranching it or breaking it up. What we'll have people in Maker School do is try to get to 80% of their time in a full-time job. If they can get to 80%, most of their work's already done for them, because the jump from 100 to 80 means you can now introduce 20% of fully self-structured time where you work on your own business. Maybe instead of working 9 to 5, you work 9 to 3:30 — even an additional hour and a half. The second you learn to utilize that hour and a half effectively, it'll carry over to the rest of the time, and usually you don't even have to work a full 8 hours a day head-down after you've learned to be extraordinarily effective with that hour and a half. That's what I would do. I wouldn't go 100 to zero, because I did that for myself and I was completely lost for a very long time — on the brink of eviction multiple times, living in a converted garage, eating rice and beans all day. You don't need to make it that hard for yourself, especially if you're not going to be saving 6 to 12 months of expenses, because it's very difficult and not really worth it. The exhaustion you feel at your current job is probably going to be multiplied tenfold if you do the exact same thing and then switch. Alternatively, you'll make far less money, which leads to a different type of existential threat or exhaustion.
When I feel overwhelmed, I take a minute to list every single task I actually have to do on paper. The overwhelm comes not from the total volume but from my perception of the volume bouncing around in my head. My simple steps: take a deep breath, identify the first thing bouncing around that I need to do and write it out, then identify the next thing and write it out, and keep rinsing and repeating for 10‑20‑30 minutes to get a big list of actionable steps. To push further, write out the first subtask needed to move that forward—for example, after moving provinces I needed to figure out car insurance; the first actionable step was to call a phone number. Knowing the exact step reduces friction and makes it much easier to get done; this is about eliminating akrasia (weakness of will). Reduce the friction and you’ll win.
time managementoverwhelmproductivityactionable steps
I've started many YouTube channels, e-commerce stores, service agencies, and PPC businesses - most of them failed and made me no money, leaving me feeling underperforming. The real differentiator isn't hyper-optimized skills; it's the ability to stay consistent over long periods. After about age 23, that's the skill worth optimizing. It's not a deep philosophical trait; it's a skill like learning ads or managing clients. To build it, spend disproportionate time on it, use books and practices, and create accountability - tell friends, family, partners, or staff about your daily goals so there are consequences for skipping. I've done this exclusively for the last few years: just commitment and daily showing up. As long as you don't give up, you'll eventually win.
Yes, it definitely gets overwhelming; I have overwhelming days like anyone else. Even the big business titans I admire have extraordinarily overwhelming days, though they hide it well. The feeling of overwhelm exists on a gradient between no stimulation and overstimulation, with an optimal middle spot where you're optimally stimulated—this is the ancient Greek concept of ESS (optimal performance zone). On a stress‑meter graph, the sweet spot is where stress brings out your best performance; high performers operate there, while being over‑stressed (distress) is too much and harmful. I often feel overwhelmed and admit my project‑management systems aren’t the best, but I’m working on them. The key idea is to treat your limited daily time as a constraint and use it for good—find ways to do the same or more work in the same or less time rather than seeking more time. I appreciate the question and note that many one‑person businesses make more money than I do, so I look to adopt their systems. Simple systems that keep things on track are a big lever; publishing content every day is one of them, letting me answer questions and create content simultaneously—killing two birds with one stone. When a student asks a question, I record a video to answer it and also produce content, always looking for opportunities to combine tasks. This approach yields more creative output, a stronger content strategy, and higher volume—a tactical way to work.