vol.12 The Beginner's Guide To Setting Priorities

Let me guess. You’ve got a big list of “priorities.”

Build the product. Grow your audience. Start a newsletter. Fix that bug. Learn ads. Redo the landing page… again.

It all feels important. And instead of making progress, you’re frozen, staring at the screen, scrolling Twitter, telling yourself you’re “planning.”

I know that feeling. I’ve been there more times than I’d like to admit.

When I first started building on my own, I spent weeks shuffling tasks around, re-writing to-do lists, and convincing myself I was “strategizing.” But I wasn’t.

I was hiding. Because here’s what I didn’t get at the time:

Clarity doesn’t come from thinking. It comes from moving.

The Truth About Focus

At the time, I thought the problem was the chaos in my head. So I read productivity blogs, color-coded my calendar, and spent hours making Notion dashboards.

None of it helped.

The moment things started clicking was the moment I stopped trying to optimize the whole journey and just picked one thing to ship.

Not the “highest leverage” thing. Not the “smartest” thing. Just the thing I could get out the door the fastest.

For me, it was posting about my idea before it existed. A screenshot. A rough mockup. A “Would you use this?” poll.

And you know what happened?
I got my first real feedback. Then my first beta user. Then a small handful of paying customers.

Suddenly the next step wasn’t a mystery anymore.
It was obvious.

Here’s how I’d prioritize if I was starting all over again:

Build an audience before you need it

Post something every week. Share ideas, problems, or progress. Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, whichever butters your toast.

Engage with 5–10 people a day in your space. Reply to their posts, ask questions, add value.

Don’t wait until launch day to “start marketing.” Start now. Even if you have nothing to sell yet.

Focus on ONE small project

Forget the giant SaaS you’re dreaming about. What’s the smallest version of it you could ship in 2 weeks?

Don’t try to build the “final product.” Build a landing page. A Google Sheet. A Notion template. Anything that solves a problem. Shipping something simple builds momentum.

Talk to real people

Talk to 5–10 people who might use your idea and ask:

• “What’s the biggest problem you have with X?”
• “Would a tool that does Y be useful to you?”

Don’t pitch yet. Just listen. Take notes.

These early conversations will save you months of wasted effort later.

Upgrade your skills strategically

Missing a skill you need? Spend 30–60 minutes a day learning it.

• If you want to sell, learn how to do proper copy writing.
• If you want to build, learn no-code or basic web dev.
• If you want an audience, learn how to write online.
• If you want to post more creative content, learn new video editing tools

Stop multitasking. Commit for 30 days.

Pick ONE project and work on it daily.

No new ideas. No switching lanes.

Momentum beats a perfect strategy every time.

So we asked our Oddsbreakers,

How do you decide what
to work on next?

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Artasaka

Design

Development

I usually work on a bunch of stuff at the time, but depending on what’s priority I allocate more time towards it. Once one thing is completed or done to the point i can automate / delegate / standardise it i queue up the next

‍

GoodWatch

Entertainment

Media

I have a very simple method.
I write everything down. Ideas, Todos, concerns. It's a huge text file.
Every day i start with checking the file and reorder the items to bring the most important ones to the top.
The crucial ingredient here is to focus only on the top most item and completely ignore the rest.
That gives me the required headspace and peace to efficiently work on my current task, be it technical, learning, marketing or something else.
TL;DR: Prioritize and focus.

How I Decide What’s Next

When I feel stuck now, I ask myself three questions:

1. What’s closest to done that I can ship now?
2. What’s the one thing that, if it worked, would make everything else easier?
3. What would actually move the needle, not just feel good to check off?

Then I pick one and commit. Not forever. Not for life. Just for now.

Because priorities aren’t a riddle you solve. They’re a muscle you build.

‍

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