Indie hacking like a gardener

Working on my new meditation app full-time for the past four months has led me to realize that an entrepreneurial style I like is that of a gardener. I like having a “garden” of multiple projects, each of a different kind and at different stages.

I made my first dollar from my speed reading browser extension in June 2020, in the depths of the pandemic. I had created the extension several years before that (but didn’t monetize it). My product has grown to the point of being able to cover my basic living expenses, ramen profitable, some might say, and I think there's more potential. It’s a seed that I planted a while ago which has now sprouted, bloomed, and is starting to fruit.

I wrote the first lines of code for my meditation mobile app during a 14-day quarantine in Taiwan four months ago. I launched it recently. Thanks to some great early user feedback and my own vision for the product, I have a bunch of features I want to build. It’s a seedling that I will water and nurture until one day, it breaks the soil and sprouts.

Why did I start these projects at all? I created them to scratch my own itch. To use the gardener analogy, I wanted to plant the vegetables that I’d want to eat myself.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been splitting my work time between these two projects, tending to my garden as a whole. I'm still experimenting with the exact time allocation, but switching focus throughout the week gives me time to marinate on problems and develop a fresh perspective. I also get to face a diverse set of challenges and feedback that helps me grow.

Who knows what'll happen in the future. Maybe one of my projects will turn into something so compelling that I feel like I have no other choice than to go all-in. I trust myself to know when that moment arrives.

But least for now, I’m having a lot more fun indie hacking like a gardener—isn't enjoyment the point, once all is said and done?