I Quit My Job to Build Apps. Here's What My Day Looks Like Now (Spoiler: Not What I Imagined)

Table of Contents

The Fantasy vs. The Reality #

When I quit my job to go full-time on my side projects, I had this picture in my head. You know, coffee shop mornings, deep focus afternoons, no more pointless Zoom calls. Just me building cool stuff.

That lasted about two days.

My actual day-to-day now? It’s part chaos, part grind, and sometimes, magical. But it’s definitely not what I thought it’d be.

Mornings Are a Mess #

Pre-quitting, I thought I’d become this ultra-productive morning person. You know the type: iced Americano on one side, a To-Do list on Notion (or Obsidian if you’re fancy). Knock out three features by 11 AM.

Nope. Reality is me scrolling Reddit for 40 minutes in bed, convincing myself that browsing r/sideproject is “market research.” By the time I’ve made coffee, done the Wordle, and sat down, it’s 10:30.

What’s worse? No boss means no accountability. If you feel like “starting fresh tomorrow,” no one cares. Dangerous.

Fixing the Morning Slump #

After weeks of this, I finally set hard rules:

Phone stays on the charger until 10 AM. No news, no emails, no scrolling.
First task of the day? Something small. A bug fix, updating docs, whatever gets the ball rolling.

It’s not perfect, but I’ve gone from “Netflix at 11 AM” levels of unproductive to “most days are good.”

The Code vs. The Business #

Early on, I thought this gig would be 90% coding. After all, I’m here to make apps. Right? Ha. Wrong.

At least half my time goes to stuff that isn’t writing code:

Troubleshooting why Stripe’s API (as of v2023-08-16) is randomly failing my webhook calls.
Writing SEO pages for my landing site (because paying for Google Ads feels like setting money on fire).
Answering emails from confused beta users who discovered a bug you missed.

One guy from the r/sideproject thread said, “Your main job as a solo dev isn’t coding—it’s unblocking yourself.” And that hit hard. Whether it’s fixing a nasty Docker networking issue or just forcing myself to cold email 20 people, this gig is more about momentum than raw output.

The Unexpected Admin Overload #

Quick note: if you’re thinking about quitting, budget at least 30% of your time for admin. Taxes, contracts, customer support—you’ll juggle all of it. And trust me, it eats into “real work.”

I still code, obviously. But on a good day, it’s maybe four hours. Maybe.

Loneliness Will Wreck You (If You Let It) #

This one hit me hard. At my old job, I complained about open offices and surprise Slack pings. Now? I kinda miss them.

Don’t underestimate how isolating solo work can be, especially if your product’s B2C and you don’t have clients blowing up your inbox. Some days, it’s just you and your bugs, which is as depressing as it sounds.

How I Handle It #

Daily stand-ups with a friend. One buddy and I now do a Slack check-in every morning to share goals. No one wants to admit they wasted a day.
Coworking spaces. Spending $200/month on a desk in a buzzy WeWork might sound dumb, but it’s cheaper than therapy, trust me.
Discord, Twitter, and, yes, Reddit also help. r/sideproject feels less like lurking when you’re actually in the trenches.

The Highs Are Worth It #

Let’s not pretend it’s all doom and admin emails. When you ship something cool, and someone pays for it, it’s like a shot of espresso straight to your soul. Nothing from my old job came close.

Last month, a random dude emailed me saying my app (a dead-simple time tracker) helped him finally stay consistent with his freelancing gigs. That email? Worth 10 all-nighters.

The Numbers So Far #

In case you’re wondering, I’m not raking in cash. Right now, I’ve got:

One SaaS project: 12 paying users at $15/month. (Profit? LOL. Hosting on DigitalOcean eats $40/month.)
An iOS app: Early days, making about $100/month.
Savings are keeping me afloat while figuring out scaling. I don’t regret jumping, but yeah, it’s scary.

Final Thoughts #

I’m not saying “don’t quit.” This life has real perks: freedom, learning, the chance to build something you own. But it’s not the postcard-perfect grind you see on Instagram.

What you do all day will depend more on your work habits than your ideas. Build routines. Find people. And, for the love of god, stop checking r/sideproject every hour.

Good luck out there.