What It Looks Like When You Fail Quietly

Hey there 👋

You know that feeling when you sit down to work and hours later you're still… just sitting there? no progress..

Yeap. That was my whole week.

👉 This was supposed to be Part 4 of my “Build an Indie App in 4 Weeks” series.
I had big plans, updates, launches, maybe even a mini breakthrough.

Instead?

No cool experiment.
No app launch.
No big wins to share.

Just me, staring at my to-do list (and sometimes trying to create it), wondering why I can’t finish anything.

🤯 The Problem Was Simple (But Stupid)

It’s not like I wasn’t doing things. Actually, I was doing too many things:

• Trying to grow my live apps (yep, they’re still running, still selling, still needing love)

• Building a new health app from scratch

• Prepping another one for launch

• Struggling with store issues

• Freelance projects to pay the bills

• This newsletter (hi!)

All that and still, somehow, I felt like I was getting nothing done.

Add to that the emotional mess.

Still, it all added up. I wasn’t just mentally tired. I was… scattered.

🧠 It Wasn't What You'd Expect

No big breakdown.
No burnout.
No “I can’t take this anymore” moment.

It was this quiet, slow feeling of being stuck. Like running in place but somehow getting more tired.

My days blurred. My focus crumbled. And nothing moved.

“Should I update my app?” → “No wait, that newsletter’s due.” → “Actually… should I message my friend?” → “Is this even worth building?”
I was a mess.
...ugh, maybe I’ll just scroll for a bit on instagram.

💡 What I Learned (The Hard Way)

If I had to do the week over, here’s what I’d change:

• Pick one priority per day → stuck with it.

• Stop trying to prove I’m productive and just be okay with progress

• Say "not today" to good ideas that popped up.

The real problem wasn't that I failed. It was that I was trying to win four different games at the same time.

💬 Tell Me I'm Not Alone Here

I almost didn't send this. Who wants to read about a messy week?

But maybe that's what we need more of this: the real stuff that doesn't look good on LinkedIn.

Do you ever feel like you're drowning in your own success? Like all the good things; opportunities, projects, people who need you. Sometimes feel like too much?

If this hit you somewhere real, just hit reply. Even a simple "yep, been there" helps.

Sometimes knowing you're not the only one is enough.

Talk soon, Yunus 🚀