This is a complete guide to side hustling using Hustle - an advanced digital ADHD planner.
In this guide, you'll learn how to get the max out of Hustle.
At the end, I will breakdown my achievements after following the Hustle Framework for 1 year.
So let's dive right in.
Post-Sign in Configuration for Optimizing Your Experience
Once you've signed into the Hustle App, the first step is to access your user settings.
In the User Settings menu, you should find an option to set your timezone. This step is crucial for ensuring that all your time tracked tasks are synchronized with your local time.
Enter your birth date and retirement age. This information is crucial for calculating retirement progress and setting goal due dates.
The "Retirement Age" feature allows you to set due dates for tasks that are not a top priority but should be completed before your retirement age. You can specify a "Sometime" option, which calculates the time remaining between the current date and your retirement age.
To create a well-structured daily schedule in the Hustle App, you'll need to access the "My Day Schedule" settings
Start by filling in the major routine hours of your day. These are general blocks of time that you're committed to, such as sleep and work.
Adjust hours for activities like eating, hygiene, and commuting. These are essential activities that play a significant role in your daily routine.
Now You'll get a clear picture of how your day is structured and how much real free time you have left. This free time can be used for personal goals or hobbies.
The remaining free time serves as your daily baseline in the daily activity report chart. Beating this benchmark adds hours to your positive hustling balance (time well spent), while falling short results in a loss, representing time that might be considered as wasted.
Reports are recalculated daily in the morning, starting from the first successful activity log and continuing until the last login.
Manage your goals, tasks and track your time.
On my board screen, click on the "Add Goal" button to create a new goal.
Give your goal a clear name. This helps you easily identify and track your objectives.
Provide a brief explanation of why this goal is significant and meaningful to you. Understanding your motivation can help keep you focused and motivated.
Specify the deadline or due date for your goal.
Break down your goal into smaller, manageable tasks. These tasks are the actionable steps you'll take to make progress toward your goal.
After setting up your goal and its associated tasks, Hustle will create a "Goal Card."
This card displays: The percentage of goal completion, showing how much time has passed since you started and how much time remains until due date. A list of the tasks associated with the goal. And time you spend in total on each task.
Review the list of tasks associated with your goal. Choose the tasks you want to work on immediately.
From the Goal Card, you can drag and drop the selected tasks into the Work in Progress (WIP) column. There are a maximum of three slots in the WIP column to limit the number of activities you're actively focusing on.
You can rename the activity to make them more specific and actionable. Time spent on these activities will be recorded and added to the parent task.
Focus on the activity in the WIP column and make progress on them. This helps you manage your workload effectively without feeling overwhelmed.
If you need to pause work on a activity or change its priority, you can drag it from the WIP column to the Waiting column.
Activities in the Waiting column can be revisited in the future. If you decide to work on them again or change their priority, you can easily drag them back to the WIP column for active focus.
Choose the activity you want to work on and click on the "Play" button.
A modal window will appear, displaying the task you're working on and the running timer. Additionally, it will show how much time is left until midnight, allowing you to manage your time effectively within the day.
As you work on the activity, the timer will continue to count. If you stop the timer before it exceeds one minute, the recorded time is not saved.
The time you spent on the activity will be added to the parent task. You can view this record in the "Recent Wins" column to track your progress and accomplishments.
Make adjustments to how you spend your free time.
Treat your free time like a currency. Spend it wisely.
To monitor your progress, start by navigating to the Dashboard Page. This page provides an overview of your goal journey and time management.
On the Dashboard, you'll find information on how many days are left until your retirement. This countdown can help you stay focused on your long-term goals.
The dashboard also displays the number of days remaining until the end of the year. This is a useful reminder for assessing your annual goals.
The dashboard features a chart that visually compares time well spent on hustling with time wasted. This chart includes the following metrics...
Free Time - The amount of time you have left after subtracting your routine hours from 24 hours.
Time Spent Hustling - The time you've dedicated to working on your goals and tasks.
Time Wasted - The time that isn't used productively, calculated against your real free time each day.
Life Time Equity Balance - This metric reflects how effectively you've spent your time. It should be growing if you minimize time wastage.
The dashboard also contains a second chart that shows the cumulative view of your journey. This chart includes:
Accumulated Free Time - The total free time you've had since the start of your goal journey.
Accumulated Time Spent Hustling - The total time you've dedicated to working on your goals and tasks.
The ideal scenario is for "Time Spent on Goals" to exceed "Accumulated Free Time," indicating that you're using your time productively.
What I achieved in 1+ year using the Hustle Framework
Experiment length - 444 days, 303 working days, 141 non-working days
Hours spent hustling - 2789
In my journey to boost productivity and accomplish my goals, the Hustle app became a game-changer.
Before, my approach to time management was, a bit lax. I was a dreamer, full of grand aspirations, but taking concrete action seemed to be a painful challenge.
When I did take action, I often burned out quickly, leaving many projects unfinished.
AADHD significantly impacted my productivity in various ways. Despite my best intentions, I often found it challenging to maintain sustained focus on tasks or projects. Distractions frequently derailed my workflow, and maintaining a consistent routine was a constant struggle.
At one point, I tried a productivity app called Timeful, which was later acquired by Google but eventually discontinued.
This app scheduled tasks for me, but it felt mechanical, as I simply followed AI-generated suggestions.
Although I was productive as ever, I didn't feel like I was in control of my time. I didn't make conscious decisions about how I spent my time.
I didn't have overview over my bigger projects, and I didn't have a clear picture of how much time I was spending.
For several years, since 2014, I wasted my life without any structured system. It felt as though I had all the time in the world, but in reality, I wasted it all.
With a determination to take control of my productivity and create a system tailored to my unique needs, I learned React and code a tool of my own.
So Hustle was born. It would become my personalized productivity companion, helping me define goals, break them down into manageable tasks, and measure the time spent on each activity.
It marked a pivotal shift in my approach to time management, transforming dreams into tangible accomplishments.
Since starting using Hustle, I won't bore you with details, but the I am proud how far I have gone.
I have been able to achieve more in 1 year than I have in the past 5 years.
Most significantly, I became aware of time. It became almost addictive to work on my projects, to the point that I genuinely felt regret if I missed a day, watching my progress chart dip for a few days.
I finally launched a YouTube channel, that even got a Patreon.
I developed a useful Chrome extension, used by many. I even had to learn jQuery to make it.
I finally took investing seriously.
Grew a blog to 4,243 monthly visitors.
Acquired a property thanks to my own real estate SAAS.
Finished my first 20km half marathon.
While I may not have become rich or achieved financial success, these accomplishments are a far cry from my previous self, underscoring the power of Hustle.
While I can't guarantee results, I can attest to its effectiveness in boosting productivity.
If you lack any structured approach, this method provides the framework and guidance to pursue your dreams, take control, and steer your life based on data-driven insights.