Why You Need A Minimum Viable Day To Fall Back On

Ev Chapman
August 16, 2021

Some days just don't go to plan

Like today. There's nothing like waking up on a Monday morning ready to start a fresh week and instead be greeted at 6:30am with a message from a coworker informing me their Facebook Account had been hacked. And now our business manager was hacked, and all of the ad accounts of our clients were now hacked.

Like I said, some days just don't go to plan

It's days like today that I give myself permission to ship a minimum viable day. In the startup world, there is this concept known as MVP. A minimum viable product is the very basic level of product enough to get it out into the market and get some traction on it.

A minimum viable day on the other hand is a day where you strip everything back to the bare essentials just to keep the momentum going, without stopping altogether.

Today I shipped a minimum viable day:

👉 I couldn't prep all my meals, so I used an emergency meal in the freezer to keep the momentum on my nutrition

👉 I couldn't get out for my walk, so I set up my mat in the sun after lunch and just did 20 minutes of stretch

👉 My work plan went out the window, but I still jumped on a call with my assistant to delegate some things to her

👉 My sacred hours were rudely interrupted by hackers, so I'm shipping an essay idea I actually had in my archives today (which actually worked out kind of well).

Just because things don't go as planned, doesn't mean you need to lose momentum. Create a minimum viable day for yourself that you can put into action when things aren't going exactly to plan.

Liked thIS? Then You Might Like My SPARK Newsletter...

The Spark Newsletter:
Join 1,500+ knowledge workers building smarter personal knowledge systems.

Every Sunday I drop into your inbox with a simple creative workflow to help you think clearer & create smarter.

Or Keep Browsing More Posts Like This...

The 'First Moves' Framework That Will Kill Your Procrastination Forever

The science-backed method that helps solopreneurs start (and finish) their hardest tasks
Read post

The Simple Task Method I Used To Eliminate Procrastination For Good.

They say it takes about 20 minutes to refocus every time you switch tasks.I don’t know about you, but I don’t have 20 minutes to waste every time I switch between the tasks on my list. My time is limited. So I created a way to skip that 20 minute hazy moment where you’re faffing around…
Read post

How to Stop Being the Bottleneck in Your Team’s Progress

The life-changing method I created to manage work that was waiting on me, get back to people faster, and create more space to do my best work.
Read post

Master Your Schedule with My 10-Minute Weekly Planning Process (using Tana)

My foolproof weekly planning routine that takes me about 10 minutes every week and keeps me organised across my work, my creator business & my whole life.
Read post

How To Make Steady Progress On Your Big Creative Projects

Lately I’ve been struggling with my process for getting big creative projects done. They feel like they are taking forever to finish. Each step feels big so I put it off thinking I need a bigger chunk of time to deal with it.
Read post

An Essay About Boring SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures)

I am a master procrastinator. Not because I don't know what I should do or because I'm not motivated - but because most of the time I just don't have the headspace to get stuff done.
Read post