When Your Body Tells You To Slow Down | My App Journey

October 25 – 31, 2025

Recognizing the Burnout Signs Before It’s Too Late

So I need to talk about something that happened this week that I think is really important.

I worked on the Small Wins Method app pretty much all day and all night, and it hit me. Like really hit me. In my mind and my body and my soul, I could feel that I needed to take a break. This is not good.

And I know it’s not good because this is exactly how I ended up burnt out before.

I didn’t have any balance then, and I was starting to slip into that same pattern now.

So last night I went to bed and I told myself that today I would take a break from the app stuff. And I did.

Well, sort of. I asked myself what I actually need to finish in order to release the app, and I realized I need a lot of things.

I need the website to be up and running. I need the book to be on the publishing platform.

And it’s just not ready for that yet. I wanted it to be finished and published by the end of the week, but then I had to ask myself, well, the only deadline I have is one that I set for myself.

So I can push it back if I need to and make sure the app is tested well and that it’s working how it’s supposed to be working. All the backend and frontend stuff needs to be in order.

So I’m setting the new version release for later on. Definitely by the end of November.

I think based on what I have so far, that’ll be a good deadline.

I also said the food safety app (WakeCheck) would be done by next week. That’s not happening.

So that will be pushed back as well. But I’m still updating the database every single day with new data.

Solving Problems While Taking It Easy

I made an audit file to see what I need to complete before I actually publish, or before I feel comfortable publishing my apps.

The biggest thing for the food inspections app (WakeCheck) is definitely the Google Maps integration because that costs money every single time somebody opens a restaurant detail page. The API costs add up with Google every single time someone uses it.

I know that’ll get expensive, especially with Android users, and I wanna make sure I’m mindful of that. So I’m not sure if I need to add an extra button that says “open maps” so it doesn’t happen automatically every time somebody goes to a detail page, because they may not even want the map.

I think what I’ll do is move the map down on the page and put the restaurant inspection and violation details at the top because that’s what’s most important.

Then I’ll have the restaurant details like hours and phone number at the bottom along with the map. I think that’ll work out better.

For the Small Wins Method app, I’m trying to figure out what exactly I need to finish in order to feel comfortable publishing it on both iOS and Android.

The website is a big part of that. I already started building it out and I’ve done the legal pages. I added privacy policy and terms of service for each app, and instead of having them inside the apps themselves, I have them on the website. That way I can just edit them in one place and I don’t have to make changes in two or three different spots.

I’ll also link to the book within the app, and I’ll add a pop-up that says get the book or something like that. I think that’ll be a good connection.

I’ve been working on getting the book posted on the publishing platform, and I thought it was pretty much done, but I don’t feel comfortable publishing it yet because the letter I have at the beginning just feels fake.

It doesn’t sound like me.

Maybe I just have to write it myself on paper and then that’ll be what it is, and I can make changes later.

I can’t finish the book completely because there’s a page that says it’s available on Google Play, and it’s not available on Google Play yet. So, I can’t say that. And the app store still shows the old name instead of the new name, Small Wins Method.

So there’s that.

The Fun Stuff: Design Updates and New Features

Today the focus is gonna be on the book and the website.

If I decide I want to work on the app, I will, but it won’t be anything crazy.

And I’m pretty proud of myself because I have a long streak going in the small wins app. I think I’m at 16 or 17 days of actively recording entries, and it’s fabulous.

Let me give you a rundown of what I worked on over the past few days.

I made custom wallpapers for the home screen. This wasn’t even in my original audit, it’s something I added randomly.

I spent an entire day on it and I’m really, really happy with how they turned out.

I have image backgrounds that are pre-made, so you can’t upload your own. And then I have solid color backgrounds too. It looks good.

There are a couple of things I need to work on when it comes to the coloring of the text and how the cards show up on the background, and making sure it works for both dark mode and light mode. Different wallpapers are available for each theme.

I fixed a lot of the bottom sheets to make them more consistent. I changed the terminology from “goals” to “milestones” because goals is such a widely used word and it feels kind of overused. I’d rather it be a little less overwhelming and just call it a milestone instead.

I added categories too. I thought that was a better way of representing entries than using feelings or emotions. So I have categories now.

I added a type selection screen before you get to the actual create screen. I prefer this setup.

You press the add new button on the home screen or in the navigation menu, and then it pops up a bottom sheet showing all the different types you can add.

You’ve got your regular entry, compliment, encouragement, gratitude, and then at the bottom you’ll have your milestone and a note option if you just want to add something random.

I used AI to help redesign the create screen and it looks so much better than it did before. It’s still pretty basic and plain, but it gets the job done.

The biggest changes I have to make before I feel comfortable publishing are the progress screen and the settings screen.

The progress screen needs to be really useful and efficient. And the settings screen needs some big changes.

I have to add a link to the book and also I need to add import data and export data so people can download their information.

Lots of great things happening right now, and I’m excited about it all. But I’m also taking it easier today. Being more cautious about the time I spend on this stuff because balance matters for me.

Client Work and Feeling Confident

I had a client meeting this week for an e-commerce project and I just wanna point out that I had no nervousness about it, which is great.

That’s something I need to reflect on more. Why was I so calm? I think partially because I know the person, but also I know I for sure know more about the e-commerce stuff than they do, so I had the upper hand there.

Overall it went well. They’re excited about getting the online store set up. I took pictures of all the products they want to feature first just to get them started.

The main thing they’ll need to do going forward is maintain inventory, just count how many of each product they have. That’s really the big recurring task.

I need to figure out some options for label printing machines so they can start using those. And I’ll create a document or video with step-by-step instructions on how to maintain and add products so they don’t need me after the initial setup.

I’m just there to get them started. It felt good. It was nice.

I remember doing something similar for an e-commerce store back in college where I reviewed their site and told them what they could improve to make it look better and they paid me for it.

I’m happy for the opportunity. There wasn’t a set payment this time. I told them it’s a “you take care of me, I take care of you” type deal.

Building for the Long Haul

So that’s where things are at right now.

I have multiple projects moving forward. I’m trying to maintain balance. I’m listening to my body when it tells me to slow down.

Again, the whole reason I had burnout before was because I didn’t have any balance. I’m not going back there.

I’m building things I care about, apps with good intentions, and I want to be able to sustain this for the long haul. That means being smarter about how I work and when I rest.

The plan is

• To get the small wins app and book ready for next week
• Keep the food safety app database updated while I work through the remaining features.
• Get the websites set up properly.
• Handle the trademark stuff.
• Remember to take breaks.
• Schedule in some time to do absolutely nothing for a couple of weeks once these big releases are done.

Lots of things are happening. It’s overwhelming sometimes but it’s also really exciting.

I’m building something real here. Multiple somethings.

I’m learning as I go about protecting my work, about sustainable development practices, about listening to my body before it forces me to stop.

It’s all part of the process. And I’m here for it, as long as I remember to pace myself along the way.

KAYJO.

Download Small Wins Method from the Apple App Store.

Or join the waiting list for the Google Play Store version.