I spent most of last Saturday rebuilding my website, and by “most of Saturday,” I mean I was still at my desk at almost 10 pm. On a Saturday night. 🤪
The best part was that I wasn’t grinding or stressed. I was having the kind of fun where you look up and realize three hours have passed, and you forgot to eat lunch. However, at this point in my life, I’m wise enough to know that working until 10 pm on a Saturday isn’t a long-term sustainable plan, no matter how much I’m enjoying myself (plus, my back was screaming at me to get off the computer, lol).
The Deadline That Made Me Jump In
When I first jumped into vibe coding last year, I decided to rebuild my personal website by vibe coding (instead of WordPress, which I’d been on for 16 years). I’d been avoiding rebuilding my site for weeks because the directory I’d built had a ton of content, and the thought of migrating it felt overwhelming.
*As much as I’ve loved Mocha, not being able to connect to GitHub was the deal breaker (If you’re not familiar, GitHub stores everything, making it easier to move, restore, etc. I downloaded the site, but it created a lot of extra, unnecessary steps).
Then I looked at my calendar and realized my Mocha renewal was set to hit on February 2nd at $200/month (size & projects), and I knew I could move everything to Vercel for a fraction of that. We’re talking $20/month. So I jumped in, and the thing I’d been avoiding got done. The complexity I was dreading turned out to be totally manageable once I actually started working through it.
*I had a complete cluster moment and lost hours, but I’ll share that in another post, lol.
I downgraded Mocha to $50/month to give myself breathing room to move the remaining projects over the next few weeks without the pressure of doing it all in one weekend. The main site is just about done (I haven’t pointed my domain name yet), my operations Hub is functioning, and honestly, with each thing I build, my confidence in my ability to create what I want keeps growing.
The confidence part? Worth every freaking moment.
The FOMO I Didn’t Feel
Last week, there was a ton of hype in the AI space. ClawdBot became MoltBot, then became OpenClaw (safe to assume Claude sent a swift cease-and-desist letter with the first name, lol).
It’s an “open-source autonomous AI agent that runs locally on a user’s computer, designed to manage digital tasks by interacting directly with apps, web browsers, and operating systems.”
I felt nothing, lol. No pull to drop what I was doing and go explore it. And that’s how I know I’m on the right path.
When you’re deep in work that actually matters to you, building things, solving problems, making progress on your own projects… the shiny new thing just doesn’t have the same pull. You’re not chasing because you’re already doing.
*If you are chasing (no judgment), it’s probably a sign that you need to get clear on what you want to do, which is usually a process (if only it were like a flip of a switch!).
The Problem That’s Actually a Good Problem
My honest tension right now is that the work creates more ideas. Every time I finish something, I see three more things I want to build or write about. I watched a workshop on Saturday from Karen Spinner about building Chrome extensions, and now I want to build one to organize my Gemini chats because the chaos is making me crazy (I will definitely do this). So there’s always one more thing, and one more thing after that.
But I’m not stressed about any of it, which feels significant.
The ideas feel like possibilities rather than obligations, and the list feels exciting rather than overwhelming. And if I don’t get to it all? All good. Maybe that’s what alignment actually feels like… when the “problems” aren’t really problems, they’re just things to figure out.
Finding the Rhythm
I don’t have this all figured out, and I’m still searching for the sustainable rhythm and the non-negotiables in my schedule that will keep me from ending up at my desk at 10 pm on any night, let alone a Saturday. But I also know this pace won’t be the status quo forever. Things are moving so quickly right now, with technology changing so fast, and there’s a light at the end of the tunnel as I move projects off platforms and into environments where I have more control.
The pace that works for you might look completely different than what anyone else is doing, or different from one week to the next. The key is staying curious enough to keep building, creating, and trying, and honest enough to know when you need to pull back.
A year ago, if someone had told me I’d be working in Cursor, building with Claude Code, and deploying my own applications to Vercel, I would have thought they were out of their minds. I’m not a developer, and I’m not a coder, but I stayed curious and kept building, and now I’m doing things I couldn’t have imagined twelve months ago.
That’s the thing about this moment we’re in… at the pace things are moving it’s easy to feel like you have to chase every new release.
You don’t.
Go deep on what actually excites you and build the things that matter to your business. Let the hype pass you by.
And if you find yourself at your desk at 10 pm on a Saturday because you’re genuinely having fun? Maybe that’s okay, too. Just don’t make it a habit. 😉
SPARK Spotlight 🔥
Time to spotlight another newsletter!
I’ve watched two workshops from Karen Spinner and… wow. Last weekend she showed us how to create a Chrome extension in less than an hour. 🤯 I’m in awe of the ‘braintrust’ of people on Substack I get to learn from.
Karen shares what she’s building and learning in her newsletter, Wondering About AI.
If you’re not subscribed, it’s definitely worth a spot in your inbox!
A Little Brainpower 🧠
Is it helping or hindering you? “When AI Gets in the Way of Actually Doing Good Work,” by Melissa Penton.
This is a great list. “2026 AI Forecast: 26 Predictions You Need to Know Now,” by Patricia Gestoso.
The Claude Chrome extension feels like a secret weapon. “Claude In Chrome: The Browser Extension That Clicks Buttons While You Sleep,” by Wyndo.
Tool Time 🛠️
Customer support: Connect your help desk, configure workflows, and launch your AI agent in production within 14 days. Try Helply free here.
AI Search: Get your brand recommended by ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and other AI search engines. Monitor competitors, fix content gaps, and win the new SEO. Try Findable free here.
AI Plugin: Add voice and text chat to websites, letting visitors ask questions and get instant answers. Just add one line of code, and it learns your site's content automatically. Check out SideConvo here.
Calendar: A free Calendly alternative. Custom branding, unlimited event types, calendar sync - all completely free, forever. Get Kalendar free here.
AND… in the wonderful world of Claude, they now have PLUGINS for Cowork!
Here are a few helpful resources (I haven’t done anything with plugins yet):
Create Plugins - Claude Code Docs
Explore pre-built Claude Plugins
Plugins Are Here for Claude Cowork (Full Walkthrough) by Alex McFarland
No one wants to hear Californian’s complain about winter, lol…
(not that it stops me, 😂)
It has been a busy couple of weeks.
I’ve been super head-down on a few things and feel quieter than usual on Substack. Hardly the end of the world, but there is SO much great content here, not to mention the wonderful people I’ve connected with that I want to support.
I’m trusting the process and going with the flow.
I’ll be traveling in a week and a half (a visit back to Costa Rica to see friends and soak up a little sunshine 🌞), so I’ll continue giving myself some grace while I wrap things up and take some time away from the computer (although I will be working while traveling, just not as much).
With coffee & kindness,
Kim
I’m with you Kim, the latest release didn’t grab my attention. I actually don’t anticipate it having a major impact on the customers I work with right now. There is enough other AI they still need to learn.