Hey there!
I've tried every productivity app in my 40 years of life. Well, to be fair, the first 25 years of that I have luckily spent without an iphone…but I digress…
The point is - none of them stuck.
For the longest time, I thought something was wrong with me (and there is still a big chance there is 😅 but i digress again…)
Then I realized that maybe these apps just weren't built for my brain.
So I built my own.
what i built
Using Lovable, I put together a simple productivity tool organized by project. My membership, YouTube, newsletter, client work, content, products/offers, learning, admin - all as separate buckets. I can move tasks around, flag priorities, and dump ideas without everything piling into one overwhelming list.
Nothing fancy. But I've actually stayed consistent with it. Me! The very person who has abandoned more productivity systems than I can count.
The whole thing took me a couple of hours .
And on a $25/month subscription, I've now built at least 5 fully functioning apps for myself and cancelled at least 4 subscriptions.
what do you want to build?
Here's what I keep thinking: so many of us pay for multiple tools that each do one thing. What if you just... built exactly what you need?
If you're a coach:
A client dashboard where people see their session history, track goals, and download resources
An intake form that collects everything you need before a call—saved in one place, synced across devices
If you're a course creator:
A challenge tracker for your 30-day program (I built one of these for myself—shows streaks, what's done, what's next)
A simple community hub for cohort discussions without paying for another platform
A personalized offer page for your potential clients
If you're a consultant or service provider:
A client portal for proposals, contracts, and project updates in one place
A project dashboard for clients to stay in the loop with the progress
A quote/testimonial collector—grab nice things clients say, tag them, find them when you need social proof
If you're a content creator:
An idea capture app for when you're on a walk and need to dump a thought (voice notes, images, linksall in one place)
A swipe file for inspiration—save ads, hooks, posts you love, organized by category
the point is…
You don't need to build all of these. Just notice what annoys you in your current workflow and ask: could I just make something for that?
If you've been hearing about vibe coding and it feels intimidating - building for yourself is the easiest way to start.
You know what you want.
You know what "done" looks like.
And when something doesn't work, you just tell it to fix it.
I made a video walking through the whole process - building an idea capture app from scratch.
What would you build if you knew it would only take an afternoon?
Let me know and I’ll cheer you on to just do it 🤩
Until next week,
Your AI Solopreneur Bestie,
Elena
🚀 If you want to learn how to use AI tools for your business in a way that feels authentic, without losing your voice or compromising your values - come join us in the AI Solopreneur Club.
