I've been building software and mobile apps for about three years. But until this September, I hadn't released any of them.
I kept repeating the same pattern. I'd have an idea, start building, and then a new AI model would come out. I'd start thinking the app wasn't worth finishing anymore. Sometimes I gave up halfway through. Other times, the app was ready and I still didn't publish it. There was some fear there that I couldn't explain, and I could always find another reason to wait.
I also noticed what I was doing while AI agents worked. They write most of my code now. I give instructions, review the changes and merge them. But while an agent was working, I'd open Reddit or YouTube and start scrolling.
That time could have gone into finding customers, making videos or reaching out to people. Instead, I kept telling myself I was waiting for the agent to finish.
A few months ago, I decided I couldn't keep doing this. I needed to start publishing the apps I'd already built. So I made a small Chrome blocker for myself. When I open Reddit or YouTube, it pauses me for five seconds and shows me my to-dos. Then I can choose whether to continue.
That small pause has been helping me. Seeing what I planned to do gives me a moment to reconsider opening the site.
I've started spending more time making UGC videos, sending cold emails and doing outreach. I've also started releasing the apps I'd left sitting in drafts. We now have around four apps across iOS, Android and the web. One of them has about 49 users in total. I honestly hadn't imagined getting this far when I couldn't even get myself to publish.
I still don't fully understand the fear that kept me from launching. But catching myself before I start scrolling has helped me spend more time on the work I kept putting off.
I've been using the blocker enough that I decided to make it available to other people too. It's called Caliph App, if you want to try it.
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