Holy shit,
I can’t believe that its already February, I’ve literally been in a whirlwind of I suppose what you could call a productivity hackathon over the past month and a bit. Over New Years my husband (Zach) and I went to Dunedin to look at houses (we looked at 18) over 3 and a half days. A week later we made a conditional offer on a house, a few weeks after that we were cleared on finance. Last Friday our contract went unconditional on the house, and we get the keys next Friday (18th of February).
At the same time, I’ve been working on Inkiest, figuring out how we can make money, organising the Kickstarter campaign (video-shoots, website etc etc) and doing the UCE Summer Startup program.
Last week we had our all-day pitch event, where every venture/ business that is doing the program delivers their 3-minute pitch to a panel of judges and everyone else doing the program. Of the 23 ventures, 12 were picked, and I am extremely grateful that I am one of them. But if I’m being completely honest, I hate that it was a competition at all. I’m normally quite a competitive person, but this, this is something else. This isn’t meant to feel personal, but it is. All of us have been working so damn hard on our ventures, essentially our babies, these ideas of how we could leave our mark on the world for so damn long. We’ve put so much on the line, the 24-hour sprints, the all-nighters, late nights PLUS sleepless nights full of tossing and turning because it feels impossible to turn your brain off, from our ideas. To then compete and see whose ideas have been picked as the best?? I can easily think of 2 other ventures who I think should’ve been picked instead of me (Inkiest), Matt’s venture ‘Catchpool’ for one. It’s not that I don’t believe in Inkiest, because anyone with even half a brain could see how damn passionate I am about this. But if I didn’t get picked, then it would’ve been really awkward for me trying to launch my Kickstarter campaign, without actually being able to tell anyone about said Kickstarter campaign, since its been set to launch on the night of the showcase for 2 months now. I don’t have any particular reason for sharing this on our blog, other than I just feel like it.
Not to mention that I start med school on the 28th of February!! Yaaaaay!! So much closer to making Zach a stay-at-home dad (even though we don’t currently have kids) hahaha… But I do feel like I do need to mention how any of this is relevant to anything.
Productivity is a HUGE space and a HUGE industry. Since our first lockdown the value of the productivity business has sky-rocketed to over $66B (NZD) in the global market, and counting. If you didn’t already gather from the cacophony of words that make up the first two paragraphs, I’m a HUGE advocate when it comes to increasing productivity… Why?? Because I’m always busy, I always have at least half a dozen projects or things going on simultaneously, that productivity keeps the hamster-wheel and shit-show going, preventing me from a mental breakdown. But when you think about it, this is the case for most people. Think about the busiest people you know, how do they keep it up? Like parents… ha! They are so damn busy, yet I find managing my husband a bit of a stretch sometimes…. How do they manage to do so much in the same timeframe it took you to binge-watch Euphoria? They did it, and continue to do it, because they work their asses off. And when they’re not, they’re productively lazy (definitely me).
Backstory:
I served in the Royal New Zealand Navy for 5.5 years (2012-2017), and recently finished my degree in psychology. Amongst all of that I’ve read a shit-tonne of self-help books and did some part-time study while in the Navy - because I don’t have a life. But because of all of this, I was able to create a system for myself and others that’s really helped vastly improve productivity and effectiveness in achieving anything. Now, this is where the planners come in.
The aforementioned system, is what the planners are based on. However, I can only fit so much in a book, and because it’s a book, it comes with the same limitations as a book.
So, we digitalized it and gave it steroids. We’re currently developing an app that essentially acts as a digital version of the planner, but waaaaaaaaay better. This is because of its electronic capabilities… It can integrate with any third-party calendar and tracking app to show all updates on one interface. My favorite aspect is the AI feature. The capabilities of this are infinite, and much more personal than current products. Think of it as a digital personal assistant that has the brain of a personal google search engine. Something that I find hard to get across, is how good it really is. I’m going to try and put this into words, for those of you who are more visually minded. Think about your normal day and routine, how much more helpful would it be if you had an extra set of hands? Or if you could remember about x and y that need to be done by z? The AI is made to be able to make suggestions that could be helpful, while accounting for your personal goals and habits. How many times do you do the groceries and forget something? Our AI feature could notify you and make suggestions without requiring input. But, can also be silenced or turned off so that you’re not interrupted, or getting annoyed (much like my husband...sorry not sorry).
Before you ask, no, this doesn’t replace the planner. This is made to work with the planner. We have a ‘planner-scanner’ function that allows you to scan the physical planner (if you have it), identify that exact page, and update the corresponding page in your app. Evidence-based is one of our biggest points of difference, because it cuts through the BS and has been proven to be helpful and actually make a difference, all while looking so damn good. Not to mention, no one else has the same level of functionality AND choice of medium.
We would love it if you back our kickstarter campaign! Check it out here.
Inkiest Co.