Building An Indie App Business #86
$100K in 28 Days and the Habits That Got Me Here
We’re back in the saddle for 2026! After taking a short break over the holidays, I’m feeling refreshed and ready to go. And what a start to the year it has been - we crossed $100K in revenue over the past 28 days, which is still hard to believe. On the personal side, my habit consistency has been really solid lately and I’m super focused on making my apps better. Can’t complain at all, life is good!
Welcome back to another issue of my weekly indie log. If you’re new here, this is where I share what I’m working on and what’s happening with my indie app business. Let’s get into it.
$100K in 28 Days
Same as last year, the New Year’s season is in full swing. Or maybe I should call it the “New Year’s hype” because that’s really what it is. Every January, people all over the world are looking for ways to improve their lives and build better habits. And of course, they’re searching for apps that can help them with that. This is where HabitKit comes in. During this time of the year, my downloads and revenue numbers go through the roof compared to the rest of the year. It’s crazy how much of a difference these few weeks make.
When I checked my RevenueCat dashboard this week, I saw that magical number again: Over $100K total revenue in the past 28 days. I still can’t really wrap my head around this. For a solo indie developer like me, this is completely mindblowing. I’m super grateful for everyone who decided to make a positive change in their life and chose my app as a tool to help them along the way. It really means a lot to me.
FocusKit Development Progress
This week I made a lot of progress on my new app, FocusKit. If you haven’t checked it out already, make sure to give it a download. And if you like it, a positive review on the App Store would really help me out a lot. Every review counts when you’re an indie developer trying to get noticed.
I finished all the remaining work for version 1.1.1. The main focus of this update is changes to the Notes section. I completely revamped the look and feel of the notes modal to make it cleaner and easier to use. But I also added a cool little feature that I’m really excited about: Users can now choose from the last couple of notes they added to past sessions and quickly add them to the current session with just one tap.
I personally was really wanting this feature for a long time. Here’s why: When I use FocusKit myself, I usually type in things like “FocusKit Development - Feature X” as a note for my session. And most of the time I need multiple focus sessions to finish a feature, so I end up typing the same thing over and over again. Now I don’t have to do that anymore. It’s a small thing, but it makes the experience so much better. I decided to release this update next Monday, so watch out for it on the App Store!
After I wrapped up the 1.1.1 work, I switched my focus to the big feature I’ve been planning for version 1.2. This is actually something I wanted to include in the very first version of the app, but I had to cut it because I didn’t have enough time before launch. Now I’m fully committed to bringing it to the app.
With version 1.2, users will be able to create fully customized “Routines”. A routine is basically the structure of how you want to organize your focus sessions and breaks. For each routine you create, you can set custom durations for focus sessions, short breaks, and long breaks. You can also define how many focus sessions you want to do in total and how often you want to take a long break. This will make FocusKit so much more flexible for different types of users and workflows.
I also added a “template library” that shows up when users create a new routine. Instead of starting from scratch, they can pick one of these templates as a starting point and adjust it to their needs. Here are the templates I included:
Classic Pomodoro (25 min focus, 4 sessions): The original technique by Francesco Cirillo. Short intervals prevent mental fatigue while frequent breaks help consolidate information and maintain sustained focus throughout the day.
Deep Work (50 min focus, 2 sessions): Based on Cal Newport’s research. Longer focus periods allow for deep, undistracted work on cognitively demanding tasks. Ideal for complex problem-solving, coding, or creative work.
Flow State (45 min focus, 3 sessions): Optimized for achieving flow state. The 45-minute duration aligns with research showing this is the sweet spot for sustained concentration before attention naturally begins to wane.
Quick Sprint (15 min focus, 4 sessions): Perfect for building focus habits or overcoming procrastination. Short bursts reduce the psychological barrier to starting and help build momentum for larger tasks.
My Key Habits I’m Tracking with HabitKit
I want to talk about the main habits I’m tracking with HabitKit as an indie hacker. These habits help me live a better and healthier life, and I truly believe that this is what makes me more productive in my app business. When you feel good about yourself and your life, you have so much more energy to work on the things that matter. It’s all connected.
Before I go into the specific habits, I want to share one thing that really helps me stay consistent: The 2 Minute Rule. We all have those stressful days that are full of unexpected obligations. Things come up, meetings run long, life happens. In the past, these days would completely derail my habit streaks and make me feel bad about myself. To prevent this from happening, I introduced the 2 Minute Rule for myself. The rule is simple: I get to check off a habit in HabitKit even if I “only” do it for 2 minutes. The goal is to have no zero days. Even 2 minutes is better than nothing, and it keeps the streak alive.
Okay, let me go through the main habits I’m tracking right now.
The first one I call “Deep Life”. This habit is all about staying away from shallow media that eats up your time without giving you anything back. I made the rule for myself to completely avoid Instagram, Reddit and YouTube. These platforms have been the worst time killers in my personal life. I used to spend hours scrolling through feeds without even realizing it. Since I stopped using them, I have so much more focus during the day and I honestly feel a lot happier. It’s crazy how much these apps can affect your mental state without you even noticing.
The second habit is “Fitness”, and this is probably the most important one on the list. You know what they say: Healthy body, healthy mind. I’ve been moving my body almost every day for the past three years now, and I can’t imagine going back to my old lifestyle. The benefits are just too good. Working out makes me feel great, keeps me healthy, and gives me the energy I need to tackle whatever problem comes up with my app business. When you feel strong physically, you also feel more confident in other areas of your life.
The third habit is “Daily Walk”. Going for a walk outside might sound like a small thing, but it’s been one of the most impactful habits for me. There’s something about being outside and just walking that calms your mind like nothing else. It helps me so much to reduce stress, especially after a long day of coding. It’s also a great way to bond with your partner when you do it together. My girlfriend and I try to go for a walk every evening, and it’s become one of my favorite parts of the day. Definitely a life-changing habit for me.
The fourth habit is “Post On X”. Building my indie app business in public has been a huge part of my journey. It started with X (or Twitter, as it was called back then), and over the years I added some other platforms too. But the core idea is the same: I try to write a post every day about what I’m working on. It doesn’t matter if it’s boring or if nobody reads it. The point is to stay accountable to myself and to document my progress. It helps me move the needle every single day, even if it’s just a little bit. And sometimes the posts actually help other indie developers who are on a similar journey, which is a nice bonus.
Maybe you want to incorporate some of these habits into your own daily routine as well. They’ve helped me a lot over the years and I believe they played a big part in whatever success I’ve had so far. Give them a try and see what works for you!