Two years later: How our first digital planner changed everything!

This will be a story. A story about two self-employed people, a 50 x 50 cm children's desk, startup-like circumstances, and self-doubt and bathrobes at work.

But let's start from the beginning...

In the summer of 2019, I was writing my thesis, and I needed a decent desk. Before that, I always thought I didn't need a desk. I've managed without one during my studies so far.

At this point, I have to point out that my boyfriend is blue (do you know the four personality profiles...!?): structured, organized, a numbers person. I'm yellow. I always wanted to be free. Free from annoying plans. Free from structured daily routines. Free from desks that nobody needs. But I let myself be lulled into a false sense of security in the desk debate. I found what I was looking for on eBay classifieds. It was supposed to be a 50 x 50 cm wooden piece, the kind elementary school children have in their classrooms. I guess I was slightly deceived by the photo's perspective.

"Are you serious?!"

My boyfriend asked me that when he first saw the miniature desk. I answered in the affirmative — I didn't need any more space to write.

This summer, I finally submitted my thesis—surprise: I didn't write it at my child's desk, of course. After that, it was official: I was a journalist—woohoo! But the joy didn't last long. Instead, uncertainty and pressure took over.

A few weeks later, I threw myself headlong into my master's program – only to quickly realize it wasn't right for me. All this time, I hadn't asked myself one crucial question: What do you really want, Anna? What makes you happy ?

These are quite simple and elementary questions that you just have to ask yourself, but my wild college years and backpacking trips kept me busy. They ultimately prevented me from coming to terms with myself.

The media world didn't make me happy. I didn't want to participate in the hamster wheel race for the greatest career, dealing with daily gossip and badmouthing those who were the hardest-working hamsters in the hamster wheel race – it just didn't make sense to me. There simply had to be more.

The beginnings

It was nice talking to you, but bye.

Then one day, the liberating letter fluttered into my mailbox: Exmatriculation. This letter made the decision for me. Of course, I had somewhat expected this, since I was barely at university anymore and had only briefly noticed the request for semester re-registration. At that time, the desire for autonomy and self-determination was growing in both of us. So we asked Google for advice:

"What passive income sources are there?"

As banal as it may sound, that's how we started our own business. It was truly unspectacular. At first, we tried out different things and just got started. Some of us with a little more enthusiasm, some with a little less (me). Admittedly, it took a while for me to get used to the self-employed mentality.

Only the best equipment

As my self-employment progressed, the children's desk was promptly thrown out (I gave it away for free in the classifieds, hopefully making a primary school child happy), and a new one was needed. Since I'm always reluctant to spend a lot of money on furniture, and my boyfriend always wants to build everything himself, we opted for a wooden tabletop and painter's trestles. It wasn't a masterpiece for an engineer, but it at least met my low-budget requirements. The 3-meter-long desk eventually found its rightful place in the bedroom upstairs in our attic apartment. The wooden colossus was so long that my boyfriend started working with his side of the desk in the closet. Since we didn't have any chairs, our garden chairs had to do. Simply the best equipment for two self-employed people.

Start of our self-employment in 2019. Me in a bathrobe at

Artist's table. Photographed from the wardrobe.

The ultimate master plan

Since my boyfriend was a winning racehorse (🐴), he continued working as an engineer. After dropping out of university, I initially worked in quality management: I inspected car parts. It wasn't fun. The work was extremely monotonous, so I blasted myself with interesting books and podcasts. Quite often, my reading activity was reported, and they just called me "The Student." I found it extremely entertaining, to be honest. Besides, I had already dropped out of university at the time, meaning I was no longer a student. When you're starting out, you need a lot of inspiration. Inspiration can come in the form of the right people around you, but if you don't have such people around you yet, you can find them online, in books, podcasts, and social media. They're there!

We reduced our expenses to a minimum and were already able to invest money at that time. Invest in yourself and your future! We live in turbulent times. If you use the time to build knowledge, nothing can easily knock you off your feet, simply because you're prepared. The key here is to be proactive rather than reactive.

After dropping out of university and still working as an auto parts inspector, I began a distance learning course to become a graphic designer. After everything, my life could have used more creativity! In short: other than a nice certificate that graced my wall for a while, this distance learning course didn't bring me anything at all. Ultimately, I taught myself all the design skills and how to use Photoshop, Illustrator, and other programs using YouTube. Fortunately, we live in a time where a wealth of knowledge is freely available everywhere on the internet.

Paperless Life

Happy digital or happy paperless...???

It was during my distance learning course that I first encountered digital planning. But it would be quite some time before I published my first planner. One Friday, just before closing time, we went to Media Markt to buy an iPad Pro.

After that, I worked on my first planner for about four months, and toward the end, we invited everyone to a big team meeting downstairs in the kitchen. We needed a clever name. We brainstormed and drank beer. The latter is said to be conducive to generating ideas.

After a long, tense debate, we finally reached an agreement: Paperless Life.

Okay, so it became paperlesslife on Etsy, because apparently Etsy doesn't like spaces. But anyway. Paperless Life, or paperlesslife, went public with its first planner. And then something happened.

nothing.

Exactly one week later, on June 12, 2020—yes, exactly two years ago TODAY—there was a "ding-ding" signaling an Etsy sale. I opened Etsy and could hardly believe it:

The first sale!

Someone actually bought MY planner. And this Polaroid photo was taken. I was unprepared, with a beer in one hand (no, I don't drink beer all the time) and my just-sold planner in the other. I was as proud as punch and still talking about giving my boyfriend some photo instructions when he pressed the shutter. It was also a snapshot of my self-employment. It was just as imperfect as my first digital planner. If you wait for something to be " perfect," whatever that means, you'll miss valuable opportunities in life.

First sale of my digital planner on June 12, 2020

Start-up feeling and garden chair party

The initial period of self-employment was characterized by startup-like conditions: Two young people sitting on garden chairs at a 3-meter-high painting table, one even in a closet, telling stupid jokes in bathrobes and initially working incredibly inefficiently (unfortunately, you only realize this later 😂). But we had fun, and ultimately, we had what we longed for so badly: self-determination. So we decided to play Super Nintendo. We decided when to finish work and who would be the new employee of the month.

Our daily routine

Our daily routine was as follows: My boyfriend worked as an engineer from Monday to Friday, and after work, he worked on his own business. After completing my early shift as an auto parts inspector (5 a.m. to 2 p.m.), I worked on it every free minute.

Eventually, we started our morning routine and got up at 4 a.m. every day. Our workday often went until 10 p.m., and we worked seven days a week. Even though I'm tired of hearing that saying, there's a lot of truth in it: self-employed — self-employed, and constantly... hehe (at this point, I must also mention the annoying laughter).

But that's how it was. We worked 24/7 and we loved it! There's no such thing as quick success. That's why passion is essential. Otherwise, it'll be difficult to persevere.

We did this for months, now for years. When we needed a break, we went away in our converted mini-camper, Silvi. The last vacation, however, was in 2019, our road trip to Russia. Outlets are important for releasing pressure. Because there's plenty of pressure outside of your comfort zone.

Paperless life on a road trip to Russia. Somewhere in a parking lot in Poland.

What I learn from it

As romantic as it may sound when courageous people embark on their own business to follow their dreams and ultimately lead a fulfilling and successful life, it's not an easy path. Not at all. I don't want to disillusion you, but nothing happens without hard work. A lot of self-doubt, fear, worry, and pressure on the one hand, and discipline, courage, a strong will, and perseverance on the other.

But is it worth it?

The short answer: Yes.

Self-employment is the best thing that could have ever happened to me. It's important to understand that you never stop learning. This attitude prevents stagnation and makes me strive for "more." There are always new things to learn, you will always discover new sides of yourself, you will always surpass yourself or achieve new, greater goals.

Today, two years after my first sale, I can look back on things with a sense of perspective. I've become significantly more efficient, a certain seriousness and determination have taken hold, and the start-up atmosphere has long since disappeared (except for our dartboard and the dog in the office).

New employee since December 2021 - Marshmallow (currently still in the probationary period)

you dare

I didn't tell you the story about the desk for no reason. It symbolically reflects the path of my self-employment. Just like this children's desk, my self-employment began small and impractical. It's perfectly okay to start with little, to start imperfectly. My first product images looked awful, my initial working method was boring, my decisions certainly weren't always the best – so what? I couldn't do any better at the time, but I'm learning.

None of that matters. Because there's no such thing as a perfect moment to start. It's about taking action. It most likely won't fulfill you right from the start. You might not even enjoy it at first because you'll feel uncomfortable (we all feel uncomfortable at first when we step out of our comfort zone, but that's normal!).

Nevertheless, to lead a happy and fulfilling life in the long term, I'll use any means necessary. Even if that means leaving my comfort zone and facing my fears. We absolutely must move away from this culture of making mistakes and, please, banish this "perfect image" of how everyone is supposed to be from our minds. Follow your own path. We're all human beings who make mistakes; some even make them more often because they don't want to learn, but hey — that's just the way we are. Imperfect beings.

The worst thing that can happen isn't that what you're doing isn't good enough, but that you never get started on your dreams and miss out on opportunities. Time is the most valuable thing we have in life. Use it.

In 2022, discipline and order prevail: laughter now only takes place in the garden.