Building a business on the side has a cruel feedback problem. You put in hours after work, and for months the outside world barely notices. No sales, a handful of subscribers, a post that nobody shares. It’s easy to conclude you’re getting nowhere, even when you’re making real progress.
One of the best-known studies on motivation at work suggests why that feeling is so dangerous, and what to do about it.
What the Research Found
Harvard Business School professor Teresa Amabile and researcher Steven Kramer asked 238 people on 26 project teams to fill out a short diary at the end of each workday. Altogether they collected roughly 12,000 daily entries. When they looked at what shaped people’s motivation and mood at work, one factor stood out: making progress on meaningful work. They called it the progress principle.
Two details matter for anyone working alone in the evenings. First, the progress didn’t have to be big. Small wins had a surprisingly strong positive effect on how people felt about their work. Second, setbacks hit harder than progress helped. In their findings, the negative effect of a setback on happiness was more than twice as strong as the positive effect of progress.
The study looked at employees inside companies, not solo creators, so treat it as a useful lens rather than a guarantee. But the pattern is familiar: one bad evening can feel heavier than five good ones.
Why Small Wins Get Lost
When you’re the only person in your business, nobody else notices what you did this week. There’s no manager to say “nice work” and no team to celebrate a launch. If you only measure the big outcomes, like revenue or follower counts, most weeks will look like zero.
That’s why it helps to make progress visible on purpose. Amabile and Kramer suggested keeping a daily record of what happened in your work, and the same idea works at home.
A Simple Small-Wins Log
Keep it so simple you can’t skip it:
- At the end of every work session, write one line: what you moved forward. “Outlined the second chapter.” “Fixed the signup form.” “Sent the newsletter.”
- Add a second line only if something blocked you, and what would remove the block next time.
- Once a week, read the past seven days. You’ll often find more than you remember.
Count inputs you control, not outcomes you don’t. You decide whether you write for 30 minutes; you don’t decide whether a post goes viral.
Keep It Honest
A wins log isn’t about pretending things are fine. If a week was rough, write that down too. The point is an accurate picture, so a single setback doesn’t erase everything else. And if discouragement turns into something heavier that lasts for weeks, like constant low mood or trouble sleeping, talk to a doctor or a mental health professional. That’s not a productivity problem to solve alone.
Do this today
Open a notebook or a blank note on your phone and title it “Small Wins.” Write down three things you’ve moved forward in your business in the past month, however small. Then set a reminder to add one line after your next work session.
More on Totally Relentless
- Consistency Over Motivation: How Side-Business Habits Actually Form
- Time Blocking Around a Day Job: A Practical Weekly Plan
