Why Working Solo Can Make You Overthink (and What Actually Helps)
Solo founders aren't overthinking because something is wrong with their business. Shannon Kate Murray, founder and editor of High Flying Design, argues the real problem is silence and what our brains do to fill it.
There's no manager telling you you're doing a good job. No colleague saying this looks great. No clear feedback loop. Most days, it's just you, your ideas, and silence.
That silence is unsettling. And if you're not careful, your brain fills it with doubt.
You start questioning decisions you'd never second-guess in a team. You wonder if your services are right, if your messaging needs tweaking again, if you should be doing more. You convince yourself the problem is clarity, when often it's confidence.
Why solo founders doubt themselves more
When you work alone, your brain is doing everything at once. You're the strategist, the decision-maker, the marketer and the person holding the long-term vision. Without external feedback, nothing ever feels fully finished.
So your mind keeps circling.
Silence starts to feel like something's wrong. A quiet inbox becomes proof you're off track. Instead of trusting what you've already built, you start changing things that don't actually need changing. More services. More tweaks. More thinking. Not because the business needs it, but because uncertainty feels uncomfortable.
When "improving" becomes avoidance
There's a fine line between refining and overthinking, and most solo founders cross it without noticing.
At some point, adjusting your offer or messaging stops being strategic and starts being a way to feel busy without being visible. It feels productive. It keeps you stuck.
Most businesses don't need constant adjustment. They need consistency, repetition and time. Overthinking interrupts all three.
What’s actually helped
I didn’t change everything. I simplified.
I simplified my systems. When my work is organised, my brain is quieter. A website that clearly explains what I do and who it's for. Trello for project management. A physical daily planner. A yearly calendar so I can see the bigger picture. Not everything needs to be digital, and not everything needs a complex system. When things have a place, your mind can rest.
I reduced distractions. I put my phone into black-and-white mode for a week as a test. I checked it less, compared less, and my head felt calmer. I didn't need more willpower. I needed fewer triggers.
I made life bigger than work again. When I left full-time employment, I didn't put boundaries in place quickly enough. That was a mistake. Now I make space for things that have nothing to do with work: fiction, long walks, doing less on purpose. It matters more than it sounds.
What changed
I stopped constantly questioning my direction. I stopped assuming silence meant something was wrong. I stopped changing things that were already working.
Not because doubt disappeared, but because my brain had fewer reasons to spiral.
Overthinking wasn't the problem. Too much noise was.
If you're a solo founder reading this: What's one thing you're still tweaking that might already be working? Give it a month before you touch it again.