Hi there Good friend đź‘‹
Eighteen months in the past, I began constructing one thing I by no means deliberate to construct.
What started as notes from Ali Abdaal’s programs and workshops slowly was a full 12-week productiveness course — in German. I referred to as it Die Produktivitäts-Werkstatt (The Productiveness Workshop), and it lives at pwerkstatt.com.
At present, I need to take you behind the scenes of that journey. Not the polished model. The actual one.
The place It All Began
If you happen to’ve been studying this article for some time, you realize I’ve been deep in Ali Abdaal’s world. I joined his Annual Planning Workshop, participated in his Productiveness Lab, and finally took his LifeOS course — which I documented in a five-part collection:
Each course I took, I discovered myself translating the ideas for mates, household, and colleagues. Individuals who don’t eat English productiveness content material. Individuals who would by no means join an Ali Abdaal course — not as a result of they don’t want it, however as a result of the language barrier is actual.
That’s when the concept hit me: What if I constructed a German-language productiveness course that mixes the most effective frameworks I’ve realized — and really walks individuals by way of implementing them?
Not a weekend workshop. Not a YouTube playlist. A correct 12-week guided program.
The Constructing Course of
Let me be sincere concerning the timeline. This wasn’t a “had an thought on Monday, launched on Friday” story.
Summer time 2024 — I launched a beta model on Kajabi with 20 contributors who acquired to check the course without spending a dime.
There have been no polished slides or pre-recorded masterclasses.
I created the movies for the following week throughout the earlier week.
My instruments: Loom for recording, Miro for visible shows.
I time-blocked my calendar — devoted blocks for recording movies, constructing shows, and modifying.
Right here’s what a typical week regarded like:
This was my Marshmallow Problem second — begin constructing, see what falls, regulate.
Then got here my first try at a paid launch. I promoted the course at a free workshop in October 2024. The outcome? Two sign-ups. Not precisely a stampede. However hey — two actual individuals paid to affix what I used to be constructing.
February 2025 — I reached out to Landsiedel NLP Coaching, one of many largest German-speaking private improvement platforms, and acquired the prospect to current my course to over 200 individuals.
17 signed up.
Over 5,000€ in income.
From two sign-ups at a free workshop to 17 from a single pitch — that felt like a turning level.
I constructed a neighborhood on Circle.so and refined every little thing right down to the final element:
Summer time 2025 — Then one thing sudden occurred.
After taking codefast by Marc Lou and Tips on how to Construct Your Personal Apps by Nat Eliason, I made a decision to code my very own platform from scratch.
Kajabi and Circle.so have been costing me over 200€/month —
and I wished full management over the expertise.
So I constructed the complete factor myself: signup circulate, automated e-mail sequences, video internet hosting, the works.
Now (February 2026) — I’m increasing the course with a devoted AI productiveness module.
The purpose: implement the system of the Produktivitäts-Werkstatt with AI, working as a private productiveness coach.
What I Didn’t Count on
Three issues shocked me about this course of.
1. Instructing forces readability. You suppose you perceive one thing — till you need to clarify it to somebody who’s by no means heard of it. Each fuzzy idea will get uncovered.
2. Constructing in German was more durable than anticipated. “Deep work,” “time blocking,” “quarterly quests” — none of those translate naturally. Discovering terminology that feels native, not imported, took weeks.
3. I grew to become my very own greatest case examine. As I wrote about in The Excessive Value of Perfection — the irony of procrastinating on a productiveness course was not misplaced on me. I had to make use of my very own system to construct the system.
What’s Subsequent
Die Produktivitäts-Werkstatt is way from completed.
Each cohort teaches me one thing new, each scholar brings a distinct problem, and each iteration makes the course somewhat bit higher.
If you happen to’re a German speaker (or know somebody who’s) and also you’ve ever felt like all the great productiveness content material is locked behind an English paywall — test it out at pwerkstatt.com.
And should you’re desirous about constructing one thing your self — my greatest lesson from these 18 months is easy: Begin with 20 beta testers, not 18 months of planning.
Have a significant week,
Lukas 🚀
