✨ productivity for rebellious brains
the anti-discipline approach
my brain doesn’t listen to me, and that means most productivity advice is useless.
i can do all the typical things — set the tomato timer, make the to-do list, ‘time box’ my day into orderly blocks.
but i’ve never been able to obey myself, not consistently.
that’s a problem for a freelance writer. i need to write about things like analytics and blockchain, and i need to do it on my own.
for the most part, my strategy has been simple — don’t overthink it, and just get it done. but sometimes that’s painful, and it doesn’t always lead to the best use of my time.
the only thing that has worked? let my mind lead the way, instead of fighting it.
this video, from Elizabeth Filips, contains the only productivity advice that’s ever made sense to me.
(also, what a babe.)
Elizabeth talks about breaking her work down into various kinds of tasks, some more demanding than others. for me, those are research, note-taking, writing, and editing.
instead of making a rigid schedule, Elizabeth suggests listening to your brain.
what level of capacity do you have right now? what sounds interesting?
by going where your mind leads you, you’ll feel better while you’re working. but you’ll also do better work, because you’re following your curiosity.
this strategy is so intuitive to me. my mind tends to hyper-focus when it wants to, and wander when it doesn’t — often, it feels like i’m just along for the ride.
there’s also a strong correlation between how i felt while writing something, and the quality of the finished piece.
tl;dr? make the most of that. ✨ it’s not lazy to work in a way that feels good — it’s using your mental resources effectively. ✨
obviously, there are caveats to this approach.
it doesn’t work if you’re down to the wire, writing something that’s due tomorrow.
so to respect your brain, you need to be generous. you need to give yourself ✨plenty✨ of time.
that’s a big goal, and i’m still working towards it myself.
for April, i’m experimenting with putting all my deadlines at the end of the month, so i can work on projects as my brain wants to.
we’ll see how it goes. but if nothing else, it should give me more control over how i use my time.
and that autonomy and freedom is what i love about freelancing.
(also, hi — thanks for reading my first post. i’m still figuring this out, and i appreciate you for being here.)