EP25: On Productivity, Timing, & Intention - Our Second End-of-Year Lesson

In which I discuss that elusive thing called productivity and how we might be going about measuring our it all wrong.

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Thanks for tuning in for this episode! Next episode - our last episode of the season (and the year!) - I'll be talking about procrastination and how I've learned to deal with that tricky little devil.

Until next time!

TRANSCRIPT EXCERPT:

"As authors, our productivity is often measured through the number of words we write. If you haven't written anything, you haven't been productive. But that's not altogether true. If you've thought about new plot points, if you've discussed your story with someone, if you jotted down some ideas - any of that falls under writing productivity. I wanted to get that out of the way because I'm actually interested in this episode in talking about the lessons I've learned this year about the specific ways in which we perceive productivity levels - our own and other people's - and how that perception doesn't always have to align with the reality in order for us to be productive.

I'll start by saying that by being online we are exposed to a number of figures that seem to us so productive we can't help but wonder how in the world they've gotten to that stage. For example, I used to follow a blogger who made new art almost every other day and who has a range of books and always new excerpts to share, and who on top of that managed an online writing community and held down a full-time job and volunteered and so much more! I also followed another author who completed a book every 2 months. My mind was boggled. I remember thinking: How is it even humanly and physically possible that they're so productive? And why can't I be that productive? What am I missing?

For a while I thought I was simply missing the discipline and the dedication. To be fair, I do think I can work on my self-discipline, but this year, after writing and posting over 80 blog posts and recording and uploading over 24 podcast episodes (among other things), I realized that it wasn't just about that. Instead, I've realized that it's about timing and intention. Let me break down what I mean by those two things."

Read the rest of the transcript over on my blog.