Tell me if this sounds familiar – I want to do X,Y and Z but I’m so busy all the time! What should I do?
Make a schedule! Duh – a daily routine that puts me on track towards that dream life I can see every day as I stare out the classroom/office window.
Work, school, side hustles, the gym, hobbies. It’s all there.
Raise your hand if you’ve ever made a schedule like this:
Ooooh Ahhhhhh so pretty – so exciting! I’m going to be so productive!!!
NOT. Here’s how it really goes.
Yay! I’m starting my new schedule today and~ oh, class ran a little long, I didn’t eat well this morning, I just don’t feel inspired for my passion project today, and Alex just texted me! Taco Tuesday!? And that special someone I’ve been eyeing for the last 2 weeks going to be there! The gym will just have to wait…
Humans: quick to innovate, slow to learn.
No worries, we’ve all been there. I know I’ve made a schedule that was sure to get on the right track a few times. Rinse and repeat 🙄
More work DOES NOT equal more results
“pRacTIcE mAkES PeRFeCt”
That person you asked for advice.
“PuT iN tHe wORk”
“jUSt bE yOuRsELf”
WRONG.
PolyMatter – “The Challenge of Creative Work”
Ethan Becker on ‘Bad Art Advice’
Productivity = QUALITY * Time
High quality work (x) multiplies productivity
Low quality work (-x) subtracts productivity
You are going backwards in progress if you’re doing work you don’t have to or instilling bad habits/practices. This applies to work, hobbies, mental health, physical health, and pretty much everything you’ll ever do. Here’s our post on ‘Learning to Learn’ – check it out for a more in depth look at how to effectively learn every and any skill you’ll ever come across. But for now…
Do your research
Make sure you’re putting in good work. Better to know what you’re doing now than stumble in the dark for years – just ask that insanely fit person at the gym how often they watch newbies do every exercise completely wrong, walk out of the gym feeling great, and coming back for months without seeing any results. Don’t be that person. Find what works for you, go do it, repeat.
Make quick action possible.
Can’t sit down at your favorite coffee shop to work on your online business? Good thing your phone has a notepad for some quick thoughts. Don’t wanna get changed and drive to the gym? Get some home equipment, do some yoga or calisthenics. Can’t take your nice camera everywhere? Good thing you can use a phone to practice the fundamentals. Take 20 minutes to set up for digital art? Get a sketchbook (there are skills that transfer, don’t lie to me or yourself). Don’t fall victim to The Toolbox Fallacy.
Find the Minimum Viable Version of whatever you’re trying to do and make it accessible for yourself.
The Golden Rule: 5 minutes a day is more than enough
Shift your mindset to GOOD work and you’ll be 10x more productive than when you’re focused on how LONG you’re working for.
Look – don’t only do something for 5 minutes a day. This rule is made to balance out the fact that you need to be on your grind as often as possible WHILE making sure you are putting in quality work.
We all know when we try to sit down for hours to grind away at something life gets in the way almost immediately – food, friends, stress, etc.
But if you sit down every day and put in at least 5 minutes of quality work you will make meaningful progress.
Some days your 5 minutes turns into 30 minutes. Maybe an hour – maybe an hour turns into hours – and that’s our real goal. To give yourself as many opportunities to work towards your goals without burning out.
You won’t feel discouraged when you can’t grind out hours of work. Tomorrow you know you can make some real progress and the only thing stopping you is yourself. No more excuses. Even on vacation you can find a way to do what’s important to you.
Common 5 minute task:
- Practice music
- Exercise / stretches
- Reading of any kind
- Writing (personal or professional)
- Message a friend
- Drawing/sketching practice
You can spend at least 30 minutes a day doing 6 activities you’ve decided are very important. Simple, easy, and every day you can take a step forwards to one of my goals. Other days you can spend hours grinding because the planets aligned in a way that would have never happened if you didn’t start working that day – that’s just how life goes sometimes. Once again, the 5 minute tactic is about making opportunities happen.
Action Items:
Write down at least 5 things you know you should be doing and find a way to make meaningful progress towards within 5 minutes.
What are the most important things in your life? Mental/physical health, financial wealth, personal pursuits like art and self expression, friends & family, self growth. You can have it all.
| Things I can’t do in 5 minutes | Things I can do in 5 minutes (that add up!) |
| Learn a song on piano/guitar | Learn a riff / practice |
| Full workout | Yoga/stretching |
| Read a whole chapter | Read 5 pages / one poem |
| Write a whole post/poem/page | Write a paragraph, an outline or do some editing |
| Deep dive into a talk with an old friend | Schedule dinner or a call |
| Make a masta’piece | Practice, Practice, Practice |
| Create valuable content for side hustles | Chatting with the homies |