Move over James Clear. Wisdom per word VERY HIGH on this one Nat. So good. Musicians are creators who seem to intuitively know what you are saying in this piece. Imagine telling a musician they have to write songs for 4 hours every morning. Ridiculous. But somehow the "use MY system it works!" culture is EVERYWHERE in content creation. We gotta find our own system and forgive ourselves deeply when things aren't working. Iterate and play around. Bhagawan Nityananda said it best. "Stop reading other people's books. Write your own book."
Thanks for sharing your insights. Always valuable to me.
"But somehow the "use MY system it works!" culture is EVERYWHERE in content creation." > I feel this. I think the reason for this is not so much that the creators of these systems believe their way is *the* way but more because so many of us trust that others know better than we do.
What a great post! I’ve found that I also do a lot of my best work under a harsh time constraint —> that’s when the panic monster (from Tim Urban’s procrastination series) wakes up, and I do some of my finest work. Thanks Nat!
Why could i relate to this so much‽ Over the years, I've tried so much to work in the morning but no matter what i do it would never work out. But looking back i realize i was trying to impress my parents or something because it wasn't what i wanted to do
Hey Nat, been loving the podcast! Especially the behind-the-scenes-look at how you wrote your V1 in a month. I plan on doing my own version of that — and from what I can tell, our creative processes are similar — so I do have a few questions if you care to answer them on the pod:
• How do you balance following the linear plot vs. writing scenes from inspiration?
Context: I have an outline, but following the plot linearly sometimes feels like pulling teeth. I find myself skipping around, writing 3-4 scenes in a day in a burst of inspiration. I’m getting my word count up; I’m developing parts of the story; but it still feels like a weird form of procrastination bc I’m not hammering out the linear plot. Curious if you have any experience/advice on this?
Im an outliner too - it worked well and gave me great comfort in writing my first book. As I consider my 2nd book I may try adding a few elements of spontaneity to see where it takes me. Great advice Nat!
I'd also say: lean into what you resist/believe you can't do.
I used to tell myself I could only produce good writing in the morning. Bullocks.
I used to only write from home because I thought going to a cafe would take me out of my flow and be too distracting. Also bullocks.
Sometimes we resist things because we instinctively know they won't work for us but at other times, the resistance comes from false beliefs we've never really tried to disprove.
Thanks for the article, Nat. I think I am the type that needs the clockwork cadence, but I found myself nodding when you talked about having an on-off relationship with ideas and projects - my mind works a lot like that too. I guess I should not stop writing, if possible, until I get everything that bubbled up on to the page, even if I overshoot my writing goal for the day by a lot. But I believe that I have to work on "cold" days also, or I'll lose the practice and eventually stop completely. I just have to accept that there will be days with very little usable output and that on some days the value is all in the practice itself - setting aside a block of time and at least not being distracted during it, building a small bit of mental discipline.
I also have experienced that I absolutely need external pressure to perform at my best, since my default state is one of lethargy. This is hard in the realm of self-directed self-expression on the internet. No one is going to really hold me accountable for the words I do or do not publish in my newsletter.
"Don't contort yourself to fit someone else's (supposedly) perfect system. Architect an environment that amplifies your natural strengths while accounting for your limitations. It's the only form of self-improvement that will stick."
I used to copy other Youtuber's productivity habits and wonder why am I not getting much done - it took a lot of trial and error to realise 'productivity is personal' and can't be forced
With you 1000% on this! I'm getting really frustrated at self-improvement culture of late with so many podcasts, newsletters, etc. that are all about interviewing people who are high achievers and stand out for their ability to do x, y, or z, and then trying to understand how they did it as if A: how they did it will work for you/everyone and B: that they are high achievers is somehow due to *how* they do it. Both are only true in a minority of circumstances. Most often these people are exceptional for some more intrinsic or otherwise unlearnable/unteachable reason, and their methods may *only* work for them because of those underlying differences. At the very least they are unlikely to make you exceptional in the ways they are, even if those same methods do work for you. To focus on the methods over the *context* (the individual and their circumstances) I think misleads a lot of people into feeling like they are failing when these techniques don't work for them.
Of course as you point out it's not at all that people shouldn't be interested in and try these various techniques. It's about how we all relate to them and their originators or practitioners. Ideally I think we want to relate to all methods as possibilities and do experiments with an open mind, valuing each method reasonably equally and with similar potential, or at least not preemptively assigning value and relevance to each based primarily on the success of the person we learn of it from.
This is why I am so skeptical of research on motivation. A reward can increase or decrease motivation. A punishment can be a much needed kick in the pants, or spark rebellion. You have to become the world-renowned expert on what motivation mechanisms work for you.
Move over James Clear. Wisdom per word VERY HIGH on this one Nat. So good. Musicians are creators who seem to intuitively know what you are saying in this piece. Imagine telling a musician they have to write songs for 4 hours every morning. Ridiculous. But somehow the "use MY system it works!" culture is EVERYWHERE in content creation. We gotta find our own system and forgive ourselves deeply when things aren't working. Iterate and play around. Bhagawan Nityananda said it best. "Stop reading other people's books. Write your own book."
Thanks for sharing your insights. Always valuable to me.
Thank you David!
"But somehow the "use MY system it works!" culture is EVERYWHERE in content creation." > I feel this. I think the reason for this is not so much that the creators of these systems believe their way is *the* way but more because so many of us trust that others know better than we do.
And that goes for a lot of areas in our lives.
Nat, well done. I just wrote a note about this yesterday about each of us being as unique as snowflakes called The Snowflake Routine.
Liked it so much, I'll subscribe and restack. If there's are any other ways I can help you get the word out let me know.
To the journey, cheers!
Thank you Jim!
What a great post! I’ve found that I also do a lot of my best work under a harsh time constraint —> that’s when the panic monster (from Tim Urban’s procrastination series) wakes up, and I do some of my finest work. Thanks Nat!
I think of him as the Panic Friend
OMG THAT IS SO GOOD! Panic Friend is my new name for him :)
Why could i relate to this so much‽ Over the years, I've tried so much to work in the morning but no matter what i do it would never work out. But looking back i realize i was trying to impress my parents or something because it wasn't what i wanted to do
Hey Nat, been loving the podcast! Especially the behind-the-scenes-look at how you wrote your V1 in a month. I plan on doing my own version of that — and from what I can tell, our creative processes are similar — so I do have a few questions if you care to answer them on the pod:
• How do you balance following the linear plot vs. writing scenes from inspiration?
Context: I have an outline, but following the plot linearly sometimes feels like pulling teeth. I find myself skipping around, writing 3-4 scenes in a day in a burst of inspiration. I’m getting my word count up; I’m developing parts of the story; but it still feels like a weird form of procrastination bc I’m not hammering out the linear plot. Curious if you have any experience/advice on this?
Appreciate your work! 🤌🏼
Im an outliner too - it worked well and gave me great comfort in writing my first book. As I consider my 2nd book I may try adding a few elements of spontaneity to see where it takes me. Great advice Nat!
I'd also say: lean into what you resist/believe you can't do.
I used to tell myself I could only produce good writing in the morning. Bullocks.
I used to only write from home because I thought going to a cafe would take me out of my flow and be too distracting. Also bullocks.
Sometimes we resist things because we instinctively know they won't work for us but at other times, the resistance comes from false beliefs we've never really tried to disprove.
This is a bit off-putting, Nat. I'm assuming this is automated given you've replied this to multiple people.
Thanks for the article, Nat. I think I am the type that needs the clockwork cadence, but I found myself nodding when you talked about having an on-off relationship with ideas and projects - my mind works a lot like that too. I guess I should not stop writing, if possible, until I get everything that bubbled up on to the page, even if I overshoot my writing goal for the day by a lot. But I believe that I have to work on "cold" days also, or I'll lose the practice and eventually stop completely. I just have to accept that there will be days with very little usable output and that on some days the value is all in the practice itself - setting aside a block of time and at least not being distracted during it, building a small bit of mental discipline.
I also have experienced that I absolutely need external pressure to perform at my best, since my default state is one of lethargy. This is hard in the realm of self-directed self-expression on the internet. No one is going to really hold me accountable for the words I do or do not publish in my newsletter.
"Don't contort yourself to fit someone else's (supposedly) perfect system. Architect an environment that amplifies your natural strengths while accounting for your limitations. It's the only form of self-improvement that will stick."
I used to copy other Youtuber's productivity habits and wonder why am I not getting much done - it took a lot of trial and error to realise 'productivity is personal' and can't be forced
With you 1000% on this! I'm getting really frustrated at self-improvement culture of late with so many podcasts, newsletters, etc. that are all about interviewing people who are high achievers and stand out for their ability to do x, y, or z, and then trying to understand how they did it as if A: how they did it will work for you/everyone and B: that they are high achievers is somehow due to *how* they do it. Both are only true in a minority of circumstances. Most often these people are exceptional for some more intrinsic or otherwise unlearnable/unteachable reason, and their methods may *only* work for them because of those underlying differences. At the very least they are unlikely to make you exceptional in the ways they are, even if those same methods do work for you. To focus on the methods over the *context* (the individual and their circumstances) I think misleads a lot of people into feeling like they are failing when these techniques don't work for them.
Of course as you point out it's not at all that people shouldn't be interested in and try these various techniques. It's about how we all relate to them and their originators or practitioners. Ideally I think we want to relate to all methods as possibilities and do experiments with an open mind, valuing each method reasonably equally and with similar potential, or at least not preemptively assigning value and relevance to each based primarily on the success of the person we learn of it from.
This is why I am so skeptical of research on motivation. A reward can increase or decrease motivation. A punishment can be a much needed kick in the pants, or spark rebellion. You have to become the world-renowned expert on what motivation mechanisms work for you.