How To Be Effortlessly Productive

How To Be Effortlessly Productive…
(& An Apology)

Productivity Bites 4

There is ‘a secret’ to endlessly churning stuff out like there’s no tomorrow and you might think it’s a ‘secret’, and you might not, and you might find it helpful, and you might not, we’ll see.

I have an inkling you might not like it though. 

What It’s Not

It’s not a ‘technique’ or ‘method’ you can ‘implement’; it’s NOT a habit you can ‘install’ or tag on to other habits to make it ‘automatic’.

It’s NOT about programming your subconscious mind with subliminal messages as you drift into sleep.

And it’s certainly not about ‘forcing it’ with willpower or ‘sucking it up, princess’ or ‘being tough and getting going’ when the going gets tough or anything like that.

No Magic Pill

As far as I feel it now, none of those things will turn you into a productive powerhouse if your heart isn’t in it. I’m sorry. (That’s the apology.) There is no magic pill for being incredibly productive, day after day and year after year, much as I’d like to invent one and sell it to you.

But there is something, which when you realise it, can change everything. I speak from one particular experience of continuous high productivity in a very specific area which is ongoing in my life today as I write this.

My Creative Coming Of Age

Six years ago, on 1st January, 2018, I decided to publish a photo of Paris with a short text. No big deal, you might say, and in itself, it wasn’t. But here’s the thing: I didn’t stop. Looking back now, I’d even say I couldn’t stop.

In a few days, on the 31st December, 2023, I will have performed the same small creative act for six years – that’s 2191 days (including 2020’s leap day) – in a row. And it had nothing to do with effort.

I’ll spare you any false modesty or restraint; I find this mind-blowing satisfying. Irrespective of the quality of the work, or what people think of it, or whether it will go down in history as a triumph or tripe, I’m happy. And as you may have heard me say before, it’s how happy a creator is with their efforts that counts in the end.

So, What’s The Deal?

Truly impressive productivity – producing a significant piece or body of work worth being seriously proud of – is a great feeling. But even if you think I’m going to say that all you need to do is a little bit every day and you’ll get there, I’m not! I’ve said that before and it’s true, but that’s not the deal breaker here.

The deal is, to be truly, impressively and yet effortlessly productive, you need to find… something you can’t stop doing, even if you wanted to. It can’t seem like work. It has to be as natural and automatic and necessary as brushing your teeth or eating or going to the toilet.

The French expression sums it up nicely: C’est plus fort que moi ! ‘It’s stronger than me.’ The desire to do your chosen thing (and the feelings that gives you) has to be much more powerful than the consequences of not doing it.

You need to feel a mounting unease, turning into irritation the longer the day goes on and you haven’t turned your hand to ‘your thing’ yet.

You Can’t Find It…

In fact, you don’t find it at all; I would say, rather, it finds you! And when it does, it grabs you by the throat and doesn’t let go! It’s a passion, and passion doesn’t pay attention to time or money or effort; passion is about emotion which can make you feel as high as any drug.

To ‘endlessly churn stuff out’, the secret is to allow the thing you will be unable to stop doing to find you. Of course, the problem with that is, you don’t know what it is until you’ve been enjoying doing something for quite a while and that’s when it hits you: you’ve been found!

Be Grabbable At All Times

It doesn’t really matter what your thing is, and there may be many things that could become ‘your thing’. But just by producing ‘on message’ (in a similar vein) again and again, huge shifts will occur. Not only will you create an impressive body of work; you will also feel confident that you are indeed capable of ‘doing stuff’ and not just dreaming about it. 

In order to be findable or ‘grabbable’, you need to be doing stuff on a regular basis and varying it (trying new stuff) often. There’s a positive twist on an old saying that goes: You don’t know what you can’t do until you try. Changing can to can’t makes it sound like you assume you can do anything until you find something that’s too hard, for now, which is a great attitude to have. 

Take this attitude with you as you try lots of activities and one day you’ll realise you’ve been doing something for quite a while and you’re getting pretty good at it. That’s it; your ‘thing’ has found you and you’re on a roll.

Make sure you start sharing it too. Watching someone who has truly found something they love doing is an inspirational wonder to behold!

© Sab Will 2023 🐷

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🧩 Sab has been exploring the creative human experience in Paris for over 25 years. He writes words, makes pictures and encourages connectedness every day. He thinks that being creative on a regular basis is a wonderful way to lead a worthwhile, enriching and generous life. He’d love to help you make the most of your infinite potential too, creatively and authentically…

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