How keeping a tally can improve your productivity
Oh, hi friends!
Do you like to track your progress visually? Mentally? On a digital calendar or a paper one? Do you add up your days, weeks, or months?
Sometimes what works for one project doesn’t work for another.
I used to have “Write Brass Ring Daily” on my calendar every day. Now I just do it, implicitly.
But I still track my runs and add up the miles each week. I also add up how much money I make each week (“weekcap!”) and month (“monthcap!”) because as a freelancer, this number can be…flexible. For years, I didn’t, and had no real sense of where my time and energy were going—and what was coming in.
If you want to write more, keeping a tally can help. (In 2016, I wrote three pages every day for an entire year because I had a tiny paper calendar on my desk, and I didn’t want to break my string of X-es each day.) My smart mom puts a check mark on her calendar every time she goes for her morning walk, and adds them up at the end of the month. Simple and brilliant!
Same goes for anything you want to try. What’s that saying? You can’t improve what you can’t measure.
Very Wes Anderson, no?
Photo by Simone Hutsch on Unsplash
Do you have any practical advice for creative individuals, or anyone, in fact?
I think you trust yourself, love yourself, and all will be well. I think it's important to have an image of what you're striving for and what you're working towards—what you're hoping to be. I want to be the best I can be for as long as I can.
Gloria Vanderbilt, 94-year-old superstar, is one wise woman.
I saw A Star Is Born this weekend and was blown away. Not only is it a Great Big Story that will make you feel Great Big Feelings, but the music is addictive. Been listening to the pop confection “Shallow” on repeat.
Do you like these daily emails? Please share with a friend!
Thanks, as always, for reading.
Love, Kara