recently i finished a creative project by setting a deadline for myself and then NOT continuing to work on the project any more after the deadline. i felt an amazing sense of clarity after, like i could do anything i wanted with my time, because i was finally rid of that nagging feeling that i should be working on something. hell of a drug!
Youβre almost there. Resist rushing through it. Take your time. Take a break. Keep going. Do it well. Reward yourself. Get that completion dopamine, then enjoy a sweet treat for your efforts (or whatever feels nice to you). Soon youβll have a body of work. It feels good to see it accumulate.
force yourself to start a project that you've been ruminating on for a minute but instead of committing to finishing it, start various other lower stakes projects whenever you're "supposed" to be working on the original project. this is literally the only way i get anything done
Finishing things... bane of my existence, perpetual weight of guilt, incredibly incredibly boring at times. But unfortunately, finishing things is the essence of life, one of the few ways we can quantify our forward movement. Sometimes you have to brute force the end of a project. Painful, but ultimately satisfying and, in some ways, necessary. Yowch!
1. helps me relax + clear my head + forget about work way more than going on my phone (plus i go on my phone secretly all day anyway so it's not even a treat to do it at lunch)
2. i've burned through a ton of books by reading just 15-30 minutes per day. i recommend this very much if you find it hard to "find time" to read
