Ask Honey: how to redefine "productivity" & embrace your natural rhythms
Hello dear friend,
Remember those blissful days of summer as a kid? When the air buzzed with adventure and every sunrise promised a new discovery?
If you’re aching to feel that sweet summer thrill of trying something new and wonderful…
I invite you to join us for Itty Bitty Art Club this July!
It’s like summer camp for your inner artist—without the mosquitos.
Here’s the short ‘n’ sweet of it:
Each weekday in July, campers receive a creative prompt that can be used to inspire any sort of art-making or creative practice. You’ll also receive weekly creative pep talks, journal prompts, and artist date suggestions to guide your month-long commitment to reinvigorating your creativity!
I believe that creativity is like a muscle—it needs regular exercise to stay strong. My hope for the Itty Bitty Art Club is that it reignites your passion for making, brings a smile to your face each morning, and helps you rediscover the joy of creativity.
We start this Monday, July 1st. Come join us! Let's make some fun shit together!
Facing your own creative quagmire? Submit it here for the chance to appear in next month’s Ask Honey. Today we’re diving into:
Strategies to find balance and satisfaction in your workday
How to embrace and work with your natural rhythms
The importance of self-acceptance and redefining success beyond traditional productivity metrics
In honor of Itty Bitty Art Club opening for enrollment, this month’s Ask Honey advice column is available to all subscribers. Thank you for being here.
A quick note: I am not a therapist or professional advisor. I am a self-employed creative dedicated to exploring the ways we live through art, writing, and creative practice. The thoughts and suggestions I share are based on my personal experiences and reflections. I encourage you to approach this with an open heart, take what resonates with you, and simply leave the rest. Let’s get into it!
Dear Honey,
I work in a small office with only a few colleagues and I work the longest hours of anyone - which means I'm often alone. I LOVE my job (marketing executive for purpose led businesses), my boss is super accommodating and understanding, and I am happy to work independently, but my productivity completely slumps when I am physically alone. No matter how much I care about the task at hand, it feels like pulling teeth. What should I do? How can I manage this?
from J
***
Dear J,
Let me start by mirroring some things back to you:
You love your job.
Your boss is super accommodating and understanding.
You’re happy to work independently.
You have a senior position as a marketing executive—so we have to assume you’ve done your job well enough, for a long enough time, for people to trust you, admire your contributions, and promote you into this executive position.
And so this makes me beg the question: does it really matter that you’re less productive when you’re alone?
Of course, it would be wonderful if you could continue to work like a little machine when no one is watching. I could sit here and give you all the #productivityhacks—Pomodoro technique! Eat the frog! The 2-minute rule!—but chances are you’ve tried them, and they haven’t satisfied you enough to stop you from writing this letter.
The fact of the matter is that you’re good at what you do, and other people recognize that. Is there a world in which that could be enough?
As Mary Oliver reminds us, “You do not have to walk on your knees for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.”
Rather, I think the question to ask yourself is: what would happen if you let that soft animal body of yours just exist as it does? What would it look like to move forward with a little more self-compassion and trust that you’re doing your best?
INPUT TO RINSE OUT THE PRODUCTIVITY BRAINWASH
***The following are three pieces of creative input. Consider them inspiration to refill your creative cup. I encourage you to give your inner artist a sweet treat this week—even when you don’t think you deserve it, even when you’re hesitant to call yourself a creative person.
In an 8-Hour Day, the Average Worker Is Productive for This Many Hours
will hopefully let your heart take a small exhale. 2 hours and 53 minutes. Researchers studied several thousand office workers and, on average, people are only working on meaningful tasks for an average of 2 hours and 53 minutes per day.
***
The Daily Routines of Famous Creatives
will show you that Haruki Murakami writes from 4 am until lunch, and then relaxes the rest of the day. Mozart worked in short creative spurts, and Kant apparently did all of his creative work in the hour before his day job.
My point is that even people ascribed the label of “creative genius” all have different ways of being productive. Mary Flannery O’Conner was never in a position where she could work towards her creative goals with the long, punishing hours of Voltaire, and a lot of people would agree she produced stunning prose regardless of that fact.
***
When Things Fall Apart by Pema Chodron
might help you to unhook from judging your productivity and begin to accept yourself as you are. Pema Chodron’s teachings emphasize that struggling against our natural rhythms only leads to more suffering. Instead, she encourages us to lean into our experiences, however messy they may be, and find beauty in our humanity.
As Chodron reminds us, "The most fundamental aggression to ourselves, the most fundamental harm we can do to ourselves, is to remain ignorant by not having the courage and the respect to look at ourselves honestly and gently."
OUTPUT TO CREATE NEW WAYS OF THINKING ABOUT WORK
***The following are three ideas for creative output. Consider them as prompts for creative living in action. Because you have every right to get out there, practice your craft, engage your innate human creativity, and have a fuckin’ good time doing it.
Dig into what you think this all means about you
with a few journaling prompts. I encourage you to sit down and spend a few minutes free writing about your relationship with your work and your sense of productivity. Maybe consider:
Why do I wish to be more productive?
What do I think my lack of productivity means about me?
How would my (super accommodating and understanding) boss describe me as an employee?
How do I define success in my career? (Check out Output #1 from Honeycomb Club #7 for a deeper dive on this)
***
Track your own daily routines
for insight into the natural ebb and flow of your energy and productivity. Do your best to abstain from judgment: right now, you are merely a researcher conducting the scientific method on yourself. When do you sleep? Work your day job? Work creatively? Exercise? Relax?
After a week or two, take a look at your findings. What do you notice when you gently chart your life like this? What patterns emerge? Which daily habits suck your energy away from the things you want to focus on? Are there places where you could collect yourself and come back to center? Parts of your day when you might want to harness the sails of your natural energy a bit more?
***
Celebrate working alone
to remove the stigma you’ve created for yourself around your lack of productivity. Working alone is like a gift, one you’re currently squandering by guilting and shaming yourself.
What if you could throw on some music and take dance breaks when it feels like pulling teeth? What if you could reward yourself with a game on your phone each time you cross something off your to-do list? I dare you to accomplish what you can, celebrate it, and let that be enough for now.
***
Always in your corner,
Katie
P.S. If you scrolled straight to the bottom, I don’t want you to miss the announcement that Itty Bitty Art Club is now open for enrollment! We start July 1st. Learn more and sign up here!