An unexpected discovery I’ve made while in “queen bee” mode is that it’s difficult to be productive while you plan.

I see people often ask ChatGPT questions like “do you think this marketing idea is cool for Gen-Z?” Or they’ll ask “does this company have a big budget?”

If you made $1,000, and then someone called you out of the blue and asked for $62, without any urgent need or reason, would you give it to them? 

There’s a bellcurve of efficiency in creative projects. Working too slow creates waste. Working too fast creates waste, as well.

This sentence has lost all meaning. It’s so commonly used, so now, it’s more of an expression than a measurement of time.

When you run your own business, it’s difficult to decipher which tasks you should be doing, and which tasks you should be outsourcing.

If everyone has access to the same ambiguous, potentially incorrect information, it’s no longer an advantage.

As a younger person, I loved compromises. What’s not to love about people agreeing on a plan they can both accept? Why does one person always need to win? 

Where can I incorporate switches instead of dimmers? How can I be fully present with one thing, and turn the rest off—even for an hour?

“I don’t think it has anything to do with the amount of work you are doing.”

When you look for a certain kind of car on the road, you start seeing it everywhere. This explains manifestation.

You know that feeling, right? When you incorporate a new productivity habit, you see everything you’re accomplishing, and you feel invincible?

When you get really good at something, you can fall into the delusion that good work doesn’t take much time. 

I’ve tried a lot of them—these are the tools that stuck for me.

Behind every “how do I” question is a deeper question. Anytime someone asks “how do I…” and then follows it with something practical, like “find more clients?” or “grow my audience?” or “generate more profit?” there is one deeper question behind all of that. 

We hold ourselves to a higher productivity standard than machines. When we get tired, or emotionally exhausted, or lose focus, or when we can’t find any motivation, the tendency for ambitious people like us is to be hard on ourselves. Meanwhile, we expect the cars we drive to fail. 

It may not be the most technically efficient way to pay the least amount of money, but it has proven to be the most psychologically efficient. When people feel they are making progress, and can see the number of loans decreasing early on, they’re more motivated to keep going.

We all spend time going down rabbit holes. This is the experience of being on social media. Social media, however, is usually not very productive. 

It’s a grid of eight boxes, with a few scattered titles, bullet points, and lines on it. It helps me reduce stress, improve my health, stay productive while I work, remember my long-term projects, and achieve work-life balance. 

Reframing is free. It changes nothing—but it could change everything for you.