How I’ve become so productive that I have 3 jobs & I’m not dead

Kerry Beetge
Nov 7 · 7 min read

Hello, I’m Kerry and I’m not an alcaholic but I might be a workaholic? And so, it’s important for me to start this post by setting my intention here. I’m not trying to glorify being busy — especially at the expense of your health or well-being.

What I am trying to do is an answer a question that I get about once every two weeks. At the risk of sounding like a complete ponce, my friends, colleagues and clients often ask me how I manage to stay creative or how I keep up productivity without compromising on quality.

Now, you could easily argue that it isn’t possible. Something has to give somewhere, and that’s true. In my case, it’s my personal life. HOWEVER, I do think I’ve developed some helpful skills and tactics that have allowed me to make a breakthrough in my career and get a lot of good work done.

Here’s how:

  1. I assigned myself a purpose and connected deeply with it. We could talk about the meaning of life here or we could all agree that we don’t know what it is. But that’s not a fun way to spend your time on this weird rock. So, I’ve dedicated mine to the bigger picture. I want to make a difference in the world and improve my experience and well-being, as well as that of everybody else. I want to put love into the people ocean, make life less burdensome and more beautiful and get excited about everything I put my energy into. This was the key turning point for me. I am productive because I love what I do and I see purpose in it. To this end…
  2. I choose projects I am passionate about. For me, that involves education, technology and altruism. And if a project doesn’t involve that, I view it as a way to uplift myself by learning, doing good work, collaborating and challenging myself. This drives me and that drive equates to motivation.
  3. I know what motivates me. On the one hand, it’s my purpose, on the other it’s my desire to succeed and on the third hand (because every body is beautiful so I have three hands now and we’re okay with it) is REVENGE. That’s right, I said it. I farm success and power from my determination to prove people wrong. Is this healthy? Probably not. Who knows? But does it work? Yes.
  4. I go all in, take it on and own it. I’m a freelancer so when I work for another company I have to pretend it’s my own. However, I’ve always done this. When you feel like you have a vested interest in a company you are more likely to do your best work and feel the urgency of it. In some instances, you can get this feeling from others but I create it for myself. I dedicate myself to my clients and pretend that I win or lose WITH them to a greater extent than I actually do.
  5. I let that first draft pour out of me without overthinking it. When I write an article, for example, I just write as though I am speaking to somebody — same for a strategy, same for a pitch. I read about it before hand so that it can pour out of me sensically. And I don’t allow the critical voice to take over. Just get it out.
  6. Adding structure is key. If I have a rough draft of something or a skeleton, I need it to be clearly and carefully structured in a way that makes sense. I won’t even send you an email if it isn’t in a format I’m comfortable with. The more you structure your work, the better the quality and usefulness of it.
  7. I anticipate everything. This is an exhausting way to live but it’s how I turn my weakness into a strength. When I’m writing something, I leave notes for the designer, I let whoever know about potential problems I see coming, I follow up, I start writing things before they’ve even been briefed. I try to always stay one step ahead, which allows me to focus properly on the next thing.
  8. Focus on the task at hand. When I’m in the zone, you could stab me and I wouldn’t notice. I wish that was an exaggeration. As a child, my teachers used to get annoyed with me because I took a lot of breaks but it’s because I focus so hard on what I’m doing and then need to relax my brain after. I do something until that part of the task is done. Nowadays there are words related to this like pomodoro and whatever else but people have always considered my to be distracted and then wondered how I completed everything. That’s how. Intense focus, intense not focus.
  9. I give my body what it needs. Eat, sleep, social, move, breathe, smell, medicine, water. I am not always good at this but consistency is key here — even to a smaller extent, so I’ve adopted the little bit every day approach.
  10. I measure value and priority. I’m almost finished with this post so soon, I’m going to take a break and then go back and edit it all in one go. I’m not going to do a deep edit because I have more important/mentally taxing things to do. Sounds terrible but it’s true. This is just something I felt like sharing. So, I will allocate the appropriate energy to this task and that has to be good enough.
  11. I get everything as far as it can be. If I’m reliant on someone to send a bio or an image, I’ll write one in the meantime. If I’m waiting for someone to send information like their phone number or something, I’ll put it in the document in the interim. It’s easier to edit and tweak than to face a lot of blank spaces. I will also make a list of what’s missing and tick it off as I get it.
  12. I channel my anxiety into doing small things that lead to bigger things. When I get stressed out about my workload, I tell myself “Okay, just write down the bullet points, you can do the rest when you feel better. Then I write down the bullet points and I say “okay, now just pop in those headings, you might as well. Then I say “okay, go and do some leisurely reading on the subject” and when I do that, I find a poignant stat. Then I push, “you might as well finish a first draft”.
  13. I allow myself to be possessed. One of my favourite disciplines is UX planning. I love putting myself into the mindset of a persona and interacting with an interface. And when I go into this zone, it’s like method acting. You can’t get me out of it. I become someone else.
  14. I trust my natural flow. If I wake up in the middle of the night and feel a burning desire to complete that course I’m creating, I will take my computer and do it right there and then. If I’m exhausted and feel the burning desire to nap, I will do it right there and then.
  15. I divide my day into segments by “pillars”. To me the most important things in life are health, altruism, wealth, family, friends, environment. So if I feel there is too much wealth in a day, I’ll message my mom. I try to do a task in each every day. I’ll have coffee with a friend, I’ll clean my desk, I’ll go to a charity shop. I don’t always get this right but little tasks in each pillar help me be productive when I need to.
  16. If things start to feel pointless, you just say to yourself — “no, it’s not. Just keep doing it”.
  17. I don’t have mental barriers like the end of a work day or a Friday mentality. If I have more work to do I will have a break and start again at 6pm as though it is 6am. I don’t expect everyone to dedicate their lives like this. It’s not good for you in the long term but it is what I do.

I’m not going to write a conclusion about this because I have to use my energy for another important thing today, and I still have to edit this but does it even matter? You’ve read this far.

I’m around if you have questions. Going to edit this quickly, grab and image or two and then publish before I do ANYTHING else. See you now ❤

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