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You Haven’t “Wasted” Your Time, Even If You Lack Results

A much-needed PSA for creatives and overachievers

Brooke Harrison
Better Advice
Published in
5 min readFeb 6, 2021

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Photo by Brooke Cagle on Unsplash

“Wasted time” likely has a different meaning for each of us. You might be thinking about a Netflix and chill session during which you binged too many episodes of Bridgerton (no judgment here).

But I’m not writing about downtime. That’s an article for another day. No, this is for us productivity-junkies who convince ourselves that every pursuit should yield results.

And if it doesn’t… If we walk away from a creative session with nothing to show for our time, we call it a “waste.”

A few weeks ago, I spent an entire workday *trying* to film a tutorial video for my email list. I hoped to film 4–5 short videos for a brief email course. And, while I’d completed the first video by that evening, I knew it wasn’t ready. It wasn’t usable.

Expectation: film 4–5 short segments (screen recordings)

Reality: filmed 1 subpar tutorial

Clearly, I bit off more than I could chew. I was so hyped that morning, thinking I’d knock out the first tutorial in a little under an hour so I could crank out the rest. I thought to myself, I’ll have the entire course outlined by tomorrow. (My tendency to completely overestimate my abilities and my…

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Better Advice
Better Advice

Published in Better Advice

Reflections and advice on self-improvement, personal and professional growth, and valuable life lessons. Join our community of nearly 20,000 readers!

Brooke Harrison
Brooke Harrison

Written by Brooke Harrison

Writer & Entrepreneur. I write to process and share what I’m learning :) How to take notes in Obsidian (free guide!): https://brooke-harrison.ck.page/2521a68501

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