The Work-Life Newsletter: Edition 5
Thoughts on shiny object syndrome
Reasoning with my possible ADHD brain
My brain usually runs at around Usain Bolt speed… about 10.44 meters per second if you were wondering.
I have ideas and I tend to go for them without much thought. It’s a compulsion… that’s the best way I can explain the way I start and end things. (Some ADHD folks may relate.)
Over the years, I’ve come to understand a few things:
- I need to like a thing in order to continue doing it long-term.
- Even when I like a thing, I burn out super quickly and stop doing it.
Over the years, I’ve also learned that the way to stick to a thing is to convince my brain to stop thinking (or stop running, lol) and just do the thing. Put it in the calendar and stick to it as best as possible.
So, here’s what I do these days:
- I start new things. I don’t deny myself the pleasure of starting… this compulsive behavior has saved my ass time and time again. I like this side of me that’s not afraid to start running at full speed toward the unknown.
- If I start hating it soon after, I stop myself. No point continuing a thing I hate.
- But… if I don’t hate it, that’s when I force my brain to slow down. Because liking something is a sign of making something of it. It means I can, provided I pace myself, continue doing it for months and even years, as long as I don’t allow myself to burn out completely.
- The slowing process starts with a lot of inner conversations. I become two people at the same time. One me talks to the other me and cajoles it into making a plan and sticking to it regardless of the immediate outcome, or the lack of any, for the matter.
I recently started a Beehiiv account with the intention of making a newsletter/blog. Right away I felt the excitement in my blood. I could see myself doing it for months or even years!
So I started the process. I’m in the middle of this process right now. I’m talking to the other me about how to balance doing this new thing with all the other, more important things I’ve got going.
I have the blog (thesideblogger.com), I have this Medium account which I’m trying to grow to a solid side income stream, make a few hundred bucks from it per month… and I have my creative writing… essays and stories to finish and publish.
In other words, as much as I’m having fun with my brand-new blog/newsletter, I need to also make sure that I’m pacing myself and that this new thing isn’t taking over my life where I neglect the more important things.
Anyway.
Thought I’d share :)
A list of stories/posts I’ve published this week:
- Over at my member-only blog, I have a webinar recording up for how I find popular topics in my niche (topic research; NOT keyword research.) You do need to be a member to see the 1.5-hour-long video, but there’s a 7-day trial available if you want to check things out 😊
- Here on Medium, I wrote about the need for solopreneurs (especially content creators/bloggers) among you to focus on yourselves just as much as your products. Because in these times of AI and Search engine uncertainties, the reason people will come to you is not just your product, but also (maybe mostly) you!
- I also wrote about how I failed to sell newsletter ads… (for now, I definitely plan on trying to sell more ads in the future!)
- Finally, I published an op-ed type essay on Thought Thinker about whether or not we should stop calling ourselves “writers.”
That’s it for now.
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