This summer I celebrated sending The Weekly Page #300 and 7 years of consistently sending my newsletter! To mark the occasion, I’m answering questions from a Reader Mail Bag 📧 Got something to ask? You can submit yours here.
📧 READER MAIL BAG #4, 5, and 6:
#4 "How do you keep it going? I’ve been a follower and subscriber for years. I’ve used Daily Page products forever. I took the HONEYS course. Every time I interact with your work, I am blown away. But inevitably, I fall off of the routine. I obviously think this is a me problem. I’m 40 and have a host of mental health struggles and ADHD, but I feel like I’m edging closer to the productive and happy person I want to be. Any tips for turning awesome productivity revelations into long term systems?”
📢 In this response I’ll tell you the one habit that sets me up for success every month.
#5 “Do you have established hours of work, or limit the amount you work? I feel like I could work for a solid month without any new projects and still not get it all done. Just curious what limit you put on your day. #workingfromhomeandlivingatwork”
📢 I’ll explain how I balance client work, set up my schedule, take vacation time, and share the one mindset shift that really helped with my approach to self-employment. I’ll also show you exactly how I explain my schedule and boundaries in my client contract.
#6 “I’d love some suggestions on improving efficiency when working with other departments/team members that aren’t quick to respond or push back every time there is an ask. I find myself chasing things a lot, and then the second they hand it over, expectations seem to be that it will be instantly done on my end after being pushed off for months. Are there operational strategies I could use where I don’t feel like I’m just nagging them forever, and then backed into defending myself?”
📢 I’ve got one operational strategy and one practical tip that can make a massive difference here (and specific tool recommendations!).
Not surprisingly, several questions I’ve received through my Reader Mail Bag have been related to work and productivity. So, I thought I’d combine them into one post. Below you’ll find answers to the three submissions above.
#4 “How do you keep it going? I’ve been a follower and subscriber for years. I’ve used Daily Page products forever. I took the HONEYS course. Every time I interact with your work, I am blown away. But inevitably, I fall off of the routine. I obviously think this is a me problem. I’m 40 and have a host of mental health struggles and ADHD, but I feel like I’m edging closer to the productive and happy person I want to be. Any tips for turning awesome productivity revelations into long term systems?”
Well first off, thank you s’much for being here for so long! It’s really flattering that you’ve dug into so much of my work.
Something I say often is that everyone’s brain works differently and can change throughout our life. What worked for us in one phase of life might not work when we enter the next.
Especially with neurodivergence, we might need custom systems and forms of support. This is something I really prioritize and think is a valuable feature of the tools and methods I’ve created: they are meant to be flexible — for different brains and different phases of life.
I also think it can be helpful to understand that it’s not you that’s broken, it’s the system we are trying to survive within. You might find it comforting to learn more about how capitalism, patriarchy, and white supremacy all prop up systems that are centered around the “neurotypical experience”, and more accurately, usually the “Cis, white, male, heterosexual, neurotypical experience”. Creating a world that feels like it is constantly working against SO MANY OF US.
Knowing that you aren’t the problem can not only be a relief, it can provide a more honest place to build from. Assessing your struggles through the lens of capitalism, patriarchy and white supremacy, can help you establish systems that actually work for you.
Along with that recognition, two very practical things that can be helpful for making consistent progress, despite barriers, are:
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