Learning how to plan is in the top tier of self help.

Holy Crap, I nearly derailed last week. It was feeling like I was getting no where with life and it was getting a bit overwhelming. Was finding it extremely hard to do my tasks and stay on top of everything.

Something wasn’t right.

I thought I was dedicating time to doing all the right things but was getting sidetracked very easily by other tasks. I would find mornings particular unsettling which was odd because I tend to love mornings and thats when most of my work gets done.

Then it clicked: I was spending almost no time planning my next day or week. I noticed that whenever I dedicated 15 to 30 minutes to planning, scheduling, and thinking about my following day, I was noticeably more productive and less distracted.

I did this most days last week.

And wow, what a difference this has made. Within a day I felt like I was on track once again. Ready to crush it. Tasks were getting done.

I am in the early stages of a few things, which is proving to be particularly challenging as I am not seeing any real results yet. This can be discouraging. However, by planning days and weeks in advance, it is making me feel like all this effort isn't wasted and is going towards something that's worth it.

I am striving to create as much as possible while also learning about the art of creation. Additionally, I am working to master my everyday basic needs, such as sleep, nutrition, exercise, and social life, and of course, not going broke during this transition period.

Although I may feel a little scatterbrained at times (aka all the time), one thing I will always be proud of is that I never give up on trying new things. I refuse to settle for mediocrity and am determined to create a life for myself that I am truly happy with.

This newsletter certainly feels more like a diary than a newsletter. I am still trying to figure out my approach with it, and would love to hear what you've enjoyed and hated the most so far. So, if you have 2-3 minutes, pls reply or message me on Instagram to tell me. I will like you if you tell me nice things, but I will like you even more if you give me some criticism!

Back on planning. Out of all the self-help malarkey that saturates the world today, I believe that mastering the art of planning is one of the top three ways to improve not just as a freelancer/creator, but as a human being. It's all well and good to use app blockers, meditate, and focus on getting good sleep, but if we don't know what task we need to do or haven't planned for it, it most certainly won't get done. Moreover, when we're in the void of uncertainty about what task needs to be done next, this is prime time for our monkey brains and resistance to kick in and distract us with some form of cheap dopamine. This distraction can snowball and consume our entire day.

Time management is hard. Because how long does a task really take.

How long is a piece of string? (Well you cut it down the middle and you double the lenght, thats how long it is.)

The best way to improve at something is by doing it repeatedly and learning from experience. This principle applies to time management, as well. Over the course of time you start figuring out how long each task takes. It really does throw you off when you have scheduled in 45 mins for emailing but in fact it takes you 1 hour 30 mins. Because this affects all the rest of the scheduled tasks throught the day.

One piece of advice I have is to overestimate how long tasks will take. We are playing the long game here, and it's not good to feel like you're constantly playing catch-up and getting exhausted. This can easily lead to giving up on our dreams early. Give yourself a generous amount of time to complete tasks so that you can take a break and move on to the next task without feeling overwhelmed. This way, you'll go to bed feeling like you accomplished your tasks. Although setting more tasks in a day may lead to completing more tasks, this is unsustainable in the long run. It's important to focus on completing tasks effectively rather than just completing many tasks. The problem with setting too many tasks is that the brain tends to focus on the negative, so instead of thinking "I got a lot done today," you'll go to bed thinking "I couldn't get all my tasks done.”

I still struggle with finding the right balance between being productive and not overwhelming myself. While I want to accomplish as much as possible in a day, I know that once I become overwhelmed, my productivity drops significantly. This causes me anxiety and can derail my progress. It's important to find a pace that keeps me on track without burning out.

Lots of Love

Koko

Other stuff I have created this week. Pretty personal this time round.

Opened up about viagra use and performance anxiety in a video.

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