Productivity | Puttylike

What to Do When Your Bucket List Is Too Damn Long

14 January 2020

In her famous poem The Summer Day, the late Mary Oliver asks what we plan to do with our “one wild and precious life.” Pose this question to a multipotentialite and you might as well get comfortable—you’re in for a long answer. What is it I plan to do with my one wild and precious […]

How to Start a Project When You Have No Direction

23 December 2019

3 Comments

Last year, I decided to try public speaking. It was a good opportunity to promote my book, but I had also been curious about professional speaking ever since I took a debate class in high school. Back then, I loved picking a random topic, writing an argument for it, then publicly stating my case in […]

“There is peace and purpose in finishing things”

8 October 2019

14 Comments

Charlie Gilkey recently finished a book on finishing things. Start Finishing is a blueprint for tackling the many half-formed projects we all have gnawing at us in the background. I met Gilkey at our multipotentialite meeting of the minds, Everything Conference in Portland, where he told me his mission is to help people thrive by finishing […]

What Your Doldrums May Actually Be Telling You

17 September 2019

30 Comments

Have you ever entered the doldrums? Not the literal doldrums—the tedious places at sea where winds are few and sailors struggled to escape. I mean those times in life when nothing at all feels interesting. During these times, I listlessly ignore that stack of books waiting to be read. I scroll aimlessly through Netflix, YouTube, […]

How to Stay Productive When Circumstances Get Weird

4 June 2019

6 Comments

I’m not ready to write this article. Sometimes I write about topics I know well, so I can share wisdom (don’t laugh!) or advice learned from experience. But I also like to write without knowing the outcome, so I can share what I learn as I go. Unfortunately, the main thing I’ve learned this time […]

The 3 Ways My Ideas Die

22 April 2019

12 Comments

It’s Newbie Month here on Puttylike! During the month of April, we’re publishing articles about the thrills and challenges of exploring new things. ** Sometimes I grow tired of the constant hum of random failure. Most of my dreams end up as flops. I’m sure I’m not alone in this—most multipods struggle with the guilt […]

5 Productivity Hacks to Help You Juggle Multiple Projects

5 March 2019

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“We should do a podcast.” “I want to start teaching.” Googles “photography as a side hustle” “Should we write a script together?” Readers, this is how I get into trouble. There’s so much to do in life and I take massive, mouth-watering bites of it. Later, I realize I’ve bitten off more than I can […]

How to Change Your Life with One Small Move

22 January 2019

23 Comments

Recently, the principles of Feng Shui—an ancient Chinese art which advocates a system of placement within a space to harmonize various energies—became incredibly important to me. (By sheer coincidence, there was an unpleasant job I didn’t want to do, and spending the afternoon rearranging my office seemed preferable.) After some time browsing Feng Shui websites, […]