Productivity | Puttylike

When You Have a Love-Hate Relationship With Books… How to 2.0 Your Reading Life

3 March 2020

I’ve been a book nerd for nearly my entire life—ever since I learned to read. However, I realize that for many of us, being a reader—especially a multipotentialite reader—can be challenging in this age of information overload. In preparation for a reading workshop I gave at the Everything Conference, I conducted a highly informal poll. […]

3 Ways to Find Focus for Your Projects Today

25 February 2020

19 Comments

Earlier today, I counted up all my projects. I wrote down all of the personal and creative efforts I’ve been working on in my free time recently. The total: thirteen. I wasn’t surprised by the high number—this is pretty much my natural state, and has been since I was a kid—I’m a simultaneous multipotentialite through […]

What to Do When Your Bucket List Is Too Damn Long

14 January 2020

18 Comments

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 […]