057: Not every minute needs to be optimised

When we think about building a life we love, productivity naturally comes into the equation. Today I’m giving you permission to take your foot off the gas pedal and make time for margin, and how that can HELP you achieve your goals.

Episode transcript:

Good morning, daily peppers, and a very happy Thursday to you. This week, the theme of the daily pep is really taking the pressure off, and I really wanna add that today by just reminding you that not every minute of your day needs to be optimized. We see so much online about what other people are doing and how other people spend their time, and it is so easy to compare ourselves. We forget that we've all got our own unique challenges and circumstances when it comes to time, energy, fitting everything in, the motivation, our mental health. But all of that goes out of the window, and we just end up down that rabbit hole. And before we know it, we're trying to think of the things we could do to hack our way into a more productive life, and it really is a rabbit hole you can go down. There are so many extreme views on every side of the spectrum that you can end up time blocking every single minute of your day to the point that I think it can become really stressful and unhealthy. As multi passionate women, there are always so many things we want to do, and there never seems to be enough time.


But I just want to remind you today that optimizing every minute of your day is not gonna help you be more productive. If anything, it is gonna stress you the fuck out. It's gonna leave you burnt out and exhausted, and above all, it's just not sustainable. It's so tempting when we've got a new project or a new goal to want everything perfectly lined up from the get go, but we all know intellectually that it just doesn't happen. If you take habits, for example, starting five habits on the same day is bound to be less successful than starting one habit and then stacking them as they become part of your normal routine. But not optimizing every minute of the day isn't just about how productive or successful it does or doesn't make you. So much of the time, it doesn't even occur to us to add margin into our lives. The negative space where we don't have anything planned and we can use as we see fit or we can just sit and take a second.


Now I know depending on your life circumstance, you're gonna have different amounts of margin in your life and you're gonna have different levels of control over how much margin you have. If I can leave you with one thing, it's that over optimizing every minute of your day is a surefire way of getting rid of any chance of having margin in your life in the first place. Contrary to popular opinion, you do not have to be productive every minute of every day. And the idea of being productive every minute of every day is absolute bullshit. And I know I'm not telling you anything new. We all intellectually know this but sometimes we need the reminder. So stop trying to squeeze every single moment out of every single day. If you're anything like me, you're already or too aware and have many existential crises about this idea that we only live once and we've gotta make the best out of it.


So instead of thinking about how you can do more, get smart about how you can do less and how you can find some time for margin too. Have a wonderful rest of your Thursday and I can't wait to see you back here tomorrow.

Episode transcript produced by Castmagic.io

ABOUT THE DAILY PEP! PODCAST

A short, snappy and sassy daily podcast to keep your internal - and external - dreamshitters at bay!

The Daily Pep! is the rebel-rousing, daily podcast for couragemakers, creative, multi-passionate and unconventional women.

If you’re surrounded by people who don’t get who you are or what you do, if you want reminders you’re on the right path (no matter how scary it feels), or you’re sick of being your very own worst enemy, this is the podcast for you.

Every weekday, your host - writer, coach and professional rebel-rouser - Meg Kissack helps you build a creative and wholehearted life, one day at a time. Through short and snappy insights, reminders and stories, The Daily Pep! is here to remind you you’re not alone, and that everything changes when you believe you matter. Each episode is short and snappy, designed to fit in with (or help you start) your habits and routines

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