“First forget inspiration. Habit is more dependable. Habit will sustain you whether you're inspired or not. Habit will help you finish and polish your stories. Inspiration won't. Habit is persistence in practice.”
—Octavia E. Butler
I spent the better part of the weekend looking over my daily schedule and reviewing my progress throughout the year. (2017 is almost coming to an end! Yikes!) Much of it involved building good habits and ditching the ones that don’t serve me. Suffice to say, nowhere in my schedule says, “Do (activity) only when inspired.”
I like inspiration, but I don’t depend on it anymore. Now I see it more like a lucky star I just happen to find (like in Mario Kart ). I’ll use it for as long as it stays with me, but I won’t stop working just because it’s gone.
The thing about building good habits is it can also become a bit robotic. So to counterbalance my obsession with productivity, I’ve also built a habit of not letting myself work on Sundays, aka “cheat days” for literally everything. I get to sleep in, eat a ton of waffles with extra maple syrup, and watch Netflix all day. Can not working be considered a productivity habit? Not sure, but hey, it works for me.
by Jason Lam