Manage your mind, not your time.
A community newsletter for creatives that want to learn and earn.
Happy August!
Here’s the 9th edition of ‘Logs by Cabin’ - a community newsl… wait that’s the subtitle.
If your job or “side hustle” involves creativity, time doesn’t matter that much. You can either spend 30 minutes:
Coming up with a breakthrough idea that makes millions
Coming up with a bad idea that leads you nowhere
The time commitment is the same between the two, but the mind commitment is different.
How does one produce results and not the other?
David Kadalvy has the answers in his book, Mind Management, Not Time Management: Productivity When Creativity Matters.
Productivity has become associated with:
Producing a lot of something
Follow the steps, rinse and repeat
More, more, more
But in reality, these are the 40-50% of jobs that can be automated within the next decade or two.
The value lies in jobs that require creativity. Which, to set the table, is about coming up with something novel and useful. That doesn’t mean it has to be the next Picasso or Van Gogh.
Efficient isn’t the same as effective, and it’s easy to hit the point of diminishing returns when we try to do too much with our time.
Why? Because each “unit” of time is different from one to the next. It’s not a commodity. Our bodies and minds follow different rhythms throughout the day. If you’re trying to be creative or create, consider giving your calendar a break.
Time you don’t spend now can pay major dividends in the future. Don’t believe me? Consider that:
Bill Gates came up with Microsoft’s first web browser during a “think week” in his secluded cabin
Some of Google’s greatest products, like Gmail and AdSense, were created during the “20% time” when engineers worked on whatever they wanted
Stephen King recommends novelists put their first draft in a drawer for 6 weeks before reviewing
Elizabeth Bishop took 20 years between starting and finishing one of her greatest poems
Malcolm Gladwell says “the first task of a writer is to create enough space and time for writing to emerge”
**We didn’t start writing this edition until Monday, and only spent a few hours on it.**
Wood For The Fire, W(F)TF
(our way of saying “food for thought”):
2015 interview with Maria Popova about creativity & writing newsletters [YouTube]
7 essential life learnings on the weight of the world and the weight of the sky
Research says listening to this song for 15 seconds will make you more creative
Guy reincarnates his girlfriend as an AI-powered chatbot
The Internet is rotting, but it’s also better than ever before?
Quote of the Week:
Things are not difficult to make; what is difficult is putting ourselves in the state of mind to make them. - Constantin Brancusi
Featured Builder:
Shout out to Stephen G. Pope of SGP Labs, a marketing genius that designs and executes strategies to generate revenue w/o the unknown result and expense of a marketing agency. We’ve been following his stuff for a while, and it’s crazy to see the level of success he’s had just by improving every day. Also, appreciate that he still shows love on our LinkedIn content. Cheers to you, sir!
So… what’d you think?
**We think it may be one of our best.**
Share your feedback here. We’d love to hear any ideas for improvement or general thoughts.
What story would you like to see covered next?
While you’re at it…