20 Comments

Oof, can so relate to this experience of gearing up for an epic productivity week—and then spiraling the entire time 😵‍💫 Appreciate these gentle reminders of how to reset for the all-important week *after* panic week!

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It's too much pressure! I need to remember to schedule time in for rest even in the "big" weeks, otherwise each wasted second starts to overwhelm me.

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Enjoyed this! I can feel and relate to the panic! I spend too much time getting mad at myself for being unproductive, not starting early enough, being unfocused, having a headache which is my fault because I didn't sleep well which is my fault because XYZ. ETC! When it comes to the work, I find I can de-escalate my aggravation and catastrophizing by focusing on minimal time chunks, i.e., instead of outcome-focused thoughts--"I need to finish writing this book! Prepare for this class! Answer all emails!" I will try, "Can I work for one hour on each of three tasks, and truly expect nothing else, regardless of actual work accomplished in that time?"

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Great advice, thank you! I'm very susceptible to the, "I started late, better write off the whole day" line of thinking, when you're so correct that doing a three-hour burst could probably clear the majority of the tasks. Trying this now!

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Crashing in here to say how much I LOVED the Comedy Writing for Non-Comedians workshop on Saturday! Thank you so much. Not only did I learn a ton, and refresh a ton, you also inspired me to actually write a few pieces. New goal: one moderate-to-excessively hilarious piece per week, good enough to submit. I’ve already started “the proper method of eating cheese” and “if bird nests were for sale”. THANK YOU!

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Thanks so much for coming on over here, Vicky!! Write those pieces!

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So absolutely some boxes are better than others but to be so honest with you I really don't like the burnt ones which is a blasphemous take... it needs to be cheezy and crisp but NOT burnt.

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I hate the burnt ones as well! My favorite sub-variant is Cheez-It BIGs, no extra toast on them.

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I can relate to everything about this. When I lose creative time I try to fool myself into thinking it was simply another necessary "incubation" period, which sometimes has even proven to be true 😁

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Ha, I do think sometimes incubation is needed! But this week I was ready to go and so I knew I had to hold myself accountable. The balance is hard to strike.

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“Acting like a brain stem” 😂 every day! Ha

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I fully visualize myself as a stem when I'm working too long, very healthy, very cool.

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Oh, man, I relate to this 1000000000%! Also! Here to share that the myth of the burnt Cheez-Its was so popular the brand actually turned them into a real thing! (I feel like there’s a whole lesson in there somewhere. When work panic gives you burnt Cheez-Its, rebrand ‘em as toasted? Or something like that?)

https://www.cheezit.com/en-us/products/cheez-it-extra-toasty-extra-toasty.html

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WHAT thank you for this important CZIT info! I personally DO NOT like the burnt ones, my favorite is a the big ones normal toasty. Love that their lack of quality control spun out a new product, this is how companies should behave.

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Wow! That panic is real....I always make sure I have done something for the body...yoga, walk dance etc.. otherwise the mind is a labyrinth mess. And I can lose sight of the passion I had in the first place for the task which is usually art.

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Yes! The body connection is key. I have a treadmill I got during Covid and sometimes I have to just walk the panic off.

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I really needed this! Thanks for helping me out of my own panic week 😅

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You can escape!!

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This was SO relatable. I will be stealing, "INSERT ACTUAL THOUGHT HERE." I also love clocking off early to preserve the win. I'll be very conscious about my next CheezIt consumption, as I had never heard this theory before!

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Sometimes when I want to keep going after I hit a goal I try to remember that energy is a limited resource and going too hard one day might mean I can't get going at all the next...watching TV then seems virtuous haha.

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