In this world of data, it can be easy to forget that productivity looks just as much like moss growing on a tree as it does an automobile assembly line.

I tend to forget this.

Forward motion doesn’t need to be strictly linear to be effective. In fact, I would argue from the place that since many successful people have entirely different personality types, “productivity” can look quite different depending on the person doing it.

What matters is that you do the work.

Today I took myself out to breakfast, spent time reading, did laundry, unpacked my kitchen stuff, and attempted to unclog the sink. That’s not nothing.

Was I super-regimented about it? No. Did the stuff need to get done? Yes.

My thinking-centric self needs to remember that other forms of work are equally valid. Not everything needs to be crunching over a desk or curled around a book.

This is why I want to add drawing and art back to my daily routine. I always feel happier when I do this, and yet it terrifies me because I have so much to learn and practice.

One of the hard parts about being an adult is being fully aware of how much you suck at first instead of the childlike “look what I did!” mentality.

So my friends, don’t do what I just did and talk about doing work.

Go and do.