Subscribe to ๐ Finding Focus, an email newsletter, where I share with you my reflections from the past week to give you one thought, tip and tool to improve your focus and creativity.
๐ Hey Friends, Remember that negative thing that Matt said? Actually, he never said anything at all, and I think that hurt more. I still think about it from time to time, and it still stings. That amazing dinner I had with Steve? That has long since been forgotten. This is how our brains work, they are built for survival. To our brains, things that are going well are often tuned out to create room for things that are a risk or cause us harm. This served us well when we lacked shelter and didnโt know when our next meal would be. But for most of us, this is no longer helpful. Another example I resonate with deeply is best represented by this visual by Janis Ozolins (check out his work, itโs excellent). โ If left up to my brain, I would dwell significantly longer on the comments above than the comments below. For that reason, I am starting a Wall of Joy (and I recommend you do too). The Wall of Joy is a place where every success or positive affirmation is logged. This can be incredibly simple. In my case, I have a page in Obsidian where I put the date and a screenshot of what was said. Hereโs what that looks like: The next time someone decides to make a mean-spirited comment, or if Iโm just not feeling it on a given day, I can glance at the Wall of Joy and remember all the times that people did enjoy my work or found it helpful. โ What did this make you think of? Reply to this email and let me know. โ Cheers, โ โ โ |
Brandon Boswell
Subscribe to ๐ Finding Focus, an email newsletter, where I share with you my reflections from the past week to give you one thought, tip and tool to improve your focus and creativity.
๐ Hey Friends, I've been heads down the last week or two. There are some cool things brewing (more on that at the bottom of this message). Stick to the Plan: A Sticky Note Strategy These first 90 minutes are essential. They are my most valuable of the day. This short window after I get up is when my brain is sharpest. It is my High Energy Time. Iโve known this for two years now, but I still wait until that block starts before I schedule something for it. I wake up, walk down the hall, grab a...
๐ Hey Friends, Todayโs post is a personal reminder to myself. Many call me particular. Others say: attentive to detail. It is a skill that I have found helpful, especially as a designer. I recently came across this quote from John Gruber: โThe quality of any creative endeavor tends to approach the level of taste of whoever is in charge.โ โ John Gruber I like to think my particular nature has led to increased quality in the projects Iโve been involved with. What I havenโt (until now) thought...
๐ Hey Friends, This morning I was reading Ali Abdaalโs Feel Good Productivity, and it resurfaced one of the most powerful productivity tips that Iโve come across, which is the Five-Minute Rule. This rule has gone by many names and iterations, and most of those seem to have origins back to David Allen. The Five-Minute Rule is the idea that if you just commit to doing something for five minutes, at the end of that time youโll have momentum and can continue on that task for significantly longer...