Productivity

Why things that don’t matter matter

January 17, 2026

I like talking about silly things. Specific moments from a reality tv show. Why the painters of a wall I walk past chose that shade of blue. Discussing whether flying or invisibility is a better super power.

An over-optimised life is always on the precipice of making you feel obsolete.

When I’ve done all the things; automated, delegated and streamlined the work to make valuable things in the world… I’m suddenly in danger of having nothing to care about.

Worse still- I might be so addicted to the doing that I seek more tasks.

When I talk about things that ‘don’t matter’ it sends a signal to my brain that re-affirms the absurdity of it all, while maintaining my conviction that when my work finishes, I go on.

I make room for the meaningless to find the meaning.

So I ask you-

What would your super power be, flying or invisibility?

(I do think flying would exhaust you the same as running, so there’s that consideration too)

Just do the next thing

January 9, 2026

Most things are just a matter of jumping through the hoops.

You do the first thing you can see in front of you, then the next thing and then the next thing and the next. And after that the next thing will present itself.

I (and you might too) feel the need to have the perfect plan architected out from the outset.

But we can save ourselves the hassle and the time and just do the first thing.

Specific vs Broad

December 19, 2025

There’s a time for details and there’s a time for broad strokes.

I find this balance really difficult, but when people get it right things really take off.

So when is the time for each one? Well, there’s no hard and fast rule sadly, that’s my difficulty. But there are some guidelines to help…

A mass of work.

If you have a monumental amount to get through, that is definitely a time for broad strokes. Writers say you shouldn’t edit as you go. Potato farmers say you shouldn’t count the potatoes as you’re throwing them in the truck (do they say this..? Potato farmers, let me know). When we have a lot to do, we should err on the side of broad strokes. There’s simply too much to be fussy.

Preparing.

This requires detail I think. Sometimes we’re encouraged to launch in fearlessly to a project and this might make us think broad strokes, but I think that’s wrong headed. We can launch ourselves in fearlessly and still do so with detail at the forefront. Fearless launching doesn’t have to be synonymous with ham fisted action. We can be bold in our attention to detail.

The best approach of course is to be awake to our tendency to be broad when we must be specific and be specific when we must be broad.

I think finding this balance unlocks some exciting stuff.

Trust that you’ll look up soon and see it.

December 18, 2025

This week has felt unproductive. I’ve felt scattered across 4 different areas, task switching (I know) and seemingly making no progress on any.

The tasks were all meaty enough to require multiple sittings so I didn’t have the satisfaction on any to get a clean completion.

Yet…

I look up from my whirlwind week and I see a little garden of jobs that are nearly done I’m not condoning task switching or multitasking… BUT I think we’d do well to remember the long (ish) game when coming to these multi-sit tasks.

They won’t feel satisfying.

They won’t be done in one sitting.

You’ll get confused.

You’ll be tired.

And you’ll probably have to go on a few side quests within the tasks.

But keep plugging away, because soon enough you will look up and you’ll see…

“Okay, good. I did move the needle”

Take time to make time

December 16, 2025

There’s a super persistent myth I fight with every day.

It says that I’m better off to push through on the work I’m doing than to take a break or a walk.

In my head, the walk is lost time. Time I would be much better off investing that time in my work.

The trouble is sometimes pushing through leads to diminishing returns.

While it seems obvious that continuing to work gives you more time on the work, taking the walk gives you more quality on the work.

I fight myself every day and when I do end up taking the walk, I’m inevitably hit with new ideas, distinctions and ways forward that I otherwise wouldn’t have seen.

To get time we have to give time.

Take the walk, Justin!

Planning when you don’t know

December 13, 2025

Here’s an uncomfortable truth for my fellow planners:

You can’t know the specific tasks a project requires until you are in it.

The planning protocol I use weekly requires me to set outcomes and break down the tasks that will take me there.

Recently I set about creating an outcome but was at a complete loss to know where to start- how can I list what I don’t know? How can I allot time for tasks I haven’t named?

I blocked out a sizable chunk of time to tackle the outcome to see what emerged. It wasn’t until a good 40 minutes into that time chunk that I had a lay of the land and could start to see the sequence of tasks required of me.

The old me would have dived into that outcome during the week planning phase in a desperate attempt to understand and quantify the tasks- but I’m glad I didn’t.

Alternatively, had I attempted to name tasks before I really knew, I’d have risked wasting time and working on the wrong thing.

It was enough to guess an amount of time and jump in head first when the time came.

It’s more than okay for thing to remain unknown for a bit. Or a while.

Indirect Paths

December 12, 2025

Some of the most sought after things have indirect paths. I’ve heard it described like a cat- the more you chase it, the further away it runs.

Its difficult to relax by pushing or forcing it- an action directed toward that outcome is counter to it’s realisation.

The same goes for money. If you chase money you will rarely find it.

If you want to be liked by others, you won’t get there by focussing on being liked by others.

If an actor wants a scene to land as sad, they don’t go for the emotion.

Great results come from indirect paths.

To relax we have to let go. To gain financial abundance we must create value. To be liked by others we must care for them in a way that speaks to them. To play the sad scene, the actor must fight tooth and nail to hold on.

What are you going for directly that actually requires an alternate route?

“Sit like you mean it!”

December 9, 2025

Here’s an interesting story…

Today I was editing videos for my website and wasn’t having a good time. For some reason I just wasn’t in ‘flow’. I was lethargic and it seemed I wasn’t getting anything done.

Flow is that thing they talk about that ‘just happens maybe sometimes if you’re lucky’. Hmm… I don’t really like things I can’t rely on.

So instead of hoping I’d hit my flow, I decided to pretend I was in flow instead.

I sat up, adjusted my gaze and facial expression as if things were going REALLY well.

What do you know, after a few minutes like this I’ll be damned it felt like I was in ‘flow’. The edits zoomed by and I even enjoyed the hard work.

A question I’m asking myself: What do I need to wait for and what is actually in my control that I don’t realise?

A time for learning and a time for delivery

December 7, 2025

Learning moments and delivery moments.

We have to choose what we want.

I was exporting a large number of edited video files a few nights ago and as I geared up to hit export, I realised it may have been possible to do it a different, maybe more efficient way. I did a quick google and sure enough, there it was; this other method I could use and would probably use on into the future

I had a choice- do I go ahead with my work as planned or do I take the time to learn this new thing.

The new thing would have been useful… but mostly if I knew it right now. It’s not so useful if I add the learning and implementation time. And I needed these things exported right now.

I think of this as ‘11th hour learning’. It wasn’t the time to learn something new.

There’s a vocal warm up tape that I use before shows, though it is designed for auditions.

There’s this part that cracks me up where she goes “Remember this is an audition, you want to show them what you can do not try anything new!” I used to giggle at this in my actorly way because surely it’s all about the discovery of newness each time! Well I think she was speaking specifically about singing auditions in which you definitely don’t want to try belting for the first time.

The more I think about it though, the more I agree.

There’s a time for learning and there’s a time for delivery. And sometimes you just have to get on with your job and deliver the goods.

You can have both, just not at the same time I don’t think.

Fudge Factor

December 5, 2025

Fudge factor- we all need it but no one wants to admit it.

Am I the only one who grossly underestimates how long a task will take?

I pop things in my calendar with the best intentions and when it comes to the allotted time, I get about 25% done of what I thought.

The answer is fudge factor.

What is it? It’s adding 15 – 30 minutes to the task in your calendar.

Yes, it means you fit way less in there as you plan your day, but that accounts for the super optimistic scheduler in you.

Would you rather not get an ambitious day of tasks done…

Or complete a humble chunky block of work?

Work in fudge factor.

JUSTIN ROGERS

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