E39. How Anti-Productivity Practices Help With Burnout Recovery and Creativity

I figured it was time for an update on my intentional practice of wasting time! I first talked about this in episode 3, and since then anti-productivity practices like wasting time have become even more important in my life as I grow my creative business.

In this episode I get into the backstory of how I started wasting time and its relationship with burnout, both as a symptom and a path toward recovery. My life looks very different post-burnout from what it looked like before burnout, and I discuss what my intentional anti-productivity practices have to do with that and how they help me both manage stress and tap into my creativity. Then I talk about anti-productivity practices around the world. As you can imagine, most places view wasting time as negative, but the picture is a bit more complex than that. And finally I give you some tips for developing your own anti-productivity practices. Trust me, it's worth it, so give it a try!

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Transcript

Mentioned in this episode:

Jihae Shin and Adam Grant's article on procrastination (pre-publication copy).

Article about the Chinese concept of wuliao.

Article about the Dutch concept of niksen.

Stepping Off Now episode about my relationship with money.

Stepping Off Now episode on passive flow (wuwei).

Do nothing for 2 minutes website.

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