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Hey 👋 We’re taking over Paperlike’s Instagram this week.

Who are they?

They’re an awesome iPad accessory company. And their best product? Their iPad screen protector. For me, it feels so good—like unbelievably good. It’s textured! So it feels far more like drawing on paper than on glass (hence the name Paperlike). I can’t get enough of it! Seriously, anything that makes creating feel better is worth spending money on.

So, what are we planning for the week?

Hey 👋

I’m gonna be on Adobe Live this week! I’d love you to join me—I think the time fits pretty well for most of the world.

Details below 👇

Hello!

The Perfect 100 Day Project is finally out for you to get your hands on! It would’ve been perfect if I could’ve sent this email 100 days ago—right before the annual 100 Day Project kicked off—but there were covid-related shipping delays. At some point my books were just sitting on a ship in some harbour. Waiting.

But the wait is finally over.
So! If you didn’t pre-order it, you can get order it right now.

There’s an eBook and print edition available, but I recommend grabbing the print edition. I’m sure you’ll love it.

Hello 👋 I am delighted (and a bit giddy) to share the first 2 stories on my100dp.com. I love how different these two stories are, and how doing a 100 Day Project made such a big difference in both of their lives (and lives of others).

The first story, from Emily Umpherson, is one that tells of guts and grit and perseverance and learning. And of eloping and celebration! Read it in full here.

The second story, from Stephanie Argy, is about two 100 Day Projects: the first is about living like a mystery novelist for 100 days! Read here for the second 100 Day Project (and more about the first).

Hey! So it’s just under 1 week until The 100 Day Project 2022 kicks off—that’s Feb 13 FYI—whoop!!

I know there are many reasons why people haven’t done a 100 Day Project, or don’t want to do one. But I believe they’re life-changing. Each and every time you do one!

I know tons of you have done a 100 Day Project (even an incomplete one) and have a story to tell. I’d love to read/watch/listen to that story and then share it on my100dp.com, which I’m hoping will become a 100 Day Project inspiration station. If this is you, and you have a story* you’d like to share, respond to this email simply saying “I want to share my 100 Day Project story” and I’ll respond in a super-exited manner so we can iron out the details.

* Your story doesn’t need to be grand or long or emotional (it can be). I’d just like it to be authentic.

Hello 2022 and hello you 👋

I’ve eased into this year. We’re taking things a lot slower these days. Life with our 14 month old daughter is never predictable, never dull, and I’ve found myself with tons of grace to let things go. I’m living far more in the moment than ever before.

However, that hasn’t changed my appetite for doing stuff. There are still millions of things I want to do this year. The first thing I want to do is tell you about the book I wrote last year!

It’s called The Perfect 100 Day Project. And it’s out now! Well, the eBook is out now (it’s dying to be purchased). And you can pre-order the print edition. You can also get the print+eBook bundle on the publisher’s website.

Hey 👋

It’s almost the end of the year. It’s a great time to look back, rest, and plan for the year ahead.

It’s been a crazy year for me! I...

• Moved house 3 times. That was crazy.

• Spent a lot of the year being a dad. It’s been awesome.

• Started creating YouTube videos. I’ve learned a lot.

• Wrote a book called The Perfect 100 Day Project. I’ll be telling you all about this next year.

• Published 3 classes. They all got Skillshare staff picks.

Hey!

I’ve got a new class. It’s all about productivity basics. And it’s something I have recent personal experience with.

Once I had finished writing The Perfect 100 Day Project (coming out in 2022) I found myself overwhelmed with the billions of things I could work on. So I returned to some productivity basics, and began getting my life back on track.

These things helped a lot and were remarkably easy to start doing. And as I began doing them, I began making a class on how to do them—a class on how to begin being productive.

Hey!

The word “Conference” is boring right!?

But a well-put-together conferences (even a digital one) is anything but boring. My favourite conference ever has been Pictoplasma (IRL) in Berlin. Characters! Art! Illustrations! Animations! Weirdness!

I’ve got a summit, a conference, and a festival on my radar this week.

Hey 👋 I’ve returned to the life of creating and class making. I’m in motion! Things are getting done. YouTube videos are being published! Vlogs are being made! Classes are being filmed. It is possible to get stuff done in roughly 4 hours per day. And there’s more coming! But sometimes I need to remind myself that I cannot do things like I was doing them before—when I didn’t have a very active and curious kid exploring the world. So I’m peppering my big ambitions with loads of grace, and enjoying all the precious moments I get to spend with my family. Because those moment are the truly important ones that I don’t want to miss.

So, what have I been up to (besides crawling around with my awesome baby girl)?

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Hello again 👋

I’ve been stuck in another dimension for the past few months. It’s the book-writing, home-improving, baby-caring dimension. It’s been simple, intense, and awesome. Which means I haven’t had time to write to you. But I still love you and want to help and serve you.

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Hey |IF:FNAME| |FNAME| |END:IF| 👋

I’m hosting a free live workshop (https://ttkb.me/live) on Friday 25 June 4pm BST. That’s 5pm CEST. 11am ET and 8am PDT.

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Hey |IF:FNAME| |FNAME| |END:IF| 👋

🥁 Drumroll!

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Hey |IF:FNAME| |FNAME| |END:IF| 👋

Creativity is a big thing that matters. It’s the thing that sets our work apart. It’s the thing that breathes life into what we do. Creativity is powerful and important. And it’s something we can practice. So we shine when our moment arrives. So we create without thinking. So we feel confident. So we exceed expectations.

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Hey |IF:FNAME| |FNAME| |END:IF| 👋

I’ve been thinking about the ingredients for success—and specifically lifestyle, choices, routine, and sacrifices. One aspect that’s intrigued me is what practice and preparation looks like.

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Hey |IF:FNAME| |FNAME| |END:IF| 👋

When I’m struggling to figure out exactly what I want, or when I’m trying to make a decision, I normally write and talk about it. So I can get it out my head. Because inside my head things aren’t always in proportion. Things are fuzzy. And I often go around in circles. But writing and talking aren’t the only tools you can use here. Drawing is an incredibly effective decision-making tool. When you draw something, whether it’s a situation, an experience, or an object, you take time to create a picture of what it looks like. Your brain is really good at using drawings—even stick men or rough doodles—as input for imagining what something could look, feel, and even smell like. As we draw, our thoughts become visual, which our brains can use more productively than words and blurry thoughts. We’re visual creatures.

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Hey |IF:FNAME| |FNAME| |END:IF| 👋

Are you striving for a beautiful sketchbook? So was I a few years ago. Like, you know, the ones you see on Pinterest right? I wanted my sketchbook spreads to be full of faces, imaginative scenes, characters, hands, pen drawings, and Posca marker illustrations.

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Hey |IF:FNAME| |FNAME| |END:IF| 👋

We made a super long Exquisite Corpse! And how weird and wonderful it is :)

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Hey |IF:FNAME| |FNAME| |END:IF| 👋

COVID has left us separated for far too long (over in year in some way or another). So I’m trying a new and fun way of collaborating and connecting. Want to join in?

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Hey |IF:FNAME| |FNAME| |END:IF| 👋

Tomorrow (Thursday 18 March) I’m doing a Live Skillshare session (https://ttkb.me/live) on Zoom! And you’re invited to join me! I’ll be taking attendees through designing their future. Why this session? Because if we don’t intentionally choose what we want to do, who we want to be, and make plans to get there, we operate on autopilot. Which could look like life passing us by. It could look like being swayed by every new and shiny thing. Or being forever busy. Or feeling empty when we reach our goals.

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Hey |IF:FNAME| |FNAME| |END:IF| 👋

I’ve got a Live Skillshare session (https://ttkb.me/live) coming up! I love these things—I get to interact with students in real time! In this session I’ll be taking attendees through designing their future! We’ll get practical with paper and pen (or any medium you want). Whether you’re stuck, starting out, retired, or at a crossroads, during the session you’ll discover where to go, what to do, what to prioritise and what to ditch. And there will be plenty of time for Q&A!

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Hey |IF:FNAME| |FNAME| |END:IF| 👋 Last week I just launched a new class. It’s called Productivity with Purpose: Your Foundation for Success. (https://ttkb.me/pwp) You can take it on TapTapKaboom School (https://ttkb.me/pwp-ttk) and Skillshare. (https://ttkb.me/pwp-sk) https://ttkb.me/pwp

The class combines 2 motivation exercises with 3 productivity exercises. Why the combo? Because if there’s no purpose, most productivity methods and tips and tricks don’t last long. And you end up where you started—procrastinating, overwhelmed, and with a litany of unfinished projects all around you. Bleh. Yet without productivity, our dreams, goals, and passions fizzle out (or we fizzle out) or we never start them. The exercises in the class will set you up for success—and success working on something you really really want to work on.

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Hey |IF:FNAME| |FNAME| |END:IF| 👋 My new class Productivity with Purpose (https://ttkb.me/pwp) launched last week (on my birthday).

I’ve read and experimented with a lot of productivity related things over the years. Like, a lot! The one thing that made the biggest difference was understanding why I wanted to do what I wanted to do. On top of that foundation I’ve tried and tested a bunch of different productivity-related things. And the ones I keep coming back to are in this class: making time for things that give me energy, knowing what the next steps in my journey are, and creating and sticking to a timetable.

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Hey |IF:FNAME| |FNAME| |END:IF| 👋 2 quick reminders!

1. The Essential Productivity Bundle (https://ttkb.me/c0835) is available until tomorrow. It’s a $59 bundle containing workbooks, courses & printables. My Just Start class is included.

2. The official 100 Day Project (https://the100dayproject.org/) starts on January 31. Here are 8 reasons to do a 100 Day Project (https://www.instagram.com/p/CJvOus-BAXO/) and here are 8 tips to make your project a success. (https://www.instagram.com/p/CKBlandBOFH/) Do you have questions about your 100 Day Project? Hit reply and ask away.

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Hey |IF:FNAME| |FNAME| |END:IF| 👋 Happy New Year! What’s on the cards for TapTapKaboom this year?

Well, as part of every end/start of year reflection and planning period, I come up with one word that I’d like to my year to centre around. My word for this year is SERVE. I want to help you succeed. So let’s get cracking! I have 5 things to chat about!

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Hey |IF:FNAME| |FNAME| |END:IF| 👋 I’m emailing you to tell you of 2 new classes I’ve recently published. I hope they’ll inspire you on your creative journey.

The first class is called Get Inspired: Explore Your City. (https://www.taptapkaboom.com/get-inspired-explore-your-city) It’s about planning a day exploring your city that will inspire you in a deeper, truer, and more authentic way. Which always leads to better and more meaningful creative work. https://www.taptapkaboom.com/get-inspired-explore-your-city

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Hey |IF:FNAME| |FNAME| |END:IF| 👋 I got news, besides it being Christmas already 🎄 I published my latest class—it’s called Get Inspired: Explore Your City. (https://www.taptapkaboom.com/get-inspired-explore-your-city) I’ve recorded an audio and video version of the class! https://www.taptapkaboom.com/get-inspired-explore-your-city

We all want to produce better work. We want to create something meaningful that makes a difference. And we want to do it in our way and in our style. For this we need creativity. And for that we need inspiration. And good quality inspiration. But too often we go after convenient inspiration, rather than effective inspiration.

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Hey 👋 Remember that Skillshare Audio class I mentioned? Well it’s live (https://ttkb.me/sk-audio) today—and I’m pumped about it!

In this new format on Skillshare, where I’m honoured to rub shoulders with the likes of Mimi Chao and Aaron Draplin, I get to answer questions submitted by YOU! In this episode I answer questions around creativity, motivation, perfectionism, and a few other things. I hope you enjoy! Listen To The Class (https://ttkb.me/sk-audio)

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This year is not over—even though our neighbors are playing Christmas music! There’s still more good stuff on the way. And it starts today—with 2 exciting things!

Firstly: Over the past month I’ve been creating a poster a day. I’ve been wanting to further this abstract style of mine by including elements of collage, paint, graffiti, neon, doodles, and tons of layers and reworking. Most of these posters are available as Art Prints on TeePublic. (https://ttkb.me/prints) And they’re 46% off for the next few days. There are other products like phone cases, pillows and notebooks for sale too.

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Hey! Quick shoutout about something mega rad happening on Friday 16 October (that’s next Friday)! I’m participating in a LIVE online discussion (https://www.skillshare.com/live/271?teacherRef=6102916) all about business, success, planning, and productivity! I’ll be joined by Amarilys Henderson and Bonnie Christine.

It’s for Skillshare members only, but if you’re not a member and you’ve never been one, follow that link (https://www.skillshare.com/live/271?teacherRef=6102916) and you’ll get 2 weeks of Skillshare for free. Also, for every one who joins the live session, Skillshare will be donating $10 to No Kid Hungry. Which is just pretty darn legit. Follow the link (https://www.skillshare.com/live/271?teacherRef=6102916) and sign up for event details. I’m pumped 💪

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When someone mentions creativity, my mind immediately jumps to doodling. Why? Because it’s something I’ve done from when I was a kid—and it continues to light me up and make me smile. Why’s this the case? There are 3 broad reasons:

1. To start with, doodling is relaxing! Therapeutic. Cathartic. Because of this and because I’m doing something physical with my hands, my mind starts processing and connecting things—thoughts, ideas, problems, moments. It’s similar to going for a walk, or being in the shower—it’s where plenty of aha! moments happen. I often have a notebook beside me when I’m doodling for this exact reason. But doodling, unlike walking or showering, is also a creative act. Not only does my unconscious mind whir into action, but my conscious mind is active too. I’m often trying out an idea, experimenting with a new marker or crayon, or getting a character out of my mind and on to paper. Doodling engages my conscious and unconscious mind.

2. Doodles, if they were real people with feelings, are entirely comfortable with who they are. They don’t put pressure on themselves to be perfect. They’re okay with mistakes, not making sense, not being finished, and they’re even okay with being thrown away. They can be simple or complex and don’t mind how much time you spend on them. Doodling is flexible.

3. Finally, doodling unblocks my creative pipes, and inspires me to create more. I often have a boatload of ideas to try after a few minutes of doodling—it’s my equivalent of a creativity drug. Doodling is a gateway creativity drug.

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Hey! I am super pumped and excited! I have 2 pieces of big news!

The first piece of news is that my latest course is out! It’s called The Creativity Mini Course. It’s the first time I’m hosting a course on TapTapKaboom School only. It’s a 5-day course all about creativity, and it’s free. There are ideas and exercises that will help you learn about and practice your creativity. I had so much fun making it. Yes, there are more of my dance moves in it too. And a blooper reel.

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Hey |FNAME| Happy Friday! As you can see, I am pumped. Not just because it’s Friday, but because The Creativity Mini Course is live! You can begin your weekend with creativity 🤩 Take Me To The Course! (https://school.taptapkaboom.com/p/creativity-mini-course)

I hope you enjoy taking the course as much as I did making it.

– Rich from TapTapKaboom (https://taptapkaboom.com)

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There’s a picture I cannot get out of my mind. It’s of a kid handing a wax crayon drawing to her mother. She’s giving away her beautiful, expressive, and playful piece of artwork. Again. Another one. And once she’s given it away she begins creating yet another.

At some point in our transition from being a kid to being an adult we stop giving our artwork away. We start stockpiling it, hoarding it, comparing it, criticising it. We stop being generous with our work. And there’s probably a really good psychological reason for this. Whatever the reason may be, I’d like to invite you back to that state of creation—there’s something freeing and beautiful about it.

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A lot of people ask me where I get my energy and passion and enthusiasm from. I tell them I get it from spending time doing things that give me energy. I spend time having fun. Doing things I actually really really want to do. Things that captivate me. Things that light me up. I’ve paid attention to what these things are over the past few years—and to the things that drain me. A lot of where I get my energy from can be traced back to what I did as a kid. What I spent hours doing. What I did just because it was the best thing in the world. What I did for no reason or outcome other than because it was fun. I created and made stuff. Lego. Furniture forts. Paintings. Doodles. Videos. All because it was fun. Not because I was focused on my future career. Or because I wanted good grades. Or money. Or fame. I was lead by fun. If it wasn’t fun I didn’t do it for long. Sometimes it was hard and challenging, but it was still fun.

When you have fun, you create more, more often, more wildly, more widely. And the more time you spend doing something, the better you get—which leads to having more fun. People can feel and see and taste and hear when you’re having fun. Fun and love and passion are transferrable things.

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Bacon and syrup. McDonalds fries and ice-cream. Chocolate and Chilli. Each ingredient is pretty good by itself. But combined! Magic. Wowzerness. Unexpected goodness. I’m talking about simple food combinations here. They’re unexpectedly delicious mishmashes of flavour—seriously, try them! But what I really want to talk about is the mishmash that is you—and what you’re creating and offering the world. Which is a far more complex topic than bacon and syrup.

Mishmashing ingredients is an epic way of producing work that only you can produce. The more things you mishmash the more unique your offering. Let’s look at what I’m mishmashing. I’m a futuristic, idea-centric UI/UX designer. I code. I animate. I doodle and create abstract illustrations. I love learning and helping people. I’m a South African with a British passport living in Amsterdam. There is much more to add here. What I’m getting at, is that when I pitch up, to teach a class on Abstract Art for example, I’m pitching up with a mishmash of ingredients. This makes what I offer absolutely unique. There is no one else like me. No one else can offer what I can.

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Hey 👋 Changing something today by a single degree may not look like much tomorrow. Or the next day. But in a few weeks or months? Possibly a massive difference. The continued effort that a ‘single degree of difference’ takes is not much. The benefit it brings, however, grows and grows and grows as time goes on.

Our single degree has been doing weekly and monthly planning sessions—think me dancing around writing on a whiteboard. It feels like a revolution! Why did no one tell me about this earlier? It’s made a huge difference already.

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Hey! We’ve been hard at work over the past week setting up our new studio. We wanted our space to feel comfortable and inspire creative action. We’ve opted to purchase a lot of IKEA stuff—because it’s simple, colourful, easy to acquire, and easy to replace—it doesn’t matter if we smudge paint or charcoal on it. Also, it looks pretty good. And we’ve got a whiteboard—which we’ve used a ton already.

There’s still much to do! But, as you may have heard elsewhere, 80% of the work can be done in 20% of the time. Environment plays a massive role in how we feel and think—and thus how we create and work.

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Hey you awesome member of the Homo Sapiens species! Last week I wrote about how your environment affects you. (https://mailchi.mp/taptapkaboom/a-creative-environment) But environment is more than just a physical space you’re sitting in. It’s the totality of what’s surrounding you.

It’s how others treat you. It’s how you treat yourself. It’s what you let into your mind. It’s what you think about on repeat. It’s the people you hang out with. It’s what’s going on with the world. It’s the room your mind and heart are sitting in.

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Hellloooo from our new studio! We moved in last weekend! We’re still waiting for a bunch of stuff! And it will take some time to make it feel like ‘home’—but different from home, since that’s where we moved from. I’m super excited about the massive whiteboard! Ideating. Planning. Space. Freedom! Chantelle is pumped about the couch we set up yesterday—afternoon naps!

One of the things we’ll be adjusting to is the separation between work and home. After working from home for 8 years, I expect this to take longer than a few days. I’m hoping it will help make us more effective and creative at work, and more relaxed and gezellig (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gezelligheid) (a rad Dutch word) at home. Environment plays a big role in what you do and how you do it.

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Hello! I love it when people change something in their lives—they get a new job, decide to freelance, move into a smaller place, start eating vegan, move across the world! Changing something because you want to means you’re thinking and in control. Sure, it comes with risks, it’s scary, and a bunch of people may think you’re crazy. But not changing something in your life may also seem crazy—making music instead of getting a ‘real’ job, serving your customers instead of exploiting them, staying small instead of growing. But choosing not to change is different from not changing because you haven’t thought about it.

Choice is a luxury. Where you can, make sure that YOU are choosing who you are, where you are, what you do, and how you do it. Don’t wait for change to happen to you. Don’t simply accept things as they are. Choose. Decide. A series of intentional choices and decisions will define your future.

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Hey |IF:FNAME||FNAME| 👋|ELSE:|awesome human!|END:IF| I’ve been thinking a lot about what life was like as a kid. I remember spending hours in imaginary worlds. Playing outside—even in the freezing cold (and then burning my toes in the bathwater). I remember building forts. Sitting on the floor playing TV games. Climbing trees. Painting at my little white art table. Building Lego. Being a kid was awesome, and I’m fortunate to have had an amazing childhood.

What’s been occupying my mind is how I did it all with reckless abandon. I would get intensely into whatever I was doing—and wholly lost in that moment. Time flew by. I didn’t care what other people thought of me. I didn’t care about money or tax or looking the part. I just did what I felt like doing—with all my heart. I want to return to creating with this childlike absorption.

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Let me start today’s email with a story. I once cut an orange in half, saw that it was red on the inside, amd assumed it was an abomination of a fruit called a grapefruit. But I decided not to be wasteful—I braced myself for the disgusting taste, and bit into it with a scowl on my face. It was the most amazing grapefruit I’d ever tasted! Why!? Because it was an orange—a blood orange.

What’s this got to do with creating, making, and creativity? Well, we often try to be grapefruit. I’m talking metaphorically of course. Because ‘everyone’ thinks they want grapefruit. And they keep on searching for the best grapefruit ever. And we become so despondent because we can never reach first-class grapefruit status. But what everyone seldom realises is that an orange, even a small blotchy thick-skinned orange, is a much better version of a grapefruit. And you’re most probably a better orange than a grapefruit. So maybe spend more time becoming a better orange than trying to become a better grapefruit—because even the best grapefruits taste disgusting. People want oranges—they just don’t know that. You’ve got to let them taste.

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Hello you amazing human! This is part 3 of the Juggling Act series of emails. In part 1 (https://mailchi.mp/taptapkaboom/juggling-act-part-1) I explained the idea of writing down everything that’s on your mind. In part 2 (https://mailchi.mp/taptapkaboom/juggling-act-part-2) I covered assigning a reason why each item is on your list, the difference it will make, and the amount of time it will cost you. But how do we decide what’s part of our act and what’s not? We cannot say Yes to everything—there’s not enough time. Based on the the list I made last week I like to do the following:

1) I draw/write out my weekly schedule, and fill it with things currently in my juggling act, no matter how small. This is to give me a better understanding of what I’m currently juggling—it often reveals a lot.

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Hello awesome human! This is part 2 of the Juggling Act series of emails. Last week (https://mailchi.mp/taptapkaboom/juggling-act-part-1) I began the series with the idea of writing down everything that’s on your mind.

I just wrapped up an intense UX/UI project with a remote team across 6 countries. I dropped some balls so I could work on it—and it’s been super fun! Now I’m going through the process of deciding what to add back into my juggling act. I’ve made a massive list of all the things I want to do. This is a great first step, but now what? I like to jot down some things next to each item:

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Let’s talk juggling. And yes, it’s a metaphor—for life, for work, for relationships. Actually, for anything you’d like to spend time on.

When life changes (pandemics, babies, job losses, big projects) it’s normal for our juggling acts to be affected. We drop balls. Other balls disappear—poof! Flaming chainsaws get added to our act 🔥 We get thrown off balance. We drop more balls.

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Hello fine human! Most of us are more in control of our time than ever before. And it’s mostly up to us to choose and stick to a routine—what we do, when we do it. The thing is, we’re often not so good at this. We work too much but get little done, or relax too much but don’t feel rested. We stop being effective. So here’s a quick exercise you can do that may help.

Write down 1 thing that you really really want to do each day, or each week. Next, pick a time, place (bedroom, kitchen, etc.) and duration for when you want to do this thing—even if it’s a short amount of time.

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Are you feeling out of control, out of routine, or out of sorts in this lockdown season? I have. I’ve found it difficult to focus. I’ve had tons of thoughts spinning around in my head, and I haven’t been able to work at my best. And it’s probably to do with not giving myself time to think, reflect, and come up with ideas—all things I used to do at cafés, on the train, and when meeting with friends. So what I’ve done is return to a practice I swore by a few years ago—working with a journal in front of me. Why? Let me tell you!

📝 Let’s start with paper. Paper, for me, is like an extension of my brain. I have tons of it around me. I use big sheets and small sheets. For all kinds of things. Paper is like having a dedicated screen for all the important stuff I need to access right now—and one that I don’t need to switch tabs or apps to access. It doesn’t crash. I can jot on it. I can doodle on it. I can quickly glance at it and see what I need. And it’s all separate from where I’m doing the work—on a real screen.

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Hey 👋 It dawned on me how fragile my future is. Maybe you’ve already gone through this?

🧠 Then I got thinking about how amazing it is that my brain can remember ‘the past’ and visualise ‘the future’—all while being here, right now. It sounds like time travel.

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Hello human 🤙 Is it Muesday? or Funday? Perhaps it’s Tonday? Are the days blending into one another for you, as they are for me?

To add to the weirdness, I’ve started working on a client project where their week starts on a Sunday! This project has been amazing. Not because of the work. But because of all the revelations I’ve had about myself and creating. Have you ever experienced this?