How Do You Work Best?

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EPISODE 186

Are you a lover of lists, a creature of habit, or more free-flowing in how you go about your days?

Today we’re talking about different working styles and how they have both served and hindered us at different times. If you’re looking for a one-size-fits-all system, this probably isn’t the conversation for you. But if you’re looking for encouragement to find a way of working that suits your unique personality, stage of life and current goals, with room to pivot as needed, then this is a chat you won’t want to miss.

I actually said to Richie after listening back to this episode that I think it might be one of our best. I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as we enjoyed making it.

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Here is a summary of what we discussed:

• Figuring Out How You Work Best
  I share how creating my most recent course in a much more intuitive, non-linear way made me realise that I work better when I allow the creative process to lead rather than trying to plan everything in advance.

• Working With Your Energy, Not Against It
  We talk about choosing different kinds of work depending on how you’re feeling — sometimes wanting creative challenge and discovery, and other times finding quieter administrative tasks surprisingly calming and satisfying.

• Freedom Still Needs Follow-Through
  While I like to choose my work intuitively, we talk about the importance of committing once you’ve started something and sometimes pushing through resistance in order to actually finish things.

• Different Brains, Different Systems
  Looking at the very different ways everyone in our family organises information — from spreadsheets and statistics to endless lists and much more spontaneous approaches — reminds us that there really isn’t one ideal way to work.

• Structure Can Be Helpful Too
  We reflect on earlier stages of my art career when I had far less time and needed more structure, lists and dedicated painting days to keep moving towards my goals.

• Your Working Style Can Change With Your Life
  What works in one season may not work in another. As our responsibilities, experience, confidence and priorities change, the amount of structure or freedom we need can change too.

• Experience Creates More Room for Intuition
  We talk about how the podcast has evolved from carefully planned notes and talking points to much more spontaneous conversations, and how having years of experience underneath you can make that flexibility possible.

• There Is No One Right Way
  We finish by talking about the constant stream of productivity systems and advice telling us what we should be doing, and why it’s important to let go of shame when a particular system simply doesn’t suit you. The goal is to know yourself, take what helps and give yourself permission to adapt as you go.

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WANT MORE INSPIRATION?

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