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Happy Wednesday! It’s about to be 80 degrees in Denver today, and I’m ready to get the laptop outside, get some work done over too many iced coffees, and end the day with a couple of brews in the sun with friends.

As a chronic work-from-home-er, getting out of the house has been a major factor in my growth recently. I’ve found that while I love being in my domain and getting work done in a quiet space with no distractions, being “stuck” at home comes with many negatives, especially if you begin feeling burnt out.

Waking up at the same time, doing the same tasks, handling chores; when every day starts feeling like a loop, it’s easy to fall into a rut.

So to anyone feeling a bit cooped up, this is your sign to get out of the house, change up your scene, change the routine, and bring some new energy into your week. Your productivity levels will thank you later.

And I was going to segue into “speaking of productivity…” before jumping into the piece today, BUT Beehiiv decided to toss me another sponsorship opportunity in today’s newsletter. So, as always, if you’d like to support me for free, click that Beehiiv link below (it will help me earn over three bucks on each reader’s click)!

I appreciate all of you, now let’s get into it.

-Luke

Stop Trying to Be Productive

Humans are obsessed with productivity.

From the moment we open our eyes in the morning (or before, shout out to my fellow anxiety dreamers), there’s pressure to optimize every second of the day. We track our steps, our sleep, our focus time. We read books on efficiency, listen to podcasts on habits, and try to squeeze the most output from every hour.

And while that might help some of the gurus online who are looking to sell you a course, real creativity and momentum don’t work like that.

For me, some of my best ideas don’t come when I’m grinding through a to-do list; they show up when I’m showering, walking, or doing something completely unrelated. I’ve found that creativity thrives in boredom, in those small moments where your brain has the freedom to breathe and wander.

But with the current landscape of socials constantly reeling you in, vying for your attention, you never have to let your brain take a breather.

Which leads me to my first question: when was the last time you let yourself be bored?

For creators, founders, and anyone trying to build something from nothing, the instinct is always to be doing more. More content, more ideas, more work. This is all good and well, but if you never give your brain a break, if you’re always consuming or producing, you leave no room for new ideas to form, especially in creative work or problem solving.

And here’s the crazy part we often forget: thinking is working, too.

Sitting at your desk isn’t the only way to make progress. Staring at a screen isn’t the only way to build. Some of the most valuable “work” happens when you’re away from it. On a walk, in the shower, zoning out while making that 3:00 PM coffee. Just because you’re not actively typing or producing doesn’t mean your brain isn’t doing the work behind the scenes.

Some of my biggest breakthroughs have come when I wasn’t even trying. A content idea that hit me while waiting in line for coffee. A startup solution that popped into my head while taking my pup on a walk. Creativity is weird like that. It shows up when you stop forcing it.

So if you’re feeling stuck, uninspired, or burnt out, maybe the answer isn’t another productivity hack. Maybe it’s shutting your laptop, putting your phone down, and letting your brain breathe for a second.

Because sometimes, doing nothing is exactly what you need to do.

Let’s get serious

Your newsletter, now exiting the stratosphere.

We’re beehiiv, the newsletter platform built for builders. Every product we drop and feature we create is made with one goal in mind: exponential growth. 

Our founders sought to bring the tools and tech to creators everywhere that helped turn their old company into a multi-million dollar operation. So when we say we can take you from “up-and-comer” to household name, we mean it.

If you need a beautiful destination for your content, use our no-code website builder. If you want paid subs, we don’t take a dime. If you want big name sponsors, we connect you with the likes of Nike and Netflix. 

In short: maybe your newsletter is stuck on the ground floor because your newsletter platform is stuck in the last decade. 

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Hope you enjoyed this week’s post. See you next week ✌️