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Mythical Worlds, Procrastination Archetypes, and Why Gratitude Works (Unfortunately)

Mythical Worlds, Procrastination Archetypes, and Why Gratitude Works (Unfortunately)

The Portal: Issue 081

Spacetime Productivity
May 08, 2024

WELCOME TO THE PORTAL: A newsletter to help ambitious and overwhelmed people get things done in a way that actually feels good.

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Wyd this Sunday? If you’re in LA, Anna is hosting a quiet reading club in Griffith Park on May 12. Bring your book, blanket, headphones and snacks for a super chill afternoon outside ☀️ RSVP for free here

💭 One Thing We’re Thinking About

Unfortunately, gratitude works 🙄

I’m sure you don’t need me to convince you that gratitude is worth doing — it’s enormously documented to be great for your wellbeing. I certainly didn’t need to be convinced, but I did need to make it simpler.

This week on the blog, Anna explains how she converted our free microjournal template into a gratitude inbox.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

We added an interactive Miro board to our coworking sessions to help you gamify your tasks and add a littttle bit more accountability 🤝

Here’s what our members are saying about the change so far:

👉 “This is so motivating, my little ADHD heart loves it” —MD
👉 “I’m obsessed with this and have had my best sessions since this started” —AN

See you on a session soon?

👀 One Thing We’re Obsessed With

Have you ever heard of a distractions list?

An Apartment Therapy article tells us to, “Make a list of all the things that distract you as you’re working on a project. Write them down at the moment they enter your mind. That will get the nagging idea out of your head and onto a piece of paper so it won’t get in the way of finishing your work.”

This actually works in large part because of what psychologists call the Zeigarnik effect, which says that your brain hangs on to incomplete tasks and ideas and files them away as soon as they’re “done.” Simply jotting them down gives them a place to live outside your brain so that you can keep it moving and stay on task.

We’ve both noticed ourselves intuitively doing this during our coworking calls so that we can better stay on track (instead of chasing down every rabbit hole) — consider this tip squiggly-brain approved 🫡

🎧 One Thing We’re Listening To

⭐️ NEW PODCAST EPISODE:

The Best Analog Activity for Overstimulated Creatives (16 min)

In this episode:

☁️ Why it’s so important to give your brain more time to roam
☁️ The easy screen-free activity that all creatives will benefit from
☁️ Two simple, practical ways of incorporating Tech Rest to your very digital life