I Didn't Do The Thing Today: On letting go of productivity guilt

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Obsessing over productivity can mean ignoring the variances in our circumstances – be it our health, financial position, or responsibilities. We can’t expect to recreate the same recipe when we don’t have the same ingredients. After five years of searching for the secret to productivity, Madeleine Dore discovered there isn’t one. Instead, we’re being set up to fail. I Didn't Do The Thing Today is the inspiring call to take productivity off its pedestal—by dismantling our comparison to others, aspirational routines, and the unrealistic notions of what can be done in a day, we can finally embrace the joyful messiness and unpredictability of life. Madeleine Dore has done us a huge favour in reframing age-old wisdom and setting it in a very contemporary context. Read it and sigh with relief.”

She has contributed columns and features to Sunday Life, BBC WorkLife, ArtsHub, 99u, Womankind, Kill Your Darlings, The Design Files, ABC Life and more. Madeleine regularly conducts life experiments and hosts events to explore how creativity isn’t just something we do, but how we approach our lives. While many books insist on changing your life, this one invites you to deepen and expand your life.” Any given day brings a never-ending list of things to do. There's the work thing, the catch-up thing, the laundry thing, the creative thing, the exercise thing, the family thing, the thing we don't want to do, and the thing we've been putting off, despite it being the most important thing. Even on days when we get a lot done, the thing left undone can leave us feeling guilty, anxious, or disappointed. After five years of searching for the secret to productivity, Madeleine Dore discovered there isn't one. Instead, we're being set up to fail. I Didn't Do the Thing Today is the inspiring call to take productivity off its pedestal--by dismantling our comparison to others, aspirational routines, and the unrealistic notions of what can be done in a day, we can finally embrace the joyful messiness and unpredictability of life. For anyone who has ever felt the pressure to do more, be more, achieve more, this antidote to our doing-obsession is the permission slip we all need to find our own way."--Provided by publisher.An antidote to our obsession with busyness, author Madeleine Dore explores the joys of releasing ourselves from the burden of productivity guilt. A remarkable combination: part broadside against our culture of frenetic busyness, part consolation for the days when things don't go to plan' A remarkable combination: part broadside against our culture of frenetic busyness, part consolation for the days when things don’t go to plan, it’s also the best kind of productivity manual, filled with guidance for actually getting around to more of the things that matter.” PDF / EPUB File Name: I_Didnt_Do_The_Thing_Today_-_Madeleine_Dore.pdf, I_Didnt_Do_The_Thing_Today_-_Madeleine_Dore.epub Wobbling is a constant adjustment, we’re constantly twisting and turning and balancing and bumping into things. But berating ourselves for our inconsistency takes up the precious time that we’re telling ourselves off for wasting in the first place. There is no dress rehearsal in life, this is it.

Kindness, Madeleine says, is the antidote to burnout. Kindness with ourselves and with others. Whether that’s a chat with the person serving you at the post office, or making a donation to charity, or texting a friend to say hi, incorporating a bit more kindness into our days, rather than busy-ness, can be a nice way of slowing down and remembering what’s important. An important case for worrying less about getting things done and more about the things that are worth doing. I found a lot to steal here and you will, too.”After five years of searching for the secret to productivity, Madeleine Dore discovered there isn’t one. Instead, we’re being set up to fail. I Didn’t Do The Thing Today is the inspiring call to take productivity off its pedestal — by dismantling our comparison to others, aspirational routines, and the unrealistic notions of what can be done in a day, we can finally embrace the joyful messiness and unpredictability of life. I read this book with the hope of letting go of productivity guilt. I wasn't persuaded. I was also amazed how Dore was able to write a whole book on this topic. She did a podcast, interviewing a lot of artists about their rituals. The book included references to some of those interviews, but focused more on her generalizations from that experience. I would have that this would have made it stronger. But I would have liked more detail about her interviews. Jenny Kee says she needs to live without a routine, to account for the variances in her health. Photograph: Jessica Hromas/The Guardian One idea that I liked very much was from David Cain. "What if, for a whole year, you stopped acquiring new things or taking on new persuits. Instead, you return to abandoned projects, stalled hobbies, unread books, and other neglected intentions, and go deeper with them than you ever have before." This is like what I usually do for Lent, but on steroids. I'm not sure I could do it for a whole year, but I am inspired to try it for Lent. Though I'm already listing exceptions. Being a day artist might mean making changes to your environment, having a corner of a room dedicated to reading, for example. It doesn’t need to be that you need lots of extra space, but maybe you just use your space differently. There’s example in the book from Austin Kleon, who talks about having a really clear, crisp, clean work area with his computer where he writes, but then a really messy desk, which is where he does all his messy collage work.

A radical masterpiece ... While many books insist on changing your life, this one invites you to deepen and expand it.' - Mari Andrew, author of My Inner Sky After five years of searching for the secret to productivity, Madeleine Dore discovered there isn’t one. Instead, we’re being set up to fail. I Didn’t Do the Thing Today is the inspiring call to take productivity off its pedestal—by dismantling our comparison to others, aspirational routines, and the unrealistic notions of what can be done in a day, we can finally embrace the joyful messiness and unpredictability of life.One of the underlying ideas is this concept of being a ‘day artist’, or seeing each day as a work of art. Being creative, rather than doing creativity in how we live. This means being creative with the elements of a day, even when that day doesn’t go to plan. Any given day brings a never-ending list of things to do. There's the work thing, the catch-up thing, the laundry thing, the creative thing, the exercise thing, the family thing, the thing we don't want to do, the thing we've been putting off (despite it being the most important thing). Even on days when we get a lot done, the thing left undone can leave us feeling guilty, anxious or disappointed. While many books insist on changing your life, this one invites you to expand your life. A radical masterpiece." Any given day brings a never-ending list of things to do. There’s the work thing, the catch-up thing, the laundry thing, the creative thing, the exercise thing, the family thing, the thing we don’t want to do, and the thing we’ve been putting off, despite it being the most important thing. Even on days when we get a lot done, the thing left undone can leave us feeling guilty, anxious, or disappointed. Any given day brings a never-ending list of things to do. There’s the work thing, the catch-up thing, the laundry thing, the creative thing, the exercise thing, the family thing, the thing we don’t want to do, the thing we’ve been putting off (despite it being the most important thing). Even on days where we get a lot done, the thing left undone can leave us feeling guilty, anxious, or disappointed.