Busy work vs. Impact work, What you should write about, $10,000/hr work
Growth Currency š”ā” 0ļøā£1ļøā£4ļøā£
In October 2020āa psychic called me lazy.
āYou have an entrepreneurial spirit. But youāre lazy.ā
It was a punch to the gut. But it was exactly what I needed to hear. Who knew it would be through a Zoom psychic reading. #covidlife š¤·āāļø
I quit my corporate marketing job in 2019 to start a business as owner & operator. I was convinced I could make money with this ventureāand even make MORE money (in time) than in the corporate world.
I was dead wrong. Why?
I hadnāt accounted for my laziness.
To be sureāI didnāt stay home watching Netflix or reading science fiction.
I still went to the shop every day.
Butā¦ I toiled in futility: I did āworkā that didnāt move the financial needle.
Work that was āeasierā. Work that didnāt challenge me. Easy work.
āLazyā work.
And so when youāre not leveraging your time on high impact work, your business isnāt exactly going to surge ahead. Itās going to starve.
So now, nearly 2 years later, Iām back in the corporate world. And I still struggle with lazy work, but Iām mindful of it and can course correct before I waste the day away getting a lot of nothing done.
Iām on a daily mission to prove that psychic wrong.
What work are you doing right now?
Are your days full of ālazyā projectsāappearing to keep you busy while not impacting your pursuits as a creator?
Perhaps a better term is ābusy workā.
Busy work disguises itself as tasks that can be checked off but donāt accomplish much:
ā Checking your email every 30 minutes
ā Trying out yet another productivity software
ā Subscribing to another email newsletter (š¬)
ā Re-formatting your content calendar
ā Going through every font choice to find the perfect one
ā Refreshing Twitter & Instagram for posts to engage with1
The reason weāre quick to default to these busy work projectsāI believeāis because impact work is just that: work.
Itās not easy. It comes with built-in resistance.
Itās a lot easier to check simple things off a to-do list and feel accomplished and successful, despite the needle remaining unmoved.
So turn off social media. Put your phone on airplane mode. Unplug your wifi, even.
Focus on impact work so you can do just that: make an impact.
CREATOR HIGHLIGHTS
āĀ Kevon Cheung || Kevinās created PublicLab.co where creators āDevelop [their] authentic public voice and grow [their] product in 30 days.ā On top of that, he shares his Mind Library resource page, and some great posts (stay tuned).
āĀ Polina Marinova || No, sheās not exactly an āup and comingā creator, but I admire what Polina has done with The Profile. Truly aspirational.
āĀ Sathya Anand || Another visual creator not only crushing it with his visuals, but with his joy + kindness. Sathyaās a super bright light of a Twitter follow, not to mention some really fun yellow visuals. His book:Ā Yellow Visuals
TWEET OF THE WEEK
Check out that short thread ā for some gems. Seth is a content king: publishing every day for ~15 years straight. Heās the gold standard for creating & sustaining a daily shipping habit š³ 10/10.
THIS WEEKāS GROWTH CURRENCY š”ā”
āĀ WRITE
Turn whatās working into more of whatās working by Nicolas Cole
A tremendous article about letting data guide your writing choices, and how/when you should turn your writing into a business. A snippet:
Writing becomes a business as soon as you start:
ā Capturing peopleās email addresses
ā Making money from advertising revenue
ā Making money from paid subscriptions
ā Selling products and/or services
ā Speaking, coaching, consulting, and/or advising
š MARKETING
7 subject line hacks for more opens by Welly Mulia
Iām not really a āhackā kind of guy, but when people are passing around tactical hors dāoeuvres, I might take a nibble.
Here they areāread the article for more!
all lower case
Broken english
Curiosity
Short
Benefits
Contrast
Mini skirt
š PRODUCTIVITY
The magic of doing $10,000 per hour work by Khe Hy
Kheās work has made a number of appearances in my recent newslettersāand itās because heās a productivity whiz. Here he lays out the value of Impact Work, or what he calls $10K/hour work.
š§ PODCAST
#161 ā How to Make Millions by Writing Online with Sam Parr of The Hustle
A highly actionable listen for anyone looking to make a living online, even if itās not with writing. Some highlights:
ā 5:28 - āWhat do you know that other people putting out content donāt know?ā
ā 13:46 - āWhat are some decisions youāre making with Trends that are helping you grow the subscription businessā
ā 29:55 - "How would you start a newsletter from scratch today?"
š°Ā INVESTING & CRYPTO
WTF are NFTās? by Brendan Short
A thorough and interesting read on NFTās and the future. Whether youāre considering purchasing or selling, give this a read.
Thatās all for this week!
And welcome to my new subscribers š Happy + grateful to have you here.
As per usual, I love your feedbackāwhether positive or constructive.
One last thing (DM me or reply to this email with your thoughts):
Would you be interested in attending a virtual Creator Conference?
Think: Coachella for creators, but not as loud and less intoxication (maybe). And with way more tactical takeaways to grow your online brand & business. Would love to hear from you! Just reply with a āyesā or ānoā :)
Til next week!
-Dylan
PS - If you want to help support this email newsletter, feel free toĀ buy me a coffee. And not one of those super fancy ones. I take a drip, medium roast, black. ā
cough*guilty*cough
Great article! Focusing on impact work or deep work can be such a challenge in a world of digital distraction.
The Sam Parr pod is probably going to be what I listen to on my bike ride today!