Last week I wrote about liminal space and the power of the pause, that slightly strange in-between moment where you’ve stopped doing what you were doing, but you haven’t yet started what comes next. Anyway, I’ve always found those pauses oddly revealing, because once the noise dies down you can suddenly hear what you actually think about your life.
I wanted to build on that this week, because I think one of the biggest productivity breakthroughs isn’t a new technique, or a more impressive morning routine; it’s getting better at being intentional with our time, which is less about squeezing more output out of every hour, and more about recognising what kind of season I’m in, and then acting like it.
For a long time, my default model was basically: when I have energy, I should be producing; when I don’t have energy, something has gone wrong. So if motivation dipped, or ideas didn’t flow as easily, my instinct was either to push harder, or to go hunting for some clever fix that would make me feel like my “old productive self” again, which generally just resulted in procrastinating on fixing the real issue.
These days I’m trying to get better at zooming out. There are seasons where the right move is to execute hard and ship, and there are seasons where the right move is to pause and reorient. And there are seasons where the most productive thing I can do is properly renew my energy, because everything else relies on it.
But the way I’ve started to think about it is less like a neat set of stages (as if you progress neatly from one to the next), and more like three modes I move between over the course of a week, a project, or even a day.
The first mode is getting clear on what matters right now. I try to step back and ask, “What am I actually aiming at, and what would a good week look like?” In practice that often means looking at my calendar and asking what I want it to reflect, choosing a single priority, and making a couple of decisions that stop me from drifting into busywork.
The second mode is momentum. That is the period where things feel relatively straightforward, because I’m not constantly renegotiating my priorities, I’m just doing the work. I’m executing, shipping, and making progress, not by doing everything, but by doing the right things consistently.
And the third mode is renewal. This is the bit I used to treat as optional, or as something you earn once you’ve done enough. But if I only rest when everything is finished, I never rest, because there is always more. Renewal is what keeps the whole thing running and I’ve been building this into my daily and weekly routine by not only ensuring I’ve got those hard cut-offs but also giving myself time to read (and enjoy) Harry Potter fanfiction which has become my go-to relaxation activity over recent months.
All three are “productive”, just in different ways. Getting clear stops me climbing the wrong mountain. Momentum helps me actually climb. Renewal makes it possible to keep going next week, and next month, and next year.
So if you’re finding yourself in a bit of a pause at the moment, my gentle encouragement is: don’t panic, and don’t immediately assume you’re broken. Instead, try to name which mode you’re in, and then choose one small action that fits that mode. Sometimes it is fifteen minutes to pick your one priority for the week. Sometimes it is blocking an hour for the task you keep avoiding. And sometimes it is a proper evening off, without trying to justify it as “productive”.
Hopefully this was a useful reminder – have a great week ahead 🙏
Ali xx