Time Will Fly No Matter What You Do | Thinkwell Issue #2

Yes that title rhymed. I've been hanging out with poets.

Geia Sas!

For those that were confused last week, that’s “hello” in Greek 😬

I’m gobsmacked that it’s already been a week since issue #1.

I used to feel the weeks were short because I was doing the same thing day-in day-out. Now I feel that they’re short because I’m doing so much, I barely have time to reflect!

I’m not complaining, though. I’m still settling into life in Athens, but I feel so fulfilled being here. I have so much time to quietly focus, and the novelty of being in a new city means that every outing incites curiosity. It’s wonderful.

I’ve also decided where I’m going next: Heraklion, Crete- Greece’s biggest island. You can expect some beach pics on my Instagram ⛱

A part of me is disappointed that I’m staying in Greece. The inner voice says “being a nomad is supposed to mean variety. You should go somewhere completely different!” and to that I say:

On thriving without a home 🏠

I’ve settled on three amenities that are the most important for digital nomads.

You move very frequently, but you stay in one place long enough for some things to really annoy you. I’m calling it the 3 W’s.

Wi-Fi. Washer. Workspace.

Fast and reliable wi-fi, an accessible washing machine, and a comfortable dedicated workspace.

I’m travelling, but I still have a job. I spend most of my day in one spot at whatever improvised “desk” situation I manage to cobble together. I miss having a good office chair, and so does my lower back.

I also naively believed that fast wi-fi wasn’t important. I get about 10mb/s down and 1mb/s up and I thought that would be workable at least.

And it is workable, but it’s still miserable. Tasks take three times as long! There was a time when I considered fast wi-fi a necessity, and I thought I’d grown out of it. Turns out I’d just started taking it for granted.

Finally, access to a freakin’ washing machine. I thought I could hand-wash my clothes and if not, there’s a launderette a 15-minute walk away. I didn’t think about bedsheets and towels. And 15 minutes is quite a long walk hauling damp clothes.

Luckily you can set up filters on Airbnb so that you only see listings with these three amenities. I won’t be making this mistake again.

I talk about this, and a couple of other tips for digital nomads, in my latest blog post. Check it out if you haven’t already ♥

On building a business of 1🤹🏾‍♂️

I have a weekly call with my accountability partner, Irfan, where we talk about life, our goals, and our progress. This week talking to Irfan made me realise two things.

1.      I’ve had a productive and creatively enriched week.

2.      I’ve been procrastinating on what’s most important.

Since the last newsletter I’ve:

· Written an article for my blog, a guest article for another blog, and a press release for a restaurant.

· Written and delivered a speech to a group of writers in Athens (more on this below 👇🏾).

· Created the logo, cover and banner for this newsletter (what do you think, by the way? I really want to know!).

· Read “Effortless” by Greg McKeown and “The Minimalist Entrepreneur” by Sahil Lavingia

· Played a ton of, and drafted an article on, Magic: The Gathering (which I’m allowed to count as “productive” because I make content about it).

I call this “productive procrastination”. The art of being productive to avoid doing the one thing that’s most important.

Pitching.

I NEED to be pitching to companies for writing work. I set the achievable goal of one pitch per day. And I failed.

I have some serious blockers to pitching for work.

I won’t psychoanalyse myself right here but wanted to mention this because I think we’re all prone to falling into this trap.

You can be productive, and still be procrastinating.

What’s the most important thing that you should be working on? Are you letting less important tasks distract you?

On creating content that impacts💥

I went to a writer’s meet this week. I thought it would be good to meet some people in Athens, but I also thought that connecting with other writers would be a good chance for a little scatter mentoring.

I like the advice “be the dumbest person in the room”. It sounds nonsense but what it means is: surround yourself with people who are better than you so that you can improve through osmosis.

Boy did I feel like I was channelling that advice at this meet 😂

At the meet was a prolific and hyper productive fiction author who’s written more books than I thought possible for one person, several published poets, and motivational speakers. I was blown away by the wealth of experience before me.

You might think that I was intimidated by this, but those that have worked with me will know that I thrive in these situations. Despite feeling like an infant in comparison, I contributed a lot to the conversation over the evening and I was even asked to run the event next week.

I’d converted one of my older articles into speech form, and delivered it to high praise. This was super encouraging for me, especially from a group of my writing seniors.

And that’s the message, I’m not (just) humble-bragging. Find a room where you’re the dumbest, but don’t act like the dumbest. Find people who are great at what you do. Learn from them. That’s how you hone your craft.

Also,

Always encourage the dumbest person in the room.

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Antio Sas!

That’s goodbye in Greek, and that wraps up another week!

Perhaps those poets are rubbing off on me.

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I’d appreciate it, and it’s the best way to keep up with where I am and what I’m up to.