Slowing things down.
I have big plans for Functionally Imperative, but to pull them off, I’ve decided to slow things down to reach my goals. That might sound counterintuitive, but stick with me. I’m making some changes here.
Sixteen months ago, I committed to posting weekly (or donate to the Flat Earth Society). Seventy-one weekly posts later, I’m bringing this commitment to a close. I initially challenged myself to start producing creative output on a regular cadence because, before that, I just kept putting it off. I’ve accomplished my goal here. Not only have I not missed a week, but I now have a new weekly project, Book Overflow.
What is inspiring this change? Why now? A few reasons. First, I’ve been reading Cal Newport’s phenomenal book Slow Productivity. In the book, he advocates three core principles:
Do fewer things.
Work at a natural pace.
Obsess over quality
To reach my goals for Functionally Imperative, I’ll be changing up how I engage here and on my YouTube channel. I’ll continue developing FuncImp to explore the relationship between play, creativity, and autotelic pursuits. The new focus I’ll be introducing allows me to dive into topics deeper, interview more amazing people, and take my time to build out my work in a way focused on quality over quantity.
My first step is to “do fewer things,” and while I deeply enjoy writing, removing the weekly commitment to ship both this newsletter and Book Overflow will allow me to spend my time playing and exploring my work at a more natural pace while obsessing over quality for FuncImp.
So, if you see less frequent posts here, don’t worry; not a penny has gone to the Flat Earth Society. Instead, I’m setting my goals higher and slowing down a bit to give more room to grow.
Links this week
Adrienne Braganza (author) Reflects on "Looks Good To Me" (Book Overflow)
We wrapped up our discussion of Looks Good To Me (Book Overflow)
David Graeber discussing 5 types of bullshit jobs (classic that I’d seen years ago but rewatched this week)
Solid AIA interview: Why I'm an anarchist | Sophie Scott-Brown
In 2004 I stumbled across a HALCALI album randomly in a Japanese record shop. I’ve been a fan ever since. I recently showed GiriGiri Surf Rider to my 9-year-old