WEBVTT - Good ideas take time

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning.

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<v Speaker 1>This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's

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<v Speaker 1>tip is that being productive doesn't always look productive. Good

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<v Speaker 1>ideas take time, and true productivity is measured over the

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<v Speaker 1>long haul, but often achieving a lot in the long

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<v Speaker 1>haul doesn't mean filling every minute. Today's tip comes partly

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<v Speaker 1>from Cal Newport's new book, Slow Productivity. In this book,

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<v Speaker 1>Cal talks about how to achieve great things without burnout.

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<v Speaker 1>He opens Slow Productivity with a tale of someone who

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<v Speaker 1>is important to me, Professor John McPhee of Princeton. Many

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<v Speaker 1>years ago, oh I took mcfee's famous nonfiction writing class.

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<v Speaker 1>I learned a lot from his discussions of his own

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<v Speaker 1>life as a working writer. One of mcfee's most famous

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<v Speaker 1>stories is about the Pine Barrens in New Jersey. After

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<v Speaker 1>compiling all his notes from trapsing around the forest, he

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<v Speaker 1>had some fairly serious writer's block, so we wound up

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<v Speaker 1>laying on a picnic table day after day for about

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<v Speaker 1>two weeks. Finally, he realized that much of his reporting

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<v Speaker 1>could come back to one central character who could form

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<v Speaker 1>the spine of what became a long new Yorker piece.

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<v Speaker 1>Cal notes that if you looked at McFee during those

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<v Speaker 1>two weeks spending his working hours lying there seemingly doing nothing,

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<v Speaker 1>you would not have considered him to be terribly productive.

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<v Speaker 1>But that would be a mistake. McPhee has been incredibly productive.

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<v Speaker 1>He's written around thirty books over his lifetime, including one

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<v Speaker 1>that won the Pulitzer Prize, in addition to teaching undergraduate

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<v Speaker 1>writing for decades. To produce his best work, McPhee needed

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<v Speaker 1>time and space to think. Fortunately, he gave himself that space,

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<v Speaker 1>and over the decades, lots of good work followed. So

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<v Speaker 1>what can the rest of us take from this? One

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<v Speaker 1>of the key realizations Cal tells us is that sometimes

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<v Speaker 1>good ideas take time. Yes we have deadlines. Yes, sometimes

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<v Speaker 1>you just have to move forward with something that isn't perfect.

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<v Speaker 1>Nothing is ever perfect, so if you are waiting for perfection,

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<v Speaker 1>you will never do anything. But it is okay to

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<v Speaker 1>sit with an idea for a while and think of

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<v Speaker 1>it and not necessarily go with the first thing. Maybe

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<v Speaker 1>the first thing can be incorporated into your later idea.

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<v Speaker 1>It is a stepping stone for getting there, but maybe

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<v Speaker 1>it is not it. See how it feels when you

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<v Speaker 1>realize that good ideas take time. That means you need

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<v Speaker 1>to give yourself time, and that means being okay with

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<v Speaker 1>not doing something that looks productive every single minute. Yes,

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<v Speaker 1>you've got emails. You could set up some more meetings,

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<v Speaker 1>or you could sit there, go outside, walk around, think,

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<v Speaker 1>talk to some colleagues about ideas. Even if it just

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<v Speaker 1>looks like you are hanging out in the office kitchen.

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<v Speaker 1>You might not come up with something brilliant the first time.

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<v Speaker 1>In fact, you probably won't or the second time or

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<v Speaker 1>a third time. But eventually, and when it comes to

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<v Speaker 1>executing on those good ideas, even a little bit does

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<v Speaker 1>add up. So just keep doing a little bit. Maybe

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<v Speaker 1>it doesn't always look productive, but that's okay. Real productivity

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<v Speaker 1>doesn't always look productive in the moment, but good ideas

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<v Speaker 1>take time, So embrace this slow productivity as cal calls it.

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<v Speaker 1>Over the long haul, it will be okay, and you'll

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<v Speaker 1>probably be happier in the meantime. This is Laura. Thanks

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<v Speaker 1>for listening, and here's to making the most of our time.

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks for listening to before breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas,

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<v Speaker 1>or feedback, you can reach me at Laura Urah at

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<v Speaker 1>Laura vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia.

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