Great Review of The 7 Secrets of the Prolific from the Simple Productivity Blog

This book picked me up and shook me. I started working on my novel again, stalled…

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Repost for 2012! A Reminder to Never Bash Yourself

Nowhere do I claim that you should be able to write at maximum capacity regardless of whatever else is going on with your life. We’re not machines, we’re complex beings; and to deny this complexity is a form of the reductive magical thinking – a.k.a., perfectionism.

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Love is Truth and Compassion

Robert Wright: “A thought experiment: Suppose you are a parent and you…

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Writing Isn’t Hard!

I cringe when I hear someone say “writing is hard” because it’s not once you overcome your perfectionism, which in turn is caused by fear (terror, actually) and scarcity.

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"Why am I so hateful and a perfectionist?"

In a big rush this morning due to heavy teaching load, but had to post about this. Like most blogsters, I regularly check my stats to see how much traffic…

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New Year's Resolution: Do Less Housework!

Most people think of procrastination as a simple bad habit, but it’s often much more than that: it’s a strategy we employ when we’re…

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The Importance of Taking Time Management and Antiperfectionism Advice to the Limit

The goal of time management and productivity work is not to move from being “deprived” to “semi-deprived” of time, but to create lavish amounts of time for your priorities.

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From the Seven Secrets of the Prolific: a Writer Who Resources Herself Abundantly versus One Who Doesn't

Prolific writers resource themselves abundantly. They invest in themselves and their writing. They work on great-functioning equipment, and in the best environment they can. This not only directly aids their productivity but sends an important message to themselves and others that their writing is important. Underproductive ones, in contrast, are likely to be found working on crappy equipment in dank basements with the mold and spiders and last season’s wardrobe.

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From The Seven Secrets of the Prolific: The Three Approaches to Productivity

Everyone encounters obstacles to production. A’s surmount them with a minimum of effort and delay; B’s organize their life and work so that the obstacle doesn’t happen or isn’t perceived as such; C’s get derailed. Hillary Rettig’s book The Seven Secrets of the Prolific tells you how to evolve from a C to A to B.

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A Book in a Blog Post

The Seven Secrets of the Prolific are the key behaviors separating productive/prolific people from those who are underproductive: each addresses a major category of disempowering constraint.

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Perfectionism is Rooted in Grandiosity

The idea that grandiosity fuels perfectionism always shocks perfectionists, who think their problem is low self-esteem. But it’s grandiosity that causes the shame and low-self esteem by constantly setting goals and conditions the writer can’t possibly live up to.

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Coping with the Many Silly / Annoying / Challenging Comments and Questions People Direct at Writers

You’d think that having people ask questions about what you do wouldn’t be such a big deal. But in a world where most people don’t have a clue what writing is about, a writer is always going to be on the defensive. Here’s how to cope.

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