From Creativity Comes Productivity

Ciao!

So I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but in the past week and a bit, quite a few important features were added to Simplero:

• Automations
• Segmentation
• 1-click upsells
• Triggers on link clicks
• 1-click automations
• SMS sequences and wait-for-a-day-of-week

Plus a handful more smaller changes.

To be honest, I’ve been quite taken by surprise by the surge of energy and excitement and new stuff myself, even though I’ve been the one doing all of it.

Looking back, I think the past few months where I've allowed myself to focus a lot on music has made a huge difference. When I then came back to writing code again, I found myself coming at it with a whole new energy.

Things that previously confused me were now simple and straight-forward. Complex choices I had made were easily undone and simplified. And none of it felt like work. It was just me being excited about the possibilities and approaching it from a state of play.

Gay Hendricks talks about the importance of creative expression and living in our zone of genius. If we don’t do that, then we suffer in all areas of life. And though making software is a very creative process for me, music touches a much deeper nerve in me emotionally.

I’ve made other changes too. I’ve changed my diet based on Tim Ferriss' 4-Hour Body book, cutting out all sugar, starches, and “white foods” (rice, bread, etc.), 6 days a week, leaving Saturday as my eat-and-drink-whatever-I-want day. I really like that approach. It’s very simple to follow, and the results are undeniable. I’m also experimenting with another aspect from that book, namely 10-minute cold showers each morning and evening, right after waking and right before going to bed, which should help boost testosterone levels.

So these physical changes may also have something to do with it. When, like me, you like to change things up all the time, and in many ways at the same time, it’s always hard to know what really made the difference.

Regardless of what exactly caused it, it’s a great reminder that our levels of productivity and effectiveness can vary dramatically.

If things are felling sluggish, don’t just keep slugging away. Get away from it, change things up, express yourself creatively in other ways, move your body, and get back to the work with fresh eyes when you can’t help yourself.

Above all, if it feels like work, you’re doing it wrong.

Lots of love and creative expression,
-Calvin