This has released so much pressure! I have never found "traditional planning" sustainable for. I have already started operating in seasons but still not get anywhere. I will sit with this and see what grows.
Pressure is no way to create, at least not long-term for me.
A few things that have helped my planning:
• Keeping a "creator journal" with daily objectives and ideas, things I learned, etc.
• Using a physical 12-month calendar to jot down blog post topics published and specific metrics per day, like subscriber growth on Substack and follower growth on Threads and Instagram
• Looking back on my journal and calendar to see when my most growth happened quarterly and where I may have stalled; I can then make inferences based on what was going on personally and professionally as to how my creative energy flowed and plan accordingly for future cycles. Like for me, Fall can get hectic and I will just need to get ahead of that by planning posts and automation systems to stay engaged when I have other stuff going in!
Great thoughts here. Creativity is not linear; it's more like a maze that you have to wend through, and what is more, a maze of your own creation - whether you intended it or not. Most people give up because they try to impose linearity on such a scheme. At that, it's shackling ambition to something that has not yet fully formed in its own terms. Once you let go of that linearity, ambition is allowed to form itself. It is for you to follow it - not the other way around!
Great planning system! I had started thinking about the anchor projects for 2026 but had not considered the seasonal component, which is soooo important too!
This has released so much pressure! I have never found "traditional planning" sustainable for. I have already started operating in seasons but still not get anywhere. I will sit with this and see what grows.
Pressure is no way to create, at least not long-term for me.
A few things that have helped my planning:
• Keeping a "creator journal" with daily objectives and ideas, things I learned, etc.
• Using a physical 12-month calendar to jot down blog post topics published and specific metrics per day, like subscriber growth on Substack and follower growth on Threads and Instagram
• Looking back on my journal and calendar to see when my most growth happened quarterly and where I may have stalled; I can then make inferences based on what was going on personally and professionally as to how my creative energy flowed and plan accordingly for future cycles. Like for me, Fall can get hectic and I will just need to get ahead of that by planning posts and automation systems to stay engaged when I have other stuff going in!
I am so happy to hear that this post helped relieve some pressure! Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts.
Great thoughts here. Creativity is not linear; it's more like a maze that you have to wend through, and what is more, a maze of your own creation - whether you intended it or not. Most people give up because they try to impose linearity on such a scheme. At that, it's shackling ambition to something that has not yet fully formed in its own terms. Once you let go of that linearity, ambition is allowed to form itself. It is for you to follow it - not the other way around!
I love this!
Great planning system! I had started thinking about the anchor projects for 2026 but had not considered the seasonal component, which is soooo important too!
I like it. I am more of a traditional planner, but I, too, have trouble sticking to the main project.
Very timely post.
Ficus gas been my problem in the past, and I've been doing the work of keeping my head focused on one project and setting up a system to support it.