Saturday Morning Coffee ☕ #42

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Nov 02, 2024

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Happy Saturday, my friend! 👋

How’s your week been? Are you getting some rest over the holidays?

There’s a ton of great stuff in this week’s roundup, including article links, Notes, videos and more. Don’t forget to vote in today’s poll at the bottom of the post, either.

Now, pour that coffee, ease back in your favourite chair, and enjoy! ☕

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Golden Retrievers are dirt magnets.

Our six-year-old pooch, Ghost, is no exception. In fact, he’s living proof of it.

Let him out into the back garden and within minutes (sometimes seconds), he’ll start rolling around on the smelliest patch of grass he can find.

We can’t walk him off the lead anymore, either, after an unfortunate incident involving a particularly deep puddle of mud. He wasn’t especially golden that day, let me tell you.

If there’s dirt, Ghost will find it. And roll in it.

Sure, I’ll often give him a bath afterwards. Scrub him down, rinse out his thick coat, get totally soaked in the process myself. Wrestle him in a towel afterwards. It’s always an ordeal.

And every single time, when I’m elbow-deep in suds and he’s grinning at me with that knowing look on his canine face, I think to myself: this is a big waste of time.

The second I finish drying him off, he’ll find the dirt again.

Why do I even bother?

Have you ever uttered those words internally while staring at the blank page?

Have you ever thought this is going to be a huge waste of time as you start into a new writing project?

I have. On many occasions.

And I think it’s a fear we all fall prey to occasionally as writers. We’re afraid to waste our time, because we only have so much time to spare. It’d be a shame to take on something new, invest a sizeable chunk of ourselves in it, and discover further down the line that it was all for nothing.

You’ve been there, right?

Articles you’ve spent ages researching and planning and painstakingly piecing together bite the big one upon publication
Videos you record (and re-record, over and over) get next to no views
Worst of all… brace yourself… books you spend months or even years writing simply don’t sell

Ouch.

I can’t sugar-coat this one either. It’s always a possibility that the work you put in won’t yield the results you hope for. Your words may never get the attention or praise they likely deserve.

That feeling sucks.

But I don’t believe time spent writing is ever time wasted. And I don’t think you should, either.

We need to rewire our brains ahead of time to see writing - even writing few people read - as always worthwhile, no matter what becomes of it.

It’s like exercising. You may never get the recognition you deserve for slogging it out every week in the gym or the pool to improve your health and your appearance, but it doesn’t matter. At the end of the day, you’re putting in the work. You’re getting your reps in. You’re getting fitter and stronger, even if no-one else really knows about it.

It’s the same with writing. Every “failed” piece equates to another workout session. Every ignored post is a bolstering of your creative arsenal. The mere act of writing, repeated consistently and intentionally over time, makes you a stronger writer.

There’s no such thing as a waste-of-time writing session. Plenty of stuff in our distraction-riddled world wastes time (including bathing a Golden Retriever who can’t wait to muck himself up again), but writing absolutely does not.

Every session counts.

Don’t let the fear of wasting time keep you from starting.

As always, here’s the result of last week’s poll:

Thanks for voting! Don’t forget to read to the end for this week’s version. ⬇️

ICYMI:

The productivity paradox: How writing less leads to better writing

David McIlroy and Benjamin Antoine

Oct 29

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Some interesting thoughts from others:

Contributions from our Paid Members:

A good video:

A good note:

Thanks for being here this morning, friend! ☕

Here’s this week’s poll:

Feel free to share this post if you found it useful/interesting.

Have an amazing Saturday, and don’t forget to grab your 20% discount on an annual subscription before the offer ends tomorrow! ⌛

PS. You can read all previous editions of Saturday Morning Coffee here.

Table of Contents [Start Here]

David McIlroy

Apr 12

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Sophie S.

This Is Sophie Today

Nov 2Liked by David McIlroy

Thanks, just the pep talk I needed. You're right actually, I don't have a six pack from going to the gym but I don't see that as wasted time. Every time I write I get a tiny little bit better so it's still worth it 💪

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