Not a Robot

The frustration I expressed the other day with not being good enough and doing enough work ended with a statement that I was open to suggestions. Today I got a newsletter, or "Sunday Dispatch" as he calls it, from Paul Jarvis, and it read like just that to me.

Jarvis is a webdesigner and allround creative, whose book on "Everything I know" I read during my blogging hiatus and apparently never wrote about on the Bookshelf. Well, Jarvis is no sucker-up, he is as real as they come and doesn´t exactly sugar-coat reality or his opinions, so if you want or need to feel unnaturally encouraged (which I confess I sometimes do), he probably isn´t the one you should turn to. Also, at the advanced years I´m at, I pretty much know what he is talking about, though I forget when I am in most need of a steady supply of coffee to stay on my feet.

Robots don´t get blue or wear their t-shirts inside out.

Anyway, this is what he writes:

"Come to terms with not being a robot

Too many productivity tips don’t take this into account: we need to sleep, eat, take breaks and move. As humans, our attention spans need variety and we can’t always control our thoughts or motivations.
[...]
This is also why I try to stay ahead of my schedule. Because sometimes my brain just isn’t working at full capacity and my time is better spent resting than working. So I set deadlines I can easily meet with some wiggle room instead of giving myself just enough time to get things done. That way, if I need a break, I can take it without breaking promises."

This will be my new answer to myself when I am disappointed with what I have managed to do: I am not a robot. I am not a robot. I am not a robot.

If I go on like that much, I will sound like one, though...