Be Prolific: start with clarity

TL;DR Get clear on your values. Look at how you spend your time and simply inquire: "why do I do that?" while looking at your values. Repeat.

If you want to be prolific, you must start exactly where you are. If you try to be where people you look up to are today, you don't have the necessary foundation for you need to crank out crazy amounts of creative output. Starting from where you are, you can figure out what emergent desires are in your heart. From those desires, clarity in terms of values and priorities can emerge. From that clarity, it's really easy to create output because what you spend time on emerges naturally from the state of alignment.

Quick links

• The EthDenver talk: https://youtu.be/i2U5QTepDwA?si=UovkoC6Nl8Hqy14x

• Chaos Cycle Management eBook link (up for two weeks): https://docsend.com/view/uf2r74fbdprx36uf

• Our next event: https://lu.ma/timealchemy

• Community and courses on Skool: https://www.skool.com/time-alchemy-3771

In the Desert
Chronos, Father Time, laughed in the face of the Alchemist. He raised a hand and passed it across her field of view.

"So, what can I do now?" The Alchemist asked
"There's nothing to do" Chronos replied
"If there's nothing to do, how can I find the beginning?"

"The beginning is here, nowhere else. Start here."
"Where is here?"
"Now we are getting somewhere" Chronos chuckled.

Be Prolific: The Practice of ✨Prolificacy✨

Most of what we're talking about in Time Alchemy is not at all about "Productivity." The very word productivity is a child of factory capitalism in the 1800s! It represents the ability and readiness of a person to create and goods and services. I like the term "prolificacy" instead. It means "being prolific" or making a lot of stuff that you value.

The secret to unlocking your prolific nature isn't about more effort; it's about cultivating an environment within and around ourselves that breeds creativity and asks for that inner nature to come to the surface (almost magically). This begins with a deep, introspective look at what fuels us, what drains us, and how we can optimize our energy to support sustained periods of high output.

You can do this simply, by writing down what you value most, writing out how you spend your time, and looking at the gaps that might exist between these two exercises. (This is outlined at length in the workbook we made, Chaos Cycle Management.)

Imagine your energy as a bank account; every task, whether it's a project at work or a personal goal, requires a withdrawal. The key to prolificacy lies in understanding where your energy comes from and how to replenish it efficiently. It’s not just about having energy but ensuring you're investing it in activities that refuel your tank rather than those that deplete it. Think of it as managing an energy portfolio, where the dividends pay off in exponentially increased output!

This means recognizing that our capacity to create is directly linked to how well we care for ourselves AND how well we align our behavior with our values. Whether it's ensuring adequate rest and physical resourcing, engaging in regular activity, or finding moments of quiet reflection to nourish the soul (e.g. meditating), each aspect plays a crucial role in our overall ability to make what we want to make.

Adopting a mindset of flexibility and resilience might be the most important part of this equation. Prolific individuals understand that not every day will be phenomenally productive, and that's perfectly acceptable. What matters most is the ability to bounce back, to learn from less productive periods, and to continually adapt strategies for managing time and energy.

This involves setting clear, achievable goals while remaining open to the ebb and flow of creative energy. We say it every newsletter: define success strictly, define execution flexibly, and make it as easy as possible to achieve. In essence, becoming prolific is less about rigid adherence to productivity hacks and more about understanding and aligning with your unique rhythms and resources. It's a journey of self-discovery, where the ultimate reward is not just the volume of work produced but the joy and fulfillment found in the process.

Events and Community

• Workshops will be starting up again soon! lu.ma/timealchemy. Keep an eye out on our Luma page to see the latest.

• EthDenver was a blast! You can check out the whole talk and a link to the ebook here:

  

• We're going to keep the community free until we reach 100 people. Jump on in if you want to engage and share your time hacks with your fellow Time Alchemists. We're only at a handful, but at the start of March we expect to fill up quick! https://www.skool.com/time-alchemy-3771?c=&s=newest-cm&fl=