I Didn't Do The Thing Today: On letting go of productivity guilt

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Below, Madeline shares 5 key insights from her new book, I Didn’t Do the Thing Today: Letting Go of Productivity Guilt. It’s easily overlooked that our indecision is a decision that keeps us suspended, stuck in limbo, and sometimes opportunities pass us by. Perhaps instead of filling time, we can inspect whether what we fill it with creates a sense of fulfillment. Madeleine regularly conducts life experiments and hosts events to explore how creativity isn’t just something we do, but how we approach our lives.

the term 'day artist' didn't jive with me, but otherwise i found myself smiling and nodding as i turned the pages. It made it read like an academic paper, with the appropriate quote coming after the statement to justify it.

she's not proclaiming herself as a productivity or unproductivity expert - she's more of an explorer.

For anyone who has ever felt the pressure to do more, be more, achieve more, this antidote to our doing-obsession is the permission slip we all need to find our own way. We don’t know where our decisions will lead, because we can only connect the dots once we’re looking back.

There's the work thing, the catch-up thing, the laundry thing, the creative thing, the exercise thing, the family thing, the thing we don't want to do, the thing we've been putting off (despite it being the most important thing). Letting go of your productivity guilt and embracing the unexpected creative moments that each day brings you can broaden your definition of a day well spent, bringing deep connection and fulfillment to your daily life. i believe any person reading the book in this way will encounter ways to feel more meaning, focus, grace and appreciation in life. Madeleine Dore has produced a book that is both practical and inspiring; that recognises the tensions in life, that we can’t always do all the things, but also that sometimes those things are still important. I also just find a source of endless frustration when authors make an active choice to name drop- and even more so when the name dropping comes from situations and interviews they weren’t even involved with.

i'd meander through the book like you might do when hiking outdoors, letting your attention settle on whatever captures it. Even on days where we get a lot done, the thing left undone can leave us feeling guilty, anxious or disappointed.

Beyond being thought-provoking and well-organized, it gets bonus points for not making up a new word every page (like most self-help books) and instead relying on well-established terms.