In my hallway there is a cooler full of craft supplies. The cooler itself is a kind of craft supply. At the height of COVID lockdowns in 2020, I convinced myself that I would paint myself a cooler like I'd done before for so many fraternity boys in college.
I bought everything I'd need for the task: The cooler, spray paint, sandpaper, primer, all of the acrylic paints.
You can guess what happened next. The cooler remains unpainted, and is now what I affectionately call my Novelty Box—full of supplies for various art projects that piqued my interest until they didn't.
In an article for ADDitude Mag, William Dodson writes about what he calls the "interest-based nervous system." It will be a familiar concept to anyone with a drawer full of craft supplies or a Notion full of half-baked project plans.
"Most people with an ADHD nervous system can engage in tasks and access their abilities when the task is urgent," he writes, referencing the pervasiveness of procrastination for people with ADHD. "They want to get their work done, but they can't get started until the task becomes interesting, challenging, or urgent."
Big Paper Planning Day is back. Join us this Thursday or Sunday (your choice!) for a full day creative planning retreat, followed by three months of Momentum Support sessions keeping you on track. Get your ticket here, then go school supply shopping.
While I'm sure we could spend hours sitting together talking about urgency and procrastination, today I want to think about the first word in that sequence: Interesting. Whether or not you live with ADHD, I'm sure you're familiar with the irresistible pull of curiosity.
Curiosity, the strong desire to know or learn something, is inherently linked to the concept of novelty. Our animal brains are primed to want to learn more about new, interesting things. And both of these concepts, curiosity andnovelty, are in turn key elements of intrinsic motivation.
Intrinsic motivation, which describes a person's tendency to engage with an activity simply because the activity itself is enjoyable, is by far one of the best predictors of sustained engagement with a task or project.
If you want to "get more done," finding a way to make the doing intrinsically motivating is the best strategy you have.
Intrinsically motivating tasks and activities are enjoyable even without the presence of external rewards or validation—in fact, intrinsic motivation is sometimes hampered by extrinsic rewards like money or praise. (This likely explains why so many artists struggle to maintain a sense of drive once we turn our art into business, or rely on it as a source of income.)
This is why, at Big Paper Planning Day, we decenter results and SMART goals (aka targets). We do not create plans that rest on commitments like "Do this 3x a week forever" or "Earn this much money by this date." These concrete goals, for all their specificity, hamper the intrinsic motivation that is so necessary to sustaining motivation over time.
Instead, we spend our time at Big Paper Planning Day figuring out where your curiosity is leading you right now. We create menus of ways you can tap into your intrinsic motivation, even on days you have zero energy and can barely get up and brush your teeth, let alone sustain commitment to some arbitrary metric of success.
Perhaps most importantly, we don't make a plan at Big Paper Planning Day and then expect ourselves to stay interested in it forever.
As anyone who's ever bought a slew of cross-stitching supplies only to lose interest as soon as they got home from the craft store knows...novelty wears off. Interest wanes. Curiosity, once satiated, becomes harder to maintain.
Which is why we do Big Paper Planning Day every 3 months. We did it in January, we do it again this Thursday and Sunday, and we'll do it again in July, October, January, etc.
(Side note: Most people who want to repeat Big Paper Planning Day opt to join The Study, which gets you access to all live retreats in addition to a library of creative business resources and a calendar of opportunities for hands-on support and accountability.)
Long story short, my hypothesis is that we can plan for the inevitable dip in novelty. We can accommodate our need for new, interesting curiosities and adventures.
It starts, as with anything, with deciding to start.
Consider this your invitation. Join us this Thursday or Sunday at our live Big Paper Planning Day retreat. After you buy your ticket, your least complicated next step is to go school supply shopping. (What's more intrinsically motivating than that?)
The content is the same both days, and you'll have the opportunity to choose between Thursday or Sunday's retreat based on what works for your schedule. After the big day, we'll continue to meet up for three months of Momentum Support sessions: Biweekly accountability calls to help you get back on track when the going gets boring or stale.
We'd love to see you there, Lexi. If you have any questions at all, please feel free to reach out—particularly if the only thing stopping you is the ticket price. I'm happy to work with you to figure out a solution.
Mini Lab: Tools, Trends & Experimental Ideas
The pre-work for Big Paper Planning Day is a writing exercise. If you're thinking about attending, you might try it yourself sometime today.
First, make a list of 11 things you want. Intangibles, tangibles, concepts, goods, craft supplies—whatever comes up, write it down.
Then, write a diary entry in present tense from a day in your life when you have those 11 things. Where are you? Who are you with? What do you see, smell, hear? What are you having for lunch? What's on your agenda for the day?
This is the foundation of all we do at Big Paper Planning Day. Your vision offers you a sense of direction, as well as a trove of insights about what it is you value. Try it out, let me know how it goes, then consider joining us Thursday or Sunday for the live retreat.
Bulletins! The latest from members of The Study
From Ela: I’m look for guests for my podcast Building Blocks & Puzzle Pieces! I’d love to hear from creative and neurodiverse people who have learned how to build their own accommodations and found ways to center always having fun in the work they’re doing. Book your interview here.
From Sabrina: If you or someone you know is looking for business operations support, I wanted to share that I am accepting new clients! Services include a Project Management Tool Build, Business Systems Overhaul, and Ongoing Online Business Management. Submit an inquiry form here for more details.
Bored on the Internet?
✷ The ADDitude article mentioned in today's letter, for a deeper dive.
✷ If you're as curious about other people's money as I am (but often can't relate to the average Money Diary), here's a breakdown of what a few professional writers spend in a week.
✷ You already know how I feel about Neopets.
Above are some links fresh from my Second Brain inbox. If you want to save them for later in your own Second Brain, be sure to grab a copy of...
Creative people need space to dream and think.
Which is why the Pretty Decent Desktop Organizer won't do that for you. It will, however, open up space in your brain for you to go out and stare at a tree without worrying about forgetting your to-do list.
Ready to streamline your creative life? Grab your copy of the Desktop Organizer here.
Work With Me!
I help artists and subject matter experts get good at the Internet so that you can do what you love for a living. The best way to start is by booking a free brainstorm with me, where I'll help you sort through your zillion good ideas and figure out a least complicated next step: