So this week, the universe is testing me. Like, REALLY testing me. Specifically, testing my commitment to rest.
I started with a rainstorm that sidelined my Sunday rest.
On Monday, my brain shut down and didn't let me do anything of substance. Probably out of resistance due to the weekend of not-resting-very-much that I did.
Tuesday, I went to start up my computer and... Tada! Nothing. Not a beep, blink, fan, or blip on the screen. We went through every single troubleshooting step known to humankind to determine that the whole motherboard has fried. I tried to link up a bluetooth keyboard to salvage the day, but alas, we're up at the lake and the one I grabbed from the house is not actually bluetooth.
I guess I'm not supposed to be working right now.
So, I didn't.
I read two books (which you'll hear about below), almost finished a crochet sweater (which I'll share pictures of next week), and sat down to plan out my fall canning, preserving, and baking regimen.
In other words, I rested the way only I could - by doing a bunch of non-work stuff that I wanted to do.
Wouldn't you know it, that counts as the active form of rest!
Rest isn't just sleep, it's also activities that bring you joy.
At the time of sending this newsletter, I'm also going to publish a paid post for my newsletter subscribers, detailing what I've learned in my research about the connection between neurodivergence, work, and joy, deepening my research around deadlines.
Solo School members automatically get access to my paid newsletter, but if you're not a member, you can join below. It's only $9 for the first 100 subscribers, so get in while you can!
I'm hoping to build a computer tower from the carcass of my laptop and be back in full writing and recording glory for next week, so stay tuned for more!
- Cheryl
❤️ How to work with me
I've done over $600k in sales since January 2021 using social selling. I started with absolutely no audience whatsoever, and no freaking clue what I was doing to sell leveraged offers online. I was coming from an agency background, where we had 3-5 anchor clients at a time, and everything was sold based on relationships.
Frankly, I believed that building an audience and selling on social media was a completely different thing from the relationship-based sales I had been doing for all of those years. So I struggled, and I held myself back.
I also struggled with a lot of rejection sensitivity, fear of being perceived, and obsession over every relationship being "all or nothing" because of my different brain. So I figured, I couldn't do this, because every system I found required me to do things that activated all of these fears and issues.
But I was wrong.
Social selling is just relationship-based sales adapted for the internet.
It absolutely CAN be done while minimizing the risk of activating RSD, minimizing the feelings of perception, reduce the all or nothing feelings, and more. It can be done in neurodivergent-friendly ways.
And I've documented everything I did to get to my first 1k followers and my first $100k in sales on social media in my new Social Selling course, located inside Solo School.
This 38-minute video (with captions, downloadable PDF, and adjustable speed) contains every step I took to achieve this result. People have told me it contains more actionable information than courses they've paid $5k for.
If Solo School had existed to teach me this when I started, and I had been paying for it this entire time, I would have a 48X ROI on that investment.
Right now, your first year of Solo School is included in my "Cheryl's Computer is Busted Bundle" that includes *everything I've ever created* for one price.
💯 Days Without Deadlines
It has now been 12 days without deadlines, and some of the most INTERESTING results are starting to emerge.
First of all, I actually am feeling motivated to work. So contrary to popular belief, not having hard deadlines isn't turning me into some kind of lazy monster that never puts any effort into anything.
But also...
I'm noticing what I'm wanting to work on, and, it's not the easy stuff.
I'm not finding myself wanting to just gloss over doing bookkeeping and go straight for the fun. In fact, I'm finding myself craving deep work on larger projects and wanting to "reign in" my administrative busywork.
Now, previously, when I was really struggling to get anything done, said administrative busywork was the very first thing I would do because at least it would be something. I'd finish the day drained, having accomplished little, but I'd put out a bunch of fires and responded to the people who needed me so. I did good, right?
But I wasn't doing anything I enjoyed. I was just checking boxes.
Oddly enough, last week, I finished off my update with a quote about following the joy. This week, once my computer situation was somewhat under control (I got a keyboard and mouse working with my Samsung tablet, which has Samsung Dex, essentially turning it into an Android laptop), I started doing some research.
And you'll be shocked to learn that joy is actually much more important than I previously thought, both to productivity AND to neurodivergence.
Check out my article posted today for more on that.
In terms of productivity itself, its been in the toilet because I haven't had proper equipment. BUT nothing has actually super fallen off. Just reprioritizing.
The other interesting thing is a real step up in quality. Because I'm doing things for enjoyment, not to check a box, when I'm doing them I'm really focusing well and being totally present - resulting in better quality work all around.
More updates next week!
💪 Business adaptation of the week
I have to tell you, Samsung Dex is my main adaptation this week. For you iOS fans, you'll have no idea what this is. And some of you Samsung users might not even know about this. But Samsung Dex is, essentially, a way to turn any Samsung device into an Android laptop.
Hook up a bluetooth keyboard and mouse (you can use a keyboard case, of course, but I'm actually just using my full-size Logitech Ergo and my MX Vertical mouse) and it changes over to a computer-like interface, desktop browser experience, and is generally usable as an Android-based computer with a touchscreen. Yes, you'll still have mobile apps instead of desktop software, so kiss most Adobe products goodbye. But it's manageable as an interim solution. I've also got my Bluetooth stadia controller connected to it, so it's a gaming computer... And it's got a stylus, so I can take notes, have them transcribed into text, then hook up my keyboard and turn that into a full document.
So while I design and build a custom PC over the next few weeks, this is going to be my daily driver solution. It can even hook up to my 32" monitor, or wirelessly to any smart TV, so I can get as much screen real estate as I like.
Samsung life is the good life!
🎁 My favourite things this week
My sweater. I'm making a crochet sweater, and frankly, I love it. It's so soft, and cuddly, and it's going to be so warm... Perfect for fall. Which is my favourite season, and just around the corner! The apple farm opens tomorrow, Spirit Halloween opened this week, and the weather is already cooling off. While I kind of feel like I missed out on much of this summer with everything going on, I also have to admit, I'm okay with fall coming because, well, I love it.
So. Sweater + sweater weather are my favourite things this week. I'll show off the completed piece when it's done!
📚 What I'm reading
I finished Slow Productivity, and it was actually pretty thought provoking. It inspired some of the research you'll see in my other article, out today.
After that, I did a quick read through of Ceremony by Brianna Wiest, which got me contemplating the very nature of work...
... and then started on the Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, because I'm seriously enjoying reading and I wanted to read something fun. It's got me hooked right out of the gate!
Want to follow my reading? Check me out on StoryGraph, the minority-owned GoodReads competitor I love!
