About...how to put in the work

My first job was in software engineering, and I despised it. So I started exploring my options and eventually decided to switch into content design. I knew generally what I had to do: read materials and take online courses, gain project experience, and build a portfolio. But knowing what to do didn't mean shit if I never followed through. So developing a strategy for how I took the steps forward was essential to actually taking the steps forward.

My strategy: to work on my content design goal for 1 hour before my holy coffee time and before starting my engineering 9-to-5. This worked for me for many reasons:

My brain was most alive in the mornings.

I had previously attempted working on my content design goal after the work day, but 9 times out of 10, I was too drained from engineering to do any more career-related things. So I instead tried fitting in my content design work in the mornings, and my consistency drastically improved. Even if it took time away in the mornings from my engineering job, the fact that I needed to finish my engineering tasks anyways so I wouldn’t get fired was enough to convince me to work off-hours if I had to.

My coffee time was my reward.

Frankly, I’m not passionate about content design either (at least, not in a corporate job sense), so I wasn’t exactly excited to work on this goal. It was just a career that I knew I would be better at and would make me a comfortable living. But what I was excited for was that sacred time to sip on my cup of coffee while thinking about things that do matter to me. That cup was both a daily motivation and a reward for getting the content design work done.

1 hour of time felt both sizable and doable.

I knew that I wouldn’t accomplish a career switch overnight, so I had to play the long game. 1 hour was a long enough time to make some kind of daily progress but short enough to avoid burnout. I still had to balance my engineering job after all.

All of these reasons helped me be super consistent with my content design work, and each step I took eventually led me to my job now as an official Content Designer.

So what's next for me?

Now that my 9-to-5 is in a good place, I want to finally work on a passion project: writing these articles. But even though this idea has been on my mind for awhile now, I haven’t been consistent at all at putting in the work.

So why not use the same strategy that I used to switch my career? Well, I realized that I need a new strategy because this writing goal and my daily circumstance are quite different now than before:

I'm actually excited to write.

1 hour actually flies by when I write, so my new strategy should give me more time to work on this project.

I can actually get tasks done at my new job.

With software engineering, starting a task earlier never guaranteed that I would finish earlier (a concept that was so against my mental model of how things should work), so I procrastinated because then at least I could delay the agony for a bit longer. But with content designing, I find that when I do front-load my tasks, I actually do finish them earlier and can enjoy my free time afterwards without a cloud of to-do items hanging over my head. So my new strategy should allow me to take care of my job first so I can more fully enjoy this passion project afterwards.

I don't like staring at screens too much.

When I tried writing before, I would open up my laptop and start typing away. But I already look at screens all the time at my job, so I often felt deterred from writing because I just didn’t want to stare at screens even more. So I tried handwriting these articles instead, and I enjoyed it and began looking forward to that almost-nostalgic feeling of scratching words onto physical paper.

So, to better suit these new conditions, my new strategy for this writing goal is to front-load my job tasks earlier in the day and fill in whatever time I have left in my working hours with writing (the old-fashioned way). This strategy might not help me be as consistent as I was with my content design goal, since my job tasks will vary from day to day and will take priority, but I think it’ll help me write more overall and in an enjoyable way.

The lesson is, a strategy that worked for one goal and season of life may not work for a different goal and season, but once you figure that part out, you'll be able to achieve anything.

What’s one of your goals? What do you need to do to achieve it? And what’s your strategy for how you’ll put in the work?

I love hearts and comments! Or follow me on Instagram for whenever I'm bold enough to post real-time stories.