You Need an Anti-Bucket List

Today’s edition of Wishful Working is a 4 minute read.

One of my new favorite books is Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman. In it, the author turns typical productivity advice on its head by being honest:

No amount of time blocking and pomodoro shifts can give us more hours in the day.

We simply don’t have time to do everything we want to do in a given day or month or year. Even a whole lifetime — 4,000 weeks for those of us who reach 80 years of age — doesn’t hold enough time for all the things we want to do.

And it’s not just a matter of choosing between activities that align with our values and interests and activities that don’t. Choosing one good option often comes at the expense of several equally good options.

So… How do we choose?

Over the past several months, I’ve been thinking about my career goals and trying to decide what type of work I want to focus on in the future.

I don’t have a lot of answers yet. 😂

But what I do have is a growing list of things I’m not going to focus on. These things generally fall into one of three categories:

1. Things I’ve done before and don’t want to do again

2. Things I haven’t done before but have a visceral negative reaction when I think about doing them

3. Things that sound compelling — even very compelling — but not as interesting as other options

It’s that third category that takes some serious introspection and soul-searching to navigate, but it’s also arguably the most important one. It’s where we really feel the sting of the opportunity cost, and it’s also where we’re most prone to comparison and envy when we see others succeeding.

Now, to be completely transparent, freelancing was once something I swore I’d never do again, so I’m not saying I won’t ever change my mind. For now, here are some career-related things I could pursue but I’m choosing not to.

I’m calling this my anti bucket list.

1. Scaling my business and/or running any sort of agency

2. Managing employees

3. Delegating to contractors/subcontractors

4. Pivoting from content writing to content strategy

5. Offering graphic design services to clients

6. Writing social media content for clients

7. Coaching other freelancers in a formal way

8. Becoming a CMO or other type of marketing leader

9. Becoming a fractional CMO or having another type of fractional role as a contractor

10. Going to grad school

11. Finding a FT role at a cool company

Would it be cool to do those things? Sure. Do I cheer on my fellow freelancers and marketing pals who DO pursue (and achieve) these things? Absolutely! But shelving some enticing options in a semi-permanent way opens my mind (and future schedule) to the stuff that really lights me up.

I would encourage you to think about all of the things you could potentially achieve in your career. How many of them feel really exciting? Which could you choose to set aside in order to focus on the one or two things that matter most?

See you next week,

Kara

Wishful Working is inspired by my desire to see more people enjoy a life not centered around work. For some, the path to freedom and flexibility is through self-employment, but we also need to challenge cultural norms and champion healthier working conditions and work/life balance for all types of workers.

Who am I? I’m a freelance writer and entrepreneur based in small-town Saskatchewan. I write longform content for B2B clients, and I help founders and independents name their brands and projects through a new venture called Naming. Connect with me by replying to this email or finding me on LinkedIn or Twitter.