This post is a rerun. I post occasional reruns as a kindness to myself and to unearth old posts for new readers. You can read about reruns, too.
Today’s rerun is Make-It, Post-it. Back when I published this post I’d only just started writing publicly every day, and I had no idea if I’d keep up with it. I started those daily blog posts after sticking this Post-it note to my display—a simple rule that I could repeat and act on.
Over the years I’d created many complicated systems in pursuit of doing the things I wanted to do, and none of them really worked; none of them stuck for very long. This time, I wanted to try removing all of the rules but one: make something every day and share it. That’s any something so long as it’s shared. It just had to exist, every day.
Ever since, I’ve doubled down on other simple rules or frameworks. There are endless ways to describe the full complexity of a product design process, for example, but the key one for me is simple: observe, reflect, make. We’re observing to make or making to observe, making sure to reflect as we transition and to keep moving—more loop than line.
That’s not to say there’s nothing else to it—there’s lots more. If you’re not building on this simple foundation, though, all of that stuff doesn’t mean very much. Similarly, it’s not always easy to make something every day and share it, but it’s a simple foundation with a lot of flexibility, and that’s often what we really need vs. complex, rigid process.
Life is always much messier than most of us would like to imagine, and rigid, multi-step processes start to break down quickly. If that’s all you have, you’re left with a pile of rubble, but if you can fall back on simple rules there’s always a next clear step you can take. Do we know enough to make? Have we made enough to observe?
Writing this simple rule on a Post-it note is responsible for my daily writing practice. It’s responsible for the art I make every day, and for the renewed focus with which I approach my work. If you’re struggling with rigid rules, try paring it down to the smallest, most simple rule that helps you move forward. It worked for me, and I hope it does for you.