the allure of productivity

Welcome To Create Pop!

“Don’t get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life.” - Dolly Parton

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Hi there everyone! I hope all is well, and yes, you're receiving this one week out to Memorial Day, which means May is almost over!

This month has brought some rocky and joyful moments. There have been days filled with crying, rejoicing, and...listening to Dolly.

Learning how Jolene (and some of my other favorite Dolly hits) came to be changed how I viewed celebrity productivity. Sometimes I still fall into the trap of thinking celebrities pull epic things out of their butts. I am always humbled when I learn this isn't the case.

It occurred to me -

'The myths of productivity are more enticing than realistic results'

This notion, as well, as the past few weeks have made me reevaluate what productivity means to me.

So let's talk about it!

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CREATIVE MINDSHIFT

POV: The Allure Of Productivity

"I am giving myself grace and space enough to see my projects with fresh eyes and understanding."

I consider myself a pretty organized person. My processes, goal sheets, and daily planners help me navigate from A to B. I was rolling through some tasks smoothly until one day I took a look at my project board for the following week. I was paralyzed.

I was instantly confronted with the feeling that these tasks weren't pushing the needle forward. They were busy tasks I set as an answer to my feelings of fear and uncertainty, and it caused immediate burnout.

The allure of productivity is dangerous because you can pile more on a plate, turning mountains out of a molehill, than necessary. Now I understand that slowing down and giving myself even more grace is essential than just ‘starting’ another project.

I’m not confessing that I'm halting all production on my projects, but I am giving myself grace and space enough to see my projects with fresh eyes and understanding.

If you're experiencing this same sense of hurriedness, step away where you can and allow yourself the room to evaluate what you need to do next.

Onto the next series, I hope you all enjoyed the freelance for beginners series (if you did please email and let me know, and anything else you may want me to cover). I wanted to take a short break to share a strategy I’ve been implementing in my business and ways you can do it too.

CREATIVE STRATEGY

How I'm Using Storytelling in Business and 5 Ways You Can Too

"I'm sharing my expertise, engaging with my audience, and building authentic content."

Storytelling in Business has always been a funny concept to me because storytelling IS my business. However, after experimenting with a core storytelling principle in one of my social posts I saw an immediate shift in my profile activity.

In that post, I'm sharing my expertise, engaging with my audience, and building authentic content.

I then experimented with different ‘modes’ of storytelling across my social platforms. I'm enjoying writing the content more and am seeing how my love of storytelling builds trust with my authentic audience. My follower count is increasing, and while that's not my sole focus, it's great to see my love of storytelling and good business combine.

If you want to see this in action and interesting ways you can implement storytelling in your business, read the post here. ​

Remember When Growing Up, Someone told us that reading won't poison your mind. Well, that person lied! After learning this insane historical fact behind 'Green Books' I was a little green with envy - and you may be too.

CREATIVE HIGHLIGHT

Poisonous Books In The Garden

"When vanity trumps safety. Every time."

It's no stranger that many 19th-century oddities were used to create most of today's products.

Coke was in actual Coke. Lead was used in dental fillings.

And apparently, arsenic was used in book covers and some bindings.

ARSENIC YOU SAY!

During the Victorian era, books became a fashionable accessory and started to be mass-produced. Shades of green grew in popularity and publishing industries had to meet demand quickly.

To do so, publishers found the cheaper option of mixing arsenic and copper would do the trick!

At first, these book bindings were a marvel to be held but over time visible signs from the poison stained the fingers of its holders and toxins began making their way into the lungs.

To shed light on this strange phenomenon the Poison Book Project was born.

I'm intrigued and excited by this strange phenomenon for several reasons!

A. This is every Y.A., Fantasy, Slytherin dream come to life.

B. The irony and ingenuity behind the fact that there are poisonous materials books!

But primarily, how the power of vanity and public opinion takes precedence over the health and safety of others.

There was no way the publishers didn't know that mixing arsenic in book bindings wouldn't have consequences. Yet, much like today, marketable beauty products were the standard to serve, not morals.

Also, why the color Green specifically was wanted is intriguing to me. Chrome-yellow toxic book covers (filled with lead and chromium) were widely seen too.

But through it all Green was the color to be had, and the demand for the color would constantly bulldoze the safety of others.

About a decade later, the infamous Radium girls suffered the same fate of their safety being subject to toxicity all for the sake of vanity. Their consequences were much more dire.

In my opinion, the popularity of the color Green is an Alien color to us (pun SO intended). It symbolizes wealth, healing, exploration, growth, life, and death.

To have rudimentary chemicals and substances that meet artistic demand no matter the consequences are staggering.

If you're reading this and thinking, "Gee! Maybe I have one of those somewhere." First off - so freaking cool!

Second, there are resources to help you navigate holding the book safely until you can pass it off to the right hands.

The good news is when handled properly arsenic isn't immediately fatal. BUT! It is still poison. I applaud the Poison Book Project for shedding light on ways poison made it into our reading material.

It's a great commentary on how the values of their world operate much in the same way today.

That's it for our newsletter! I hope you all enjoyed it. If so, drop us a line

Please share us with those you feel would like this content. Until next time!

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