My Rules to Getting Stuff Done #WriteAPageADay #700

My Manifesto

I. Wake Up with a Question, Not an Answer

Today is a mouthful of unchewed dreams,
a sky draped in unfinished paragraphs.
I wake up and ask the ceiling,
“What is the sound of an undone thing?”
It does not reply, but the silence bends—
stretching itself into a to-do list I never wrote.
The morning coffee watches me.
I sip it slow. Let the rules unravel.

II. Forget the Clock, Listen to the Pulse

I do not wear watches.
Time is a metronome tapping inside my ribs.
Tick-tock, they say. Tick-what, I reply.
I count urgency by the number of breaths
between a thought and its execution.
Some tasks are fireflies—grab them now.
Some are old oak trees—let them grow.
I let my bones dictate the rhythm.
Productivity is a waltz with no fixed tempo.

III. Make Chaos a Co-Conspirator

The desk is an archeological dig—
fossilized sticky notes, notebooks in rebellion.
A coffee ring becomes a map,
leading me to unfinished poems.
I do not clean; I curate.
Creativity is a storm. I let it scatter.
To organize is to kill the wild idea.
To plan is to choke possibility.
Let the clutter breathe.
Let the mess tell me what’s next.

IV. Procrastinate with Purpose

I sharpen pencils I will never use.
I scroll through oblivion.
I stare at a blank screen until it stares back.
This is not laziness—it is incubation.
A task ripens in avoidance.
I wait for the itch,
for the unscratchable whisper that says,
"Now. Now is the time."
And then, like a thief in my own mind,
I strike.

V. Doubt is an Engine, Not a Roadblock

Some say doubt is a wall.
I say doubt is a tunnel—
dark, but leading somewhere.
Every idea argues with itself.
I let it. I watch the fight.
A hesitant hand still paints.
A trembling voice still speaks.
A second guess is a second draft.
Doubt is the friction that sparks the match.

VI. Write a Love Letter to the Unfinished

I whisper sweet nothings to the half-done.
Unfinished stories, unfinished thoughts,
unfinished paintings in my head.
I do not curse the undone.
I serenade it.
Completion is an illusion—
everything is always becoming.
I let the undone things breathe
because they are still alive.

VII. Break the Rule of Consistency

I do not work the same way twice.
Routine is a well-fed jailer.
One day, I write standing up.
One day, I write upside down.
One day, I do not write at all.
Momentum is a mirage.
I move in fits and starts,
erratic, electric, endless.
To change is to stay in motion.

VIII. Find Rituals in the Unplanned

There are no schedules—only spells.
A walk becomes a conference with the wind.
A shower becomes a baptism of new thoughts.
A song on repeat becomes hypnosis.
I do not plan the magic.
I recognize it when it arrives.

IX. Burn the Deadline, Keep the Fire

Deadlines are funeral processions
for ideas born premature.
I set a fire instead.
A goal is not a guillotine;
it is a bonfire, pulling me closer.
If I miss it, I do not mourn.
I dance in the embers
and set another flame.

X. Measure Progress in Shadows, Not Steps

A checklist is a lie.
A day spent thinking is still a day spent working.
A nap can be progress.
A distraction can be an answer.
I do not measure by numbers.
I measure by echoes—
how far my thoughts have traveled,
how deep my ideas have rooted.

XI. Celebrate the Absurd Victory

Did I find a lost notebook today?
That counts.
Did I solve a problem while washing dishes?
That counts.
Did I stare at the sky and name a new cloud?
That counts.
There is no small progress.
There is only movement,
and movement is everything.

XII. Forget the Finish Line

Completion is a mirage.
No masterpiece is ever done,
only abandoned at the right moment.
I do not chase the end.
I let it find me when it is ready.
And when it does,
I bow to the unfinished ghosts,
the whispers of ideas still forming.
I tell them, “I will return.”
And I do.

And That’s How I Get Stuff Done.

#PoetryManifesto #CreativeProcess #GetStuffDone #ProductivityUnplugged #ArtisticFlow #UnfinishedMasterpieces #ChaosAndOrder #WorkYourWay #MindfulProcrastination