Welcome to Doug’s Newsletter. Every Thursday, I share one tip for reclaiming the freedom of your time.

Today’s Setlist

🎩 One Tip → Planning Brain or Doing Brain? Know which one you're using

😄 Funny Business → Where’s Waldo?

📊 Community Poll → Aw sheet, it’s a tough one

🎩 One Tip: Planning Brain or Doing Brain? Know which one you're using

Are you a planner or a doer?

Probably both, and that’s great! But if you try to do both at the same time, you do neither.

Right now, you’re reading this email; you’re doing. And I imagine you’re willing to spend your time reading this because you feel there’s something valuable to learn.

If you are also planning while reading this — thinking about what you have on your plate today, or how you’re going to respond to that passive aggressive comment from your neighbor, Brad — there’s no chance you’re gonna find your helpful needle in the haystack of my newsletter.

Understanding whether you're in your Planning Brain or Doing Brain mode can make a world of difference in how effectively you spend your time. Let’s dive into the art of balancing these two modes of operating.

Planning Brain is all about organizing yourself so in the future your Doing Brain can “do” fully, without Planning Brain feeling any need to interject.

It's your big-picture thinking mode, where you set goals, prioritize tasks, and break down stuck areas into smaller steps. This is the brain that asks, “What do I want to do (or not do)? Why do I want to do it? How can I do it?”

Doing Brain is about acting on your answers to those questions.

It's the mode where you dive in fully to “work” on the tasks you’ve outlined.

I put work in quotes because your doing time shouldn’t feel like work. You decided what to do, why you’re doing it, and how you’re doing it. And if you don’t feel that’s true in your body, mind, and soul, Planning Brain is always available to help you figure out why and what to do about it. Doing Brain asks no questions, it just executes; it trusts Planning Brain is wisely deciding how Doing Brain will spend its time.

The goal is to cycle between Planning Brain and Doing Brain based on what you need.

The reality is we spend most our time in Doing Brain, not conscious of what we’re doing or why. Think: scrolling social media.

It’s not just that Doing Brain is attractive — Planning Brain often is not. It’s scary and difficult to think long term and craft elaborate, hypothetical roadmaps.

But I have good news: Planning is NEVER as bad as you expected, and you ALWAYS feel better after.

Try the exercise below and if I am wrong, I’ll help you get revenge on Brad.

♟️Your Turn: A 10-minute project orientation

Tiago Forte — the creator of Building A Second Brain I mentioned a few weeks ago — has a 10-minute project orientation technique that is a fantastic way to harness your Planning Brain quickly & effectively, without needing long-term goals in place.

Here’s how you can apply this strategy to set yourself up for success once you default back to Doing Brain. Revisit it as often as needed:

1. Write Down Your Five Priority Projects: Start by selecting the top five projects you want to focus on for the week. These should be the ones that align most with your priorities, not anyone else’s.

   Note: Having long-term goals makes this step easier, but is not needed. On a meta level, “Schedule and execute a goal-setting session” would be a great project if you find yourself wanting goals!

2. Select One Actionable Step for Each: For each project, identify one specific, actionable step you can take. This helps break down larger projects into manageable tasks.

3. Estimate Time for Each Step: Gauge how much time you’ll need for each step. Try to overestimate to ensure you don’t feel rushed and can commit fully during your Doing mode.

4. Block Time in Your Calendar: Here’s where you bring your plan to life. Schedule time blocks in your calendar for each step. This solidifies the commitment and when the time comes, makes any avoidance conscious. Personally, it also serves as prevention from unconsciously jumping in to Doing one of the steps immediately while I’m supposed to be in Planning mode.

This week or weekend, take 10 minutes to orient yourself with Planning Brain. Put it in your calendar 😀 

You might be surprised at how much more in control and motivated you feel for the week ahead.

😄 Funny Business

k.o.h.l.i.o

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📊 Community Poll

Results from last week’s question: Do you brush the roof of your mouth with your toothbrush?

Another tie! Now I’m curious how long we can keep this streak going…we’re up to 13 SUBSCRIBERS, so it’s gonna be tricky.

On to this week’s question…

This was inspired by a shocking revelation by my sister, Jesse. Was she too often or too frequent? Am I the one with the crazy schedule?? We’ll find out next week.

How I Can Help

Whenever you’re ready, here are 2 ways for us to work together:

1. Grab time with me for a 1:1 session on community, consumer-driven research, or anything else.

2. Join me at a 4-hour retreat.

When you arise in the morning think of what a privilege it is to be alive, to think, to enjoy, to love…