Productivity ebbs and flows. I'm self-employed and I'm not forced to be productive. Some days I work from dusk until dawn, and others I just send an email. The

Productivity ebbs and flows. I'm self-employed and I'm not forced to be productive. Some days I work from dusk until dawn, and others I just send an email. The best part of this arrangement is that I don't need to pretend otherwise. I am human. Sometimes I sleep poorly. Sometimes I have more important things to do than work. Sometimes I frankly just don't feel like it. I get more done overall if I accept this and give myself space to recover. You are a garden, not a machine. Your intellectual output is subject to external conditions. It can't be exploited with the regularity of a well-oiled machine.