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- Issue No. 148: How to stop doomscrolling and get your motivation back
Issue No. 148: How to stop doomscrolling and get your motivation back
When to Let Go of Old Goals
Jenae Spry
January 17, 2025
In partnership with
Productivity Express
Issue No. 148
The Best in Evidenced-Based Productivity
for Small Business Owners, Freelancers & Founders
Helping You Work Smarter and Live More
The Rundown
When to Let Go of Old Goals
Entrepreneurs Use Social Media All Wrong. Instead of Creating Content, Treat Your Profile Like A Sales Page
How to stop doomscrolling and get your motivation back
I tried an open-source alternative to Notion, Trello, and Asana and it blew my mind
What is RAG in AI? The low-down on Retrieval Augmented Generation
Add this book to your reading list
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🔥Quote/Prompt
Whatever you’re ready for is ready for you.
Use the quote as a writing or thinking prompt to finish your week strong.
A bit from mine:
(posted in our Doer Entrepreneurs Free Community — off social media)
Do you ever say "no" to yourself before you even give others the option to say "yes"?
This is something that I talk about relatively frequently because it's really important. Often the fear of rejection (or, let's be real, actual rejection) causes us to […]
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📈 Performance
That nagging project you've been dragging along for months? The half-finished certification that's collecting digital dust? Sometimes the most productive thing you can do is hit pause and reevaluate. Research suggests that holding onto goals just because we "should" finish them might be hurting both our productivity and wellbeing.
"The research shows that pursuing goals primarily due to internal motivation and personal meaning leads to better outcomes than continuing solely due to external pressures or a rigid sense of obligation. When we're driven by genuine interest rather than guilt or others' expectations, we're more likely to either succeed or make the healthy choice to let go."
Key Insights:
Motivation matters: Goals pursued for personal growth and meaning show better outcomes than those driven by external pressure. For example, learning a new skill because you're genuinely interested versus doing it because someone said you should.
The "action crisis" phenomenon occurs when we're stuck between persisting and quitting - recognizing this state helps inform better decisions, like when that side project no longer aligns with your business direction.
Holding onto unfulfilling goals out of obligation can increase stress and decrease overall wellbeing, such as maintaining a service offering that drains you just because it was part of your original business plan.
Read the full article for a research-backed framework to evaluate your current goals, identify which ones might be holding you back, and develop a healthier approach to goal-setting that prioritizes meaningful progress over mere completion.
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⚙️ Optimization
Running a business means constantly choosing where to spend your limited time and energy. While everyone's talking about cranking out endless social media content, what if that's actually holding you back? Entrepreneur challenges the content hamster wheel approach that's burning out business owners.
"Most entrepreneurs get caught in an endless cycle of content creation, mistaking visibility for profitability. The key isn't to compete with full-time content creators—it's to convert the attention you already have through strategic positioning and clear calls to action."
Key Insights:
Social proof and testimonials on your profile convert better than viral content that doesn't speak to your target customer's needs, such as featuring client success stories prominently in your bio and pinned posts.
Your social media presence should function like a conversion tool, not a content library that requires constant feeding, like using your profile header to showcase your most compelling offer rather than your latest blog post.
Building relationships with existing audiences in your niche brings better results than trying to build your own audience from scratch, such as partnering with established accounts that already serve your target market.
Read the full article for a detailed case study of how one business owner tripled their conversion rate by treating their social profile like a sales page instead of a content calendar.
⏲️ Time Management
That endless social media scroll isn't just eating up your time - it's draining your creative energy and motivation too. While we often blame ourselves for lacking discipline, Fast Company says these platforms are actually designed to keep us stuck in scroll mode, and more importantly, explains how to break free.
"You can't be creative or productive without actively inputting new sources of inspiration and material into your system. The goal here is not to ingest a certain quota of 'content' in lieu of the scrollable type, but to allow your brain to be exposed to different, IRL sensations while you're taking a break."
Key Insights:
Schedule a designated scrolling time during your day - like setting a lunch break, having a specific hour for social media helps contain it and makes it more enjoyable, such as mid-afternoon rather than first thing in the morning.
Treat creativity like a bank account that needs both deposits and withdrawals, such as visiting an art gallery or trying a new coffee shop to gather fresh perspectives before expecting creative output.
Use technology intentionally by setting up digital boundaries, like removing social apps from your phone and only accessing them via desktop during designated times.
Read the full article for a complete input/output framework for managing your creative energy and specific tools to lock down distracting apps.
💻 Tools & Technology
Tired of paying premium prices for project management tools that don't even work offline? Enter AppFlowy, an open-source powerhouse that's challenging the notion that you need expensive subscriptions to stay organized. This fresh take on productivity tools puts you back in control of both your workflow and your data. This isn’t sponsored, we just think the tool is worth a look!
"AppFlowy's open source nature is what truly sets it apart from closed ecosystems like Notion, Trello, and Asana. It ensures transparency, as you can inspect the code, understand how the app works, and be confident that there are no hidden agendas."
Key Insights:
Access your work anywhere with true cross-platform compatibility, such as seamlessly transitioning from drafting on your phone during commute to finalizing on your laptop at the office.
Break free from the constant internet connection requirement with robust offline functionality, like continuing to edit your documents even when your WiFi drops.
Customize your workspace completely with an extensive template collection, such as transforming the default CRM template into a specialized customer tracking system for your specific industry needs.
Read the full article for a detailed walkthrough of AppFlowy's features, real-world applications, and setup instructions for getting started with this open-source alternative.
🤖 AI
Tired of AI that confidently makes stuff up? (Hello glue pizza!) RAG (Retrieval Augmented Generation) is transforming how AI delivers information by grounding its responses in real data. This breakthrough approach combines AI's creative abilities with reliable fact-checking, making it a game-changer for business owners looking for trustworthy AI solutions.
"RAG bridges the gap between static training data and real-time updates, creating a truly dynamic and efficient solution. With RAG, AI has fewer chances to drift off-script and more reasons to stick to the truth. Not only does this make the AI's answers more accurate, but it also makes them more transparent."
Key Insights:
RAG acts like having a librarian checking facts before an AI responds, such as pulling in current pricing data before making financial recommendations.
It maintains accuracy without constant retraining, like connecting customer service chatbots to your latest product documentation and FAQs rather than needing updates for every change.
RAG brings transparency to AI responses by showing where information comes from, such as citing specific database entries or documentation that informed its answers.
Read the full article for a detailed breakdown of how RAG works, real-world applications across industries, and key challenges and solutions in implementation.
👀 Read, Watch, Listen
This week’s awesome books, YouTube videos, newsletters, etc. to add to your list!
I have definitely recommended this book before but it’s currently on Kindle Unlimited if you have that. If not, just get it. I just finished a Deep Dive 1:1 session with a client today and I’m telling you, the lessons in this book come up over and over. Many of my clients are on their 2nd or 3rd read of this book to get it to sink in because the lessons here are SO massive and can make such a huge difference. It’s probably the most practical and science-based book I have read on a topic that often feels way too “woo” or “fluffy” so if you’re anti-woo pro-logic and science like me, you want this book.
🎉 Celebration Corner
Every week Doers Inner Circle members do a weekly review & get help when they need it — check out the progress they made this week!
Time blocking helped to complete tasks and also quickly adjust goal timelines.
I made progress toward the [business] course.
Good progress on the [business] sheet.
I made progress on my goals for this week/month.
What did you do this week? We feature non-member successes too. Just post them here!
🔒Inner Circle: Events & Announcements
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I hope you found this valuable!
Wishing you much productivity!
- Jenae :)
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