Welcome to Issue 60 of Writing and Other Stuff, a newsletter by me, Kim Scaravelli, filled with fresh ideas to help you write with flair, flex your creative muscles, and build a strong brand voice. Thanks for reading! If a friend forwarded this email to you, say thank you - and subscribe here.
Last week, I fell into a super-deep rabbit hole.
It started with good intentions. I just wanted to update the service offerings on my website. Easy peasy.
But the process got me looking at other people's websites. And that's when I carelessly ventured down the rabbit hole.
OTHER PEOPLE HAVE SUCH COOL STUFF!
Freebie pages filled with checklists, guides, and videos. Online courses and Mastermind groups. And quizzes. 🤯SO MANY quizzes.
Plus, behind all this cool stuff, there's an elaborate web of sales funnels and email sequences leading the checklist downloaders one way, and the quiz takers another way - It's wild!
I felt an immediate, intense need to "keep up with the Jones's", as my grandmother liked to say. I wanted ALL the cool stuff!
Whoosh...
Suddenly unable to separate my needs from my wants, I slid so far down that rabbit hole that sunlight became a foggy memory.
Lost a full day - and a large portion of my sanity - trying to format documents in Canva, so they looked as fancy as the ones I saw on OTHER PEOPLE's websites.
Lost another half-day exploring various Quiz making sites (and trying to justify the expense of those subscriptions. 💰💰💰Wow!).
By Friday, I was overwhelmed and stressed. My to-do list had morphed into a novel and I had accomplished virtually nothing. In fact, I hadn't even completed the necessary stuff that clients pay me for.
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Cool quote
“The hurrier I go, the behinder I get.”
Lewis Carroll, author of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
So how did I climb out of the rabbit hole?
The dangerous thing about a rabbit hole is that it's not anchored in reality. It's not just a complicated situation - It's a confusing pathway that leads you further and further away from common sense and logic, and wraps your brain in chaos and disorder.
So the first step to getting OUT is to stop going further IN...
STEP ONE: Stop digging! Close your laptop. Turn off your phone. Then sit down with a pen and paper and write down EVERY SINGLE THING you think you need to do.
Don't try to prioritize it or turn it into an action plan or a checklist. Just write it all down.
When you've moved EVERYTHING out of your head and onto the pages of a notebook, close that notebook and put it in a drawer. Leave it there for at least two days. A week is even better.
By the time you return to those pages, you will be better able to separate needs from wants, and wants from unnecessary foolishness.
STEP TWO: Remember what kickstarted this ridiculous journey.
What was the THING you wanted or needed initially? (I wanted to find clever ways to present the service offerings on my website).
Don't start hunting for answers again! It's too soon for that.
Instead, take 15 minutes to develop more CLARITY and create TIMELINES related to that want/need and how to fulfill it. For instance, in this case, I decided that I should:
- Google "professional brand voice coaches" and bookmark 3 folks who present their services creatively. (1 hour)
- Ponder what I like most about those service pages. (30 minutes)
- Delete the bookmarks and work on my own page. (1 hour)
It became obvious that I needed 2 hours to properly research, think, and act. Note that there is nothing here about freebie pages, email sequences, or quizzes!
STEP THREE: Do something physical and totally unrelated to the THING that pulled you into the rabbit hole.
Stop thinking for at least an hour. Clean your workspace. Bake muffins. Organize a closet (There's ALWAYS a messy closet somewhere!)
Do something that doesn't involve your phone, your laptop, or your brain power.
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🥳Proud to say that I am back on solid ground. Services pages should be done by Friday. And who knows? Maybe I'll create some freebies and quizzes. But not today. That notebook full of EVERYTHING is staying in a closed drawer until Monday of next week!
Stuff Worth Sharing!
If you want to create content that converts folks into clients, my friend Deb Coman is your person! Check out her services: https://debcoman.com/services
She recently shared this pearl of wisdom with me:
🚀On the day AFTER you send out your newsletter, RESEND it to the folks who didn't open it.
This one simple thing can massively boost your open rate - and get more eyeballs on your content. I'm going to try it tomorrow!
For the Word Nerds
While I was in the rabbit hole, I found a fun quiz for word nerds: https://www.britannica.com/quiz/word-nerd-fact-or-fiction
(I got 9/10)
I also discovered that bluetooth was named after a Danish king who united various groups from different places; a jiffy is one-trillionith of a second, and pogonophobia is the fear of beards.
😂 You learn a lot of strange stuff when you spend time in a rabbit hole.
Thanks for reading. I'll see you again August 21st. In the meantime, if you like my newsletter, here are 3 easy-peasy ways to show your support. Pick your favourite now, before you forget!
