“For a long time, I called it procrastinating. I’d step away from my desk to unload the dishwasher or take a walk, then come back to find my thinking sharper and ideas suddenly clicking into place.”
Dr. Natalie Nixon is a creativity strategist and CEO of Figure 8 Thinking, whose book Move. Think. Rest. reframes productivity. Natalie has advised teams at Microsoft, Salesforce, Meta, and Comcast on creativity and innovation.
TAKEAWAYS
KPIs for the Future of Work
We’re still measuring productivity with factory-era metrics: output, speed, and efficiency. Those KPIs made sense during the Industrial Revolution, but innovation requires something different.
Instead of asking, How can I be more productive this week? ask, What might I cultivate this week? What might my team cultivate this quarter?
Cultivation makes space for the work that rarely shows up on a dashboard—deep thinking, experimentation, reflection, and prototyping—the very things that lead to breakthrough ideas.
Humor & Play
As a solopreneur, there’s no shortage of decisions—or self-doubt.
When negative voices creep in, I imagine my British PhD advisor saying, “Don’t take yourself too seriously.” Humor and play are incredibly important for our productivity.
To achieve fluency, ease, and even greater productivity, allow yourself to pause, unabashedly pay attention to your emotions, and let your intuition to guide you.
EXPERT ADVICE | MENTAL HEALTH
Dr. Maya Borgueta
Dr. Maya is a licensed clinical psychologist and the founder of Stella Nova Psychology — a practice dedicated to providing high-quality, compassionate therapy with a special focus on women in business, STEM, and other demanding fields.
Professional Self-Care Means Advocating for Appropriate Compensation
Self-care includes advocating for appropriate compensation for your work. After all, our financial well-being impacts virtually every other part of our lives. This type of self-advocacy can be profoundly uncomfortable for women, who are socialized to be self-sacrificing 'team players'. What's more, we can face real backlash for violating those norms when we do ask for more. If you're struggling, I recommend a two-pronged approach: Working with a therapist or coach to move past the internal barriers, and learning what's actually worked from peers or mentors in your field to figure out the tactical piece.