As you can see, I am a master of Getting Shit Done.
From my unbelievably prolific and *cough* consistent *cough* blog posts, my plays performed several months apart, and a whole bunch of stuff I’ve been working on behind the scenes but has yet to actually be birthed into reality, you know that I am. A master. Of getting shit done. That is.
If you want to be a productivity machine like me, well, I have a few simple tips for you.
Ah, the sweet, sweet chaos of being a badass
1. Think of a thing to do
I know this sounds obvious, but you really do need to think of a thing to do. And you know what? You probably have a lot of things you can think of! Make a list of them! Just get ‘em down there and don’t worry if any of them suck - you can weed those out later.
2. Pick one
So you have your list of things. All you need to do is pick one and stick with it.
That novel idea sounds really tantalizing. You should work on - hm, maybe the Youtube video series. Or that… that podcast…
Oh geez, this is a really tough decision isn’t it?
Um, I kind of want to do them all so I… yeah. Yeah! I can do those all. Totally. I can record an EP at the same time I’m writing a serialized novel on a Wordpress website. Yeah, that’s fine. And also blog and Youtube and podcast and… hm, that play really needs to be written too…
3. Fuck it! Let’s do them all!
This is great! Having so many projects means I’ll never be bored! I’ll always have something to work on! If I get writer’s block on my novel about sentient spiders who are enlisted by the military to deal with sentient terrorist bugs, then I can jump over to that grindcore EP and work a whole different muscle! It’s great! Let’s do it!
4. Okay, but you do need to pick one to start on.
Haha, yeah. Of course. Duh. Which one calls to me right now?
Well, the spider novel is very socially relevant so…
Mm, but I don’t know. I just don’t feel like writing right now.
Well, I’ve got these song lyrics, so maybe I can lay down a guitar part…
Gah, mixing. That shit’s tough.
Well, the podcast is pretty low effort -
Urgh, but I really hate the sound of my own voice and also I can spend way too long editing the most pointless shit on audio so maybe not…
The Youtube video essay series about cults. For sure. Yes. That one - but I only have Windows Movie Maker. Is that good enough? That’s not good enough at all.
Hm… shit. Um…
5. Seriously, you need to just pick one and start working on it.
Sh! I know! Stop interrupting me. I’m thinking. I‘m thinking… I just… have to weigh the pros and cons… and consider my feelings… what are my feelings? Oh god, I can’t feel anything… Wait, no, I feel something. It’s panic. I feel panic. I feel something. Okay, you can do this… pick one….
6. Drew. Pick one. Please.
Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm….
7. For fuck’s sake. Anything. Just start something and work it to completion. Anything. A short story even.
I’m not very good at short stories.
8. DREW.
I know, I know! I’m sorry. I’ve got a little bit of option paralysis right now. I just... I’m not sure what I want to put my time into. It’s quite a commitment and what if I want to do something else later?
9. PICK. O-
Ooh, Lindsay Ellis released a new video.
10. Drew, no -
And Contrapoints too? Oh my god, this is my lucky day.
11. Drew, please, you have so much time today, use it for creativity -
You know what? I think I’ll watch a bunch of video essays today. Hell yeah. I’ll rewatch all of Hbomberguy’s stuff too. Fuck yeah. This is great. This is awesome. This’ll give me more ideas!
12. No…
Right folks, so this is how you Get Shit Done, the Drew Petriello Method! Hope it was super practical and informative. Blog to you later, fam!