Intuitive Productivity: No Pressure, Just Freedom

A Year Without Resolutions or Goals (and Why That’s Okay)

It’s that time of year. My inbox is full of emails that feed the cultural frenzy around New Year’s resolutions, goal-setting, and choosing a word for the year. Buy a program, purchase a course, get a journal, get a productivity app, or set rigid goals, they say. Words like accountability or discipline dominate the conversation, painting a picture of success that can be somehow measured through sheer effort and kept on track through mutual shaming.

I stopped doing all of it.

While they can be valuable, the undertone of that conversation is strong: performance. That if you can’t push yourself harder and get those things achieved, you’re falling short somehow.

I’ve spent most of my life trying to fit into a flow that someone else prescribed (self-help books, podcasts, planners). Midlife is a great time to release the oughts.

Photo by Iga Palacz on Unsplash

The Problem with “Shoulds” and “Oughts”

What happens when your brain is filled with shoulds and oughts? Mine shuts down. I get burned out. Feel guilty. Feel trapped in expectations. And it sucks the joy out of the things I’m passionate about.

I experienced something similar in my lifetime when it came to food and exercise goals. Yep. Those messages are in my inbox right now too. But over the last few years, I’ve been learning how to trust my inner compass when it comes to food. It’s appealing to follow a rigid plan. Terrifying to follow no plan at all. But it’s also so freeing. My body tells me a lot about what it needs.

And that’s why I’m taking a different approach to productivity too. If intuitive eating works, why can’t intuitive productivity work too?

What Is Intuitive Productivity?

Like intuitive eating, intuitive productivity is not about rigid rules or shaming yourself when you didn’t do things according to plan. It isn’t a free-for-all. It’s intentional. Listening to what you need to feel your best and pursuing what aligns with your passions and instincts. Using time in a way that fulfills.

Reading a book, having coffee with a friend, worshiping with others at church, and publishing a new book are all part of what satisfies me at the core.

Intuitive productivity is about tuning into the rhythm of your creativity and focusing your energy on what truly matters, trusting yourself to know what fits that definition. Balancing rest and sabbath and work. It’s letting that guide your actions rather than forcing yourself into someone else’s mold of productivity.

I’ve practiced this myself by listening to my own biofeedback. I used to try to set a schedule based on what most people do: get up, exercise, shower, have breakfast, get to work. As a freelancer, I can change up my wake times and routine. I’ve realized that my 55+ body is too stiff to pop out of bed and hop onto an elliptical. So my productivity can look very different. It can include some work in my office in my leggings and sweatshirt with plans to exercise and shower mid-day. Sometimes the exercise doesn’t happen. Occasionally, the shower doesn’t happen. Breakfast is when I feel hungry. Work breaks happen when I need to stretch. Projects shift and swap between days. But I often resist this flow because it feels “wrong.”

Photo by Resume Genius on Unsplash

Freedom to Create

Intuitive productivity means giving myself permission to make what works for me the right method.

Long-range, I do have goals. If I didn’t, books wouldn’t get written or published. Postcast episodes wouldn’t drop weekly on Wednesday. But I block out time in my calendar far ahead, and when that time arrives, I decide on what tasks are on the list for that week. I don’t feel guilty when I hear of writer friends who set a word count goal for every day and get up and write at 5:30 every morning. Or the ones who plan out goals for the whole year and write from 8:00 to noon every Friday. That’s what intuitively brings them joy.

You don’t have to abandon your ambition to prioritize passion and presence above pressure.

How might intuitive productivity look for you?

• Focus on what excites you most today or this week.

• Follow your energy—lean into tasks or projects that feel natural and inspiring.

• Use reflective practices (like journaling or prayer conversations with God) to stay in touch with what matters most.

• Celebrate progress instead of measuring against rigid benchmarks.

I’ll be going into this in-depth in next week’s podcast episode.

Wildly Free, Wildly Successful

It might surprise a lot of people to know that even though I’m a highly productive person who loves to achieve tasks and check off boxes, I still have an intense need for flexibility and freedom. The beauty of working from a place of freedom is that it isn’t only productive but deeply fulfilling.

This year, why not give yourself permission to let go of the "shoulds" that weigh you down? Trust yourself to know what truly matters and what energizes you. Instead of chasing arbitrary expectations or measuring success by someone else’s standards, embrace the freedom to focus on what aligns with your passions and instincts.

It sounds scary, right? As if you’ll find yourself binge-watching seasons of Netflix shows and eating gallons of ice cream instead of accomplishing your passions? Trust me. I watch way less TV since getting rid of shoulds. I accomplish more without specific step-by-step goals than I did with four-page annual goals lists!

By releasing the pressure to perform and leaning into what feels meaningful, you’ll find that productivity becomes not only more natural but also more fulfilling.