Boredom, Life Lessons and Launching Your Personal Brand

How To Get Creative Through Boredom

I just spent 4 days in the countryside doing absolutely nothing.

• No meetings

• No strict schedule

• Minimal screen time

Just fields, terrible WiFi, and mind-numbing boredom.

I fought it at first.

But by day 2, something shifted: My best content ideas in months started flowing.

Turns out, your brain needs to get bored to breed new ideas.

The science: Boredom triggers your Default Mode Network (where the brain rests and is able to wander).

Here's a dead-simple framework to get creative through boredom:

Start the day slowly:

• Get outside and move

• Leave your phone behind

• Write out your thoughts on paper

Pause through the day with zero inputs:

• Walk without podcasts

• Shower without music

• Drive without calls

Evening wind down:

• No screens at night

• Read physical books

• Let your mind wander

You don't always need a silent retreat to reset.

Carving time throughout the day is just as effective.

It's hard to have breakthrough ideas when you're constantly flooding your brain with stimulants.

Embrace the stillness.

Note, that this isn’t an excuse to drop good habits. Despite the holiday season temptation, having a basic level of structure has kept me sane:

• Wake up and run

• Prioritize sleep

• Daily writing

9 Life Lessons I’m Taking Into 2025

Taking time out to reflect and look back is a superpower.

But neurotically trying to review and change everything in your life at once rarely works (trust me).

Instead, I look for the few nuggets which had the biggest impact.

Here are 9 things which changed how I think and work:

1. Become a midwit (simple is the best solution)

2. Up the intensity (outsized outcomes require outsized inputs)

3. Embrace authenticity (take what serves you and leave the rest)

4. Look for the win (reframe bad experiences and rewrite the script)

5. Only focus on the next problem (don’t solve problems you don’t have)

6. Do the thing scared (fear will always be there, move forward anyway)

7. Go upstream of goals (find the activities that create the desired outcomes

8. Schedule the meaningful things first (if it’s not planned it doesn’t get done)

9. Unlearn extreme productivity (obsessing over what matters and forget the rest)

For me, applying the above consistently led to the biggest change.

Nobody Has Shown You How To Write Like A Pro

So you want to start creating content in 2025?

But you’re struggling to start?

Maybe you’re busy researching copywriting frameworks, upgrading your desk and doing anything you can think of but writing.

Ever heard of the inversion technique? It’s great if you’re unsure what to do. It helps you start by figuring out what not to do.

If you want to start creating content, then what will guarantee you won’t become a content creator?

• Never writing

• Thinking about writing

• Reading books on writing

Stop learning and researching and start writing.

Here’s how to create your first post:

Look back through your journal and photo album for the past week.

Find 3 ideas:

• 1 thing you learned

• 1 framework you used

• 1 story you experienced

3 few hooks you can use:

1. Here is how X led to Y…

2. Stop doing X instead, do Y…

3. Something crazy just happened…

If you’re a B2B founder and looking to get serious about growing your LinkedIn in 2025, let’s talk.

Downtime Entertainment ❤️

📚 Current read for business: Profit First 

📚 Current read for fun: American Kingpin

🤓 Experimenting with: AI Agents

Have an awesome holiday season 🎊

Until next week

Tom ✌️