The Art Of Creating Consistently Without Forcing It

Fabio Gampl · May 16, 2025

Don't confuse motion with action.
Benjamin Franklinn

Most people think productivity is about doing more.

More hours.

More output.

More checkmarks on a to-do list.

More “hustle”.

That’s the message we constantly get from school, work culture, social media, and books.

We always need to do more, or otherwise we will “fall behind”.

We can't rest anymore without feeling guilty.

We try to distract ourselves from the discomfort.

So we scroll through Instagram, watching people our age travel the world, build creative careers, and live “perfect” lives.

Instead of feeling inspired, we start to compare.

And with each scroll, we sink a little deeper.

We get trapped.

But maybe there's another way.

A healthier, more meaningful approach.

One that not only improves your well-being but also helps you reach your goals faster.

The key lies not in motion, but in intention.

This way of thinking flips the perspective and invites depth.

It shifts focus from quantity to quality.

From external performance to internal motivation.

From mindless action to intentional living.

That's what this letter is about.

Let's start!

Understanding The Two Productivity Modes

Lately, I’ve been struggling with productivity.

I moved from a quiet town in Germany to the chaotic, yet beautiful city of Istanbul.

new culture.

new people.

new environment.

new experiences.

And yet, something inside me couldn’t fully settle.

It was all exciting, but something held me back from truly enjoying it.

My old routines didn’t work anymore, and my productivity dropped.

I started blaming myself.

I tried to force myself to get back to work, but the energy wasn’t there.

So I paused...

took a step back and questioned how I had defined productivity in the first place.

Slowly, a new perspective began to form.

The first shift came when I realized this:

There are two core forces that drive productivity:

Survival and Aspiration.

Most of our actions fall somewhere along the spectrum between these two forces.

Both can help us to be more productive.

However, one of them has many negative consequences.

Aspiration Mode vs. Survival Mode

“We get lost in doing, in the urgency of survival, and we forget we are human beings.”
– Tara Brach

In today’s culture, productivity is often driven by survival.

You open TikTok or Instagram and see 20-year-olds talking about their six-figure businesses, their morning routines at 5 a.m., their side hustles, gym progress, and “no excuses” mindset.

While there’s nothing wrong with ambition or routines, when these highlight reels become our benchmarks, it can create unrealistic expectations and distort our perception of what’s “normal” or “enough.”

Productivity turns into pressure.

Work becomes a way to prove we’re valuable.

That’s survival mode.

When we think of survival mode, we often imagine extreme situations like:

However, there's another kind, less obvious but with just as much impact:

psychological survival.

That’s when what’s under threat isn’t our body but our identity.

Our sense of self.

Psychological survival starts when we feel our self-worth, social mask, or belonging is in danger.

It’s the panic when your idea gets ignored

It’s the shutdown after posting your art online and getting silence.

The overthinking after you tried something new.

In these moments, we’re not trying to stay alive, we’re trying to stay someone.

Someone coherent, valuable, safe in the eyes of others.

Because we don’t exist in isolation. We constantly build our identity in relation to others, how they see us, how we want to be seen, who we believe we are.

So when something shakes that, it can feel like a threat to the self itself.

And the mind goes into survival mode.

When I arrived in Istanbul, I noticed that my urge to be productive arose from the fear of falling behind.

The feeling that everyone else is moving faster, doing more, becoming better, while I'm stuck.

Comparison on overdrive.

That's why my inner stage changed:

Acting out of survival mode narrows our lens on productivity.

You either distract yourself from or get into tunnel vision.

Moving, but not seeing.

Like sprinting toward a destination without ever stopping to check if you’re on the right road.

Though it can be helpful at times, relying on it as your primary motivator often comes at a cost.

Survival mode doesn't allow rest,

or experimentation,

or introspection,

or play.

The only rule is to be in motion.

Yet there is an important difference between being in motion and taking the highest leverage action.

To achieve the second option, we have to switch to Aspiration Mode.

This mode is different.

It doesn't narrow but expands our lens.

Our definition of productivity widens.

Instead of blindly sprinting down the first road, we allow ourselves to stop, study the map, and take the best path to our desired destination.

When acting from aspiration, the underlying motivations are our values, curiosity, and desire to create something meaningful.

Instead of forcing yourself into a static system working like a robot, this approach allows more flexibility.

It invites a deeper question:

What’s the best thing I can do right now to move in the right direction?

To help you answer this question, I will give you a framework of the four different project phases you could be in right now and how to change your definition of productivity accordingly.

The 4 Phases Of Every Project

"To everything there is a season. A time to be born, a time to die; A time to plant, and a time to pluck up; A time to kill, and a time to heal; A time to break down, and a time to build up."
- Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

Each creative project is composed of four phases.

You can zoom in or out.

Apply it to your entire life, a season, an artwork, or even a single idea.

The pattern stays the same. The scale is up to you.

The first phase, with which everything begins, is one of being in between chapters.

It's the Lost Phase.

The Lost Phase

You feel stuck or low.

Nothing makes sense.

You need rest, time alone, and space to think.

It's like standing on a crossroad with unlimited different directions to go down.

It's overwhelming.

We feel the need to distract ourselves from this discomfort, which leads us to stay longer in this phase.

Instead, try to shift your perspective and see these things as being productive:

This phase is all about checking in with our values, reflecting on earlier choices, and sitting still in uncertainty until the right direction appears.

The Spark Phase

A new idea or goal gives you direction.

You feel more energy, hope, and motivation.

You finally found the one road you want to go down.

These things become our definition of productivity:

It's all about Inspiration and quality input, which helps us define the next steps we have to take.

The Flow Phase

You're in the flow.

Things are working.

You're making progress and feeling strong.

When having this momentum, the standard “hustle” advice becomes more practical.

Now, working for long hours and focusing on one thing becomes the definition of productivity.

However, the difference is that it gives you energy instead of taking it, because now you are not running away but towards something.

The End Phase

It starts to feel old or empty.

Your energy drops.

It's time to finish and move on.

You either achieved your goal or failed.

Either way, it was successful.

You learned a lot and revealed one more layer about yourself.

In this phase, productivity is all about finding an end, finishing the work, and enjoying the view you arrived at.

Till everything starts from the beginning again.

So to sum this up:

When you're in aspiration mode, you’re more aligned with your values, creativity, and long-term goals. This makes it easier to be aware of your current phase and act accordingly, instead of forcing yourself into a single, rigid productivity standard.

Some days, it’s all about making progress and staying focused.

Other days, it’s about taking a step back and figuring out what’s even worth focusing on.

Moving to Istanbul taught me that productivity looks different depending on where you are in life.

For me, it was a season of new experiences, meeting people, exploring ideas, and reading books that sparked my new interest in writing.

That’s what led to this letter.

I’m publishing a new one every two weeks to help you stay consistent on your creative path.

Thank you for reading.

Fabio

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