Every minute you spend hosting your own pity party is 60 seconds you delay working on a solution. Mentally strong people refuse to waste their precious time and energy dwelling on their misery. Instead, they devote their finite resources to productive activities that can improve their situation.

Don't worry about being original, [Annie Dillard] said dismissively. Yes, everything's been written, but also, the thing you want to write, before you wrote it, was impossible to write. Otherwise it would already exist. Your writing makes it possible.

– How to Write an Autobiographical Novel by Alexander Chee

Talent isn't enough, [Annie Dillard] had told us. Writing is work. Anyone can do this, anyone can learn to do this. It's not rocket science; it's habits of mind and habits of work. I started with people much more talented than me, she said, and they're dead or in jail or not writing. The difference between me and them is that I'm writing.

– How to Write an Autobiographical Novel by Alexander Chee

replace the idea of being 'productive' with instead being 'processive' - you cannot expect to build something new every day, you can expect to advance deeper into the process given a sufficiently strong intention

True optimization is just being who the fuck you are.