At the end of 2025, I noticed more than a few people on social media gently bemoaning their lack of productivity over the past year. I realized that if you were to go through each of the Nine Precepts and do a self-assessment on how well you had used each one, that might give you some insight on how to be able to create more.
For each Precept, I linked to that Precept’s explanatory page for anyone who hasn’t read the book or been around here for very long. (Each page is only a couple of paragraphs; you’re not getting into War and Peace here.)
I gave some journal prompts to consider and then answer in your WASTE BOOK. Propose a solution if one occurs to you. Yes, this is an assignment.
Finally, on the blog posts, I gave my own assessment of my work habits for 2025.
The original blog posts are here:
Part 1: TASK AVOIDANCE and WASTE BOOKS
Part 2: ABORTIVE ATTEMPTS, GESTALT, and SUCCESSIVE APPROXIMATION
Part 3: RITUAL and STEAL FROM THE BEST
Part 4: AUDIENCE and ABANDONMENT
And a handy PDF you can download/print/share is here.
