⚡ STUFF I TELL SMART PEOPLE — Issue #09

You’re Not Behind. You’re Just Overloaded

Hello there,

Smart People Aren’t Slow — They’re Swamped

If you feel behind on writing, publishing, or showing up publicly… you’re not lazy. You’re overloaded.

Ideas. Offers. Book drafts. Strategy decks. You’ve built a mountain of inputs, but no clear output.

This isn’t a time problem. It’s a focus problem.

When everything feels urgent, nothing moves. And that’s where great ideas go to die.

STRATEGY: Shift from “Could” to “Must”

Instead of asking, “What could I create?” — ask:

• What must exist in the world to unlock the next stage of my business?
• What asset solves that?
• What’s blocking me from finishing it?

The people you admire aren’t faster. They’re clearer. They decide what matters, then build that. And ignore the rest.

Also, this is where the Cognitive Objects Factory comes in. Every time you generate a good idea, a sharp answer, or a new slide — that’s a cognitive object. A thing with shape. With potential. But until it’s sorted, labelled, and pointed somewhere useful, it’s just clutter in the mental workshop.

A cognitive object doesn’t become an asset until it’s used for a purpose.

ASSET TO BUILD: The Asset Traffic Light

Make a list of all your half-built or never-published ideas. Assign each:

• 🔴 Stop: This is not helping. Archive it.
• 🟡 Wait: Good idea, wrong timing. Park it.
• 🟢 Go: It solves a problem and leads to a result.

Then, take one green light project and move it to completion by applying the right constraints (time, timing, resources, and the job to be done). That’s your priority. Everything else is polite sabotage.

🐴 DISASTER FARM Update — Horse Logic

We built a lovely new shelter for the horses to escape the sun.
Naturally, they refuse to go anywhere near it.
Instead, they stand in the only muddy patch in the field, glaring if I’ve ruined their day.
Reminds me of clients who ignore their assets and ask for a logo.

🏆 AUTHOR NOTE

Every author we’ve worked with who finished fast had one thing in common: they picked one message, one model, and one book. Not five. Not someday. One.

Overload isn’t a badge of honour. It’s a clever form of avoidance.

COME TALK TO US ON LINKEDIN

• Digital amnesia is real. We’re fighting it—with timeless, human thinking in print. → https://shorturl.at/7HzTe
  
• The more you use AI, the more you risk becoming a hi-res blur → https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7337737089163100160/

TL;DR

• You’re not behind, you’re buried in your own brilliance
• The key is filtering what must be built now
• Decide. Finish. Ignore everything else

Until next time
Debs
Helping overloaded experts become strategic finishers (with or without mud)

PS: Got a long list of ideas and no momentum? Send me your top three. I’ll tell you which one’s greenlight-worthy.

PPS: Our first edition of Postnoted will be coming to you in September. Follow us to be the first to know on LinkedIn.

PPPS: These awards are open for entries and submissions, have a look to see which suits you the most.