Ever half-wake thinking you’ve answered texts, only to realize your phone’s untouched? This “ghost hand” syndrome haunted me for years—dream productivity that vanished upon waking.

Salt water doesn’t make you a better swimmer; it changes the game entirely.

This morning, I caught myself drowning in the Red Ocean—overthinking podcast strategies, website copy, sinking deeper with each perfectionist iteration. My brain refused to shrink anything into doable chunks. When tasks feel massive, we freeze—yet making them microscopically small bypasses the brain’s defense mechanisms, creating momentum where overthinking once paralyzed.

Classic fruit fly behavior—smacking repeatedly into glass walls.

What creates natural buoyancy in my work? Little successes and genuine fun—my personal salt system that keeps me floating when others sink.

Tomorrow’s experiment: Oblique Strategies. Brian Eno created these cards in 1975 to break creative blocks. Each contains a cryptic instruction: “Honor thy error as a hidden intention” or “Use an unacceptable color.” The beauty? They force childlike play when adult overthinking paralyzes.

For one day, every project output will emerge through randomly drawing one Oblique Strategy card. No skipping, no matter how absurd. Curiosity over outcomes.

This 42-day blog pact taught me something surprising: public commitment creates currents that carry you when willpower can’t swim.

What unexpected system lets you float when everyone else is desperately paddling? Not another productivity technique—a complete game-changer that transforms the water itself?