Whether you are trying to run a creative small business, find time to make more art, or just drink more water, this books aims to help you get into productive habits through focused experimentation. Sustainable Loops provides worksheets, tips, and immediately actionable strategies to improve your well-being while managing your workload. Written by author Connor Miller as his first non-fiction piece, and illustrated by the multi-talented web artist Cheyenne Barton, there is truly no better guide for maker-focused life design.
Millennials get a bad rep. You guys are characterised as snowflakes, or pampered, or entitled, as though you want the world handed to you on a plate. Sod that! I’m Gen-X, and when I was growing up, I was characterised as a feckless slacker, lazy and cynical. My generation was going to ruin the world. Instead, we changed it. If you’re a millennial, chances are, so will you. And if you’re a millennial, pat yourself on the back, because you’re probably hustling your life away and killing yourself to impress the world and prove you aren’t what they say you are. If that IS you, then you will love this book, and you probably need it too!
Sustainable loops is all about finding your happy balance between working hard and playing hard, finding your way through a world that seems to demand more of you everyday. In this book you’ll find lots of good, practical advice, including advice on how not to hustle, which is so important for avoiding what so many millennials seem to go through over and over: burnout. The book is nice and short (I read it in a few hours, just dipping in and out) and it’s got a wonderful chatty, conversational tone that helps avoid the preachiness of many personal development books. It’s not in depth, but it’s good, and if there’s anything you want to dig deeper into, isn’t that what the internet is for?
My only real criticism of the book is that there’s some unnecessary swearing in it that I think will put some readers off - I swear like a trooper, but it caught me unawares a couple of times. It’s also very generationally specific (hence the way I started this review!) This is the result of the conversational style and tone, so it’s very much a trade off. Although this didn’t put me off, I’m pretty sure that there will be lots of readers that won’t relate well. Having said that, this gem of a book isn’t really written for them. ;-)
As someone who recently graduated from college and is trying to figure out what to do next, this book was a great reading. It's short, pretty simple, but sometimes we need someone else saying the most obvious things to us so we can do something with our lives. This book is exactly it. I've been familiar with Cheyenne's work for about a year now, and that's how I found out about this piece. Connor's advices are simple, but effective — I feel myself ready to try most things he suggested. If you're struggling with creative work, I do recommend this book to you!
First things first, I got this book cause I follow Cheyenne on insta and am a little nerd who liked the outside cover. I made it a goal this year to read less self-help books and more, ya know, other kinds of books, but I'm compulsive and get drunk and order things off Amazon. What can ya do?
As with all self-help books, I am #conflicted about my feelings. There were parts of this that had me going "duh, obviously, who needs this" and parts that had me going "oh damn it was me, i needed this." I'll most likely slowly implement some of the tips given, but some are just not for me. (No procrastination??? That's literally when I get all of my ideas bruh) But maybe that's the point for me. Procrastination and non-working relaxation are a key part of my loop.
The most important thing, I think, is that I wish this little guy was longer. I think the author could really have expanded on some of the topics and gone deeper and I liked a lot of the anecdotes that were included. I'm interested in this dude's thought processes on some things. He mentioned a blog that I'll probably check out and see if he's written anything more detailed about some of the topics breached here.
I will say that I really like that this guy also works a day job. I get so frustrated reading books like this that are written by people who are so far removed from the place I'm currently at. I think that's what makes me wanna ask him questions about how he schedule's his days, works around his energy flows, etc. This guy gets ~*me*~ better than a looooooot of people who write self-help style books.
Ultimately, a good book. I'll probably sneak this into my rotation every few months or so (it's only about an hour to read if you don't do any of the activities while reading). I need some of these reminders now and then, even the ones that feel more obvious right now.
I have a feeling I'll be coming back to this lovely book about every 3 months! It's so good for recentering and and remembering that everyone is looking for the best way of doing things. I can't wait to re-read it in January!!
The book sums up how to be consistent in your work along with taking care of yourself. It has useful advise regarding goals, time management, organization skills. It also guides about how to keep your creative aspect going when so much can go around you. Mainly focusing on what you love.
The tone of writing is easy and fluid, like having a conversation with friend who wishes good for you. Definitely among favorite self-care books I have read. :)
This book was the perfect first read of the year for me. It inspired me and made me feel capable of setting out to achieve my goals for the year. I appreciated the authors tone as well, it was super conversational and easy to read. I would, and have been, recommending this book to anyone.
It was fine. To someone new to the game of setting up their personal productivity system, this would probably be helpful. But mostly it was the same stuff I knew. I was looking for something new, but overall the advice and methods are sound.