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Comfort work

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Comfort work

The work you do when you don't know what to do

Austin Kleon
Oct 18, 2022
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Comfort work

austinkleon.substack.com
A blackout poem that reads: Artists quickly die off after their work is done so plan ahead avoid ending

Hey y’all,

We talk about “comfort food” and “comfort viewing” but I’ve never heard anybody talk about “comfort work.”

Comfort work is work that I do when I don’t know what else to do.

I know I need to work, but I don’t know what I should be working on, or I can’t work on the thing I should be working on because I’m too tired or depressed or otherwise unmotivated.

Comfort work must be comforting and it must be actual work. This sounds simple, but it’s an odd combination. Comfort work is work I’ve done before that I know I can do, but it still must present enough of a challenge to be considered actual work.

A blackout poem that reads: I'm still around and you're still in it is a privilege to be linked not many people on the planet have the luck to know the you I do

Lately, I have been in need of comfort.

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