I’ve had a few open decisions sitting in the background lately.
This week, I decided to deal with them.
ExitLab – Week 1
This week wasn’t about output.
It was about decisions.
I’ve also been working on the e-book. Not by writing pages, not yet, but by structuring them.
Through experience, and a fair amount of trial and error, I’ve learned that most of the real work happens at the outline stage.
Writing isn’t the hard part.
Structure is.
Especially with a non-fiction project like this.
If the structure isn’t clear, the writing drifts.
You circle ideas. Repeat yourself. Move without direction.
So instead of writing into the dark, I try to do the opposite.
I plan first.
Outline properly.
Define what the text is actually trying to do.
For this kind of project, I’ve learned I need to be a plotter — not a pantser.
Still, as is often the case until a text is finished, it felt like I hadn’t made much progress this week.
Until I realized something.
It wasn’t the work that was holding me back.
It was a decision I hadn’t made.
The Decision I Hadn’t Made
In the background, I still had my first ExitLab project — print-on-demand — sitting there.
Not active.
Not worked on.
But not closed either.
Just… open.
And something like that drains more energy than you think.
As long as you haven’t made a decision, it keeps taking up space.
It’s like the project sits in the back of your mind, quietly asking:
Are we still doing this?
Should I go back to it?
Did I give it a real chance?
Could this work if I put in more effort?
And because there’s no answer, it keeps repeating itself.
No More Open Decisions
So this week, I made a decision.
I wrote one simple line:
Print-on-Demand — Paused until 2027
That was it.
No new strategy.
No extra work.
No productivity system.
Just a decision.
And whether you believe it or not — it already feels better.
It made me realize something.
Progress isn’t always about doing more.
Sometimes, it’s about deciding what you’re no longer going to do.
That’s also part of the Exit Lab — learning to move forward by deciding, not just thinking. Press publish to exit.
Not just testing ideas — but closing them properly.
Not everything needs to be finished.
But everything needs a decision.
Some ExitLab projects move forward.
Some get adjusted.
Some get paused.But none of them stay open forever.
The e-book continues next week.