Someday Is Today by Matthew Dicks Summary

Someday Is Today offers 22 practical strategies to overcome procrastination and unlock creativity, blending productivity advice with storytelling insights. The book emphasizes actionable tactics like "microproductivity" (breaking tasks into tiny steps) and leveraging "creative inevitability" to transform ideas into habits. Dicks draws from his experience as a novelist, teacher, and storyteller to provide tools for prioritizing goals and maximizing daily productivity.

This book is ideal for aspiring writers, entrepreneurs, and anyone struggling with procrastination or creative blocks. It’s particularly valuable for multitaskers seeking time-management frameworks and individuals craving structured yet flexible methods to balance creativity with daily responsibilities. Dicks’ humor and relatable anecdotes make it accessible for both professionals and casual readers.

Yes—it’s a standout productivity guide for its focus on sustainable habits over hustle culture. Unlike generic advice, Dicks provides specific tools like “reverse engineering goals” and “embracing constraints,” backed by his success in writing, teaching, and storytelling. The mix of personal stories and step-by-step frameworks makes it actionable and engaging.

Key ideas include:

• Microproductivity: Completing tasks in 5-minute increments.
• Creative inevitability: Designing environments that force progress.
• The “Why Not Now?” principle: Addressing obstacles immediately.
• Constraint-driven innovation: Using limitations to fuel creativity.
  Dicks argues that small, consistent actions outperform grand plans.

Unlike Atomic Habits or The 4-Hour Workweek, Dicks prioritizes artistic fulfillment alongside efficiency. His strategies integrate storytelling techniques (e.g., “finding stakes in mundane tasks”) and reject rigid systems. The book also addresses emotional barriers like perfectionism, offering psychological reframes alongside practical steps.

Microproductivity involves breaking projects into sub-5-minute tasks (e.g., writing one paragraph or researching a single statistic). Dicks suggests this reduces procrastination by making progress feel achievable daily. He cites writing novels during school recesses as real-world proof.

“Small steps consistently taken will always outpace sporadic leaps.” This encapsulates Dicks’ rejection of “all-or-nothing” thinking. He illustrates this with examples like drafting his novel Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend in 10-minute daily sessions.

As a teacher, bestselling author, and 56-time Moth StorySLAM champion, Dicks blends pedagogical clarity with narrative flair. The book reflects his multitasking success—writing during brief pockets of time while teaching full-time—making his advice tested and relatable.

Yes. Strategies like “timeboxing distractions” and “treating commitments like appointments” help compartmentalize tasks. Dicks advocates for “inevitability design,” such as scheduling creative work during unavoidable gaps (e.g., commutes) to ensure steady progress without burnout.

Some readers may find the 22 strategies overwhelming despite Dicks’ emphasis on simplicity. The focus on self-driven discipline also downplays systemic barriers to productivity. However, the book acknowledges these limits and offers adaptable frameworks.

Its emphasis on AI-era adaptability—like repurposing technology for microproductivity—resonates amid distractions from generative AI and shorter attention spans. Dicks’ anti-perfectionism message also counters the pressure of curated digital success.

Unlike his novels (Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend) or storytelling guide (Storyworthy), this is his most tactical nonfiction work. It expands on productivity themes hinted at in his blogs and podcasts, offering structured systems versus anecdotal advice.