2 days ago, I went to my first salsa class.
Before I left, my best friend—who would probably dance in her sleep if she could—told me something that completely changed how I approached the class:
“Find a persona for yourself. When you dance, you’re someone else.”
So I did.
Meet Maria.
Maria looks basic on the outside… but wait till she starts dancing.
You’ve never seen anyone move like this.
And by “move,” I mean act like she knows what she’s doing while flailing her feet in too many of the wrong directions.
But she dances with confidence.
She dances with everyone—men, women, the nervous, the sweaty, the ones who actually know what they’re doing, and the ones who are dancing… something that’s definitely not salsa.
At one point, Maria is spinning, her partner is off doing some freestyle footwork, and all she’s thinking is:
Wooaoaoaoaoaoaoaahahahaa what is happening?!
And yet…
Maria had the time of her life.
Maria felt like a lady.
Maria also got to practise her Polish (because why not?).
And Maria came home happy.
Here’s the thing, though—
This is the kind of experience Maria never used to have because she “never had enough time.”
And maybe you currently feel the same way.
But listen, I need to say something that might make you mad at me.
If you really wanted to, you could make time for salsa classes. Or pottery. Or reading. Or literally any fun activity you keep pushing to “later.”
But you don’t because deep down…
You feel guilty when you’re not working.
If you’re not tapping away at your keyboard, checking analytics, or doing something that looks productive, a little voice in your head goes:
“Uh, excuse me? What do you think you’re doing? Get back to work.”
And this, my friends, is the real reason online business owners don’t do fun things.
It’s not a lack of time—it’s that your brain has learned to prioritise work over play, making fun feel like a guilty indulgence instead of a necessity.
And that’s far, far, far from the truth.
Because fun isn’t just a break from work. Fun is part of work. A very important part of work.
One that doesn’t steal your productivity, but boosts it in ways you don’t even realise.
And last time I checked, you’re not a factory worker.
Your greatest asset isn’t how many hours you put in.
It’s your creativity. Your ideas. Your strategic thinking.
And those things don’t come from grinding at your laptop for 10 hours straight.
They come from novelty. Play. FUN.
Think about the last time you had a truly great idea.
It probably wasn’t when you were forcing yourself to “power through.”
It was in the shower. On a walk. While playing tennis. Or just doing something completely unrelated to work.
Because your brain needs stimulation from various sources to be creative.
And when you never take time for fun, it doesn’t just make life dull.
It actually hurts your business.
So if you look at your life and realise…
- You feel guilty when you’re not working
- You’ve promised yourself you’ll start having fun “after [insert milestone here]”
- You used to have hobbies, but now you “don’t have time” for fun—
What is that actually costing you?
And more importantly…
How much longer are you going to let your business steal your life?
For more info: www.yosianderson.com
Tp. Tp.
There’s more where that came from!
See, I’ve been writing daily productivity emails for online business owners since November 2024.
And what you just read is barely a scratch on the surface.
The real gems… The fun, insightful, and occasionally absurd behind-the-scenes stories… My best offers… The kind of stuff that makes you go:
“Wait… did that REALLY happen?”
I don’t blast those out to the whole internet.
(Some things… should be kept private.)
But if you want to snoop around… if you want to see what really happens in AYAPYLand…
There’s a door.
And it’s open.
For now.