I once gave six months of everything I had to a job. Late nights. Early mornings. Pitched stories nobody asked for. Took calls at hours past my bedtime. Out-produced everyone around me because that's what my parents raised me to do: work harder, and eventually the system rewards you.

My reward? A bonus so small I thought the email had a typo 😅

(I legit called my manager to ask if it was missing a zero)

So I did the only rational thing out of spite: I scaled down to the bare minimum. Delivered exactly what was expected and not a sentence more. Clocked out at 6pm every day.

And then something happened.

I started cooking. YouTube became my teacher. Mapo tofu. Nasi goreng. Hainanese chicken rice. Dishes that reminded me of home, made in a tiny Hong Kong kitchen with one induction stove.

After dinner, I'd paint. Or bullet journal. Or go for a run because I had nothing else to do.

I was bored. I was rested. I was creating things for the first time in years.

Six months later, my next bonus came in. Same number. Same 1.5%.

Doing the bare minimum gave me the exact same money. (Shock horror). But it gave me my entire life back.

Four years later, those "wasted" evenings became a book. It's called Bite-Sized Creativity and it's about building a creative life on top of your 9-to-5.

About reclaiming the 30-minute pockets that were already yours.

Grab a copy: