How Changing Your Relationship with Time Can Improve Donor Relationships
Fundraisers are often set up to fail.
The very systems that are supposed to support us are the ones that deplete us. When you’re responsible for marketing, sales, and fulfillment — the three main parts of any healthy business — the result is predictable: high cognitive load, over-functioning, over-committing, and burnout.
The truth? Less truly is more.
It took me years of discipline, of carving away what no longer served me, to reach what I call fundraising essentialism. And when I did, I found my superpower: the neuroscience of flow.
Why Flow Matters
Flow isn’t about productivity hacks. It’s about presence, creativity, and sustainability. Neuroscience shows that flow is fueled in two ways:
- Lowering cognitive load — eliminating distractions, reducing trivial decisions, and designing systems that protect energy.
- Stimulating dopamine and norepinephrine — the brain’s natural motivators that spark creativity, focus, and joy.
How I Lower My Cognitive Load & Trigger Flow
Here’s what this looks like for me in practice:
- I do not check email until I’ve completed my highest-value work for the day.
- I don’t even turn on my phone in the morning — it stays in another room until my creative work is done.
- My first act of positive flow triggering is stream-of-consciousness journaling for 30 minutes, followed by answering 7 simple prompts that orient me toward my work for the day.
- I do all of my major gifts fundraising work in 90-minute blocks, 5 days a week — never dragging it out longer, always leaving room for recovery and creativity.
This rhythm lowers my cognitive load and primes my brain for flow. It means when I sit down to focus on fundraising, I’m fully present — creative, attuned, and ready to connect.
Changing your relationship with time isn’t about being rigid. It’s about designing your day by leveraging certain constraints so that you can get to higher levels of productivity and creativity…and joy:)
With focus and gratitude,
Sarah
PS: This week, try starting your morning with 10–30 minutes of journaling before email or phone. Notice how much more energy and attention (and thoughtfulness) you bring into your donor work.
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