Monday’s not gonna know what hit it
Oh, hi friends!
Are you rested from your weekend? Are you ready to attack this Monday? Do you have your week all laid out for you in a nice little grid, with clear expectation and deadlines?
Yeahhh, even if you’re not, and you don’t, how about we just…pretend?
Maybe pretending can sneak us closer to reality.
So. Here’s the deal. Write down everything you MUST MUST MUST do today. (Or just run down the list in your head.)
Then circle the three most important things.
Those three things are your only priorities. (So says me.) You can do three little things, right? ONE, TWO, THREE. Wow. Easy. As pie. (Let’s deal with the other stuff when the three are done.)
I have my three. Do you have yours?
Let’s go.
Owl is skeptical about this week. LET’S PROVE HIM WRONG.
How do you balance being a full-time reporter, being a novelist and having two kids?
"My trick is that I don’t think about balance. I’m not trying to get better at balance. That’s not a goal of mine. My goal is to “be where I am” more often: to not be dreaming of my children when I’m working, and to not be dreaming of my work when I’m children-ing.”
Taffy Brodesser-Akner has profiled many (many) celebrities and written other delicious longform pieces and now released her first novel.
Her advice on finishing a draft — and how journalism helped her — is particularly good: “I opened up a Word document and never closed it. I kept it open in the background at all times and turned to it when I was frustrated, or when I found the thing I was doing tedious.” (h/t Mike Ayers)
And now some advice from a 103-year-old…
“Keep yourself in good shape if you can. Have many passions. And look for magic moments. That is something that I have done in my life — think of the things that are magic moments that happen to you, like sunsets and sunrises, rainbows, beautiful birds, music and people’s lovely comments to you. All of those are magic moments and they are free for all. Be sure to keep your eye open for them.”
Julia Hawkins took up running at age 100. Now she’s 103 and running the 100-meter dash. MY NEW HERO. (video h/t Bill Dyszel)
Do you like these daily emails? Please share with a friend!
Thanks, as always, for reading.
Love, Kara