Issue #06: Rest doesn't always mean sleep
Plus how ChatGPT made my life easier this week, a memoir I'm excited about, and the to-do list system I've stuck with for 11 years
As I write this, on a Thursday morning, my sister and I are about to head to what she has dubbed 1999 Day: we’re going to the mall, and then the pool.
She is a teacher, and I am self employed, so we get to do these things. It feels exciting and a little scandalous. I got the same feeling last week when I canceled an eye doctor appointment to go antiquing.
Flexibility is both the blessing and the curse of being self- employed. It’s taken me eight months of doing this to figure out how to structure my time off in a way that leverages my energy in the right way. This is a light week for me — one project just ended, another just had its kickoff and isn’t in full swing yet — so I knew that I could do it.
More importantly, I knew that I needed it. Last week’s hibernation, what I call a planned period of solo recharge after a particularly busy period of work, got thrown off because, on the morning that it began, my partner went back to Washington, which is always hard for me, and I found out that my friend had died. I spent last week kind of wallowing in a cesspool of emotion and exhaustion.
Rest does not always equal sleep or time off. While I did work this week, I tried to really listen to my energy levels, and also shifted the cadence of my day to match the season.
It finally got really hot here, so rather than work in the morning, I worked out and walked Ida. Around 11, I went to a cafe for a few hours of work. Then I turned to life admin, like finally fixing my vacuum, going to war with the ants in my house and making cushions for the San Juan apartment.
I also leaned heavily on a to-do list tool called Workflowy, which I’ve used for eleven years, despite trying a slew of others. I use three hashtags to organize tasks: #nextweek, #thisweek, and #today. Throughout the week, I brain dump tasks, and on Mondays, I decide what gets #thisweek. Each morning, I tag three to five things with #today, although it might be higher if it’s just light admin. I always limit deep thinking tasks to two.
Because this process forces you to ruthlessly prioritize, it’s even more important when you’re depleted.
I’m happy to report that I’m finally feeling recharged, despite it still being stupid hot, and I was able to show up in the right way for the two requests I got this week about new projects.
I’m also painfully aware that this recharge week for me happened against a backdrop of awful news. What I was able to do was a privilege. I worked in a national newsroom from 2017 - 2023, and covered all the bad things that happened in that period. It was…a lot. To my journalist friends: please take care, and talk with your manager about taking time off. x
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Thanks, GPT
A new, occasional section all about how AI made my life easier this week.
This week, I used ChatGPT to:
File my quarterly taxes with a customGPT. Had to cross reference my own spreadsheets, but it was pretty good.
Convert dates to quarters in Google Sheets, which saved me from endless scrolling through forums with people saying “did you try this”
Format a list of norms for a project kickoff, and suggest what to add
Prep for a discovery call while making breakfast
Sketch a roadmap for experimenting with whether teaching yoga again feels right
Craft a punch list for fleshing out a brand idea I have
Write three outreach emails, two of which turned into leads almost immediately
Time my hikes to avoid the giant gopher snake I saw last week
Determine if an external monitor, my laptop and a lamp will fit on a 36” desk, or if I really need a 48”
Discover that egg slicers are best way to prep strawberries for dehydrating, since my partner just planted 70 🙃
Links to make you think and bring you joy
There’s a high ratio of joy to thinking this week, because that feels like what we all need.
Some tips to level up your ChatGPT prompts. My favorite is: any time you want a thoughtful GPT response, end your prompt with “Before you start, ask me questions that will help you complete this task.”
A nice reminder to all creatives and entrepreneurs to ignore the 47 exit signs you saw this week
And a not nice reminder that what’s happening right now isn’t normal, even if it’s starting to feel that way.
I can’t wait to watch the Jacinda Ardern documentary and/or to read her memoir.
Who wants to go in on this Tuscan villa with me? It has dripping wisteria, and is actually kind of moderately priced.
If you can’t make it to Italy, here’s some ideas for creating your own wild, seasonal blooms with what’s around you.
This month’s issue of Wild Sam, a magazine about road trips, curates the kitchiest, most retro spots across America. It’s delightful and a perfect welcome to summer. Since they don’t have it online, I’m pointing you to the magazine and encouraging you to get off your phone.
“In the U.S., the idea of having purpose is everywhere: in books, on podcasts, in LinkedIn bios, even in casual brunch conversations. There’s this constant pressure to align your job with your passion, your calendar with your goals, your time with your values. But what if your purpose is simply to build a good life? To raise kind children. To cook a little better each year. To read a few excellent books. To notice the seasons. To build meaningful relationships. To help others. To give time - and money if you can - to causes you care about. Isn’t that what people will remember anyway?” I’m officially aspiring to be French.