1- I am reading Hyperefficient by Dr. Mithu Storoni. It is interesting – I’ve read a lot of books about chronotypes and the like but this has some different takes and is very science based. One thing that was mentioned was the idea of working in 90 minute cycles. I love that idea AND I was also like . . . uhhh, definitely not feasible on an average clinical day. I wish healthcare was better about this sort of thing (and this is not a physician-specific issue – so many nurses and other staff members are essentially running around responding quickly to very important stimuli for LONG shifts! Definitely not getting to rest every 90 minutes.)
(Realizing it’s probably not much better in many knowledge work environments with back to back to back meetings!)
I hope to have her on BLP, so will be interesting to discuss (she has a healthcare background as well, it appears!)
2- FALL at TJs. First weekend of October = peak pumpkin buying season at TJs!! I went last week but didn’t bring the kids; this weekend we will do our traditional “buy all of the pumpkin things” shop and probably end up with a mostly-pumpkin lunch or dinner. I’m excited.
3- SPEAKING OF FALL: Girl Next Door did a wonderful job with this year’s Fall Extravaganza! I look forward to this every year, and Kelsey and Erika did not disappoint!!
4- STOPPING WORK. Oliver Burkeman’s newsletter was super interesting to me this week – he said one of his favorite productivity tactics was to know when to STOP working on any given day. I will say this is something it has taken me some time to figure out on my less structured days, but I 100% agree! It’s a very valuable skill and not that easy or straightforward to learn to intentionally close up and just STOP!
I’m proud to say I’m pretty good at STOPPING working! For me the trick isn’t to go goal-free, but to create a truly realistic list for the day, do the priority items first, and then not be afraid to call it a day (even moving something forward or taking it off the list if needed!) if I am just feeling very DONE. I may or may not have ended my writing session with 2 episodes of Emily in Paris (almost done with Season 2, I am still very behind real time!).
5- Feedly. Feedly has stopped working for me on my laptop. I have found myself actually opening up actual sites instead of using the feed reader and you know what? I’m about 20x more likely to comment that way. I don’t read THAAAAT many blogs so I think I may just use that method from now on.
6 Comments
So glad you enjoyed Fall Extravaganza! It’s always so fun to make, and takes us to unexpected places. It’s SO hot here so I need all the fall spirits I can get! Just went to TJ this morning (with two kids in tow) but did manage to enjoy the fall abundance there! Also subscribed to the Oliver Burkeman newsletter at your rec – sounds great.
I also enjoyed Oliver Burkeman’s newsletter this week, and totally agree, learning to stop is an art and definitely important productivity wise!
Feedly has been very inconsistent in picking up my blog lately, so there’s issues all round. I definitely prefer to visit my favourite blogs via their webpage, and only check Feedly for ones I may have missed/forgotten etc.
I am also pretty good at stopping working, especially when the task is mentally demanding. Now i have 1-3 max to-do list that are mentally demanding, which I try to do before 12pm, then I’ll deal with easy things in the afternoon. If I’m already exhausted by 2pm, then I”ll do super light maintenance things and go home early. It’s pointless trying to do more when battery is low.
i’m intrigued by the superefficient book. I used to seek that but have been evolving my take to it in recent years.
I hate commenting from my phone, unless I can do it on certain blogs via the Jetpack app (because I don’t have to log in or type my email etc). But many blogs aren’t accessible that way. I greatly prefer to just go to the sites too. I guess usually I’ll see the new posts in Feedly, and then click and read on the site. My favorite way to read blog posts is subscribing by email. I NEVER miss those. (I have… you, Coco, Elisabeth, Daria, Suzanne… not sure if any others? Some don’t have the option.) But that’s always such a nice treat to find a new post in my email inbox!
I am not sure what’s going on behind the scenes with some of the feed readers, mostly Feedly, because it’s been picking up my RSS feed only on and off for the last two (?) years now? It’s super-annoying. I have added a subscribe by email button now, although I personally like checking Feedly and then clicking through to the blogs… I am still trying to figure out what’s causing this.
Ooh, how fun- you got a comment from Kelsey!!! I also loved their new Fall Extravaganza episode. Have fun at Trader Joe’s! I want to see what you get, and hear all about this pumpkin lunch and dinner.