It was another 5 degree morning. Tomorrow will be 3 degrees (though that’s better than the original forecast of -1 as a low…).
This week I’ve been talking with a lot of people who kept time logs for the Time Tracking Challenge about their evenings. When I’m working on a big project (like a book) the more I research and talk to people, the more I hone various ideas and start to feel like I have a real sense for the topic.
With this one, I’m finding that many people feel like their evenings are completely transformed if they simply put a “golden hour intention” on their to-do list for the day. Whenever you think through your day, think through your evening. Put one thing you want to do on there. It doesn’t have to be long (and probably shouldn’t be if you’re busy) but figure out what you might like to do with whatever discretionary time you will have, and when, roughly that discretionary time will happen.
For instance, on Monday this week I wanted to work on a puzzle in that amorphous time after dinner and before I start the bedtime process. On Tuesday I wanted to play the piano (I’m playing through The Life of a Showgirl songbook…yes…). Knowing that was what I wanted to do both nights, I did those things. And enjoyed my evenings more as a result!
Thursday was choir night, so that was my intention, though I did get to read for about 30 minutes too. I flipped through this gorgeous coffee table book of floral arrangements and started dreaming of spring…It’s probably only 6 weeks until the hellebores are up.
If you didn’t listen to this week’s Best of Both Worlds podcast yet, on Life Updates and Life Skills, please do! I enjoyed that one.
Over at Before Breakfast this week, my interview was with Brad Stulberg, who is the author of the new book The Way of Excellence. I think one of my favorite tips was when he’s doing something outside his comfort zone, he says “brave new world.” It’s just a smart little mantra for turning fear into curiosity.
In the shorter episodes, I talked about how “Your remembering self will thank you” — adventures can bring up some anxiety, but for a great many things we’ll be happy to have the memory. I also talked about “When your world feels small.” Whatever the season, it is possible to choose the bigger life.
Over at Vanderhacks, my Substack newsletter, I suggested that you “Make your summer spreadsheet.” If you have school-aged kids who will be going to various camps this summer, interspersed with trips/vacations, creating a spreadsheet with the names of the kids at the top and the weeks of summer down the left hand side, will help you organize all this information. And yes, now is the time to do this (sadly, I had to do this in November/December this year as some popular camps fill up!).
I talked about how to “Build a robust network from home” — just because you’re working remotely doesn’t mean you can’t build lots of professional relationships. Indeed, in some ways, not being in an office makes building external relationships easier. Behind the paywall I talked about how to “Upgrade your monthly planning routine.” Thinking through the arc of the next 30 days might just make those days more fun.
In other news: Big Time, my next book, is available for pre-order! Here’s a link to Amazon, to Barnes & Noble, and to Norton’s page, which has other retailers.
Photo: My birthday orchid is still going strong! It’s fun to look at it against the snow in my office window.
