It is already the 5th of the month, but it’s tough to time these posts for the 1st. I have been trying to think a bit more about months. It’s not a natural part of my planning process (the core of which focuses on a week, with the long-range part being some seasonal and year-long planning) but it’s good for consolidating memories and thinking about what I’m looking forward to.
I began this month at a gathering of other content creators/thought leaders, which was really fun. I am always a fan of growing my network and nurturing relationships in what is sometimes a lonely business. Among other things, I met my friend Chris Bailey in person. Chris is a productivity author (The Productivity Project, Hyperfocus, How to Calm Your Mind, Intentional) and he and I have chatted by Zoom probably every other month or so for the last 8 years. But we had never met up in person. Now we have!
So what’s on the agenda for the month? The big thing: Two weeks at the beach. We do this most years, and will be renting the same house at the Jersey shore that we have rented since 2019. We’ve been figuring out what we want to do. There will be reading and downtime and waves and ice cream. I plan to run on the boardwalk and just walk around town (it’s fun to spend a few weeks in a very walkable community). I’ll get iced oat milk lattes with my eldest and maybe go to the pinball arcade. We’re taking family photos and I made a reservation for seven at a restaurant on the board walk. While I love exploring new places it’s also fun to build family traditions going to the same place. Sometimes it’s hard to get the balance of these things right (since vacation time and money aren’t unlimited) but I think this year I’ll hit a good spot. The kids have already been sorting out who gets which bedroom.
Then after that I have an epic work trip planned! More details about that after it happens but suffice to say it meets my goal of giving an interesting speech this year. In the meantime, my husband will be taking our 19-year-old to school. He and I just FedExed his boxes through this program that stores your stuff and brings it to your dorm room. (The upside of this is that they can fly, rather than drive, because he is going somewhere different this year than last year but more on that later too.)
After I return from my trip I’ll likely be recovering a bit but I do have tickets to the Hot Wheels Monster Truck rally in Philadelphia with my two little boys. I’m hoping Sarah (podcast co-host) will be coming to visit after her earlier trip this summer unfortunately couldn’t happen. Her parents live near me so these visits can be a two-fer, so fingers crossed! My husband and 16-year-old are likely doing a diving trip. I will likely end the month in NYC for some professional meetings.
Speaking of work…I’m planning to finish a very very rough draft of Golden Hours. And then I will finalize my survey to get more experiences and quotes and details for the book itself. You can sign up for September Reset Time Tracking Challenge here (which will be running Sept 14-20 — this is an opportunity to track time as part of a group, and contributing data and stories to the book is totally optional, but I hope people will consider it!)
In the meantime, if you’re looking for a fun August read — for the beach or the plane — please consider picking up a copy of Big Time: A Simple Path to Time Abundance (links to various retailers here). I’m really happy with how this book turned out, and I’d love to give it the audience I think it deserves. Thanks for your support!
