I got back yesterday from a very quick trip to NYC. I saw Gillian Goddard, had a few more meetings, ran in Central Park, walked up the High Line (albeit in the rain), and recorded several video type episodes of things in studio.
Logistics: I decided to take the train from Ardmore rather than Philadelphia (Ardmore is about a 6-minute drive from my house). Service isn’t quite as frequent, but there are a few trains per day (and the Keystone line is, in my opinion, less likely to get delayed than the Northeast Corridor trains). You go about 13 minutes, then sit at Philly while you change crews. Then you go into NYC. On the way there I think this is more efficient since you don’t have to build in time for traffic driving downtown, parking, and getting through the larger 30th St. station. On the way home I’m not sure, since we got to Philadelphia at 4:15 and didn’t leave until 4:40. We pulled into Ardmore at 4:53, and I was home by 5:00. It’s quite possible I would have been home a few minutes before 5:00 driving from 30th St., but maybe not much before. And I wouldn’t have been able to read. So there’s that.
Anyway, Central Park was lovely as always. Kind of fun to think that within one week I was running around Sydney’s Darling Harbour and through Central Park!
A few bits of business: I am running a free September Reset Time Tracking Challenge from Sept 14-20. Lots of us will track our time together. I’ll offer suggestions and encouragement via email. You will also have the opportunity to fill out a few surveys that I think will help you tweak your schedule, and will help me measure time satisfaction, evening satisfaction, and the like. There will be some small incentives for filling out the longer surveys (I’ll donate a few dollars to one of a few great non-profits — you’ll get to select which one from a list). Sign up here!
I am doing a virtual talk with the Op-Ed Project on “Time Management for Thought Leaders” on Sept 22 at 7 p.m. eastern. You can buy tickets here.
I was in NYC doing interviews about Big Time, my most recent book. This book is all about what happens when we decide that time is abundant rather than scarce. I had so much fun writing this one, and some folks who’ve read all my work have called it my best yet. If you haven’t picked up a copy yet, please do! Links to retailers here. Fun fact: Big Time has sold more copies in audiobook than hard cover. I am learning that how people interact with content is changing.
Because I have been on the road a lot the past few weeks, I’ve been remiss in posting links to content. But I’ve done a few Before Breakfast interview episodes that I want to make sure people see.
On August 12th, I interviewed Jesse Mechem, founder of YNAB, about his new thoughts on money. It’s less about budgeting and more about spending intentionally. Please check that out!
On August 19th, I interviewed Prof. Elizabeth Dunn and Prof. Jiaying Zhao about their book Leave the Lights On. This book is about how certain environmentally-friendly choices can actually make us happy. The book itself was quite funny while also being full of behavioral science and climate research.
On August 26th, I interviewed Dr. Adam Sandell, a physician in rural Canada who writes the Great Work newsletter, about how to manage intense schedules. I love when people have fascinating jobs — at times Dr. Sandell has commuted to his clinical work in a canoe!
And today, Sept 2, I interviewed Christine Landis, founder of Ask Proxy, which is a service that helps busy people (particularly parents) lighten the mental load. She has been in the news lately talking about “CEO parenting” — outsourcing what makes less sense for you to do so you can focus on the things you do best. This is a perennially favorite topic around here! Christine told me by email that she was setting up a discount code (LAURA) if people want to try out her product.
Please give the episodes a listen! And let me know if there are guests you’d like to see in the future.
It was so great to see you!
@Gillian – you as well!