The kids started back to school on Tuesday, and we are getting into the rhythm of things. So far, so good. A few challenges but everyone is doing OK. Next week has a lot of logistical complications, but I am trying to take things week by week. Or hour by hour at the moment — I am working in Barnes & Noble because my house is unusable right now. Floors in several closets getting redone, tree trimmers outside, and the dog isn’t liking any of it. So it goes.
I had a few essays over at Vanderhacks this week that I wanted to share. Today’s, “How we remember,” is about 9/11 and my experiences 25 years ago, and how we think about time. That one is freely available to everyone.
Behind the paywall I wrote about “9 cozy habits that also save time” — a little welcome-to-fall essay — and also about “How I spent a 16-hour flight.”
In honor of Labor Day, I also have an essay about “How to say what you do.” I help busy people manage their time so they can live happy and productive lives. How would you use this formula to describe your work?
Over at Before Breakfast my interview this week is with Caroline Webb, author of the new book Leadership Intelligence. Caroline has all sorts of practical ideas for managing people based on decades of studying how people do it. If you are new in management or looking for tips for leading people wisely, please check that book out.
In the short episodes I suggest one “Be a person who shows up” and ways to “Increase your money’s happiness ROI” — quoting friends-of-the-blog The Frugal Girl and Elisabeth Frost (Optimistic Musings).
If you’re interested in hearing me talk about Big Time and related topics, please check out The Electric Ideas Podcast.
And, of course, you can still sign up for the free September Reset Time Tracking Challenge! Sign ups will close Monday. Many many of us will track our time from Sept 14-20, and by signing up you get daily motivational emails, plus a survey site that will help you think through tricky time issues and (in particular) weekday evenings. These surveys turn time tracking into a course of sorts. They also help me as I’m studying evenings while writing Golden Hours (my next book). Thanks for supporting me and my work!
And, finally, a sonnet, called “The empty orchard.”
September blue is like no other blue.
The summer sky has changed, but does not know
just how it’s aged and deepened. What it knew
before is just a hint of now. A slow
white cloud drifts by above this curving road.
A few leaves twirl from time to time, a sign
of what’s to come. The summer heat that slowed
all thoughts of minutes eases. Here the line
of apple trees, the orchard waits. The throngs
might someday come, but late last spring a freeze
nipped all the blossoms in the bud. The songs
of warblers headed south drift over trees
that barren, simply wait for time to pass,
for autumn’s chill to freeze the muddy grass.
