Hey there,
Not thinking about work all day can be liberating.
I've had my share of this experience when I got a puppy.
With a puppy in the house, my time and attention have been divided into work and him.
And those intervals between work when I tend to him or play with him recharge me with short bursts of much-needed positive energy.
How?
When I'm with him, I'm not thinking about work or anything about my past or the future.
I'm fully present in the moment seeing him wagging his tail, looking at me, or exploring the world around him:
And that is an incredible stress-buster.
But, you don't need to get a pet to have this experience.
Periodically pulling your mind away from work or worrisome thoughts into something you enjoy can serve as the necessary fuel for tackling problems throughout the day.
Activities like going for a walk, having a tea break, connecting with your colleagues, and meditation are all opportunities to be present in the moment and take the stress off your mind.
Try it out; you'll feel better almost immediately. ❤️
Now, grab a coffee, sit tight, and enjoy this week's issue:
Book to Read
Sam Walton: Made in America
A delightful and informative read on the life story of Sam Walton, the founder of Walmart. Sam had always appreciated the value of money, even when he had millions of dollars. Something we can learn from his memoir.
View it on Goodreads
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Apps & Services
With more and more news sites moving their content behind paywalls, it's getting increasingly hard to read good news articles for free. Although supporting a publication with a paid membership is fantastic, there's a limit to the number of paid subscriptions
you can have without breaking your bank. 12ft Ladder will let you read paywalled content on most news sites for free by showing you a cached copy of the article. This app is free to use.
Ever had a moment when you were trying to remember someone's birth date or something specific about a person, and you can't seem to remember at all? This is where a Rolodex comes in handy. With Clay, you can have a fully searchable database of all the
people you know and come across where you can take notes on each person to remember later. This is helpful when you're making introductions or searching for people in your network who can get a particular job done. Clay costs $20/month and comes with a 14-day trial. But, the link here will give you 60 days to try out Clay.
Automa is a Google Chrome extension that'll let you set up automation on your browser. You can create workflows to open a website in a new tab, fill out a form, click a button, navigate further, and do more. This extension helps tackle everyday tasks
that require you to jump through hoops to get done. Automate the steps and get it done in seconds. This extension is free to use.
Eraser ➔
Whiteboard and notes, side by side
Taking notes during a whiteboarding session can be incredibly helpful. You can add more context to your diagrams and make them easy to understand for others or yourself. Eraser lets you take notes side-by-side while drawing diagrams on a whiteboard canvas.
You can also group elements in your diagrams and create a link to them from your notes. Eraser is free to use and comes with real-time collaboration support.
Taking the Shortcut
Quickly open a command menu bar on Todoist.
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Interesting Reads
Do you find remembering information like phone numbers, passcodes, names, etc., challenging? Spaced repetition is a well-known memory exercise that'll help you engrave bits of information into your brain for the long term. And this interactive comic will
delightfully explain the entire process.
Not all forms of procrastination are destructive. Sometimes, the best approach to finishing a task can be starting with an initial mix of ideas, then stepping away and letting your mind brew the final connections and actions. In this blog post, Ozan talks
about how this technique works for him and how it has worked for prominent figures like Abraham Lincoln.
One of the best ways to fight distractions while working is by making the distraction harder to reach. I've witnessed this first-hand
with iOS focus modes, where I hide distracting apps like Instagram and Mail when I switch to work mode. Read Nir's article to learn how
he tackles everyday distractions with a technique called a precommitment pact.
We are so caught up with our work lives that we rarely make time for anything outside of work — activities like running, hiking a mountain trail, swimming, or cycling. Yet, ironically, the activities we often steer clear of are the ones that keep us grounded
and humble. Read more about the topic in this informative blog post.
Lawrence Yeo illustrates a delicate subject beautifully in this blog post — how a mindless pursuit of more and more money can be a lifetime worth of fruitless endeavour. While chasing a good income is beneficial, if you centre your whole life around increasing
your bank balance, you're missing out on all the other wonderful things that life has to offer. After all, you can't take any money with you when you die.
Thread
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