Hi everyone,
I hope all is well in your world. This is my eighth newsletter and I intend to continue this weekly letter for some time. With that said, I have two requests:
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Thanks in advance for your time and I hope you enjoy the newsletter this week.
Financial Stability Tip: Adopt the $10,000/hour Mentality
We spend too much time focusing on small financial decisions (like cutting our Starbucks spending) which we believe will have a huge impact on our overall budget. While that helps, Khe Ky argues that we should forget the small decisions and instead focus on making $10,000/hour decisions: smart, daily financial decisions that pay off in dividends in the long run. My $10,000/hour decision would have been to pass on the purchase of a new car in 2002 and instead, opt for a used car within my price range. That decision put me further into debt and took me years to pay off.
Tip: Focus on making your own $10,000/hour financial decisions now by setting a budget and looking for opportunities to become more financially stable.
Work/Life Balance Tip: Your Work Will Still Be There Tomorrow
My workaholic tendencies have gotten me into a lot of trouble with my family over the years. Although I am now able to set clear boundaries, I still occasionally extend my work-day into the evening. Thankfully, my family helps me keep these tendencies in check. This mentality is connected to the fact that I feel a constant pressure to produce a high volume of work and I don’t want to let anyone down. Nobody is putting that pressure on me, but me.
Tip: Set a hard stop time on your calendar each day when you will wrap up your work. This allows you to provide clear lines of communication with your loved ones (I’m leaving work at 5:00pm), and forces you to work more efficiently within your budgeted time (2-hour block to complete project). This Harvard Business Review article, by Art Markman lays out several strategies to tackle the guilt and shame you feel when you don’t complete your work by the end of the day.
Tips On Finding Meaning: Overcoming Pandemic Fatigue
2020 has been a crazy year for so many reasons. On a personal level, I lost my father in the spring, which only compounded the stress of our stay at home orders due to the pandemic. My summer was spent grieving and leading a deep internal discussion about Equity, Diversity and Inclusion at Colburn where I work. It was Labor Day before I realized that I was exhausted and burnt out. Pandemic fatigue is a real thing and all of us are dealing with it in our own way.
Tip: Be aware that you may have some personal work to do before you feel “normal” again during this pandemic (whatever normal means). This article provides some incredible take-aways when it comes to overcoming pandemic fatigue in the workplace. Check it out and make sure you take some time for some pandemic self-care this holiday season!
Field Notes: A way to support your favorite artists
Last week, Spotify released their “that’s a wrap” app which gave me a list of my most listened to artists over the past year. It reminded me that there is a ton of great music being made, even during the pandemic. I love Spotify but unless you’re a major recording artist, musicians can’t make a living through streams of their music. There has to be more we can do to support the careers of the musicians we care so much about.
Tip: Instead of relying on Spotify to support the careers of performing artists, we should provide direct financial support to the artists we love. I recommend that you check out the online merch table established by most artists. The purchase of a new t-shirt shows the world you’re a raving fan of a particular artist, while simultaneously supporting the artists themselves.
The Way Things Work: Understand the Online Resources Available to You As A Creator.
Being a creator in the year 2020 isn’t just about making beautiful pieces of art or helpful YouTube videos. It’s also about understanding the multitude of resources available to you as a creator. I used to look at social media the only tool needed to build a community. I would go to Instagram, post a photo I liked, come up with a pithy caption and hit send. Creators understand that their social media handles are one element of a much larger structure when it comes to building a community. Effective creators have tapped into the incredible resources available to them that go far beyond social media platforms.
Tip: Know and understand which tools you will use in order to build your thriving online community. Hugo Amsellem created an incredible resource, which maps out every effective and important element to building an online presence as a creator. If you’re thinking about building an online community, this article is a fantastic place to start.
Things I Loved:
- A new reading trend in the works?
- I don’t know what’s happening but I love it!
- This great, short video on how to be creative.
- This view can’t come soon enough!
- One of my favorite songs set by one of my favorite artists!
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