Sometimes, it feels like there’s so much content getting churned out every day that you’ll never keep up. Or, like you might drown in the process of trying to “drink from the firehose.”
But there’s always that fear of missing out, of finally reading the post that makes everything click.
And so you keep gulping away at the stream, just hoping to keep up. (Or maybe you’ve already given up, realizing that you’ll never keep up, so why bother?)
Well…
What if you didn’t have to keep up with the mad rush of content?
What if you could quietly do your own thing all month, and then get some of the best posts on creating sustainable work-life balance delivered right to you?
You’ve probably figured it out by now, but that’s what this new post series aims to do: I’ll drink from the firehose for you, and once a month I’ll give you the best of what I’ve read.
So step away from the overwhelming amount of info, sit back, and relax.
Here’s your curated content for the month of May.
Enjoy!
Against Productivity
Quinn writes about the move to Puerto Rico that was supposed to change everything. Instead, realizing that the dream of “making every moment count” was killing us, Quinn ended up examining a period of time “wasted” and realizing that we all need to be bored more often.
Even my leisure time had to be productive: Was I having enough fun? Was I sufficiently recharged for my next round of work? Was I getting enough out of the island?”
Stop Trying To Be Present
Tim invites us to spend our energy becoming vulnerable, and learning how to be truly present, even in the tough times.
The problem I have is that many people spend inordinate amounts of time trying to be present, without even reflecting on why that’s what they want, or even what it really means.”
How Can the U.S. Make Life Less Draining for Workers?
Are you one of the “lucky” ones who gets to work from home? In this piece, Rebecca examines what exactly that flexibility can cost you.
There can also be negative consequences to ‘flexibility’: often, workers who have the ‘perk’ of working from home wind up working even more hours in order to prove their worth. In some ways, ‘flexibility’ might be lead to even more hours devoted to work and fewer devoted to self-care or family or friends.”
The Reductive Seduction of Other People’s Problems
Courtney digs deep into what happens when well-intentioned people try to solve other people’s problems, without acknowledging the underlying complexity. Because other people’s problems can’t be that difficult to solve, can they?
Are you quietly haunted by the possibility that you aren’t the right person to be enacting change? Feeling noble at times, but disconnected from your own home, your own family, your own friends. You burn out…
There’s a better way. For all of us.”
News Flash: Fear Does Not Respond Well to Self-Discipline
Jennifer takes a tongue-in-cheek look at what happens when we try to relax and let ourselves just be… and the “shoulds” start creeping in.
Cue productive morning rituals! Cue impossible high bars! Cue subtle, hectoring inner talk. Cue crash.”
How Making Time for Books Made Me Feel Less Busy
Hugh tackles the very issue that prompted this post series — information overload. He delves into neuroscience, and looks at why funny cat videos on YouTube are rewiring our brain, and how reading good old fashioned books can help us bring back the ability to actually focus.
We are still learning how to live in this information ecosystem, and how to build the ecosystem for humans rather than for the information. We will get better at it—as humans, and as builders of technology.”
So, I hope that you enjoyed this small sampling of posts from around the web.
I also hope that you’ll take the extra time this month to go do something fun, instead of getting all wrapped up in the FOMO of the online firehose.
And, let me know what you think of the series — anything you’d like to see more of, less of? Let me know, and I’ll curate according to audience demand!
Until next month…
Leave a Reply