My kids finished their school year yesterday so it's summer vibes here in our home and I wanted to update the Friday Five imagery to match that mood. I hope you are headed into a nice weekend. If you're feeling stressed right now, here's a suggestion: answer the following question and then take action: "What's the biggest problem I can solve in the next hour?" Here's to all of us having some time to just be, not do, in the next few days.
Let's get to your Friday Five!
6 best books of 2024 so far: I am in a reading phase of my life - I am getting a lot of joy from books, both physical and audiobooks. It's OK if you're not in a reading phase - reading is morally neutral, and it doesn't make you a good person - but if you are and you'd like some recommendations, here are my 6 favorites from the 27 finished so far this year, with a short note about why I enjoyed each of them. Got any good recommendations for me on what to read next? Hit reply - I love a good book rec.
Donut Day: Today is Donut Day in the US, so if you're here you might want to celebrate this afternoon with a box to share with your people. Or bring a box to the office this morning. I found this roundup of where you can get free donuts today (Krispy Kreme, Dunkin, etc.) - hope you enjoy!
Great Wolf Lodge: We've gone 3 times over the last 3 years for a night or two each at Great Wolf Lodge (once to celebrate school being out, once as a birthday surprise, and once for New Years Eve). It's an indoor waterpark + a bunch of other activities + a hotel. I'd definitely recommend it for families if you need something to look forward to this summer or fall. It can be relatively affordable as family activities go - if you go for one night, you can do the waterpark that day and the day you check out. There's a magic quest game where if you buy a wand, you can solve things around the resort - that can be fun, but it takes a LOT of time, so I'd not recommend that if you're going for a short trip. If you ever want to book it, I'd also recommend getting a fresh Rakuten account with a referral bonus (here's my link) before you book because you'd get 1.5% cash back on whatever you spend to book your spot + the 10% bonus for new Rakuten members - and that's a good chunk of change for something like this!
Are you a what-er or a when-er? My friend Maia is a fellow organization and productivity enthusiast, and she's the one who taught me this helpful concept: some of us like to decide when we will do things (a when-er), and some of us better like to just have a list of things that need to be done (a what-er). I'm a STRONG what-er, though I wish I was a when-er because I think time blocking is likely a super-effective strategy. She has a quiz to figure out which one you are here. Once you've figured out your style, go get my course on how to Plan Your Week to put that new insight to work for you.
Know someone about to have a baby?Send them this Instagram link or just forward them this email and tell them to checkout #5. I love this advice from Sharon with some less-common tips for the postpartum period of life. It's rough out there in the newborn forest. I especially like the tips about the formula and the symptoms list to print out. I also crowdsourced some new parent advice a while back (also on Insta, here it is) that they might want to check out.
P.S. If you're new here you might not know we do funny memes every Friday on Facebook and Instagram. Some good ones in today's collection, and you'll want to follow so you see them every week.
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