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Jessica's Friday Five

by Jessica Eastman Stewart

Five practical tips every Friday for making your life more joyful and easy. A wildly popular email newsletter with thousands of readers.

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Jessica's Friday Five: Safari Browser Trick, School Paperwork Bonfire, & Ice Cream

Hi Reader, A warm welcome to the 600+ of you who have joined us here in this Friday Five community in the last week. I'm Jess, and every week, I share 5 things that I think are helpful. I hope you love reading it as much as I love writing it! On a different topic, did any of you get to see the Northern Lights this last week? I didn't, but it was SO fun to see pictures from friends in all parts of the world that don't normally get that treat. Maybe I gotta get to Iceland one of these days to...

about 2 hours ago • 3 min read

Hi Reader, This weekend is a celebration of Mother's Day in the US. As someone who lost my mother last month, I'm sending love to you however this holiday is feeling for you. Here's what I won't be doing: playing flag football. My son's flag football league invited moms to join a flag football team for practices all this week and then a series of 4 games this weekend, culminating in a mom's flag football championship on Sunday. If I were to list 10,000 things I'd like to do for Mother's Day,...

7 days ago • 2 min read

Hi Reader, I hope your May is going okay so far. This week, my friend shared some wisdom with me that I wanted to pass along to all of you. As you might have read, my mom passed away last month. One of the surprising aspects of grief for me has been how exhausted I feel all the time, and when I mentioned that, Jenna shared, "The harder you fight the exhaustion, the longer you'll be exhausted." What a simple and obvious truth. But somehow, it is very difficult to remember at the moment. Let's...

14 days ago • 2 min read

Hi Reader, Thank you for all of the kind responses to my email last week sharing that my mother had passed away. I heard from so many of you; it was a balm for this tough time. ❤️ I wrote about some lessons for managers at work to support employees experiencing grief here on LinkedIn, and my friend Thomas shared with me this beautiful video of Andrew Garland discussing grief as unexpressed love. The funeral home that supported my mom lets anyone sign up for one year of grief messages via...

21 days ago • 2 min read

Hi Reader, As you'll read below, it's been a tough month for me and my family. Throughout the experience, I've noticed much about how work and personal lives intersect in beautiful and toxic ways. I'll share a few of those reflections this month. Let's get to your Monthly Management Memo - as always with something bold, something new, something borrowed, and something to pursue. Something Bold - Getting Honest FeedbackOften, teammates do not feel comfortable giving honest feedback to their...

22 days ago • 2 min read

Hi Reader, This past Sunday morning, my wonderful mother passed away. My dad and I were both by her side, and it was all at once peaceful, beautiful, and devastating. She lived an incredible life, raising me and my brother around the world after she and my dad met each other while they were both serving in the US Navy. She fought multiple myeloma, a type of cancer, for many years and I'm so glad she is no longer in pain. As we've gone through the process of losing her, I have learned much and...

28 days ago • 2 min read

Hi Reader, I'm writing this week while en route to be with family facing difficult health challenges and decisions. I considered skipping this week's issue but decided to send it for three reasons - writing this email is the professional highlight of my week, I haven't missed a week since I began this adventure over two years ago, and there are over 500 new folks just this week who have joined us here to get these weekly tips! Welcome - we're so glad to have you. I can't promise I won't miss...

about 1 month ago • 1 min read

Hi Reader, You know what isn't helpful in almost any circumstance? All or nothing thinking. I prefer "all or something". So you didn't get a 30-min workout in, but you went for a 10-min walk. That's something. You didn't bring your lunch from home like you wanted every day this week, but you did 3 times? That's meaningfully better than 0 times. Life is messy. Do what you can with what you've got. Let's get to your Friday Five! Eclipse: For those of us in North America, there's a total solar...

about 1 month ago • 2 min read

Hi Reader, A common theme in conversations I've been having with workshop clients lately is the need to have really clear processes for things that their team does again and again. It can be both a key ingredient to effective delegation and a balm against the pull of staying too in-the-weeds of a project that someone else should be handling. More on that below if this sounds useful for your team! Let's get to your Monthly Management Memo - as always with something bold, something new,...

about 2 months ago • 2 min read

Hi Reader, This week I'm re-learning just how long it can take to catch up after being out of the office. I was away last week supporting family members at out-of-state medical appointments and I still feel behind. The reality is that I'm exactly where I need to be and that I'm a human who can't do all the things. I hope you remember that too next time you're away from work (and if you have no time away from work coming up - here's your reminder to get.that.scheduled!). Let's get to your...

about 2 months ago • 2 min read
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