'Ello friends

It's Thursday!!!! That means it's newsletter time! I hope you've been having a wonderful week :)

👀 My Musings

For those who were here back in the day (like Week 3 of the newsletter, sometime in October), I shared about the "Five Buckets" from Steven Bartlett's new book, Diary of a CEO. We're taking a look at my favorite analogy from Diary of a CEO to think about time and how we use it: The Poker Chips.

Allocating time with intentionality is essential because our time is limited. Steven shares how humans have a challenging time genuinely understanding the "finality" of our lives and the role time plays. Logically, we know we only have so much time, but in practice, we don't always act as if that's the case. Think about what you preoccupy yourself with, how you treat others, and how you react to things -- we overestimate the importance of some things and deprioritize the things most important to us. The more in the weeds we are in (the plane), the less we think about our "why?" (the pilot).

Having a light way of re-assessing our priorities, letting go of those things of less importance, and level-set with us while we're in that "go-go-go" zone can realign ourselves with our values, allow us to be the most authentic version of ourselves, and be less frazzled as we go about our day. As of recent, the poker chip method has been my favorite way of doing this. As Steven puts it, we are all "gambling" or time-betting with the time we have to make the most of the moments in our lives. The number of betting chips we have is equal to the number of hours we have left in life. And, the only rule is that every hour, you have to place a chip that you will never get back. How you place these chips will lead to your closeness with your loved ones, how rewarded you feel working within your passions, your life experiences, legacy, and everything in between. And what we do with each poker chip (go to the gym, have a coffee chat with someone you think is AWESOME, grab lunch with the fam) -- that's the one thing we have the most control over. You may not know what will come of the placement of that chip (big gains 💪, a cool internship, or the deepening of a meaningful relationship) .. but that's why it's a poker chip; you're taking an intentional gamble with your time.

During my Sunday planning sessions (and if I do a morning review of the day ahead of me), I frame the planning of my week around "What do I want to spend this week's poker chips on?" Without thinking too deeply about mortality and all that jazz, it gives me a good middle ground to think about what's worth my time. Often, when I'm overwhelmed with work during the week and want to pivot from whatever's on my Calendar, I ask myself, "What can I place my next poker chip on to bring the most joy, rejuvenation, and long-term gratification?" Idk, personally I think it's the cutest concept and I've kinda engrained it into my rituals to check in with myself as often as I need. Thanks Steven 🫡.

That said, take some time to check in with yourself and recalibrate this week. Are you using your poker chips in the way your future self would be the most grateful for? And how can you make your work more energizing?

🪄 Casual Magic

Dropping some casual magic for this stage in my life (✨ sprinkle sprinkle ✨ -- that's me sprinkling the magic). Personally, I'm a planner who likes to know what's coming next. But, with all the cool books I've been reading and the experiences I'm experiencing, calculated risks/the unknown is quite exciting! There are just so many directions I could go, doors I could open, and directions I could specialize in. I think there's that excitement to any stage of life, but I've just recently been able to flip "not knowing" into a positive.

🧠 Productivity Tip

The Two-Minute Rule: If something is nagging you while trying to focus on deep work tasks, and it takes under two minutes, just get it done. Instead of adding it to your growing to-do list, if you accomplish it, then you can be closer to the focus mode you need to get in the zone 😎. This was popularized by David Allen -- find information on his book, below.

🥳 Community Event Spotlight

The Junior League of Raleigh is hosting its annual “A Shopping SPREE!”. They’re hosting over ​100 vendors​ to raise money for local nonprofits. Tickets are $10 ($12 at the door), so check out the rest of the information and their mini-events, ​here​.

When: Thursday, Nov. 30 - Sunday, Dec. 3, 2023

Where: Jim Graham Building, North Carolina State Fairgrounds, Raleigh

❤️ My Favorite Things this Week

1. 📕 Book - David Allen's Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity is my current read. It's one of the first books in the modern "productivity" genre, so if you've read many books and YouTube videos on the topic, this may not be for you. But for those looking for an "in" to the genre, this book is a good way of getting there! Taking it back to the basics is essential.
2. 🎙️ Podcast - School has been schooling, and nonprofits have been nonprofiting, so I haven't had time to listen to any this week 😝. But resharing Ali Abdaal's and Steven Barlett's Deep Dive episode since it aligns well with The Diary of a CEO.
3. 📱 Productivity App - Todoist is my simple task management app! If something comes to mind, I quickly chuck it into Todoist and sort it out later. As David Allen says, "Your brain is for having ideas, not holding them."
4. 🎁 Product - It's getting chilly out 🥶, so it's heated blanket season, Costco style :)
5. 🚀 Nonprofit - Musical Empowerment is a nonprofit that connects young students who don't have access to music instruction to college students for free lessons! They also provide music books, instruments, and other items that a student would need to take on when starting to play an instrument 🎵.

✍️ Quote of the Week

“If you don’t pay appropriate attention to what has your attention, it will take more of your attention than it deserves.” ~ David Allen, Getting Things Done