Writing these weekly emails (posts) is a joy.
The whole process feeds me even when it’s hard.
Throughout the week, I explore ideas and jot down unfinished thoughts in a google doc dedicated to my next email.
And then toward the end of the week, I sit down to write what I hope will interest you. What I hope will make you think about something a bit differently.
This matters to me because I’m learning to think differently myself.
And it’s a way to connect with you that feels meaningful even if it’s mostly one-sided.
This week, my google doc is filled with quotes, ideas, and questions about what makes a good day.
We know that every day matters. That life is finite.
But we don’t treat every day like it matters.
For me a good day is a day that matters.
And a day that matters is a day where I’ve done things that are in line with what I value and care about most.
Some of my current top values are connection, learning, and health.
I have them written down on an orange post-it note on my desk.
Even though this is what matters to me, I need a cue to check in.
To support myself in doing things that fuel what matters to me right now.
I’ll still put off some of those things because they’re challenging and make me feel vulnerable.
I love getting to know people in my network more personally but it takes emotional and psychological effort to put myself out there. Each time I do it, I’m so glad I did but I still find it hard to do. So I don’t do it every day.
I’ll also put off some of the easier things that matter so I can attend to more pressing “matters.”
Instead of taking 5 minutes to stretch and dance around which makes me feel great, I’ll quickly open an email that’s just come in. And then I’ll get derailed because an email is almost never just an email.
When it comes to living more days that matter, it’s not that we need to use our time well but that we need to value our time and give it more value.
“[T]he more you focus on using time well, the more each day begins to feel like something you have to get through, en route to some calmer, better, more fulfilling point in the future, which never actually arrives.”
– Oliver Burkeman from his book Four Thousand Weeks
There will always be things to do. There will always be things we can’t control.
But we can continuously re-orient ourselves towards what is most meaningful to us.
Ask yourself:
How can I make this day matter?