Welcome to Issue 61 of Writing and Other Stuff, a newsletter by me, Kim Scaravelli, with a focus on writing with flair, flexing your creative muscles, and building a strong brand voice. Not a subscriber? It's an easy problem to fix →Subscribe here.
Suffering from summer brain-melt? Me too!
Guess what? That lethargic, unfocused feeling may have a scientific explanation. Apparently, when it's super hot the communication system in our brain can go a bit wacky, causing moodiness, irritability, tiredness, and a general sense of apathy.
❄️ Based on science, finding a COOL place to work may be a fast fix. Or at least an improvement.
But it can't be all about the temperature, because I have a heat pump maintaining a comfortable 20 degrees in my office, and my late-August brain is still scattered like confetti in a windstorm.
I believe the problem is largely related to the breakdown of schedules and patterns: Vacations, visiting relatives, extra activities, etc., wreck havoc on the daily rhythms of our lives.
As s result, what feels like FUN in June and July becomes STRESSFUL as it stretches into August. And air conditioning isn't going to fix it.
For me - and possibly you - the cure is an end-of-summer reset!
You may not be able to clear your home of children and visitors, throw the breaks on those social commitments, or lower the temperature of the planet.
But you CAN start preparing for a productive autumn. And just visualizing the calm, steady pace of a well-organized work week can be calming.
Cool quote
“Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance, order, rhythm and harmony.”
Orison Swett Marden (American author and founder of Success magazine)
How I Re-Ignite My Brain Power
At this time every year, I engage in a 3-step ritual that gets me back on track and kickstarts my productivity. It also helps maintain my good cheer through those last, loopy weeks of summer madness.
🏆 Step 1: Goal Setting
I set aside a morning to ponder my professional goals for the coming months. This isn't about making another to-do list! It's about BIG PICTURE thinking and strategizing - clearly visualizing what I want to accomplish and deciding what must be done to make it across the finish line.
🗓️ Step 2: Calendar Tweaking
Fresh goals inevitably require tweaks to the workday. FYI: I use Calendly, so it's super-easy to set new boundaries and corral meetings and rote tasks into controlled chunks of time.
🤓 Step 3: Choosing something NEW to learn
Learning something new is invigorating. It's like signing my sluggish brain up for an exercise class.
Note: I've committed to a 12-week program with John Bellingham at Proven Flows. Taking a DEEP DIVE into email marketing and learning all the ins and outs of ConvertKit will definitely be a high-intensity mental workout!
Stuff Worth Sharing!
✔️I'm a HUGE FAN of reading aloud. Here's a fantastic piece by the BBC that backs me up on this. Reading aloud is powerful and the benefits are impressive.
✔️Have been enjoying a lovely, upbeat podcast Amy Sanders, a life coach in the U.S. My fav episode so far is one about how to stop giving so much power to other people's opinions. Worth your time!
For the Word Nerds
I listened to a podcast this week where the guest was talking about tough things we tend to put off doing. They repeatedly called them "ominous tasks".
Wrong word!
Thought I would use this space to set the record straight on three similar-sounding words that often get scrambled up and served on the wrong plates!
Ominous: Foreboding or foreshadowing evil.
Onerous: Difficult; challenging.
Odious: Unpleasant; repulsive.
We put off doing onerous tasks, ominous tasks, and odious tasks. But based on the topic of the podcast, ONEROUS was the correct adjective. 😮💨 Felt good to get that off my chest.
Thanks for reading. I'll see you again September 4th. In the meantime, if you like my newsletter, here are a few ideas for you:
