One Singular Sensation: The Magic of Monotasking ☝️
And there is indeed a cure for the summertime blues
4 min read
SEPTEMBER MOURN
Not everyone suffers from the September Scaries like I do (read those comments for proof and a good laugh) but for those of us who dread the end of summer, September can truly feel like the biggest Monday morning come-down of them all. But it can also be framed as a reset: bearing in mind that there are only four months left til 2025, how are you going to use that time? While I’m not a fan of New Year’s resolutions, I do like to set microgoals that feel achievable. It helps. Here’s my plan, what’s yours?
MORE steps
LESS time in my phone
MORE standing, LESS sitting
MORE foods with LESS than 5 ingredients
Ready, set, sigh. September mornings seem to make me feel that way.
GROSS: NATIONAL PRODUCTS
ICYMI, and many people did, there was a not-small outbreak of deadly Listeria traced back to Boar’s Head meats, resulting in illnesses in 18 states including New York and New Jersey, and nine deaths. Worse news: the items were produced in May and June, and it can take up to 10 weeks for symptoms to emerge, so you might have affected product in your fridge or freezer right now. Read the full list of recalled items here. Soooo when packing lunch boxes, maybe skip that ham and turkey sammy for a while and try something different. (I kid…what’s the point, they’re gonna trade it anyway, amiright?)
HOCUS FOCUS
In lame but not surprising news, results of a decades-long study revealed that our attention spans have declined from an average of 2.5 minutes in 2004 to 47 seconds in the last 5-6 years. This is disheartening for SO many reasons, least of all that you’ve probably not even made it this far reading today’s newsletter- (look, a squirrel!) It’s even got its own term: Popcorn Brain, which hits. 🍿🧠
Constantly dividing and diverting your attention not only diminishes productivity but also significantly increases stress; the more you switch your attention, the more your stress intensifies. Reason number 486 that I’m aiming to dial down the hours spent on my phone.
HERE’S A TIP, MAKE THE CHANGE
We all know the old adage, “if you want something done, ask a busy person,” and there’s truth there–just like a body, a brain in motion stays in motion. But shifting back into productivity mode after some summer sun and fun can feel like a monumental effort. Enter: the productive art of monotasking. That’s MONO, not MULTI. I’m saying it again in case your popcorn brain missed it. Tackling a single task by limiting distractions and simplifying priorities can be extremely effective in getting through a mile-long to-do list. Example: when there are twelve items on your list, pick the TWO that are most urgent or important (there’s a difference) and set aside interruption-free time to focus on one at a time, where you can even use your new tomato flavored time management tool that you learned about right here, assuming it took you less than 47 seconds to read that post.
💫 Congrats on reading this far! Musings and joy bombs ahead before you cruise into your weekend. 💫
HONEYDOUCHE
With record sales of $10M in Honey Deuce cocktails this year, it’s pretty clear that the US Open is single-handedly responsible for keeping the world’s crappiest melon, aka “the white noise of the fruit world” from extinction. It’s nice to know I’m far from alone in my low opinion of this lazy fruit with “scary yellow teeth.” 🎯 But despite capitalizing on the worst fruit literally ever, at 23 bucks a pop this cocktail is making more than this year’s finalists, combined. Lame, Set, Match.
But speaking of a singular sensation, every move that he makes: Let’s go, Frances! #bigfoe 🎾
ONE
🎂 🥳 Hard to believe, but it’s been ONE YEAR of the All Too Well Newsletter! So of course I chose a Broadway nugget to commemorate the occasion. Just a quick note to tell you how much I appreciate your readership, your feedback, and your continued attention, amid all the noise and other crap in your inbox. Thanks for sticking with me, you know you’ll never be lonely with you-know-who. (It’s me..hi) 🫶🏻
Wait. What's so bad about the poor honeydew?