This week was an intense one over here. Aside from the chaos happening at the national level in my country (I'm in the US) that is impacting our friends and family in so many ways, it was just also a busy regular week of life and work. There were moments of joy (hi to everyone that I got to teach project management to in NYC this week!) and moments of exhaustion. One thing bringing me a smile is this video which in my opinion is the best one on the internet this week.
Let's get to your Friday Five, ok?
If you're overwhelmed by passwords: In a recent session of Joyfully Managed Worklife (shout to the fantastic cohort 3!), password management came up. I made a video for the group because there were questions about how password manager software works. If you haven't set up something like this, it's time to do that. It's not overly complicated. Here's me explaining the basics of how these work. We use a free Bitwarden account in our home, and the clever folks at Wirecutter say 1Password is excellent too. Your organization or team probably needs one at work, too, if you don't already have one.
If you're job-searching: This week my former colleague Eric had me on his podcast about all things talent, and we talked tips about being ready for a job search or getting more organized admist a search. Check it out if you're interested in talent topics or are in the hunt for your next role. It's on YouTube, Apple, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts.
If you haven't frozen your credit yet: In the US in the last week, unelected and unappointed folks got access to the personal information of millions of Americans when our Treasury Department was taken over illegally without congressional approval, and info was transferred to private hard drives. Yikes. It's always a good idea to have your credit file frozen, but now more than ever. I've been a victim of identity theft, so I've had my credit frozen for years now, and it's successfully stopped the problem. Freezing your credit means that no one can open new accounts in your name (and you can temporarily or permanently "thaw" it when you need to open a new card or get a new loan and then freeze it again). Directions for fellow Americans here on how to do this. If you have kids, freeze their credit, too.
If you care about boys and men: This book (Bookshop | Amazon) has been the best of 2025 for me (thanks to my friend Rachel Sklar for the recommendation). I hate the name of the book, to be honest, because I think it's much more broadly applicable than just for those of us who are mothers to boys. It is changing how I'm relating to my son and opened my eyes to a number of issues I haven't been thinking about that are negatively impacting boys and young men.
If you're feeling stuck: A handful of close friends have done some intentional work with psychedelics like psilocybin to help them move through mental challenges and stuck energy. A friend of mine, Allison, is now doing psychedelic-assisted coaching, and she is hosting a retreat in Portugal this summer for a small group. She sent me some info to share with anyone interested in this topic as well. She writes, "The Netflix series "How to Change Your Mind" is quite good (I would recommend watching the psilocybin episode vs. the others, which are also good, but they focus on different medicines). You can also listen to Michael Pollan being interviewed by Tim Ferriss here."
I have so many ideas collected to share with you! What should I prioritize next Friday?
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