This week, we got some special film installed on the windows in our house that get the most sun during the day, and wow, it has made a huge difference in keeping those rooms cooler. I wish I'd done this many months ago. The local company calls it "glass tinting," and as our climate warms, it might be worth checking out if you are also in a place where there are super hot days in the future. Let's get to your Friday Five!
Best to-do list app: I really trust Wirecutter's recommendations on things, so when I saw this article about the best to-do list apps I knew I'd want to share it with all of you. I am not currently using any of their 3 recommendations, but if I was looking for a new tool I would absolutely go with one of these (my current system is a combo of Asana + the iPhone Reminders app + a daily Meetings/Must/Maybe list I jot on paper). I get asked about recommendations for to-do lists all the time and there's few things I'd rather discuss! Hope this is helpful if you're on the hunt for something great.
A couple of favorite home products: Dozens of y'all got these toothpaste caps last week and love them based on my email replies. So glad! This $6 candle I just got last week smells AMAZING. I splurged on the "Pumpkin Patch Parade" kitchen towel earlier this week because fall is my favorite season and Geometry towels are excellent (I asked them for a code, so "JessicaStewart" gets you a discount in the promo code field). Finally, I've had this battery organizer hanging up for years (in our last home, it was in the hall closet and we now have it in the laundry room). It's SO helpful for keeping batteries organized, and we also have a little system where we keep the rechargeable ones that are charged up with the + facing out and the ones that need to be charged with the - facing out.
Virtual Assistant: I've been working with a virtual assistant of some sort for nearly a decade now, and I've worked with a four different firms over the years. These days I'm working with Sundays after meeting Ashley Chang at a conference (she's the founder), and it's been a joy and a huge help. Sundays focuses specifically on supporting working parents, and so Kaila (my amazing assistant) helps me for 10 hours a month (I am likely to increase this allotment soon because it's been making such a difference!) with mostly business-related tasks but also sometimes with personal tasks. She's great and I definitely recommend checking out Sundays if you are ready to get some support with all the things you are juggling. Here are just a few of the things they help me with: social media management, website updates, capturing testimonials and sharing them, creating infrastructure for free resources I want to give to the world, sending gifts to my clients and students, bookkeeping and business mileage tracking, adding students to calendar invites for group programs, invoicing, tracking metrics, researching Airbnbs, putting conference sessions on my calendar, and more. I'm happy to intro you to Ashley if helpful, just hit reply and let me know.
What social media should have been: What if social media was (gasp!) actually social? What if we could go back to posting funny inside jokes on our friends' walls? TUVU is throwing it back to the good ol’ days. Yes, wholesome social media does exist – and it’s exactly what you’d picture. TUVU is ad-free, AI-moderated for the whole family, and designed for connection. Because it’s funded by subscribers, not advertisers, your data won’t get sold. Try it out and take a breath of relief. Download today! Free 30 Day Trial(Tuvu is one of our Friday Five sponsors - thank you to them for keeping this newsletter free for readers!)
Two Halloween Ideas: 1) If you have kids in your life, it's time to think about those costumes before it becomes last minute. 2) We got these milkweed seed packets from Save Our Monarchs last year, and I've already ordered more for this year. Kids at our door were delighted to get a little seed packet in addition to candy when they came by on Halloween night. We were delighted to know that we'd be seeing more monarchs in our neighborhood as everyone planted their seeds, as well!
Bonus Democracy Deeds | If you're wondering what these "democracy deeds" are all about, they're around for the next 6 issues of Friday Five and here's why I am including them.
If you're a manager at work, this practical workshop already has over 30 attendees registered and ticket sales benefit the Harris campaign. I'd love to see you on Tuesday (and I'll send the replay + resources to everyone who gets a ticket if you can't make it live).
Help encourage people to register to vote: Vote Forward is looking for volunteers to write letters to non-registered voters (who might have never registered, or who might have been removed from voter rolls and might be unaware that they're no longer registered) to encourage them to vote. Sign up here.
Host a party for democracy: I'm having friends over to our place in a few weeks to write postcards and take other actions to support democracy. I put the supplies I've purchased, the language I used to invite people, and more in this public google document in case you'd like to borrow any of it to host your own event! https://bit.ly/PostcardPartyTools
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