Jessica's Friday Five: my daughter told me to put this in Friday Five

Hi Reader,

For sure, the highlight of my week was being in a Zoom room with so many of you yesterday, chatting about the interesting ways we're using AI in our work and lives, and the nuance of doing that thoughtfully. It was a total storm of ideas and a lot of fun. Thanks for being there! If you want to get the replay + toolkit I created with tips and all the Q&A and such, just hit reply and I'll let you know when that's available (I need to set up a few things on my end, but I've already gotten a few of you asking, so I'll get it done soon!). If you're a Society member, the replay and toolkit are already up for you!

Let's get to your Friday Five!

1. Build your weekly planning checklist around what actually has to happen. Each week, I take a little time to plan the coming week. I use a checklist to remind me to check the different parts of my world and get a sense of what's happening. Sometimes I can do some really complete planning, and other times I'm doing the bare minimum. So here's a tip if you've got a weekly planning ritual like me (more on my approach here) - be sure to clarify if any of the things on your list are nice-to-do tasks. For example, an ideal prep-the-week session for me includes things like restarting my phone, watering the plant on my desk, and looking back at last week's calendar for anyone new to add on LinkedIn. But I can't always get to those, so my planning checklist is split into must-do tasks (like clearing calendar conflicts, updating my task system, and reviewing any written notes) and nice-to-do tasks. Don't build a checklist that only works for the theoretical version of you who also meditates and drinks enough water and has a salad for lunch every day - build it for your real life.
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2. For managers and team leads (and anyone wishing their workplace felt more appreciative!): My friends at The Helia Collective and I created a suite of resources on how to make appreciation a weekly practice that reaches everyone on your team, not just the people you click with most. It includes a free toolkit with my notes system, the Round of Appreciation, and my full session plan you can use with your team if you'd like. Read it here.
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3. What I bought so far in October: I update this page at least once a month (usually more) with anything I've recently bought and really liked. Recent adds include a fall dress, a family advent calendar, a light for my bathroom, and a truly humongous candle. You can filter to just see certain categories (like books, or seasonal things, or food). And if you'd like to get an email reminder once a month when I've fully updated it, just click here and I'll get you on that special list of folks who like those kinds of product picks.
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4. Annual chore change: Many of you have checked out this free resource, so you know my kids each get a year-long chore they do every day. The chore we assigned at the start of this school year for one of my kids just wasn't working out, so we did something we haven't done before: we let the chore change midyear. We brainstormed together (my husband, me, and our oldest) about what the new chore could be and decided her chore would be cooking dinner 3 times a week. So far, it's working out really well (she's 12) - so much so that she actually said to me, "Mom - you should put how I'm cooking dinner into Friday Five as a tip". 😂
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5. Worth your time this week if you're an entrepreneur/business owner: Behind the Build: Black Friday Edition. A group of experienced business owners each opened up one real piece of a sale we've run: the mechanics, the reason, the numbers, and the shortcut to copy it before your own sale. Mine is "The One Email That Replaced My Launch Dashboard". Free through November 13. → Get your free ticket here​

Bonus Sponsor Resource: Pocket - I got this a handful of months ago, and I'm really liking it so far. It helps me record things, my thoughts, in-person meetings, virtual meetings, etc., and capture all the notes without me having to do it all. It's saved me a ton of time and effort. I like that it's a one-time payment for the device and then it doesn't require an ongoing subscription after that. This resource is from one of our Friday Five sponsors - thank you to them for keeping this newsletter free for readers!

Last Friday's Most-Clicked Link: My LinkedIn post with screenshots of how I've set up my iPhone notifications with their new feature.