Jessica's Friday Five: Some good news, burn gel, and my new fave productivity tool
Published 30 days ago • 3 min read
Hi Reader,
In the last few weeks, I both learned about a new productivity tool and became a huge fan of it. A few weeks back, someone mentioned Flown at a gathering of mostly knowledge workers. It's a body-doubling platform for focus and flow, but it's a lot more affordable than others I'd been eyeing for the last year or so like Cave Day. It also starts with a free 30-day trial, so I could see if it works for me before paying. And boy does it work for me - I've been joining sessions just about every day to get in an hour or two of uber-focused work - and a few days ago I joined a short 15-min journaling session as a break in my day (going to try a short breathwork one next week). I think my favorite sessions are the 2-hour ones because the facilitators tend to run some sort of fun 5-min break right in the middle like a trivia game that forces a brain rest before going back into another hour of focus. I asked them for a discount code for Friday Fivers and they gave me a link for 20% off (the discount would kick in if you decided to continue after your free 30-day trial). Keep me updated if you join - maybe we can do some Friday Five community co-working sessions in the platform!
Enough about my new fave thing - let's get to your Friday Five!
Bad news happens fast, good news tends to be slow: There's a lot of bad news in the world right now, and I won't minimize that. And it was a good reminder for me to read this piece from Ben Samuels and Julie Roland about some good news we should acknowledge now. They show data about incredibly good public health news, environmental accomplishments, and more. It doesn't do us any good to focus only on the bad - in fact, good news fuels the hope we need to keep fighting against the worst.
If you're struggling with sleep: My dad is visiting us and arrived earlier this week. He told me that as he was leaving his house, he got 9 miles down the highway and realized he had left his Hatch sleep machine at home. He turned around and went back home to grab it because of how much it helps him sleep. I've been using one for years (in fact, my parents got it for me as a birthday gift from my wishlist) and I can't do without mine either. If you are struggling with sleep, seriously try this thing. It's so good.
Social media quiz for tweens and teens: The smart folks at Prequel put out this quiz you can have kids in your life take to see if they're ready for the responsibility of using social media. I love it so much for having the conversations you need to have to set kids up for success with social media, which can have real benefits and real downsides.
Have this on hand for burns: I burned myself pretty badly in two spots on my hand on Monday night while making dinner. While it was a silly mistake on my part that got me burned, it's pretty much a given that someone in your world is going to burn themselves every so often by accident somehow/some way. After holding my hand under running water for a long while to stop the burn, the burns were still painful. I would probably have struggled to fall asleep later that night if it weren't for these little packets of burn gel I had on hand. I keep some in our car first aid kit and in our bathroom and it's a low-cost way to be prepared for what is probably an inevitable minor injury in most homes.
Gratitude Qs for your Thanksgiving gathering: If you'll be connecting with anyone for Thanksgiving, I thought these questions from The Assist were unique and would add some value to any conversation with a group.
P.S. Stay tuned next week - I've got a brand-new thing that folks have been asking me to offer for years now. I'm so excited to share more soon when it's ready! The first folks to hop on it will get some extra cool stuff as well.
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