A few weeks ago, sickness and then travel took me away from my regular exercise routine (which, these days, is reformer Pilates classes). I am back at it now that I'm well and at home, and I have noticed that I feel a lot less irritated and grumpy. If I made the rules, exercise probably wouldn't be required for mental health, but alas, I don't make the rules. I'm learning again and again that taking care of my body pays significant dividends. Looking back, I would have likely benefited from a better "backup" plan, like going for short walks when I didn't want to spread my cold germs to my Pilates classmates and when I was traveling. Hopefully I'll incorporate that lesson next time I need it!
Let's get to your Friday Five:
Is airplane mode even necessary when flying? I've definitely found myself skeptical whether airplane mode is essential - I mean, is it really going to cause the plane to crash if I forget? But this video explains why it actually does matter (and it has nothing to do with plane crashes). Thanks to my buddy Thomas for sharing.
The email lifesaver you might not know about:Gmail's Undo Send feature gives you a grace period to pull back an email after hitting send—perfect for catching typos, forgotten attachments, or that moment of instant regret. To set it up, go to Settings (click the gear icon), find "Undo Send" under the General tab, and choose your cancellation window (up to 30 seconds). Once enabled, you'll see an "Undo" option pop up after sending any email, giving you those precious seconds to save yourself from email mishaps. In Outlook, you can set a delay in Settings > Mail > Compose and reply (10-30 seconds) for a quick "Undo" button after sending. It can't hurt to go turn it on so that you've got the option when you need it!
Something to declutter this time of year: If you are finishing up celebrating any seasonal holidays that you decorate for in your home, it's a great time to declutter any decor that never made it into display this year. You might also ask, "If this item were at the store and I didn't already own it, would I purchase it?" If the answer is no, then that's another strong candidate for donating to someone who might really enjoy it! If you're in the US, you can probably schedule a pickup from this charity for your donations. Oh, and in a similar vein, I saw this brilliant video for how to store lights that I'll be using this year!
If you can't afford Calendly: A scheduling tool like Calendly is amazing (and I use Calendly myself!), but you likely already have a free alternative if you have a Google Calendar account. I have started using Google Appointment Scheduler and will likely make it my primary scheduling tool soon. Want to see how it works? I made this video for a Joyfully Managed Worklife member who said, "I should probably start using a scheduling tool" to help her see how easy it would be to set up in just a few minutes with her existing calendar, at no extra cost. This also works super well for scheduling a bunch of similar appointments (like if you're hiring and scheduling a lot of interviews). This works with both free Gmail accounts and paid Google Workspace accounts, but paid accounts offer more features.
Use up that bread loaf "end": From my friend Greg, an excellent tip for making that sandwich: spread jam or nut butter on the outside of the end pieces of the sliced bread when making a sandwich, it will end up with a similar look and feel of a middle slice.
Bonus Sponsor Resource: Nokbox. If you've got some time over the holidays, it's a really excellent time to get your "life papers" a bit more organized. We're not aiming for perfection here, but any progress you can make will serve you and your loved ones so well. I got this Nokbox for my dad earlier this year (it stands for Next of Kin Box), and he found the process really satisfying and easy. Because the box already had folders for different categories, it was easy to put files in the right place as he found them. It even has a key bag to keep extra keys. Again, any progress matters here. This resource is from one of our Friday Five sponsors - thank you to them for keeping this newsletter free for readers!