Jessica’s Friday Five: We came together & changed this Slack policy

Hi Reader,

One thing I rarely show is how much I really love replies from y'all to this newsletter. Let me know if a Friday Five tip has ever been helpful to you, or if you've got a question I might be able to help with, or a tip to pass along to the community - it totally makes my day, and it's really me on the other end of your emails. Consider it the best free gift you could give me as I celebrate my 4th anniversary as an entrepreneur next week (Nov 19). I became an entrepreneur in 2021, and it has been one of the best decisions I've ever made. I love the work I get to do and the community we’ve built.

1. Two tips for upcoming holidays: I’m going to put these letter-to-Santa printables (modified from one I found online and converted into a Canva template you can modify and use, or print the PDF if it's helpful to you!) in our Little Free Library this year for families to grab. I printed pages 2-4 and folded them, and paperclipped them with an envelope to make it easy. You could share at a church, or give to every kid who comes to a Christmas-related gathering you're at, or anywhere that those who might enjoy Christmas are gathered (be careful not to assume all kids celebrate Christmas!). If kids mail these letters to the listed address (if they're US-based), a USPS volunteer will write back and sometimes even send a gift from their list! Also, Friday Fiver Susannah writes this incredible blog, and I'm going to use her idea for cocktail/mocktail infusion DIY kits for gifts this year.
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2. Need your hands free? Dictate your emails! I injured my fingers last week cooking dinner, and this tip from Friday Fiver Lindsey came in handy! "Got an email tip for ya - not a setting, but in Outlook (Jess note: this also works in Gmail!), you can dictate your emails. When you open a new email, there is a button in the top right-hand corner called "Dictate". In the dictation settings, you can enable auto-punctuation and even filter sensitive phrases. As someone who thinks faster than they can type, and prefers voice to text on my phone as well, this is a huge time saver."
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3. Slack nonprofit program for educational institutions: I have a heartening update and an appreciation for the folks at Slack. Some of you may recall from past issues of Friday Five like this one that I publicly questioned their policy regarding education nonprofits. I heard back from them with this note: "We took your feedback and have officially adjusted our policy to be more inclusive of educational organizations like yours. This means your organization, a Parent-Teachers Association, is now eligible for our nonprofit program, and the complimentary Pro plan has been applied to your workspace. Our intent has never been to exclude nonprofits simply because they are connected to an educational purpose. Your feedback was invaluable in helping us clarify our position and make this change. We are grateful for the opportunity to make our program better." Don't just assume that you can't change something - it can't hurt to ask! Thank you to those who chimed in to support this advocacy. We did it, and it will positively impact thousands of nonprofits! 🎉​
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4. Adorable productivity trick: I shared a picture of tiny giraffes on my desk for those of you who follow me on LinkedIn, explaining why it's become a (now not-so-secret) weapon for avoiding procrastination. I also never expected to get so many requests for a mini giraffe figurine link, so, uh, here y'all go. lol I actually use these little jewels sometimes for the same purpose.
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5. Improve your mental health with probiotics: I saw last week that a massive systematic review analysing 19 studies found that people taking probiotics, prebiotics, or synbiotics (a combo of both) experienced significant drops in depression scores compared to those on a placebo. Anxiety levels? They improved, too. The brand of probiotics I take each day is Bioma Probiotics—use code JST10 to get 10% off if you’d like to try them out.

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Last Friday's Most-Clicked Link: The cold-and-flu basket details I mentioned we have on hand at our house (ideally before you need it!).