Jessica's Friday Five: when hope feels hard to find
Published 25 days ago • 3 min read
Hi Reader,
I know we might have been saying this for the last 5 years, but the world is a stressful place these days.
But also, people are doing good things every single day in every single community to make things better for each other. I mean, check this out (and be sure to stay until past the 30-second mark). And this. And this. What's the next small, good thing you could do? The opposite of hopelessness isn't hope - it's the choice to take action. Action creates hope. Which means hope is a choice, and it's available to each of us.
Canva Resource: I've shared before that I've learned most of what I know about how to use Canva from Brenda Cadman. She's just such a good teacher. She just created a new free 7-day email series to walk you through the platform step by step, so it finally makes sense. If you want to get better at Canva or know someone who does, this is a really valuable tool to help. She also has an excellent YouTube channel if that's your thing.
Surviving -> Thriving: I want to share a neuroscience concept that transforms how you can approach stress. Your brain has two primary states: Survive mode (reactive, stressed, drained) and Thrive mode (calm, creative, connected). You can't effectively manage stress from survival mode. The real opportunity lies in switching your brain state first to thriving. Emilia Ferreira is a neuroscientist I really like learning from about these concepts. Her 3-step protocol shows you how to manually shift your brain into thrive mode—where stress management tools actually work. This guide teaches you: the fastest way to access Thrive mode, how to stop the spiral, and a strategy for recharging your energy quickly mid-day. Download her free protocol here. I think you'll find it immediately helpful (especially if you're a parent).
New Instagram! I recently changed my Instagram handle to @joyfullymanagedlife (it used to be joyfullymanagedfamily) to better represent that I share tips about both work + home. If you're already following me for my daily tips there, you should be all good, but if you're not hanging out with us over there, here's your official invite! It's a great place to be on Fridays, where I always share the best memes I've seen recently via "Friday Funnies" (why is that porch mums one so true ...). https://www.instagram.com/joyfullymanagedlife/
Best Recipe-Viewing Hack: This tip comes from Friday Fiver Eve (thanks, Eve!), and I love it so much! I've been using it since she emailed me: "I'm obsessed with https://cooked.wiki/. Basically, I go to a cooking blog with ads, I type “cooked.wiki/“ before the URL, and it produces a clean and easy recipe." You can always hit reply and share tips with me that you think would be good to share in Friday Five!
Craftsy! I don't think I've ever gotten so many positive responses from a Friday Five tip than when I told y'll about the free year of Craftsy I signed up for back in July. It's basically a whole bunch of classes about how to do fun art projects, and once I signed up, I realized it has stuff I didn't even expect - like a meal prep class! So I figured I'd share again that I just saw that they have an end-of-summer sale so that you can get a 1-year Premium Membership for only $0.99—and if you stay on the site for just a few seconds, the price drops to an incredible $0.49. So, if you missed the free deal, act quickly before this one disappears.
Bonus Sponsor Resource: Super-Useful iPhone Tips. Between meetings, your kid’s extracurriculars, and everything else on your plate, the last thing you have time for is figuring out Apple’s latest iOS update. But iOS 26 is the biggest change to the iPhone in over a decade — and it’s packed with tools that can actually save you time (once you know how to use them). That’s why I recommend iPhone Life Tip of the Day — a free newsletter that teaches you one useful iPhone tip each day. Clear instructions. Step-by-step screenshots. As easy as you wish school drop-offs could be. I've been getting their newsletter, and I can vouch for how useful it is. Sign up here, it’s 100% free. 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:Rachel's free session next week to discuss "The Anxious Generation". Sounds like many of y'all are as interested in this as I am. Full disclosure: I haven't read the book myself, but I'm planning to listen to the podcast Rachel suggests for those attending, if you can't get the book read in time (she also suggests articles to read as an alternative).