Hi freelance friends,
I'm back from my 30-day digital declutter! Well, kind of. During my detox, I decided FB and IG were no longer "sparking joy" and am going to leave them behind.
As someone who makes her living online, I have made plenty of excuses about my digital addictions. ("But I need Twitter! And FB! And to check my email 328 times a day!") It took a serious detox to show me that, really, I need those things less than I thought.
Who knows? Maybe I missed out on a writing opportunity by unplugging last month. Maybe I'll miss out on more in the future. What I do know, with confidence, is that I had a lot more brain space when I wasn't wondering who had liked my latest pic. And that I got a lot more done.
For us freelance writers, who literally depend on the internet to feed ourselves, finding a balance between being available / working hard and being a human is tough. So, though I still have zero answers, I'm glad I dedicated some time to seeing life from the other side.
I plan to write much more about the experience on my personal blog, so sign up for that newsletter — and reply to this email! — if you're interested in continuing the conversation. I'd love to hear your thoughts.
PS. One more huge productivity change I made recently: I created a separate email for newsletters. Although I already paused Gmail most of the day, I was flooded with newsletters whenever I unpaused. Which would then beg me to read them. And which would then lead me down absurd rabbit holes. Now my newsletters go to a separate address, and I check it once a week when I am ready to rabbit hole away.
Read
Try
- Free Conference Call HD: Since Tape-a-Call shit the you-know-what last year, I still haven't found a good replacement for my Google phone. Instead, I've been using this free phone line, which records with one click. The only downside is your interviewees have to call in (which means they have to remember the interview in the first place).
- Death Sex Money: No, this podcast has nothing to do with freelance writing, but I love listening to how Anna Sale gets people to open up about hard stuff.
- Temi: My friend Ann Babe recommended this AI transcription tool. Your first transcription is free, so I gave it a shot and was pretty impressed. (And also sad, thinking of how many hours I've spent transcribing when I could have had a robot do it for 10 cents a minute.)
- Dimensions. Guide: The other day I wanted to say something was the size of a basketball — but um, having not held a basketball since high-school gym class — wasn't sure whether that was correct. This guide answered my question, and I've since bookmarked it for future descriptions!
Get inspired
"I wanted to share our rich articles with my information-poor former community, particularly those who believe study is a chance for redemption, who sacrifice sleep and risk a misbehavior report to pore over textbooks under shaded lamps after lights-out, who struggle to find resources to expand their minds." ~ Lawrence Bartley
The Marshall Project just launched News Inside, a print publication that will be distributed inside prisons and jails. Well worth a donation, IMHO.
Remember not all heroes wear capes
To great writing,
Susan
PS. You'll find past issues of this newsletter here. If you find 'em helpful, why don't you peer pressure a friend to sign up?
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