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Issue No. 562
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Oh, hi friends!

It’s been a month or so since I read Deep Work and praised it at length. (I actually said it created “the most productive week of my life” boy do I love a hyperbole!)

But a quick update…I’ve…actually…stuck with it? I do most of my deep work tasks in the morning, and I respond to all my emails in one big chunk in the afternoon. I was responding around 12:30 and then again doing another round after 4pm. Soon I realized that nothing super-urgent arrived between those times, so now I usually respond to all of them around 4. 

Exceptions are made for: Work emails directly related to the most important work tasks that day (i.e. from a copy editor working on a story I’m editing), logistics emails (i.e. where are we meeting tonight?), or if they’re from one of, like, three people.

Even though I now only spend 60-90 minutes on email every day, I’ve had “inbox zero” almost every weeknight for the past month.

This all sounds really smug and maybe boring?! But here’s the thing…this very boring task has allowed me to focus so. much. more. on important projects. And this includes the emails that are meaningful and that I want to spend time on, whether that's nice notes from strangers or the dozen newsletters where I get all of my news from.

When I am in my inbox, I am IN IT, and I'm not supposed to be writing or editing something else. It has my full attention.

We give away our attention so much every day. But we don’t have to! We can decide who gets what — and when.

Confession: I do not watch Game of Thrones. Boy, it feels good to say that!!!

Photo by Susanne Jutzeler from Pexels

"I had these stories and there was no chance of getting anybody else to do them, so I had to become a director of my own work. I never thought I wanted to be a film director. I’m not actually ambitious per se in terms of a career; I’m just ambitious to achieve the stories and dramas that I’ve come up with."

Loved this from Jane Campion. I put this in an old Brass Ring and it feels especially relevant these days, too.

Does your ambition fit the mold you’re giving it?

Here’s a little clip from the new a cappella chamber choir musical “Octet” by Dave Malloy, the brain behind “Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812.”

It’s about internet addiction. Tarot cards. Online dating. The "stale, pale glow" of your phone at night. But, um, a lot more, too. And it’s completely original and brilliant (save for a few moments where it goes off a little off the rails — if you see it, let’s discuss!).

Get tickets before they're gone.

Do you like these daily emails? Please share with a friend!

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Love, Kara

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