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🗓️ Weekly Reset #8 — Bedtime Routine

Published 3 months ago • 2 min read

👋 Hey Friends,

The clock has struck 8 a.m. on Sunday morning, and Week 5 of 2024 is officially in the books. I’m starting to feel like myself again, and this week the ENT gave me confidence that the pill I aspirated on the first of the year isn’t going to kill me. Now that that is in the rearview mirror, let’s start this week with a quote I love from Austin Kleon. It goes a little something like this:

“When the sun goes down and you look back on the day, go easy on yourself. A little self-forgiveness goes a long way. Before you go to bed, make a list of anything you did accomplish, and write down a list of what you want to get done tomorrow. Then forget about it. Hit the pillow with a clear mind. Let your subconscious work on stuff while you’re sleeping.”
— Austin Kleon, Keep Going

🗝️ Key Idea: Bedtime Routine

There’s a good bit to unpack here. There’s a message around self-forgiveness and one around finding gratitude, but there is a tangential idea that is resonating with me today, which is setting an intention for tomorrow. Last week, I mentioned how the first two hours of the day are my most productive, but I have found that those two hours can be even more productive if I have a plan for how I am going to use them. Instead of spending the first 15–30 minutes of my best time deciding which of the many tasks I can work on, I can avoid this by deciding that the night before. I am a better judge of what truly needs my attention the night before, and this also gives my subconscious a head start on tomorrow’s task. If I set an intention for the next morning, I get into that task more quickly, and it flows more smoothly than if I try to pick the task and work on it in that same block. As with most things, your mileage may vary, but I’d love to know if you have felt something similar or if this is a unique to just me.

📼 Video: Thoughts on Apple Vision Pro — A Product Designer's Perspective

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🪄 Tool of the Week: Readwise

This week, one of my favorite tools got quite a bit better. The team over at Readwise, has added automatic pagination, which might initially sound pretty small, but when you’re on an e-ink device where scrolling is painful, this is a welcomed improvement. This week I hit 1000 days straight of reviewing my highlights in Readwise.

It's probably the best money I spend every month (aside from my mortgage and utilities). If you want to give Readwise a shot, this link will get you a 60 day free trial (Affiliate), which is about double what you would get if you just went to their website.

What's your focus for this week? Reply to this email and let me know.

Have a great week!
Brandon Boswell

Looking to improve your focus & creativity?

Brandon Boswell

Subscribe to 🔎 Finding Focus, an email newsletter, where I share with you my reflections from the past week to give you one thought, tip and tool to improve your focus and creativity.

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