A list of recs for getting through a difficult summer
Relevant to your interests #6
This is the late summer edition of Relevant to your interests.
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and this newsletter is about work, money and power. You know, just the main forces in our lives.Paying subscribers get access to this regular roundup of what I've been reading, listening to, and otherwise doing to be more productive.
As a business and culture writer, I'm always game for a life hack - but I’m even more fascinated by why we’re so obsessed with optimisation in the first place. My recommendations aren’t quick fixes, they’re thoughtful strategies for getting stuff done (or recognising when to walk away).
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Late summer is breathing its last. The cooler breeze sighs, exhaling an inevitable end.
The warm days and sticky nights are now charged with frustration rather than possibility. September’s hard stop looms, like a death knell sounding the final note of summer's song. The early days were a promise, but now all I feel is loss.
I sound emo and dramatic, but I’ve had a difficult summer. What I’m doing to get through it isn’t groundbreaking, but it’s not easy. I’m being mindful of my input and output; I’m trying to eat nourishing food, move my body and watch my media consumption.
Here’s specifically what’s helped:
⛱️ A story about lifeguards that could only happen in New York
This week’s episode of This American Life, my all-time favourite radio journalism, is a perfect one.
It’s a re-run of Day at the Beach and has all the classic TAL elements: an underdog story about 60-year-old lifeguards fighting management about their speedos; a tale about an amateur chiropractor called Jonny Tequila told like an urban legend; a weird public radio archival interlude, and David Sedaris reading a funny, heartbreaking story about his family.
☎ A fake work phone
I was today years old when I found out that I can make a second profile on my Android. I use it to keep my work life separate, apps like Slack and client emails, without needing a physical, second phone. You could also use it for making social apps harder to access. It doesn’t seem like iPhones have exactly the same feature, but I found a nifty workaround.
🏃♀️ A cure for insecure runners
Despite having run a half marathon, I have a narrative about myself that I’m not a runner. Not being comfortable in my identities is a theme: I’m not a real runner because I’m slow; my grief isn’t real because it’s for a dog, I’m not a real journalist because I do it part-time.
Without getting too deep, a recent injury has “forced” me into running again.
I’m using the NHS’s Couch to 5K app. For my international readers, it’s a free 9-week programme created by the UK’s national healthcare system to get you comfortable running for 30 minutes (roughly 5K).
What’s changed for me this time around is my attitude. This brilliant piece by Danielle Friedman on how she learned to love finishing last lives in my brain rent-free. What specifically stuck with me is that research shows that you don’t need to push yourself hard to get the runners’ high. “Jogging at a manageable pace is what usually leads to that buzzy feeling that all is right in the world.”
Friedman’s perspective is inspiring:
These days, I run most races with my 74-year-old father, who often slows down for me. Dad has always been my greatest running champion — he was running by my side when I completed that New York City Marathon after the sun set and the spectators went home — and one of the greatest gifts he has given me both on and off the course is continually telling me that I’m an athlete. Making peace with my pace allowed me to believe him.
📚 A wry book about the publishing industry
Yellowface, by Rebecca F. Kuang, is sardonic, funny and brilliant.
If you’re a writer or in publishing, you’ll especially enjoy the scathing critique of the industry. Civilians will also love the dark comedy – it opens with someone choking to death during a late-night, drunken pancake binge!
✍️ A difficult question about writing
Recently, my writer friends and I were discussing a Famous Writer’s daily routine. We lamented not being able to write full-time. But one friend wondered if all that free time would be stressful. Would “more time to write” lead to better work or just more time to worry about writing?
I struggle with my identity as a writer. Is it a hobby or a career? It’s both and it’s neither. Reading Rainesford Stauffer’s essay helped me come to terms with that.
On the side is a big thing for me. I wrote the book on the side. But it felt like the center. If writing was happening in what some might call margins of my life, did that inherently make it a hobby—or was it actually what knit my life together?
🧑🍳 A one-pan cookbook
My secret for eating well when you feel shit is to make cooking as easy as possible. Just One Pan by Jane Lovett does exactly what it says on the tin: easy recipes you can make in one pot or tray. I have lots of favourites in this book, but one of my repeats is especially summer appropriate: posh fish and chips.