I have this rule when traveling: If I’m not leading (e.g. planning the itinerary, figuring out how to get to the next destination, etc.) then I’m not allowed to complain.
Every year I write a letter to my dog Deefer on his birthday. This year he turns four years old.
Summary: Below is a list of 40 ways to stop wasting time and get more done. It’s what has worked for me, your mileage may vary. I tried avoiding rehashing old ideas as much as possible, though for the sake of completeness, I did include some classics.
On average, 18,950 people visit the Eiffel Tower each day.[note]Number of Visit to the Eiffel Tower Remains High in 2015 | http://presse.toureiffel.paris/number-of-visits-to-the-eiffel-tower-remains-high-in-2015/[/note] But at 7:30 on a Thursday morning, you can beat most of them and get an unobstructed look at the monument from Place du Trocadéro, free of the throngs of selfie sticks and peddlers pushing tchotchkes.
Let’s not waste any time.
Improving your ability to network is not about becoming more charismatic. It’s not learning to smooze, and it’s really not about introverts vs. extroverts.
We sold this house and moved to Dublin, Ireland. Most of these lessons have held up, but living in the house for 3 years developed my thinking in other ways.
TL;DR we weren’t ready for a move to the suburbs. We missed the energy and walkability of the city. I believe your environment — the people and places you surround yourself with — quietly shape you. You can resist the change but you’re fighting upstream the entire time. Someday we may be ready to be molded into archetypal “suburban parents”. Just not yet.
So at the peak of this crazy post-pandemic market, we sold the house at a loss to my brother and his girlfriend, packed our things into 7 large suitcases, and moved to Dublin.
New lessons learned:
I recently learned of a condition called “Paris Syndrome.”
The shock of coming to grips with a city, [Paris] that is indifferent to their presence and looks nothing like their imagination [that] launches tourists into a psychological tailspin.[note]Paris Syndrome: A First-Class Problem for a First-Class Vacation by Chelsea Fagan | https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2011/10/paris-syndrome-a-first-class-problem-for-a-first-class-vacation/246743/[/note]
I’m the first to admit that the idea of a baby moon seemed like an odd bit of millennial silliness, like taking Frisbee too seriously. But after-the-fact, I’m 100% baby moon on board, and highly recommend it.
Olivia de Havilland was 19-years-old when she started her acting career. Eight years later, she killed the Golden Age of Hollywood and changed the business of entertainment forever.
In middle school, on Friday I’d come home with a folder of all my graded assignments for the week. You were supposed to show it to a parent, they looked at your graded assignments, signed the folder, and you returned the folder on Monday.