Hey there —
Have you heard about the 4 hours that could change your life? 🕰️
This block of time (outside your regularly scheduled work hours) could be the key to becoming the person you want to be and building the life you want to live.
That’s right. We’re talking about your 5-9…p.m.
With apologies to the early birds, no, we’re not here to hype you up on mornings. We’re here to shine a light on a part of your day that often gets lost beneath the shadow of work.
For many of us, our day begins with a morning routine to help us get ready for work, before moving on to the rhythms that promise to help us have a productive afternoon at work.
After which we close our laptops and spend the evening…
😐 Thinking about all the work we have to do tomorrow.
😬 Sneaking in a little more work so we won’t have as much to do tomorrow (or so we tell ourselves).
😵💫 Taking care of all the to-dos and obligations we couldn’t get to during the day (because, work).
🫠 And finally…collapsing on the couch and binging Netflix until bedtime.
When you consider that many of us spend half our waking hours at work, and that the first question most people ask when making a new acquaintance is “So, what do you do?”— it’s not surprising that the bulk of our time, mental energy, and even our identity can wind up revolving around our jobs.
But what if, rather than getting so caught up in the work you do for eight hours a day, you concentrated on who you are and what you love outside of those hours?
What if you focused on your 5-9 instead of your 9-5?
This shift in mindset can not only help you pursue your creative interests or side gigs in a healthy way (no sacrificing sleep to hustle in the pre-dawn hours) — it can also help you appreciate life more.
Instead of slogging through your week and chasing the weekend, only to get the Sunday swirlies as Monday swiftly approaches, you can set out to enjoy every day.
Get intentional with your evening plans. Put on a playlist, an audiobook, or your favorite movie and make cooking dinner and doing chores part of your post-work wind-down. Work on a passion project. Spend time with family and friends, enjoy a hobby, or practice some self-care.
Treat your weeknights as what they are — a rich part of living life, making memories, and creating comforting rhythms — instead of assigning those things only to your weekends.
After all, life isn’t about becoming the most productive person on the planet, or earning a position or job title. It’s about living a life that brings you joy and meaning.
So look at your day from a different angle. There’s an awful lot of good stuff to be experienced on the other side of 9-5. 💗
5 reasons why your career does not define your identity
by Raven Ishak
It can be easy to let our self-worth get wrapped up in our job description, especially if the work we do helps us feel accepted or accomplished in the eyes of others.
But as the author of this article highlights through her personal experience, this can cause us to ignore our own happiness and values as we cling to what we think is success. And in the end, it’s far better to define our own success and be known for our personality and character, not our position.
If you need a gentle reminder of all the reasons why you are more than what you do — read on. 🤗
27 questions to ask instead of “what do you do?”
by Courtney Seiter
Not only does the worn out conversation starter “So…what do you do?” pin our identities to our careers, but it can be awkward for anyone who’s out of work or just doesn't love their job. 👎
So the next time you find yourself on a first date, sitting next to a stranger on a plane, or standing awkwardly at the edge of the party with your fellow introverts, here are 27 alternatives to “The Question” that are waaaay more interesting (and more likely to prompt an authentic conversation). 👍
2 words that can help check your assumptions about people
By Mary Halton & Gail Tolstoi-Miller
While the basis of this article and the accompanying TEDx video revolves around how quickly recruiters will judge you (a whole 6 seconds 🤯), it’s not just for anyone looking to hire or be hired. It’s a great reminder for all of us to check our biases.
Recruiter and career coach Gail Tolstoi-Miller talks about the fears, assumptions, and judgements that can drive our decisions without us even realizing it — and two simple words that can help us begin to unravel them.
Meet Thomas! He’s recently self-employed, a soon-to-be dad, and here to share his journey of going all-in as an indie game developer. Follow along over on his YouTube channel as he builds his business and get a peek at how video games go from concept to console. 🎮
Introduce yourself! Who are you?
Hello! I’m Thomas — a web developer turned game developer turned solopreneur! I recently quit my day job to go full-time with YouTube and making indie games solo. My wife and I love taking full advantage of the beautiful Oregon landscape: Running, hiking, paddle-boarding, and camping in our Airstream.
Why do you create? Who is your content for?
Initially, I had two primary motivations for starting a YouTube channel: one was to have a creative outlet where I could document my game development journey and eventually look back at how far I’d come. The second reason was to use YouTube as a marketing tool so I could accrue a viewership that would (hopefully) purchase the games I build.
So I guess my content is just as much meant for me as it is for others.
The biggest lesson you’ve learned since you began creating content?
Time management. It’s so incredibly difficult to juggle quality video creation with a full-time job — especially when a lot of my video content comes from having to first create a game dev project. The ironic thing is that in order to commit to my YouTube and game dev endeavors I had to almost completely cut out playing video games.
One thing you wish you knew before you started?
I wish my threshold for video quality was lower — I’d rather have spent less time on my existing videos and have been able to release more of them.
In one to two sentences, what’s one piece of advice you’d give to aspiring creators or self-development nerds?
Life is short — don’t get too caught up in trying to clear your to-do list. There will always be more things on your list than you can manage (even if you fully optimize your life). Spend time with loved ones.
If you could visit the world of any video game, which would you choose and why?
Ooh I like this question! I would probably pick the world in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. I’ve always loved the bright cel-shaded environments and being able to sail the open seas to explore tiny islands.
Written by Ashley Martin
Edited by Matt D'Avella