The OffBeat #34: Half Note
Something to read, something to think about, something else
Something to read:
What good personal style has in common
The snob’s guide to travel Google Docs
How handwriting lost its personality
The gamification of reading is changing how we approach books
How to analyze your dreams, according to professional dream interpreters
Something to think about:
“Your mind is a suggestion engine. Every thought you have is a suggestion, not an order. Sometimes your mind suggests that you are tired, that you should give up, or that you should take an easier path. But if you pause, you can discover new suggestions. For example, that you will feel good once the work is done or that you have the ability to finish things even when you don’t feel like it. Your thoughts are not orders. Merely suggestions. You have the power to choose which option to follow.”
— James Clear, author of Atomic Habits
Something else:
I’ve been thinking about the power of an offbeat (or OffBeat) approach to the everyday. I’ve written before about the impact of tiny joyful gestures, inspired by Ingrid Fetell Lee—integrating simple, effort-light joyful moves into your work week like including a funny phrase in a password or sticking googly eyes on your office supplies. To consider the concept from a slightly different angle, an “offbeat everyday” M.O. orients you to an unconventional perspective on the day-to-day in service of living, working, and leading better. It trains your focus on the in-between notes of the beat that make the groove more unexpectedly gratifying, improving the overall quality of the music.
For example:
When you want to learn more about a topic, pick up a kids’ book on it—it’ll give you a simpler 411 and may even include pictures (inspired by the Paul Thomas Anderson Smartless episode)
Celebrate “twos-day”— any 22nd of the month
As an icebreaker ask people to share a boring fact about themselves instead of a fun fact (inspired by David DeWeil)
Embrace “freudenfreude”—secondhand joy in celebrating others’ accomplishments (inspired by Brene Brown’s Atlas of the Heart)
Wear the “wrong” shoes with an outfit (inspired by Allison Bornstein’s style theory)
Use extreme questions to “jostle you out of tiny thinking” at work (e.g. “If all our customers vanished, and we had to earn our growth and brand from scratch, what would we do?” or “If we could never talk to our customers again, how would we figure out what to build?”)
Keep not just a gratitude journal, but a “gratitude & pride” journal (inspired by Stephanie Foo’s What My Bones Know: A Memoir of Healing from Complex Trauma)
Have a great—offbeat!—week,
Allison