As we enter a new year, many of us feel the pull to set resolutions. The pattern is familiar. We make a list. We write down goals like eating better, exercising more, organizing our homes, or spending less time on our phones. These are fine intentions, but often they become just another layer of pressure. Another set of expectations stacked on top of the ones we already carry. The word “resolution” ends up feeling like a January version of a task list. But that is not what the word means. Not really.
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I’ve struggled with some form of ADD throughout different phases of my life. It hasn’t always been diagnosed, and it hasn’t always looked the same, but it’s been there. Some days it’s just a low-level fog. Other days, corralling my thoughts is like chasing 37 cats around the room.
Over time, I’ve tried a number of approaches to get things done. Some worked for a while. Others just added to the noise. But recently I’ve been trying something that’s surprisingly effective: pick three tasks. Only three.
Write them down. Do them. Then pick three more.
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What would Dave Niehaus said about this season? We can only imagine it might have sounded something like this.
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While the changing leaves of October might dazzle tourists, for many Seattle residents, the tail end of the month marks the beginning of a mental health dip. A recent survey of 100 clinical psychologists and mental health researchers sheds light on why late October, in particular, tends to be a mood sinkhole in the Emerald City.
1. The Light Switch Effect
Dr. Maria Klein, a seasonal affective disorder (SAD) specialist, notes that around October 25, Seattle sees a sharp decline in sunlight, often losing 2–3 minutes of daylight per day. “It’s not just gradual darkness,” she explains. “It’s the suddenness that jolts the brain’s serotonin production.”
You know the future is strange when your best shot at a stable career is majoring in “Robot Psychology” or “Data Plumber.” Thanks to the AI revolution which, for those keeping track, promised to free us from work but instead retrained us to make ChatGPT write emails, we now face a curious inversion of the job market.
Here, then, are the top 10 college degrees predicted for the Class of 2035:
1. Prompt Engineering
Because writing good AI prompts is harder than writing haikus. Future students will spend four years studying the subtle difference between “generate an image” and “create a vibey aesthetic.”
We stress about things we cannot truly control,
But miss the synchronicities that brought us here.
Countless decisions beyond us led to this moment,
We are mere characters in this unfolding story.
The forces that brought us here know something,
The universe moves us where energy flows naturally.
Trust our instincts, don’t fight the current direction,
Forces guide us for reasons we cannot fathom.
Disruptive weather is noticed because it’s not everyday,
We cannot control chaos swirling all around us.
But we can trust that chaos will pass,
Chaos is fleeting while our patience truly endures.
Real strength can be found in quiet confidence,
Don’t trust the fearful reports from other people.
Look deep within, we know that staying strong
Gets us through better than yelling into wind.
How We All Missed the Crimes, Trauma, and Weirdness in Classic Kids’ Books
When you’re a kid, you just roll with the plot.
When you’re an adult, you realize half the books we grew up with are basically crime dramas… they just hide behind bright colors and rhymes.
Exhibit A: Curious George
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About a month ago, I started dialing caffeine back to almost nothing.
I’m not going to lie, the 1st week was brutal. Even though I warned everyone, “Hey, I’m going to be cranky,” I seemed to exceed their expectations and still annoyed them.
But then it passed and now that I’m on the other side of it, here’s the quick report:
- Sleep: The first week was amazing. Now it’s just… better. Not perfect, but steadier.
- Focus: On the softball field I noticed a real difference. My reaction time was noticeably improved. I felt sharper, like my brain wasn’t juggling 34 distractions at once.
- Mood: Less up-and-down. Easier to slow down and pause before responding. (That topic is probably worth a post or two of its own.)
- Energy: No dramatic crashes at night, just a gradual wind-down. But also no huge daytime surges.
- Weight: No big changes, other than a little natural water loss.
I still enjoy a cup of coffee here and there, and I’ll grab an iced tea at a restaurant if I’m out or in a coffee shop if I’m working. But the dependence is gone. And we’re measuring in cups, not pots.
Overall: Let’s call it a meaningful success with no downside. Not life-changing, not a miracle cure. Just a steady improvement that makes me feel pretty good about the choice.
I was asked an interesting question the other day by a senior marketer. She wantd my opinion on how to decide it’s time for a brand to start a new channel, as well as how I keep up on social trends.
It’s an interesting question, because here we are 20 years into this social media phenomenon, and there’s never been a perfect answer. If you rushed right into MySpace, or even Friendster, back in the day, you had to decide when to leave. Then came all the others, Shoot, remember when Google was trying to make everyone do Circles on Google+?
The good thing about social is that trends don’t go hide under a lot of research. They are literally blasting you in the face to the point you can’t ignore them.
So my opinion is that trends can be monitored constantly, but investment only happens when data shows audience fit, potential ROI, and brand alignment. And tofigure that out, we look at a few things:
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