Here’s 2026’s offering, “Honeysuckle on the trail”

The woods smell damp with mud, but then a whiff
of sweetness, this elixir on the breeze
pulls me to linger here, to pause and sniff,
amid the buzzing drone of swollen bees.

Somewhere there is a vine, somewhere a scent
of blooms all white and golden, hidden well,
but certain as the rocks on this descent.
This brush with summer secrets seeks to tell

of honeysuckle days, when heat is new —
still fragile. June is always Friday night,
still full of possibility. The few
days gone are little jewels, the stretching light

is full of wonder, all the world will shine,
just like the flowers on this fragrant vine.

Today’s episode of Best of Both Worlds is all about productivity hacks. Sarah and I share our favorite ways to get more done, including some strategic multi-tasking. We also discuss our productivity super powers– what are we much faster at than other people?

I write quickly, which may be less of a competitive advantage in this AI-era. We do an obligatory discussion of AI tools for productivity (though neither of us use AI all that much — and never for content generation).

Then we end with a discussion of TOAD time — “Time Outside After Dinner.” A listener wants to go outside, but with multiple small kids, and a limited window of time, it feels like a hassle. What do we suggest for making it easier and quicker to get outside?

Please give the episode a listen! And please consider joining our Patreon community. We’ve got a long forum thread going this week on places we’d like to travel in the next five years, with people sharing tips on hotel recommendations and which national parks are less crowded (among other things). It’s a great community and a good alternative to social media. Membership is $9/month, and our next Zoom meet-up (discussing travel hacks) will be on June 17th.

Our big adventure was to go see the Phillies on Friday night. This was officially a birthday trip for my husband (and thus the four kids at home were all expected to come) but I think everyone had a decent time. The weather was perfect – about 80 at the start, down to about 75 at the end. We were nine rows back, around third base. We had all the ballpark snacks, like cotton candy and hot dogs. We missed the opening pitch because there was a lot of traffic into the parking lot, but then because of that we wound up parking over near the Wells Fargo center, and since whatever concert was going on there did not get out until late, we zoomed out of the parking lot and home with no trouble. Plus the Phillies won! Some exciting plays. I particularly enjoy when the Phillies’ closing pitcher (Jhoan Duran) comes out and the lights go out and they play music and show a tarantula on the screens. He did not disappoint, throwing a few quick outs.

Saturday was fairly low key — we ordered BBQ from a local restaurant to celebrate my husband’s birthday (which was earlier in the week). The 14-year-old baked a cake and it was very good. In the afternoon I went for a bike ride, thus crossing another thing off the Summer Fun List (more on this below).

Sunday featured the usual church and tennis lessons, with the addition of a sitter to drive the 6-year-old around as my husband and 16-year-old went to the Reading Air show to go up in one of those WW2 era planes. It had flown on Friday and Saturday I believe. Alas, there was something wrong with the plane, and I really appreciate that the organizers chose not to fly Sunday as a result. My husband and son went up in tiny little biplanes as an alternative, and will try to get the bomber at another air show in a few weeks.

I’ve been tracking my time for years, and I don’t do a ton of analysis anymore, but I’m trying to spot check things here and there. This week was pretty good for workouts, despite some travel. I’m trying to be consistent about it. Since I need blog fodder, I’ll write about what I did. (Note: upside of working from home – if I’m done with the day’s video calls I can workout during the day and not care that much about what I look like afterwards. Or sometimes if I have an evening event I’ll just wait to get cleaned up after I workout at some point during the day.)

Monday – nothing, really. I got up early to fly to Dallas, gave a speech, and had dinner with the group. I did walk through two airports and walked outside a little between my speech and dinner, getting me to 5000 steps, but that’s it.

Tuesday – flew home. Worked in the afternoon, and then I drove the 11-year-old to his last pottery class of the semester. This is approximately 5 minutes from a nature preserve trail I like running around. So I went there after drop off and ran 3.1 miles. Most of it is shaded so the temperature was fine.

Wednesday – normally I work out with my trainer (virtually) on Mondays but I had moved it due to travel. So this was rescheduled to Wednesday at 3 p.m. I decided to run in the early afternoon on the treadmill (quick 2.0), then stayed in my workout clothes while doing some work, through to the 3-3:30 workout. So this was a double day. It tends not to work to run after my strength training, so this was the right order if I’m going to do this.

Thursday – I walked with my friend Joy on a local trail. This was a little bit more of a hike than a walk as there are rocks on the trail, you cross a stream and we had some significant elevation changes. I also walked all over the KOP mall at night, but I’m not sure that counts.

Friday – I ran on the treadmill during the day – this was a quick 2.0, just fitting it in. I went for a walk outside during the afternoon while taking a break (and also walked all over in the parking lot for the Phillies at night).

Saturday – I meant to get outside and running earlier but life conspired against this. I finally got out the door at 10:30 a.m., at which point it was already 85 degrees. So I only went 3.1 miles for my “long” run. I came home and did 15 minutes of strength training. Then in the afternoon, when I drove my 11-year-old to his 3:15-4:30 parkour class, I put my bike in the back of the car. I dropped him off, drove about 5 minutes to the trail, biked for 45 minutes, then went back to pick him up. Efficient! When it’s too hot to run, biking often feels very good.

Sunday – I decided I did want to run, even though I had no more running tights clean at this point. So I ran in an old pair of shorts and realized I need some new running shorts. However, I did fit in my run by doing 1.6 miles between dropping off the 14-year-old at tennis, and bringing the 11-year-old. Then I did another 0.6 miles between bringing the 14-year-old home and going to get the 11-year-old. These little chunks of time (20 minutes, 10 minutes, both outside on our street and in some nearby woods) are otherwise pretty easy to lose, so I like the idea of doing something. Plus the honeysuckle smelled lovely! Then I did approximately 10 minutes worth of strength/resistance training in the afternoon so I could cross off my third entry for that on my weekly priority list. (I put “Strength 1 2 3” on there each week these days.)

I’m generally aiming to run 4x, do strength 3x (albeit short 2 of those times) and do something more interesting (bike/hike) if possible. We’ll see if that happens this week!

My mall excursion was a reminder that I am really not a shopper. I spent some time while things were being tried on reading an ebook, and some other time sorting out a childcare issue for the weekend. I had something on the calendar for Saturday morning that turns out to be on Sunday morning. I’m not sure what happened there but Sunday requires more drivers than are available. However, we have a weekend sitter who has come through for us several times in a pinch and she can help on Sunday too so that was all worked out.

Also on yesterday’s to-do list: putting in a giant fried chicken catering order for the church choir picnic, which I am hosting — not this weekend but the next.

In Big Time publicity news — the book was featured in the Globe and Mail yesterday! That’s behind a paywall, but in case anyone is a subscriber, it was a great write-up. I also found out yesterday that I sold a fair amount of audiobooks in May, so that’s good.

My own content from this past week…Over at Before Breakfast I interviewed Ron Friedman, author of Super Teams. He’s found out that high performing teams actually protect quiet focused team for people to do their own work. He’s got lots of tips for better collaboration, so please check that out.

In the short episodes, I suggest we “Send show notes for life” and “Make space for possibility conversations.”

Over at Vanderhacks, my Substack newsletter, I noted that “They’ll probably be happy you asked.” If you’d appreciate an invitation, the odds are good someone else would too. I ran a guest post from Dr. Gillian Goddard about “How to be a savvy patient,” with three tips for making the most of any doctor visits. I also ran an ode to satisficing: “Just pick one.”

Behind the paywall I wrote about “7 systems I rely on to ward off chaos.” Complexity and chaos are not the same thing at all, and there are fairly straightforward ways to make sure that life mostly stays on track. Please consider a free or paid subscription.

Also, I want to put a plug in here for the Best of Both Worlds Patreon community. We’ve been having great discussions this week on travel hacks and our favorite “loves of the week.” Our next Zoom meet-up will be on June 17th, and we’ll be discussing travel hacks. It’s a great community, and a good alternative to social media. Membership is $9/month. You could try joining for a month just to test it out and see. Thanks for considering it!

Photo: Honeysuckle along the trail

June will feature a few highlights. We’ll go to a Phillies game as a family to celebrate my husband’s birthday (we’ll also go out to brunch later this month for Father’s Day). We will host the choir picnic and two of my kids will play in music recitals. The 8th grader will graduate and (this is exciting) get her braces off. The 11-year-old may get braces on. We shall see — kind of a revolving door of orthodontia around here. The kindergartner will also have a graduation ceremony. My 19-year-old will come home briefly. The 16-year-old will participate in the national TSA competition. I’ll end the month with some fun personal travel.

On the professional front I will keep promoting Big Time. I welcome ideas of how to share it with new audiences. I also plan to write two more chapters of The Golden Hours (my next book). I have very rough drafts of an intro + Chapter 1 done now. So that’s a start!

I also really want to enjoy June. The honeysuckle smells amazing every time I wander outside. The wild columbines and the roses are out — this is a beautiful time of year, when summer is new and full of possibility. I love the image that June is the Friday night of summer! There are always a million things to do but the schedule is opening up as activities end and so it’s a good time for a little lingering. What’s on your June list?

In the meantime, KJ Dell’Antonia’s #AmReading newsletter featured Big Time as its “Just One Book” (J.O.B) last week — you can read that here. She called it “her best yet” and “the kind of helpful gut punch we all need.” So amazing.

I also realized that in posting Big Time links last week I didn’t post my own actual content. So, as one quick highlight, over at the Before Breakfast podcast, I interviewed Eric Ries, author of Incorruptible (and The Lean Start-Up). Please check that out and check out his new book!

Gillian is the author of the brand new book The Hormone Loop. She has also been a prior Best of Both Worlds guest, and a longtime listener! In today’s episode, she and Sarah discuss hormones through the life cycle and talk about what we should know.

In the Q&A we discuss music practice — how and whether to enforce, how much, etc.

Please give the episode a listen! And please consider signing up for our Patreon community (Gillian is a member!). We’ll be having our next Zoom meet-up on June 17, when we’ll be discussing travel hacks. Membership is $9/month, and many members find this to be a great alternative to social media.

I am also over at MarthaStewart.com this week talking about “slowmaxxing” — hey, I’m a big fan of relaxation and being deliberate, whatever people want to call it!

And if you didn’t get a chance to catch me on Cal Newport’s podcast, or the “Big Time” segment on Gretchen Rubin’s podcast, please do. I was also on the Life Management System for Working Moms podcast with Courtney Cecil — please check that out.

Now, on to May’s reflections — it has been a full month, as May always is. The first weekend was the quintessential “May-cember” string of days, with a jazz band performance, a successful driver’s license test, prom, multiple parkour classes, multiple tennis lessons, a birthday party, various special events at church, plus a library fundraiser. All in about 48 hours. Good times! Nothing else came quite close to that, though we did have lots of kid events including band concerts, pediatrician visits, volunteer gigs, confirmation, etc. My eldest turned 19 and has been living his best life in the UK for a summer program the past few weeks.

My big professional event was, of course, the launch of Big Time. It’s fun to see it out in the world and to have people reading it and responding. Some of the Amazon reviews are really gratifying. I was excited to have the book reviewed in the Wall Street Journal, as that’s not the sort of thing that happens for self-help books too much. But beyond that, I have been so thankful to my own network for spreading the word. It was a reminder that I’ve met a lot of people in the content business over the past two decades and even when you work solo a lot of the time, you aren’t really alone. So, I am grateful.

And then my big personal life highlight was attending my 25th reunion. I really wish the weather had been a little warmer and less rainy on the Saturday — I wound up making a slightly speedier exit than intended due to the cold. But it was good to reconnect with people. It does make me think of the passage of time. I remember the 25th reunion class (1976!) marching past us in 2001. They were at mid-life at that point. Those folks are now back for their 50th. And that will be us in 25 years.

June should be quite the month too — I’m looking forward to this transition into summer. I packed up all my sweaters this morning and brought them to the dry cleaner, so I guess it is now officially that time…

Photo: My friend Joy handed me this giant clock necklace when we went walking this morning. Now I have to have a book party to wear this thing…

The golden hours are the hours after work and before bed on weekdays. This time is hard to use well — but since it is the bulk of our leisure/family time during the week, it would be a shame to write it off as unusable. By setting one 30-minute intention each day, we can make this time a lot more fun.

One option Gretchen and Elizabeth mentioned is TOAD time — that’s my family’s acronym for “Time Outside After Dinner.” (If the double “time” in the acronym bothers you, call it Together Outside After Dinner!). The idea is that during the months of the year when it’s light later, and more pleasant outside, going outside after dinner feels like bonus time. Everyone tends to enjoy themselves and it’s a reminder that the day isn’t over after dinner.

I got a note from a reader/listener recently noting that she wanted to try TOAD time, but it was challenging with little kids. So many shoes to put on, so many things that can go wrong. Plus when do the dishes happen? There’s a narrow window after dinner and before the bedtime routine for little ones. But I think there are a few things that can make it feel more doable.

First, keep shoes (and jackets if you need them) by the door! You definitely don’t want to go hunting for these things. You can put them in a cute bin if you want or…don’t. Convenience trumps esthetics here. Also, Velcro and slip-ons all the way. If a 4-year-old can handle shoes without help you’re already winning (we teach kids a flip way of putting on jackets too that they can generally handle pretty young). Bug spray can live by the door or on the porch too. As soon as everyone has their shoes on, you walk out, do a quick spray, and be on your way.

As for dishes, this is a great opportunity to divide and conquer. If there are two adults around, one of you takes the kids outside for TOAD time and the other can do the dishes. If you’re still outside when the dishes are done, then this second adult can come join you. So you get family time and the dishes get done. More winning! If there is only one of you I would suggest very very simple meals that generate few dishes. Like a sheet pan dinner. Or one pot. If you have at most two dirty dishes then doing the dishes just means loading the plates into the dishwasher and then you can just leave your 1-2 pots soaking to deal with later as you are shutting the house post kid bedtime.

Anyway, I would also mostly limit expectations. Playing in the yard is great! That’s what we do most days. If you want to do a stroller walk, put the kids in the double stroller and go. Even if your oldest can walk you might decide that this is a great time for this child not to walk. Again, limit expectations. If you get down the block and back, you’re winning. The kids might be more motivated if there’s a destination, so walking to a nearby playground or park would be good (this is probably the best option if you’re in a place where you don’t have a yard).

If you’re in a car-based place, and you wanted to, once every week or two you could drive somewhere — like a playground that’s a 5-10 minute drive away. This would be a great way to fill an hour after dinner and before bed, and will make the evening more interesting. It’s a little adventure. And hey, for at least the time the kids are in the car, they will be strapped in and can’t go anywhere, thus limiting mischief.

And just be patient too, as this all gets a lot easier as kids get older. These days in my household everyone can bike, and can get their own shoes on and a lot of possibilities open up.

To that end, I’m posting my Summer Fun List. Longtime readers know I have done this every year for probably a decade (maybe more! Here’s 2016 and 2022, which also has links to lots of other years). The idea is to make a summer bucket list of sorts. These are things I want to do this summer to make summer feel like summer. These lists definitely evolve over the years but I still like thinking about this. And I generally hope to get to the end of summer having crossed most things off. Here’s what’s on the list this year.

Go strawberry picking. I didn’t think this would happen as we have moved out of our fruit-picking-as-entertainment era for the most part. But I convinced my little guy (and my husband) to go on Memorial Day. We went to Maple Acres Farm, which is about 20 minutes away, and had a fairly relaxed stroll through the rows picking berries. And now we are eating them. The photo accompanying this post is from their farm stand. I hope to hit a few farmers’ markets this summer as well.

Smell the honeysuckle. My little boys and I like wandering to a patch near the driveway. I showed them how to taste the nectar and they are big fans. Nature’s sugar!

Bike. Always a favorite summer activity. I’ll do some solo rides plus some with the kids. My 16-year-old has a bike camping trip coming up with his Scout troop.

Do hot tub + pool TOAD time. This happens most nights now. The little boys like to play in the pool, which is finally up to a balmy 75 degrees. I sit in the hot tub since I don’t like to be cold! But it will get warmer soon. This is a great way to spend the time after dinner and before bedtime and means less screen time (for all of us).

Go see the Phillies play. Possibly more than once. Baseball games are the quintessential summer activity and my kids have gotten to the age where they can mostly enjoy a game, especially since the pitch clock means it’s not eternal. So this can be a family activity.

Host the church choir party. This has become something of a tradition. We set up on the patio with fried chicken and hot dogs and people bring appetizers/drinks/desserts. Here’s hoping for no rain! (Though if it does rain we’ll just move inside). I’m also planning to host some smaller cookouts/swims — need to get those on the calendar.

Do a Father’s Day brunch at Talula’s Garden. We are now in our “brunch era” as a family — so we’re going to try a fancier one and see how it goes. We had brunch at First Watch the other day and survived, though that is pretty casual, and did Founding Farmers a few weeks ago.

Drink my coffee outside in the mornings. Since camp starts later than school for most of my kids, theoretically the mornings should be slower. It is possible I will just use the time to sleep later (and stay up later) though the early sun tends to pull me out of bed. Anyway, when possible, I hope to enjoy my first cup of coffee out on the porch.

Host SHU plus observe the July 4th/250th. Philly is going to be a bit nuts for the Fourth of July this year, for obvious reasons. Sarah will also be here so I hope to make this a fun weekend.

Go see Sarah McLachlan in concert. This is my outdoor concert for the official summer season (though I also have tickets for Melissa Etheridge in September). Outdoor concerts are another quintessential summer activity and so fingers crossed it won’t rain.

Go to the Philadelphia Zoo’s Ale Fest. I have tickets for this — usually I put “go to a beer garden” on my list but I think this will take its place. We’re going to see the new bear exhibit in June as well. I might make it to a beer garden some other night but in any case, the outdoor beer drinking will be covered (between this and the Phillies).

Enjoy our beach traditions. We’ll be back to the Jersey Shore for two weeks in August. This is the same house as usual, so we’ll go to all our old haunts: Day’s, Toast, Cousins Maine Lobster, the pinball arcade, plus hopefully the new restaurants in Asbury. I intend to run along the boardwalk many days as well.

2 very cool international trips. I’m always superstitious about talking about these before they happen but I will be traveling twice this summer — once with a friend, and once to give a speech — to places I am excited to see. More on that when they happen!

Camp? I hesitate to put this on here, but I’ve pondered camping in the yard some night as a way to dip my toe into the water of camping. I think my 6-year-old would enjoy this, but of course this means I have to choose a night where I don’t care if I actually sleep…We shall see!

What’s on your list?

We open with a discussion of our decluttering progress (have you moved your coats/mittens/boots out of prime real estate yet?). Then we discuss all things related to the upcoming season, from items on our Summer Fun Lists (I’ll post mine soon!) to camp schedules, to pain points, to travel.

In the Q&A a listener asks about pools (Sarah moved from a house with one to one without one — she has a community pool close by). They can be a challenge to maintain, though they can offer a lot of screen-free fun with limited logistical planning.

Please give the episode a listen, and as always we welcome ratings and reviews!

(PS. If you just found my by listening to Cal Newport’s Deep Questions podcast, welcome! I blog most days here and you can find information on all my books, including Big Time, and my pods and newsletters. Thanks for joining us!)