Issue #152: My To-Do List Method and 3 Effortless, Heatwave-Proof Outfits

Plus, how to tackle your inbox.

📺 “Sunny” on Apple TV+: After her husband and son die in a plane crash, a “homebot” named Sunny is delivered to Suzie (Rashida Jones), an expat living in Japan. Unbeknownst to Suzie, her husband engineered robots—not, as she believed, refrigerators—and Sunny was custom-made for her. The speculative angle sets the scene for a quick-moving thriller as Suzie uncovers mysteries about her husband, who, it turns out, she barely knew at all.

📚 Long Island Compromise by Taffy Brodesser-Akner: “Do you want to hear a story with a terrible ending?” So begins Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s latest novel, and my trepidation with it—the FX adaptation of her novel, Fleishman is in Trouble, a too-close-for-comfort depiction of divorce, sent me into a week-long tail-spin. I hardly had a moment to reconsider before that story, a Goodfellas-style kidnapping of a patriarch that comprises the first chapter, hooked me. What follows is a dark, but warm, depiction of the family, forty years later. I also loved her article in New York Times magazine, about generational trauma and the real-life kidnapping that partially inspired her fictionalized version.

🎥 ‘Fly Me to the Moon’ in theaters: Scarlett Johansson plays an advertising executive in the late ‘60s tasked with the role of filming a fake moon landing—in case the real one doesn’t actually pan out. Enter Channing Tatum as her unexpected love interest, Woody Harrelson as a charming Woody Harrelson character, and a star-studded cast that keeps the movie rolling as a cute and entertaining-enough summer flick.

Last week, I shared the big-picture tips I follow for maximizing my work productivity. I had a feeling you’d enjoy it, since questions around productivity dominate anytime I poll you for an AMA, but it quickly became among my most widely-read posts of the year. Clearly, I’m not the only one trying to get 👏 work 👏 done 👏 efficiently.

Issue #151: Practical Tips for Working Smarter, Not Harder

In this followup, I dive into the nitty gritty of a few particularly tricky areas: My method for organizing my to-do list, as well as tricks for managing my calendar (including my editorial calendar) and inbox. At the end, I share three heatwave-proof, day-to-night outfit combinations, tested during Portland’s recent spree of hundred-degree days. There’s a ton to get to, so without further ado…

Click to expand, if too small to read (you may noticing I’m planning a big trip soon!)

I live and breathe by my to-do list, using a method I’ve honed through years of trial and error. Here are my top 8 tips for an efficient and effective to-do list.