Greetings! Depending on how we’re connected, you may or may not have heard much from me lately. On January 1 this year, I moved most of my online writing over to ​a new newsletter​, where I share three times a week on mental health and purposeful productivity: –> ​YearofMentalHealth.com ​ Most of my original subscribers (150k+) moved over with me, but not everyone did. If you haven’t been receiving the new mailings, I thought I’d check in with some updates. Here are a few posts I’ve written recently –> ​Why Buying a Couch Can Make You Happy​ Or, “Buy more things this year, it’s okay ..read more

Happy New Year! Big announcement time: For all of 2024, I’ll be writing three times a week on a new newsletter hosted by Substack. You can subscribe now in both free and paid versions. Many more details are below, for those who care. But in short: I would love for you to be part of this experience. Everyone is welcome. A Year of Mental Health with Chris Guillebeau The new newsletter will focus on ADHD and purposeful productivity, along with entrepreneurship. I’ll be writing in real-time and sharing some personal stories I’ve never told before. How will this be helpful to you? And what if you ..read more

*Big news: I’m making some changes! Starting January 1, a new yearlong project will take the place of the weekly newsletter. If you already subscribe by email, you’ll be automatically invited to the new platform next week. If you don’t, check the next post on the blog for details. See you on Jan. 1 for the full rollout! — Happy holidays, everyone! I went for my Annual Review, and all was well. That’s always nice. In fact, let’s just start with that. In addition to the “What went well / what didn’t go well” lists that I compile during the review, I also wrote a short gratitude list that’s more ..read more

This week I’m heading off-the-grid for the 2023 Annual Review trip. It’s a tradition I’ve held mostly without fail every year since way back in 2006. I’ve also written about it almost every year since 2008, the first year of the blog. The limited failures include a) 2020 (the world was closed) and b) a year when I was too depressed to look forward. Otherwise, though, it’s been one of the few things that are consistently present in my life. (Also, I’m not super depressed these days, so, yay!) Here’s how it works. You can do more than you think—but if you’re like most people, you also tend to o ..read more

Last week I posted a message on Facebook and LinkedIn about how working for yourself is less risky than working a regular job. I’ll excerpt a version of it here: People think being self-employed is risky, but the much bigger risk is working a traditional job. A friend of mine got laid off this week. I told them “Congratulations!”—they’re a smart person and will be totally okay. But it also made me wonder: why do people think working for YOURSELF is risky? Shouldn’t it be the other way around? Just think about it: when you work for someone else, you can be fired or let go at any time. Or the ..read more

Paying attention seems like a simple thing, doesn’t it? But if you’re like me—even a little bit—it can actually be quite hard. These days, it’s actually much easier to NOT pay attention to anything of importance. What do you pay attention to instead? Anything that comes along! You get in the habit of reacting, sometimes responding—but rarely noticing. The modern world is designed to discourage you from paying attention. If you want to counter the norm, you have to be intentional about it. Standard advice consists of the following: Practice mindfulness: Meditate—or use other tools to develop ..read more

Have you ever noticed that some people are unhappy all the time? No matter what, they find a reason to be negative. They’re the people who write one-star reviews of national parks (“The Grand Canyon didn’t have air conditioning!”) and just aren’t much fun to be around. Similarly, some people seem incredibly resilient. Even when the circumstances cause most of us to feel discouraged or upset, these people always find the silver lining. These examples, the constantly happy or unhappy person, are the extremes. Most of us fall somewhere on a spectrum in between—and for the most part, we don’t shi ..read more

Once in a while, you walk into a place and experience an odd sensation. What is this feeling? You might be tempted to call it déjà vu, but that’s not quite right. With déjà vu, (“already seen”) you have the sensation of revisiting somewhere you haven’t actually been, at least not in this world or life. But this feeling is different, because you have been here—in this life, in this same earthly realm. It’s just that something was different back then: you were. Now, even if the physical environment is exactly the same, you being different means that your experience of it has changed. Most likel ..read more

Two months ago I published my first book in three years, the longest gap I’ve had since I began this career. I also went on tour for the first time in … well, it seemed like forever! It was a lot of work, a lot of fun, and it also came with a number of “lessons learned.” I’ll focus here on the lessons, since the first two (work and fun) are somewhat obvious. So what did I learn? As is my practice in these situations (there are many earlier posts about wins and losses in the archives) I’ll try to give an honest reckoning here. Highlights: What Went Well I wrote a book! I mean, that’s something ..read more

A quick idea for you today: keep an alternate to-do list that consists entirely of things that can be done in 5 minutes or less. This list should live on your desk for small pockets of time or transition moments between bigger projects. That’s the short version! But of course, more details in the post… Concept & Why It Helps The idea behind the 5-Minute To-Do List is simple but effective. This list consists entirely of quick tasks—those that can be done in a maximum of 5 minutes. Keeping it on your desk serves as a constant reminder of small actions that can bring about a sense of accompl ..read more