Hey Reader!

I’m a homebody and an introvert. I’ve also gotten quite good at scheduling work into my calendar and avoiding procrastination. All of this means that I don’t prioritize socializing and going out and doing stuff as much as I should.

But I’m happy to report that this weekend was different!

• On Friday, I had a cute little Galentine’s Dinner with friends 💕
• Saturday night, I dusted off my “event photographer” hat and shot a concert 📸
• The next morning, I woke up early for an incredibly beautiful, sunny, rewarding, and COLD 6.5K charity run 🏃‍♀️
• Finally, I went to a lovely Chinese New Year's dinner and made dumplings with my friends 🧧

By the end of it all, my socialization cup felt very full. Looking back, I counteracted my “homebody tendencies” in two ways ✌️

1. Putting in the life admin work
2. and just saying “yes” when opportunities arose.

Put in the werk

This is where my productivity systems come in. Towards the beginning of the month, the idea of a Galentine’s dinner popped into my head, so I jotted it down in my brain dump. That Sunday, when I did my weekly planning, I texted two friends that I’d been wanting to catch up with and got the ball rolling. I added a few things to my to do list: Pick a recipe, add the ingredients to my shopping list, buy groceries, cook dinner.

Someone’s gotta step up to the plate to organize, and I decided I would do it that week. Ideally, your friends will also take turns initiating, and that’s where the second strategy comes in…

Just say yes

A few weeks back, I was in class designing a poster for a charity race event. My friend said “oh, I’m going to that! You should join.” I haven’t run in months, but I figured a 6.5K couldn’t be that bad. I registered before I could reconsider. She also told me her family was visiting that weekend and invited me over for dinner. Why not?

Similarly, I was planning on going to this concert to see my friends perform. But I haven't done photography in a while, so I decided I'd scratch my creative itch, bring a camera, and offer up my free photography services 💅✨

Inevitably, I regret these plans. It’s usually when I’m about to leave the safe comfort of my house. As I lugged my camera bag to the venue, I was thinking “Man, I have so much work I could be doing at home.” As I searched for my race bib at 7:30AM on a Sunday, I was gazing longingly at my warm bed.

But at some point, I will get over that hump of regret and realize that it was exactly what I needed. I left each of these each weekend activities with a big smile on my face, walking through Madrid like I was in some cheesy movie.

You might have seen me posting about how much I miss living in Segovia, but this weekend I felt something shift. I appreciated Madrid for everything new that it has brought me. I felt like I owed the city an apology. “Look, it took me almost five months, but you’re growing on me now.”

I wasn’t able to do all of the work I had planned for this weekend, and I’m a bit stressed about this upcoming week. But honestly, my best memories from university so far are from times exactly like this - fast-paced, social, and joyful.

⌚️ This week's video

In this week's video, I shared all of my tips & tricks for making your Apple Watch be a productive tool, including my favorite apps (P.S. this is the Watch band I have!)

>> Click here to watch!​

⌚️ Advice from the community

I asked you to share your best Apple Watch/smartwatch tips, and here's what you had to say!

• You can dictate straight to your Day One journal through the Apple Watch app! Useful if you're the kind of person who likes to send long voice notes, hehe.
• If you have one of the newer Apple Watch models and a newer iPhone (doesn't work for me, unfortunately), the "find my iPhone" feature will even show you how far away your phone is.
• You can set up custom "automations." For example, every time you start a new workout, you can have the Watch automatically go into Do Not Disturb mode.

A few of my favorite things

🎧 Replaying this album when I’m walking, cooking, stretching before bed... all the time.

👩‍💼 I’ve got two interviews for internships coming up (wish me luck 🤞) so I’ve been preparing by watching a bunch of YouTube videos. This one with 20 question & answer examples was really helpful.

📽️ While doing this I stumbled upon what I think might be my new favorite productivity YouTube channel (good advice + top-notch production quality).

❔ An exercise for you

This week, apply one of my two techniques:

1. Go ahead and organize something with your friends. Be the one to make the group chat and set a date (also check out my newsletter about being proactive in both relationships and group work).
2. Say yes to a spontaneous opportunity that comes along and see where the magic takes you ✨

​Find all editions of the newsletter here. Thank you for reading!

Lots of love,
Beatrice

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