Time + Productivity//March 2018

In the beginning, there was Bruegger’s. Prior to Bruegger’s, I have vague recollections of Lucky Charms, eggs, or, on rare occasions, stacks of pancakes. The recollections are vague because I was very young but also because bagels came in like a blitzkrieg and annihilated all other breakfasts in one fell swoop. Once Bruegger’s opened up in West Concord it was all over. The Tzelnics have been a bagel family ever since.

Our days are structured around clocks—from when we get up to when we eat, to when we finally go to sleep. Except for a few confused days after Daylight Saving Time, we take for granted that our way of slicing up the day into seconds and minutes corresponds to a natural (and sometimes moral) truth. But like many unquestioned truths, it’s not really a truth at all.

ARIES

A single flame.

Hold steady. Burn brightly in a clear and consistent way. This is a time to go inward and focus your attention on what’s really important. What is your flame of truth? Your flame of purpose? Your flame of integrity? You gain clarity right now by being quiet instead of active.

The date went great.

This was number two of in real life encounters after a month of witty banter via the yellow bumble bubbles. We were trying so hard to get to the top of the dating app pile by being both funny and punny.

If history is doomed to repeat itself, let’s hope there is another Carry A. Nation in our midst.

It’s 1:00 AM and Nicole has been working for the past four hours. A whimper comes from the living room: “Mama?” She prays he’ll fall back asleep, but the cries get louder, the sleep draining from the edges of her son’s voice. As she rolls out of bed, another set of footsteps drag from the small kitchen to the tatami mat on the living room floor that serves as her toddler’s bed. Her husband is still awake; she pulls the covers over her head and hopes for sleep.

Regardless of how much wealth we've amassed, how many material items we possess, or how much education we've acquired, not one of us has been able to stockpile time. Time is a commodity that many of us find ourselves short on.

Yesterday I was kneeling on the floor beside my infant brother, staring into his eyes and trying to make out the shape of my reflection in his pupils. For the first time in my memory, I wondered what it meant to exist. I guess I was weird then, too.

Growing up, I was told two things about the future of the labor force:

1. You will not be able to rely on Social Security come retirement.

2. You will have many jobs, most of which have not been created yet.

Hey you.
I know what you’re thinking: I haven’t been liking your pics or sharing your posts or clicking retweet as often lately. I’ve paid my phone and internet bill, I promise. I’m still here.

“When I get married I want to teach school or do something besides being a housewife.” – Kent Doty Wolfe, 13 years old, 1960

Daniel Ramamoorthy has the kind of energy that is normally reserved for competition game shows. A seasoned public speaker, he’s hosted conferences and summits around the globe,  makes videos where he wears silly hats while imparting entrepreneurial advice, and he’s occasionally followed around by a camera person who turns his adventures into beat-pumping highlight reels, all while carving out space in the world of personal coaching. He isn’t pushing his clients through boot camp workouts, though: he’s teaching them to be productive.

When I was a kid, my dad often brought home jokes from work. One of them went like this:A woman walks into a beauty salon wearing headphones. She asks for a haircut, but under no condition should the hairdresser remove the headphones. “Sorry,” says the hairdresser, “No can do.”

It’s late afternoon on a Wednesday in the middle of winter and I’m sitting in front of a Van Gogh painting, The Poplars at Saint-Remy. Perched on portable folding stools, we’re all gazing up at the canvas in front of us.

Gather around a campfire with marshmallows, graham crackers, and squares of milk chocolate, and you’ll see it, too. A s’more is comprised of just three ingredients — but, like most things in life, it’s all about how you approach them.

How many times in your life have you said the words, “I don’t have time for ____,” and then filled in the blank with something you really want to do but continue to put off? My count is pretty high up there, with my self-care practices, my time to unplug, or even sexy time with my man being put on the backburner most frequently.

Juice 2 cucumbers with a heaping handful of mint to yield about 1 cup of juice (if you don't have a juicer, just muddle the sweet shit outta these guys and it will work just as well).

Preheat oven to 375°. In a food processor, add the falafel ingredients. Pulse until coarse and well-combined. Roll into 1” balls and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake in the oven for 25 minutes.

Not only does forming 8 hefty meatballs rather than 24 or 36 smaller ones save time - it also makes for a fun presentation on a serving platter with the roasted cherry tomatoes and fresh basil.

1. Mix all of the pancake ingredients except the coconut oil together in a bowl or a blender.

2. Drizzle some coconut oil in the pan to avoid sticking.

3. Make pancakes in desired shape and size.

4. Serve with the toppings and enjoy

Aaron Hibbs is a hula hooping maverick. In 2009, he broke the Guinness Book of World Record for Longest Hula Hooping Marathon by an Individual Using a Single Hoop. It took 74 hours and 54 minutes of non-stop hula hooping (we don’t recommend this, kiddos).

Costa Rica is a country in Central America and the oldest democracy in the Americas. That means the people in Costa Rica were having their voices and votes heard when many other nearby countries were being still being bossed around by emperors or kings.

Gang Hangs is a monthly roundup of ways to create more connection in real life.

From gathering with friends around a record player to hosting a device-free, old school
movie night, our online community will be sort of like a virtual huddle, where we will all share stories of connection, trade resources, and all the feels about offline living.

Well, he’s done it folks: one of America’s national treasures wrote a book. That’s right; Tom Hanks can now add “author” to his esteemed resume. But is Uncommon Type, his collection of short stories, any good? If you go by what writer and commentator Roxane Gay says, it’s just so-so.

Coming from the same folks who bring us the magical Wanderlust Festival, is a smaller more condensed version that takes place in approximately 40 cities all over the globe, including New Orleans, Los Angeles, and even Milan, Italy.

“Hey, Y’all,” was the greeting that welcomed me to the NPR Politics Podcast throughout the 2016 election. If you have been listening since the podcast’s inception in 2015, you will surely know what I’m talking about, even though it’s changed since.

When I was 17 years old, my mom told me that my only option was to join the armed forces. She was exhausted, and I was lost. This was an ultimatum: join, or leave the house for good. Enlisting was even more unimaginable than leaving, so I left. I bounced from family to family until I graduated from high school, went to college, developed a career as a photographer, built a few businesses, and started a family.

Where in the world can you recommit to valuing the most precious commodity any of us have – our time? I traveled to Santa Teresa in Costa Rica and found a place where the grumble of your tummy announced it was time to eat, where the swaths of color across the sky and darkening sand beneath your feet announced that the day had come to an end.

As I approach yet another bright red traffic light, I can feel irritability surge through my veins. These damn traffic lights are always preventing me from crossing anything off my ever-growing list of errands.

What does "conscious connection" mean to you on social media? - @mollybryn

Oh wow. “Conscious” and “connection” are two words that have unfortunately been commoditized and swallowed whole by advertising, media, and capitalistic companies.