Why you should read more fiction

And the Outlook tip to get in the zone

Hey there! Happy May, arguably one of the best months of the year. It’s not too hot, not too cold, and everyone has that post-hibernation ✨ glow ✨. The cherry on top? It started off as Monday, May 1st. That scratched such a satisfying itch in my brain (my type-A organizers will relate).

Deep Work Mode: Activated

Let me know if this sounds familiar:

Monday comes around, and your to-do list is pretty long (hey, Friday happy hour was calling 😂). Armed with your caffeinated beverage of choice and noise-canceling headphones, you get in the zone when…

The Outlook email notification dings. Then again…aaand again. And again, all day long.

Might sound like a small distraction, but did you know? The average person needs 23 minutes and 15 seconds to refocus after an involuntary distraction, according to a study from the University of California Irvine.

In other words, getting distracted even just three times a day means you could lose up to an hour of output. 🤯

So, here’s a two-minute tip to silence your email notifications so you can save hours of productivity down the line!

Step 1) Navigate to “File” and go to “Options” 

Step 2) Under “Mail,” go to “Message arrival” and unselect all the ticked boxes.

Step 3) Get in that zone!

If you want to get even more productive, check out the tip about using a “CC” folder Sally shared in the comments on my video. So smart!

Why Reading Fiction Isn’t ‘Unproductive’

For a long time, reading fiction just wasn’t high on my to-do list. It’s not that I wasn’t reading—on the contrary, I was reading a lot of nonfiction (such as Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself by Dr. Joe Dispenza and You Are a Badass by Jen Sincero) to level up in life.

People often say nonfiction can be life-changing, but fiction can be just as impactful.

Because studies have shown that fiction…

➜ Builds empathy. It puts you in the headspace of a character, bringing you neurologically one step closer to better understanding other people’s perspectives.

➜ Boosts critical thinking. According to The Harvard Business Review, fiction enhances the brain's ability to be open minded while processing information, an essential skill in effective decision-making.

➜ Recharges and relaxes your brain. Getting lost in a story places your brain in a pleasurable trance-like state, and regular readers get better sleep, have lower stress levels, and have higher self-esteem than non-readers, per The New Yorker.

It turns out those “silly stories” have more to them than meets the eye. 🙃 I’ve added fiction to my reading rotation (The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho is up first!) and it’s way more enjoyable than I remembered.

If you need some inspo, you can start by checking out Project Gutenberg, a site that has thousands of eBooks available for free!

Cheers to continuing to better ourselves, one story at a time. 🥂

Here’s a lovely reminder from our pals over in Italy (AKA the land of bel canto and pasta) on why the little things in life are as important as the big ones.

Enjoy the rest of your Thursday and I’ll see you next week!

Stay Excelent,

Kat