Grammar Tip

The pronunciation of the letter H at the beginning of a word can be silent or hard. A silent H is a vowel sound. A hard H has a consonant sound.

The sound, not the look, determines the whether the preceding article will be ‘a’ or ‘an.’

Use the indefinite article ‘a’ in front of a hard ‘h’ sound. Use ‘an’ in front of a vowel sound.

Productivity Tip

Caveday (.org) has saved my life. Picture an online study hall with Zoomers from all over the world. Zoomers in this case are people on Zoom, regardless of age, focusing on monotasking and deep work—um, like in a cave? Which I'm not wired for, but I sure get more monotasking work done than I used to.

Before each one-hour or three-hour sprint, there are breakout sessions to meet people all over the world, if you want, for a couple of minutes. Accountability and socializing all in one. With a cave guide, to boot.

At the end of the cave session we type in our wins. “Was distracted but didn’t quit.” “Got a draft whipped OUT.” “Sent an email I had been avoiding.”

For years, I’d been craving an online workspace: something where you sign in and maybe talk for a little while, then do your work, get something done, and maybe talk some more, then go about your day. Maybe come and go when you feel like it. Something like that.

And then, voilà! I found Caveday through a field trip via CreativeMornings (.com). These are two of my favorite sites now. A C-suite, if you will.

Caveday, y’all. Use my handy-dandy link and then use the code TRYACAVE21 for a free three-sprinter. Or get your first month for $1 with the code 1STMONTHONE.

Life Tip

What’s the best that could happen?

This fabulous phrase was the title of Samantha Johnson’s talk for CreativeMornings in August 2020. That month, the CM topic was STRESS. Samantha spoke at the Lexington chapter. She is a public speaker, producer and creative, among other cool things.

As an antidote to stressful situations, particularly those of the impending variety, ask and answer: WTBTCH?