Mountains, karaoke, and the Hope Diamond

Last week, Kevin and I joined my parents, siblings, and two nieces in Asheville, North Carolina, one of my favorite cities in the country, for our first family vacation since I was a kid. We hiked Catawba Falls with my mom (which included 535 steep steps), roasted s'mores, sang karaoke (for the record, "Islands in the Stream" and "Blame It on the Rain" are much harder than they sound...), played games, and took a ghost tour. Did you know the Hope Diamond was mailed from Asheville to the Smithsonian through the US Postal Service? Now that's trust.

About a week before I left, I added my out-of-office dates to my signature and reply line. Anyone who emailed me that week got a heads-up that I'd be out. Small move, fewer surprises. Have an upcoming vacation? Check out the tips in our How to Take a Vacation Guide.​

I also spent two days at Lake Gaston with RaderCo Marketing Specialist Lisa at her family home, going through photos from my new branding shoot with Amber Foster Smith Photography and updating our marketing materials and the websites.

If you don't know what a Design Day is, click here for the scoop. We work on special projects, take long walks, and laugh a lot. I can't overstate how much these days matter, away from the day-to-day distractions, with time to think and be together.

Every good idea we have shows up on a walk. In nice weather, we'll go two or three times a day (on this trip, we logged 10.5 miles). In heat like this, it's sometimes just in the morning, but we never skip it. And we've never left a Design Day without an idea worth keeping.

This week, I also spoke to more than 500 people for CPA Academy on how to Work Well Remotely. That ties right back to Design Days: I'm a big fan of the Time Timer, and my little clock comes with me everywhere. The lake. Hotels when I travel. Coffee shops during a work sprint. When I set it for 50 minutes of focus and a 10-minute break, it keeps me on task, and on days I'm tempted to get distracted (i.e., procrastinate), it pulls me back.

When you get this, I'll be on my way to Smith Mountain Lake, playing games, cooking meals, and spending time on the water.

On with the Weekender!

Responsive and Reactive Aren't the Same Thing Remote workers feel pressure to reply the second a message lands, as proof they're working. There's a name for it: productivity theater.

In this clip, I get into why instant replies disempower your team, how microstress builds into elevated cortisol and worsens decisions, and why your best thinking never happens between emails. One thing you can do now: Pick one channel where you can set a 30-minute response window instead of replying the moment something arrives. Start there. WATCH HERE (6 min)

Your workday back, one session at a time... Reclaim Your Workday Action Club is open for Cohort 2. On Tuesdays (one Wednesday, September 9), 45 minutes each, August 25 through October 13.

Light on theory, and built around real coaching on your actual workday: a 10-minute lesson, 30 minutes of live Coaching Spotlights, and 5 minutes to commit to one change before you log off. Phillip Wuollet, CPA and Partner at Abdo, put it plainly: "My 25th tax season was the first one stress-free." Early action pricing ($329) is open through July 6. Bringing a few people? The Team Pack is $299 each for groups of 3 to 5. Reply for more details. GRAB YOUR SEAT

My Little Free Library has been one of the best parts of this spring. My husband even built it to look like our house! I opened it in early April, and I've already moved about 160 books through it. If you've got the Little Free Library app and you're in the Raleigh area, come by, grab a book, and say hi.

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P.S. Be honest with yourself for a second: which channel has you performing productivity theater? The one where you reply in nine seconds to look on top of it? Hit reply and tell me. I read every response. Bonus points if you tell me your GO-TO karaoke song. Mine is Footloose!