Hi there,

Happy Saturday! I hope you had an absolutely fantastic week 🥰

Thank you for being part of the Presently Reading community with 2,317 bookworms from around the world.

​For the month of July 2025, we're reading ​Tiny Experiments: How to Live Freely in a Goal-Obsessed World​ by Anne-Laure Le Cunff.​

Enjoy!

Warmly,
Maneet (pronounced muh-neet)

PS: In case you missed it, I recently started a new daily email series called Day One with Maneet. Every morning, I send a short email with a journal prompt and a quick reflection of my own. It’s been a really meaningful way to start the day, and I’d love for you to join me. Tap here to get the daily emails.​

Weekly Bookmark

What if you didn’t have to force it?

For years, I’ve been obsessed with planning. I’ve tried everything from scheduling my entire week during a Sunday night review to making a detailed to-do list before bed each night. I’ve color-coded calendars, written out task blocks, and even made Notion dashboards I never opened again. Somewhere along the way, I convinced myself that the only way to be productive was to plan everything in advance.

But one of this week’s chapters from Meditations for Mortals offered a totally different perspective.

Instead of grinding your way through a rigid schedule, Oliver Burkeman suggests a gentler approach. One that starts by asking a simple question:

What do I feel like working on today?

For the past two months, I’ve totally abandoned my to-do list. This is the first time I can remember going so long without using a primary productivity app. I didn’t realize it until reading this book, but I’ve been asking myself this exact question each day, and it’s been working surprisingly well.

Not having a plan allows me to be more productive.

Instead of stressing about staying on top of a schedule or getting tasks done in the most efficient order, I prioritize my energy and curiosity. What do I have energy for today? What would feel meaningful or satisfying to make progress on?

Yes, having a detailed plan makes sense on paper, but in reality, it has been slowing me down.

On paper, it may seem strange doing things haphazardly. But if I zoom out and look at the big picture, I feel like I’m getting a lot more done than I would have if I tried to force discipline. And the best part? I’m having fun while doing it. Present-me gets to decide what I want to work on, not past-me.

Whether or not this will stick for the long term, I don’t know.

I still capture random tasks in my to-do list and make time to review it every once in a while, but I’m no longer pretending that I can predict how I’ll feel next Thursday at 2 pm. Some days are high-energy and focused, and others are sluggish and scattered. And instead of fighting that, I’m finally working with it.

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