Wow. It’s been a minute, huh?

That’s because I took my first real vacation without a laptop to Italy, France, and Spain.

​It was amazing!​

But now, we’re back at it, friend.

Work shouldn’t feel hard.

And yet, so many of us are set up to fail.

Not because we suck... but because our environment does.

A couple of years ago, I was reporting for a nonprofit in Palm Beach.

Every month, I had to send a newsletter, but it needed the CEO's approval first.

She never approved it on time.

I was also working until the 11th hour, pushing her for approval.

...and this drove me nuts!

The last newsletter I sent was scheduled after she replied with a round of edits.

I made them, then it landed in a bunch of inboxes looking ah-maz-ing.

Later that day, she lost her shit on me because she didn't approve the "FINAL FINAL" version.

She's the CEO.

She knew the newsletter sending schedule.

She gave me her edits.

I made the changes.

Why was I managing the CEO to get my work done on time?!

The following week, I left the job... and the stress evaporated.

It wasn’t me.

It was the system.

And if that sounds familiar:

• Audit what’s actually making your job harder.

• Advocate for tools and timelines that support you.

• If that fails, make a change.

Your work should help you shine, not shrink.

This is your reminder to check all the things you use when you work and the people you’re surrounded by.

Audit your setup like it owes you money:

• Do you really need that monthly subscription to the social media tool?
• How often are you actually using it?
• How can you communicate with that asshole a little less?
• Is that weekly meeting helping or just haunting your calendar?
• Could one well-written doc replace five back-and-forth emails?
• Are you paying for a platform just to download reports you could get free elsewhere?
• Is your workspace comfortable or slowly draining your will to live?
• Are your tools working with you or just making everything harder?
• Can you delegate, or are you hoarding tasks out of habit?
• Would your day improve if you just turned Slack off for an hour?

Kill the bottleneck.

Because no one wants to spend their time fighting Google Docs and group chats.

That’s not the dream. Capri is. (which is absolutely gorgeous, BTW)

Christina

Oh, and remember I’m sharing all the bookish stuff on Substack now.

​Click here to join me there if you haven’t already.​

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