notes from the June of joy
taking joy seriously
This newsletter was originally sent to my subscribers in early June. For regular and up-to-date monthly emails and occasional additional roundups of interesting links & updates, sign up here.
Hi folks!
Greetings from London!! While I am waiting to check in at my hotel, I found myself a moderately quiet spot under the shade of an emotional support lamp (pictured below - am I the only one who sees the raised 'hands' in a 'you've got it' gesture?), vibing to the 70s disco vibes and writing up this newsletter.
Given the circumstances, the topic I want to talk about today feels very fitting - namely, ✨ JOY ✨
Sure, it's easy to feel joyful in this particular moment - beautiful location, holiday, working on something that energises me. But what I'm generally more interested in is how to cultivate these pockets of joy in our day-to-day.
After all, the tagline of my profile is stop living from holiday to holiday.
In fact, early this year, I set the intentions - my core words - for 2025: focus, mastery, openness and joy.
At first, this set of words may seem contradictory - mastery and focus to one side (=structure), openness and joy to the other (=flexibility).
But the longer I think about it, the more I see that one informs the other and vice versa.
It’s the structure that creates space for flexibility, and flexibility that makes the structure helpful, but not rigidly suffocating.
It's by being intentional about my time and energy, following my curiosity, adding more play, creativity and humour into everyday and not hiding my innate Aries childlike enthusiasm that helps me become better at my job.
Conversely, by focusing on areas where I have the most impact and striving for mastery, I can delegate tasks and eliminate unnecessary distractions. Accepting that I might disappoint others allows me to create the mental space needed to intentionally plan for joy.
Yes - plan for joy. Because a happy, joyful life won't just happen by itself.
Just like for this trip, for which I've planned many cool activities (including a theatre visit, getting professional make-up done and a self-portrait photoshoot), I plan for joy in my more mundane day-to-day workday:
✨ When preparing for a presentation or training I ask myself:
How can I infuse more humour and my personality?
Can I think of some exciting or memorable examples I want to share?
Shake up the routine and do something differently? I mean - if Slack can make their release notes - arguably the most boring piece of text to be written - chuckleworthy, there's really no excuse for me not to try.
✨ Before presenting - earlier this month, I was kicking off the global Salesforce power user forum for folks spread across APAC, Europe and the US. My intention for this meeting was to get them enthusiastic about the program. And let me remind you that while, according to some, time is an illusion, some of the participants joined at 8 pm, some at 7 am. Not anyone's preferred timeslot.
And it's my responsibility as a host to bring the vibes to the function.
Not only coming prepared in terms of polished slides and questions answered, but also bringing my best energy into the meeting.
About ten minutes before the meeting, I took a dance break. I played some fun 80s tunes and got myself into the let’s f* gooo vibe. The meeting was a success, and I got at least 5 emails praising the meeting and how excited they are to get started.
I know that great slides alone wouldn't have given me the same result.
✨ When writing this newsletter or doing my deep work sessions:
Remote work has its downsides (like everything in life), but it’s the best thing that ever happened to me. I love working from beautiful spaces that spark my creativity (In London, I spent the 1st night here, loved my room and the lobby!)
You obviously don't need to pay 200+ EUR a night to work from a beautiful space, like hotel lobbies. I often go to some of my favourite hotel lobbies in Berlin, grab a coffee and work on tasks that don't involve logging into any system with confidential information.
✨ When planning my priorities, I ask myself:
In the best-case scenario, how would I like to run this project?
What are the topics that excite me the most?
What can I delegate?
Are there any tasks that someone else is better suited for?
Sure, I can't eradicate 100% tasks I don't want to do, but just by asking myself these questions, my brain starts looking for solutions. Often, I find them :)
I think you get the gist.
My room is probably ready by now, so to wrap it up: how will you infuse more joy into your (work) day? Let me know!
Chat to you next month x
Agata
PS. Don't forget to share this newsletter with your friends
PS2. In case you get trapped in the mid-year comparison trap or reflecting upon your progress, thinking you're behind, I'd like to remind you of one of my favourite mantras - Today is not over yet.
INSPIRATIONS
📚 Looking for your next read? I usually check the titles on the long & shortlist of the Women's Prize. They also have a podcast, where accomplished women (authors, politicians, actresses....) are invited to discuss the work of incredible female authors, championing the very best books written by women. This was a very interesting episode with author Elif Shafak.
🦈 I have SO MANY THOUGHTS about this memoir that I shared on my @readinginberlin Instagram.
📹Something I am actively UNlearning to find more peace in my day-to-day
Bonus tip inspired by one of my running sessions :)
🥹 A few of my favourite places in London - a small but beautiful museum in Marylebone, a massage place I enjoyed, an amazing restaurant in Shoreditch, and a lovely spot where I have breakfast when I book an Airbnb close to Victoria Park. Plus, a great indie bookstore in Shoreditch.