“I Love Being a Dad” by Can’t Stop Won’t Stop. Rapper Can’t Stop Wont Stop (aka David Eff) wrote a song for his kids about how much he loves being a dad. It’s super catchy and incredibly wholesome. It’s been getting a lot of playtime in the McKay household this week. He even turned the song into a charming kid’s book. Be sure to check out his video series called “Rap Dad,” wherein he raps famous kids’ books like Brown Bear, Brown Bear and Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. For more dad songs, check out our list of the 10 Best Songs About Dads.
Huckberry Father’s Day Store. Speaking of dads, Father’s Day is June 18. If you’re looking for gift ideas for dear old dad, check out Huckberry’s Father’s Day store. A few items that stuck out to me: Klhip Ultimate Clipper (I got my dad these one year; he loves them), Insulated Summit Slipper, and the Bellroy Hide and Seek Wallet (see my full review of this wallet — which is part of my personal EDC — here).
Decoding Overload by Cal Newport. 4x AoM podcast guest and productivity expert Cal Newport has his own podcast called Deep Questions. In a recent episode, he explored what causes the feeling of overload at work and with life. His answer is that every task has two parts: 1) the actual execution of the task, and 2) the overhead that makes the execution of the task possible. For Newport, overhead consists of the back-and-forth emails, the meetings, and the scheduling that goes into making something happen. Overhead is where overload comes from. Cal’s next book will be digging into this more (I’m looking forward to it!), but this episode gives a good primer on the topic.
“Festina Lente: A Roman Emperor’s Guide to Getting Stuff Done” by Kevin Dickinson. Move over GTD; there’s a new productivity philosophy in town. Well, not actually new. It’s over 2000 years old. Festina lente is Latin for “make haste slowly,” and it was used by Caesar Augustus to accomplish a whole heck of a lot in his lifetime. This article explores the history of festina lente and offers suggestions on how you can implement it in your own life.
Quote of the Week
The most important single influence in the life of a person is another person. We may say to our children: Here is art, science, philosophy, mathematics, music, psychology, history, religion—and we may open innumerable doors along the corridors of living so that they will have a broad and even a minute acquaintance with the segments of life; but these introductions are not as important as knowing people whose characters and actions, personalities and words have grown after similar introductions and have become worthy of emulation.
—Paul D. Shafer
