Morning Brew - ✋ Love knows (some) bounds

Time-saving tools and products we’re really into rn.

Spending more time in the office? You can still keep an eye on your pets and protect them from their own mischief with Furbo, a dog camera that tosses treats and sends you alerts if there are any signs of fire, crashing sounds, or barking episodes. After all, you never know when your pup will decide to climb on the roof.

If you’re trying to catch flights instead of feelings this cuffing season, you need Flighty, a super user-friendly, aesthetically appealing version of FlightAware. With new updates for iOS 16, this app will make sure you get the flight and have time left over for…other stuff.

We say this with all the kindness in our our hearts: You’re not good at everything. Like, we all suck in some way, so stop trying to be perfect—just let yourself be bad at something.

“Sometimes we think that time management is up to other people…It’s my job to tell them no. I have to be the person conscious of the other things on my plate.”

Nedra Glover Tawwab is a licensed therapist of 15 years and the New York Times best-selling author of Set Boundaries, Find Peace. She also has more than 1 million followers on her Instagram account, where she shares mental health practices, tools, and reflections and hosts weekly Q&As.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Kickoff: “I like to get up before my husband and my kids, so I can have some time to myself. I find those moments to be sacred. And when I’m able to do that, I’ve found I’m a more pleasant person to be with for the entire day…I certainly like to read a little bit in the morning to really tap into my own headspace. Then I get my kids ready for school. And after that, I come home, I work out, and I start creating content, writing, seeing clients, or whatever it is I have to do that day.”

Building her social community: “I didn’t even think about social media as a space until my group therapy practice had an Instagram page. The office assistant would just put some quotes on there from Pinterest, and I never really paid attention. I wasn’t a big social media type of person. And one day I looked at it [and] said, ‘Oh, I think I could do better.’ And on July 1, 2017, I started posting content…I started coming up with these one-liners [that] kind of developed into listicles and paragraphs as I became more comfortable with being a writer.”

Writing her book: “I think I have created enough content to have many books. So, it was just a matter of: ‘What should this chapter be? What should it be titled? And when will I write it?’ At that time, I was seeing clients maybe three [or] four days a week. I cut out a day to be able to write, so those two days became my writing days…That whole process of writing the book was me setting boundaries and saying, ‘I can’t do these things—I’m honoring my writing schedule.’”

Doing all the things: “I realized I work best when I have a lot of stuff to do. And I like to do a variety of things. I still want to see clients, I want to write books, I want to speak on podcasts, I want to do interviews. So for me, as I’m adding these things, there are other things that I must subtract. I like to do all these things, but I don’t have to do all of them to the maximum capacity.”

On boundaries: “if you think about all of the areas in which we can have boundaries—work, school friendships, romantic relationships, social media, on technology, with strangers, [and with] our money—there’s likely some area where you’re doing very well with boundaries. And then there are others where you need a lot of work. I think we tend to overlook what we’re doing well.”

Setting goals: “The first step [in goal setting] for me is making sure it’s something I want to do, and not something that I’ve been told I should want to do. That has been the biggest motivator for me...I’ve learned that, for me to really care about it, it has to be something I’m really interested in pursuing. And there are things that are really good ideas, but it’s not what I’m interested in, and I have to be OK with that.”—MW

Your punch list for when you punch out.

Read: No need to worry, everyone: Corn kid’s parents aren’t signing him up for an endless stream of endorsement deals. He’s still just being a kid. This recent NYT profile focuses on his viral moment and what the aftermath of sudden social media fame looks like for a kid.

Watch: The next time someone scolds you for staring into space, send them this TED-Ed video on the benefits of daydreaming (increased creativity and energy for starters!). Who’s wasting their time now?

Drink: Spend chilly fall mornings cozied up with a latte twist on Harry’s fav Butterbeer. The recipe calls for caramel, espresso, butterscotch syrup, and a milk of your choice (we’ve been loving Táche’s Pistachio Vanilla Blend—check out founder Roxana Saidi’s advice for business-building here).

Take this quiz: So you want to take one of Morning Brew’s accelerators but have no clue which one is right for you? Take our quick quiz to find out which course is the perfect fit for your needs at the moment!

We’ve reached the end of our balance series, and if you’ve made it this far but don’t feel zen yet, it might be time to revisit story one.

For our grand finale, we spoke with some of the busiest people in corporate America: senior leadership. For Quizlet CEO Matthew Glotzbach, balance is “the feeling of having everything under control,” whereas Fishbowl co-founder Loren Appin believes balance is “living life in a way that is sustainable to you, limits stress, and creates happiness.”

Meanwhile YouTube’s global head of acquisition partnerships, Preeya Khanna, told Sidekick that “the ability to be fully immersed in what I’m doing while I’m doing it” brings her balance.—MW and SS

Burning questions of our time.

What do The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, and The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger all have in common? Aside from having a rightful spot in your TBR pile, they’re also among some of the most banned books in the country. Powerful books have always made waves, but 2022 has ushered in a renewed era of book banning in the US. This year alone, more than 1,600 titles have been banned in 32 states due to their perceived political statements and themes.

But sales of the contested books have actually increased as bans draw attention to the titles. When you’re seeking out something new to read, does a banned book pique your curiosity? Are you inclined to buy a controversial book out of solidarity with free speech? (Or out of spite? If so, read this.) Hit Reply and let us know in the Inbox!—SS

And now, your thoughts on content creation on the clock:

“I’m an active duty military helicopter pilot. I think sharing my day on social media would be a huge recruiting tool as well as [a way to] demystify life in the military. But I’m a Gen Xer and not into TikTok. I’d be down to have someone else film, edit, and post for me.”—Mike