Vorfreude: the joy of anticipation

Vorfreude means “the pleasure of anticipation.” I learned it from Jono Hey’s excellent Sketchplanations newsletter. “The magic of vorfreude lies in how it stretches out the pleasure of any upcoming event or experience,” writes Jono. “Once I hit 'Confirm' to book a trip, it kicks off joy for months whenever I think about the trip.” — MF

Mini-pharmacy 

I’ve long carried a mini-pharmacy in my daypack, packed with small doses of common over-counter medicines for occasional use. Mosts are used to supply my companion travelers. I recently upgraded to a very compact container that takes up almost no room. The Portable Travel Pill Box ($4) can hold 10 different medicines, which I label with dosages. It is very handy, and goes with me everywhere my bag goes. — KK

Stress Science 101 series 

NPR’s Stress Less newsletter series shares actionable strategies to reduce stress and increase joy. This series, based on a resilience course created by psychologist Judith Moskowitz, teaches eight strategies to boost your day-to-day well-being. 

The 8 skills to manage stress are: 

• Positive events: Notice when positive things happen in your life

• Savoring: Relish the positive things in your life

• Gratitude: Appreciate what brings you happiness

• Mindfulness: Focus on the present moment without judgment

• Positive reappraisal: Find the silver lining 

• Self-compassion: Be kind to yourself

• Personal strengths: Recognize your unique abilities

• Attainable goals: Make plans that set you up for success

The series launched on September 30, and I am currently on week 2 of the 5-week program. However, you can sign up for the Stress Less newsletter at any time and access the archived issues, as well as the upcoming weeks, if you subscribe now. — CD 

Ask AI to write your prompts

I’ve learned that ChatGPT and other chatbots are often more useful when you ask them to help you write your prompt. For example, instead of asking “Write an action-item list for planning a trip to Kyoto next fall,” ask “I’m taking a trip to Kyoto next fall. Write a prompt I can use to ask you to create an action-item list.” — MF

Compare text online

Difftext.com is an online tool that quickly finds the differences between two blocks of text. You can copy and paste text or drag in files, and it will highlight the differences in plain text, markdown, or code. There have been many times in the past when I wished I had something like this, so I was very happy when Recomendo reader Spencer Smith shared it. — CD

Visual experiments

An Instagram artist I enjoy following is Adam Hale. His Daily Splice artfully spans photography, collage making, photogramery, gifs, cut outs, video clips, mash ups, and other visual experiments. — KK

Recomendo is an authentic, hand-crafted, human-written weekly newsletter that is free, but not cheap. Consider supporting our work with a paid option, now at the low price of $45 per year. Paid subs enable us to keep making it free for others. Recomendo is published by Cool Tools Lab, a small company of three people. We also run the Cool Tools website, a YouTube channel and podcast, and other newsletters, including Gar’s Tips & Tools, Nomadico, What’s in my NOW?, Tools for Possibilities, Just 1 Question, Books That Belong On Paper and Book Freak.

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