Morning Brew - 🥣 The Breakfast Club

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Add some color to your agenda with this poster-sized spectrum wall planner. Enormous and environmentally friendly, this annual calendar doubles up as a decoration for your home office.

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“I think because I live in New York, my brain is chaos, my computer’s chaos, outside is chaos. So it’s really hard to figure out when to shut off. And I’m still learning how to do this. But what I’m understanding more is that I don’t have a normal schedule, I don’t have a normal job, and I probably never will.”

Emily Miller is an entrepreneur, cookbook author, and founder of “offensively delicious” vegan and gluten-free cereal brand OffLimits. A loud proponent of the power of a good breakfast, Miller also hosts a BreakfastClub series (still waiting for our invite), in which she gathers creatives and chefs from around the world to celebrate her favorite meal of the day.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Kickoff: “I wake up around 6:30am, and I need coffee immediately. And then I’ll sit and check my phone, which I probably shouldn’t do. The first thing I do is go to Club CPG, which is a Telegram channel that’s Web3 focused…And then I’ll check email for emergencies. If I’m in a good state of mental health, I will try and go for a walk or do some kind of workout. I feel like if I don’t work out in the morning, it will not happen. So I try to have at least some kind of movement in the morning, even if it’s just stretching.”

The not-so average, average day: “Everything hinges on my mental health. I mean, all the cereal mascots that I have, I built them specifically so they have ups and downs to their personalities and moods. And we can talk about mental health through the characters…A busier day for me is definitely [having] calls every half hour…on a lighter day, I’m working from home, mostly. So it’s really nice to get out of the apartment.”

Routines: “I definitely feel better after working out, and I would argue most people do. That doesn’t mean I do it every day. I like to think of everything in cycles, what my up cycle is, and then what my down cycle is, because I feel like there are so many super glossy founder articles that talk about hyper-productivity, and all of these very consistent things that people do. But the reality is that’s not real. When I’m not feeling great, I’ve been trying to just give myself that time and not sit with the anxiety that I should be working.”

On schedule: “What works amazingly for me is to map out every 10 minutes of my day, which sounds psychotic…I think that helps me really get through the hard stuff…It’s kind of gamified. So, you have to finish things in a certain amount of time, and then put it away because you have your whole schedule. In doing that, don’t be crazy ambitious, either. You have to be super realistic about how long things take you.”

In her toolkit: “I would say I used to be a very pen and paper person. Either way, I’m very visual. So any tech tool I use, I need to be able to add emojis and organize it in a mind map kind of way instead of just an analytical kind of way. Excel sheets make my brain melt—I need to see information in a different way in order to help problem-solve through it. I really enjoy Notion and I really enjoy Discord.”

Trust the process: “Something that’s taken me a really long time to learn how to do is when a cool project comes your way, but it’s just not coming together, you have to let it go. You have to say no; you have to protect your time.”

Favorite breakfast: “Am I allowed to say cereal? Even growing up, I didn’t just eat it for breakfast; our family eats cereal for dinner and as a snack…So it’s definitely a family ritual as well as my favorite breakfast.”

Your punch list for when you punch out.

Read: Since its first use in the 1980s (allegedly in Canada, of all places), LOL has gone from an expression of true laughter to a phrase we all can’t seem to stop throwing in our sentences. Read about its humble beginnings and its journey to mainstream use in this Vice article.

Watch: Newly launched web series This Coulda Been An Email takes a comical look at the struggle of working in a chaotic corporate environment—including the cringy work moments we all wish we could forget.

Drink: Casamigos has a secret. The longtime favorite tequila brand has been quietly making cocktail mixers. With flavor options like Signature Margarita, Blackberry Basil Smash, and Grapefruit Orange Paloma to choose from, even people who don’t enjoy the taste of tequila will want to give them a try.

New Brew member alert: In the modern workplace, you really do need to know Excel. With that in mind, we’ve brought Excel Dictionary, aka Emma Chieppor, over to the Brew to help you become not just proficient, but an expert in the software. Give her a follow on Instagram or TikTok for some spreadsheet wisdom.

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Burning questions of our time.

Your thoughts on early retirement:

My friend calls it “work optional” instead of “retirement,” and I love the term. Although I’m good at my 9 to 5 and it’s enjoyable, I don’t want to work because I have to. I want to work a job because I want to. Since I’m in government, I hope to retire and be “work optional” by 53. That way, I qualify for my pension and lifetime healthcare, and I can choose what I want to do afterward. I’ll definitely still be working, but it’ll be on my own terms and when I want to.—Dy

I’m 62, and the thought of retirement is certainly on my mind. But the more I think of doing “nothing,” the more I’m inclined to keep working for as long as my company keeps me on. I have started noticing some ageism in the workplace, so I know they want to move younger employees into my role eventually. I currently mentor two 20-something young women who are sharp and talented, so I give back to the company by sharing my experience and mindset with them, which I enjoy.—Spencer

The dilemma of multiple offers:

If you’re one of the millions of people to recently dust off their resumes and change jobs, you’re aware of how grueling the search process can be. Interviews are an opportunity for both employers and candidates to determine if they’re a good fit for each other. So it stands to reason that when interviewing for more than one role, you may want to wait for multiple offers before making a decision. But when offers arrive, companies tend to give 48 hours or fewer for a response, rushing candidates to accept roles they may not be thrilled with. With little time to make an informed decision, is it okay to accept a job offer, then change your mind after receiving a better one, or should you keep your commitment? Have you ever gone back on an offer? Hit Reply and tell us in the inbox.—SS