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Hello, and welcome to this week’s WEN-zine nuggets.

Good-bye to 2023, which had a lot not to like in this neck of the woods. No surprise that it went out leaving a cold shower on what had been the single major positive for the year.

The positive was a new furnace this summer, replacing an ancient one not expected to make it through another winter of patching. The cold shower was a bit literal – when realizing the shiny new furnace was not working early Friday evening. Reaching anyone then was not working, either – even the paging service appeared to be off to celebrate early.

Fortunately, they were open on Saturday, and after warnings about extra weekend/holiday cost (as if that matters when outside temp is in the teens!), the serviceman showed up, found a small part that had slipped out of its usual slot, and we had heat! ...

Until Sunday morning ... yep, woke up to a non-working furnace! He had shown me where to find the error message, so we were able to call (this time the pager worked) and tell him it was the same problem. This visit he replaced the part with one that fits more snugly ... and so far, so good. The New Year is off to a warmer start. Much easier to think about new projects and new tools with the hum of a working furnace as backdrop. And I have been enjoying a new tool ...

1. Finally ... a time-tracker I like

Tracking time spent on projects or even simple tasks can improve focus, profitability, and daily planning. I’ve tried numerous time-trackers over the years. Most of them work, but they’ve all had something missing or complexity that drove me away.

This past week the Ness Labs newsletter suggested a new tracker: interstitch – and after using it for 6 days, I’m still loving it: https://www.interstitch.app/

Interstitch is a simple web app – log in and it’s there. I like the handy pause and restart so when the intention is to spend 90 minutes on a project, you know when you’ve actually done a full 90 minutes. Also helpful for more accurate timing of billable hours.

But I love the “interstitial journaling” function. So easy to make a note right on the timeline about a later action needed. No loss of focus as there can be if leaving the current task to go make notes inside some other file or app. Have used that more than I would have expected. And the calendar view should prove useful. If you use the color code option for different work areas (e.g., writing, marketing, admin), at end of the week you can quickly summarize work done and see a time spent breakdown.

I realize other time-trackers do all this ... but I find this to be more bare-bones and accessible, thus might be used more often. How simple? A 2-minute YouTube video explains it all: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iALtLmGKee0

Oh, and it’s free. Speaking of free ...

2. Classic works from 1928 entered U.S. public domain on January 1

Long-awaited works entering public domain this year include Disney’s “Steamboat Willie,” which features the first drawings of Mickey Mouse (later renditions of Mickey are not yet in public domain), and “House at Pooh Corner,” introducing the Tigger character, as well as “Peter Pan” by J.M. Barrie.

As the Duke Center for the Study of the Public Domain reports, “They will be free for all to copy, share, and build upon.”

And here’s more fun as the Creative Law Center shares “Museums that Give Away Open Access Images of Public Domain Work”:

https://creativelawcenter.com/museums-open-access-images/

3. How to Maximize Your Focus and Master Your Priorities

If your goals list for 2024 already looks a tad overwhelming, you will find useful James Clear’s retelling of Warren Buffett’s “2 List” Strategy ... read the section under “The Story of Mike Flint.”

Enjoy!

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To Your Writing Success and a Wonderful 2024,

Dana K Cassell

Editor

(Dana Cassell is founder of Writers-Editors Network, and has been freelancing/creating full-time for 47 years. In addition to writing, editing, and fact-checking for numerous business clients, she has published more than 2,000 articles and has ghosted or authored more than a dozen books.)

Not a Network member? Join now: https://freelancekeys.com/join-now/ Temporary discount codes:

Save $10 on Basic options: use TESTING coupon code

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