Four Newsletters You Need In Your Inbox

My e-mail inbox is an absolute disaster. Between my personal e-mail accounts and the e-mail accounts for my three blogs, I average around 300 e-mails per day. I try to keep it organized, but the volume is difficult to manage and gives me so much anxiety. Over the years the unmanageable amount of communications that bombard me on a daily basis not only fail to get my attention, but also have fostered an antagonistic relationship between me and e-communication.

There are a handful of exceptions to this rule. More specifically, there are four newsletters that brighten my day when they pop up amongst the chaos even if I can’t read them right away. For these select few, I make a “inbox zero” exception, leaving them unread until I find a few rare minutes of spare time to savor them. These are the five newsletters I can’t live without and that you desperately need in your inbox:

1. Harvey McKay’s Weekly Tips and Inspiration

Parent e-mail spam is the worst. My mom is guilty, like many moms, of forwarding those pesky chain e-mails about scams at the gas pump and Nigerian princes wanting to send us money. On the other hand, my dad forwards professional development gold. The newsletter that I love getting from him (although I could subscribe on my own like an adult) is Harvey MacKay’s weekly newsletter with tips and inspiration. If you follow me on twitter, you’ve seen me quote him like a madwoman because he gives seriously sage advice about business and life.

“Listening goes both ways. If you want people to listen to you, you need to listen to them.” —@HarveyMackay #QOTD

— Margarita Wells (@margaritakwells) October 12, 2017

2. The “Wait But Why” Newsletter

“Wait But Why” was the first newsletter I ever subscribed to. (The stick figures that accompany each post caught my eye.) The messages are serious but, between the stick figures and heavy sarcasm, approachable. Take these spot on posts about how we approach marriage as a society or how life is fleeting. The writer is making some very intelligent, albeit depressing observations about the human experience but the way he delivers them is not overwhelming. Instead, I listen and apply his good advice toward improving my outlook. My only complaint? His posts are infrequent and sporadically scheduled.

3. The Daily “PRSUIT” Newsletter

I recently discovered PRSUIT’s daily e-mail “dedicated to helping you become the badass human you really are.” I can’t remember where I found it—it was a day where I was sucked deeply into the black hole that is the internets—but I am forever grateful to whoever/whatever introduced me to it. I’m drawn to its tongue-in-cheek tone and its solid life advice, like today’s article on how to deal with embarrassment. You can catch me on twitter, frequently reposting their opening blurbs which are intended to summarize the day’s theme but often carry nuggets of wisdom in and of themselves.

I’m really loving this message from @thedailyPRSUIT. I think we could all use the reminder: pic.twitter.com/V6HBgxU2et

— Margarita Wells (@margaritakwells) January 3, 2018

4. Ryan Holiday’s “The Reading List” Newsletter

It’s no mystery I love to read, which is probably why my friend Matt recommended I sign up for author Ryan Holiday’s “The Reading List”. It arrives once a month and includes a hodgepodge of fiction and non-fiction suggestions across a wide variety of topics. I don’t read them all—Heck! Sometimes none of the books he recommends interest me whatsoever—but it is a good way for me to keep up with what’s out there and he sneaks updates on his writing in there. If you haven’t heard of Ryan Holiday, start by watching his December 2017 interview with behavioral investigator Vanessa Van Edwards.

What are some of your favorite newsletters? Leave them in the comments below or send me a tweet @margaritakwells because what’s a few more e-mails in my overcrowded inbox…