Jan ’24 Picks

Jan ’24 Picks

Food & fashion cultures collide —Heinz’ ‘Vintage Drip’

A very emotional take for Christmas from the brand that popularised the image of Santa, and a couple of very unexpected combinations to start the year inspired. Beyond the monthly highlights, check the special section ‘—About time’ down below.

Black Santa — Activation Ideas
Reinventing and updating traditions.
The Most Beautiful Dental Clinic in the World — Activation Ideas
This is probably one of the most random and unexpected brand partnerships ever, but somehow it works.
Vintage Drip — Activation Ideas
A delicious collection of vintage apparel that touches culture in many ways, and becomes the largest unofficial brand collaboration of all times.

You might also like —About time

There were not many random things that caught my attention this month, so I thought ‘why not picking a random topic?’

Time is one of the issues than creatives more often struggle with. I worked hard over the years trying to ‘control’ it —and failed miserably. The jobs keep piling up, the deadlines keep getting shorter and the clock keeps ticking.

I’ve tried virtually every system and app out there over many, many years. The one I swear by now is ‘time-blocking’ for the wealth of insights it gives you regarding how you spend your attention and energy. Best explained in this short clip from The Tim Ferris Show.

There are many interesting calendar apps nowadays that combine events and tasks to help you get started and practice time-blocking. If you want to give it a shot, these are some of the best.

Mayday: The AI-Assisted Calendar
Time is your most valuable asset. Make sure you’re spending it wisely. Download the early release for iOS, macOS, and iPadOS.
Morgen Calendar and Task Manager
Morgen integrates all your calendars, task managers, time blocking, and scheduling tools in one powerful app. Available on Mac, Windows, Linux, iOS and Android.

But my app of choice and absolute favourite is Sunsama. It’s flow, integrations and philosophy help me surf the day in peace.

Sunsama - Make work-life balance a reality.
The digital daily planner that helps you feel calm and stay focused.
🤑
Note that, while the first two have a free version, Sunsama offers only a free trial. It’s a fully paid app, a pricey one too, though for me it’s totally worth it. With that in mind, if you start the 14-day free trial with my link and end up loving it and upgrading, we’ll both get a month for free. Plus you don’t need a credit card to start the trial, so there’s zero risk if you decide it’s not for you.

Give any of them a try and I hope that time-blocking could help you feel more focused and calmer in our crazy business.

Also let me know if you like this section too, so I can think of other topics to cover.

Keep in touch?

Expect a brief email every month with a handful of case studies and other recommendations. Occasionally a second themed-update mid-month.

Please share with friends if you found it useful. Others might enjoy these updates too. As always, short and sweet, no spam, pinky promise. However, if you decide to unsubscribe, the link is below. No hard feelings.

Dani Comar
Barcelona