The Worth Project: what should you do when the stock market takes a dive?

After more than two weeks alternating me being sick, the baby being sick, his nanny being sick (and then starting that whole sickness cycle over again), I was so thrilled to finally leave the house and open my laptop for a couple hours today. While being sick is the pits it comes with a silver lining: when you finally feel better you have the opportunity to reset.

Coming back from a long trip to the US last month, I had a laundry list of things to get done. My to-do list spanned an entire legal pad and I schemed how I could wake up early and go to bed late just to fit it all in. Then when all of my energy had to go to taking care of a little baby that didn’t feel well (which btw, breaks your heart), I started looking at that to-do list differently. I hurriedly did the few things that I urgently needed to do, put a couple of things on hold, and crossed everything else off my list.

And…surprise. Nothing fell apart.

While I definitely want to do more than what I’ve done over the past couple of weeks, it was a reminder that some of the things that are “must do, urgent, high-priority” things on the list, really aren’t. Crossing them off and forgetting them forever feels good. It’s time to be a little more intentional about guarding my time and what I think is important enough to put on the to-do list.

ICYMI

we’ve got you covered

When you come up short at the end of the month. Just like the stock market. In October it lost $2 trillion. And the news was more than a little grim. Here’s why it happened, what it means, and what you should do. Read this and then breathe a little easier.

I blinked and now the holidays are basically here. You know all that financial advice that tells you to start saving for the holidays in January so you don’t blow your budget by the time December rolls around? That advice is great, but not helpful once you get to Nov 2 and the holidays are coming at you fast. Last month on The Everymom I shared some strategies to help you save right now. Because starting 2019 with a big credit card bill is something you’re not going to do this year.

Make Me Smart

smart-ish reads from around the internet

There is no time like the present. Literally. Have you considered asking for a raise but you find yourself making excuses (“I didn’t do that well with that project.” “In a few months when I’ve finished this job.” “I don’t want to look greedy.”). This is the perfect time to ask for that raise. The US has a record number of job openings and competition is fierce to keep good talent. Do it. Really.

Need help? Here’s everything I’ve written on negotiation including a few articles from my Forbes series on negotiation. Seriously, no excuses.

The struggle is real. I loathe self-promotion — I find it much easier to make light of any accomplishments or talk about my struggles than to tell someone how great I am. And I know you feel me. But being self-employed I’ve realized that my livelihood depends on my ability to tell people I’m good at certain things. If you’re on the self-promotion struggle bus with me, this article is exactly what you need: how to promote yourself without looking like a jerk.

Did you really just ask that? A common interview question that fuels the gender pay gap and how to stop it.

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