Rise and Shine
The decision to add a weekday daily news briefing to the Mission Critical line-up was a relatively easy one once I realised that it required very little additional effort on my part.
Not because it’s an easy task but because I was already doing everything already without appreciating it !
Since Monday, when the 1st edition was dispatched, a number of people have messaged to ask why make the effort when it’s a complimentary service and also how I find the time.
So here’s both of those points answered.
Firstly, what is the motivation ?
I really enjoy news and trends and I very much like to put that information to good use. It’s satisfying helping busy people navigate the news cycle especially when they trust you to get it right.
The Weekly Briefing, which has been going since February 2019, is an enjoyable challenge conducted at a more leisurely pace. Allowing topics and content to spin around before they settle and either make the cut or are discarded as being superfluous.
The driving principle behind the Weekly Briefing is to provide content that informs, educates and inspires and, in many respects, replaces the need to be as deeply engaged in what is happening around you during the week.
Clearly THE DAILY is very different from that but it is no less curated. Our aim is to give you the subscriber a quick hit’ of news that gets them started for the day - absent from clutter.
Our mantra is “5 paragraphs | 5 article links | 5 minutes”.
Secondly, how do you find the time ?
That’s the easy part. For the last decade I’ve always wakened at 0445 automatically, so here’s the running order.
0445 Waken, switch Radio 4 on for the World Service. Listen to the final bit of general programming.
0500 Get up as I listen to the headlines. Make the 1st batch of a lot of coffee.
0505 Fast read The Times, The New York Times, The Financial Times, Wall Street Journal and browse the main global news sites. Visit a few trusted opinion sites.
During this time I’m looking at all topics and scanning the world from east to west.
Restricting THE DAILY to only 5 topics requires a lot of discipline. More would be much easier but defeats the purpose.
0545 By this time I’ve emailed myself the 5 source articles and I move from the kitchen table to the desk. I’ll order the articles from 5 down to 1.
0550 I’ll select the historical dates (which everyone enjoys) and write the “forward scan” message.
Then it’s writing the headlines and the para. Adding the link.
0615 I will send a test email to myself. Double check. Make edits if required and then schedule the system to automatically email at 0700.
That’s it. I can now have breakfast and go about the rest of my morning.
Of course I’ve gone to bed mulling over the days events and fall asleep to the radio news. I’m primed for that selection.
Saturdays will remain sacrosanct, for now ! That’s when I enjoy a leisurely read of the news without having to make a judgement.
THE DAILY is complimentary and it would be a privilege having you onboard. Sign up below.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mark Izatt is a brand consultant living in London and founder of Mission Critical, a highly focused and curated weekly briefing for time poor and information hungry decision makers and THE FIRST, a monthly briefing containing 31 inspirational insights. Mission Critical is a digital product delivered via his Estonian Consultancy business.
You can email Mark here and read about his recently published book ‘Mission Critical - 101 tips to survive and thrive at work in the office, on the move and at home’.
