Hey, Hey - it’s that weird time in between public holidays where each day seems to run into the next for me, it’s eating too much cheese, lingering too long on the Boxing Day sale emails, watching cricket, keeping an eye on the bureau of meteorology website (because: Australia), afternoon napping and spending a fair bit of time reflecting on the year that’s been - with a view to thinking about what I want to take into the next year and what I don’t…

For me it’s also one of the most creative times in the year - miraculously once I stop constantly ‘doing’ the brain gets a chance to breathe and I tend to get way more creative than usual. It always sounds kind of counter productive but a taking a break can sometimes be one of the most productive things you can do.

But - I also don’t want to let my posting habit here completely drop!! So I thought I’d jump in and give you some holiday prompt inspo as well as maybe a little light and interesting reading - just in case you need something to flick through on your iPad from that banana lounge…

Holiday Prompts

The week before Christmas my husband and I took a few days away - just the two of us - for the first time in years.

Most of my trips away this year have been work related and I know exactly what to pack - and if it’s for a workshop there is a long checklist!

I was a bit rusty on the holiday packing, and before I left, I asked ChatGPT for an optimised list - giving context around where I was going, for how long, how many nights, what I was likely to be doing. Let’s just say I should have taken ChatGPTs advice, and not packed the huge suitcase I did!

Here are some other ideas for holiday prompts:

• Starting with the obvious - recipe ideas for leftovers (eg What can I do with my leftovers from Christmas lunch, in the fridge I have [ingredient 1], [ingredient 2], [ingredient 3] - please make it healthy and interesting…)

• Expiry dates (eg how long is it safe to eat leftover [enter leftover]?)

• Help with event planning (eg I’m hosting a party for New Year’s Eve, can you please give me ideas for food, drinks, music, games…. The list is endless here…!)

• Travel tips (think: keeping kids occupied on long car trips, tips for getting past travel sickness, jet lag and other travel afflictions)

• Weather-based travel tips for far off destinations (like, What are some essential travel tips for someone visiting a [snowy/hot] destination for the holidays)

• And if you wanted to throw the net even wider you could ask for tips on stress management (families!), writing an indoor equipment-free fitness routine for days the gym is closed, volunteer opportunities in the event you want to give back, budgetary planning and more.

If you are in reflection mode like me, you might want to try a conversation with the AI that goes something like this:

Could you please guide me step by step through a reflection exercise on the past year and help me set some achieveable goals for the new year. I don’t want any more than one simple step at a time and would like a summary at the end, highlighting the key habits I need to build in the new year.

Holiday Reading

Here are a few things I’ve bookmarked and will be jumping into:

The 2023 Future Perfect 50

Elite Agent has its annual list of top 50 real estate influencers; Vox has a list of the thinkers, activists and scholars working on solutions to the world’s biggest problems, many of them doing exciting things in AI. Find their incredibly interesting list here.

The city that’s trying to replace politicians with computers (and it looks like its working)

A 37-year-old legislator in Brazil’s southern city of Porto Alegre passed the country’s first law in November that was written entirely by ChatGPT. You can read about it in the Wall Street Journal here.

66 Good News Stories you didn’t hear about in 2023

Take a look at the New York Times year in pictures and it hammers home how challenging 2023 has been on so many levels.

But the antidote to this is one of my favourite newsletters from Future Crunch who are all about telling us what went right. Some of the good stuff that happened in 2023 (some of which AI played a part in) include major medical breakthroughs, clean energy wins - and there were a human rights victories you might not know about. Find their list here.

Until next week, Happy Holidays 🎄