Quiet Season

As Sara wrote last week, winter has a way of narrowing our worlds, with cold days and dark nights making cozying up on the sofa with a blanket preferable to venturing out. I also find this season invites reflection. While I’ve settled into a post-holiday routine, I’m still thinking about the year ahead and how I might better myself and maybe learn something new in the process.

Following are a few suggestions for ways to spend these cold winter days and dark nights.

Read: One of my favorite non-fiction authors, Adam Grant is a professor at The Wharton School. His specialty in organizational psychology informs how environments, cultures, and hierarchies at work or home influence who we are, and how we interact with others.

His book Originals is one of my favorites, highlighting how different thinking and new approaches to problems can lead to breakthrough ideas and innovations.  His research includes a behavior he calls ‘strategic procrastination,’ a concept that struck a chord with me. I might delay working on an important task, but it’s always in the back of my mind, and I’m subconsciously gathering new insights and ideas that often leads to a better outcome.

Listen: As much as I enjoy reading, my busy schedule limits how much I can make time to do it. However, I do have a fair amount of windshield time – how my husband refers to our time spent commuting each day to work. I find this to be the perfect opportunity for listening to podcasts.

After discovering Originals, I started listening to Adam Grant’s WorkLife podcast, filled with interesting conversations with talented people in arts, politics, and business. I enjoyed his recent interview with Zarna Garg, the unlikely comedienne who parlays her experience as an Indian immigrant navigating life in America into hilarious, relatable stories.  

Another favorite listen is the Hidden Brain podcast, with host Shankar Vedantam, former NPR correspondent and journalist at The Washington Post. His interview with neuroscientist Emily Falk delved into the science of decision making. Her recent book, ‘What We Value’, provides insights into how we make decisions and why, and explores ways we can find “pathways to make more purposeful, fulfilling choices.”

Watch: When I find myself on the sofa and not up for reading, I’m tempted to watch one of my favorite shows. And with the continued growth of streaming platforms, there is no shortage mindless entertainment. However, there are many great watches that are both interesting and informative.

I’m a longtime fan of Ken Burns, and the November 2025 release of The American Revolution on PBS is the latest in his storytelling of American history. While still on my watch list, I’ve already learned some new things about this part of our history from an interview with Ken Burns in Smithsonian Magazine where he describes the revolution as both a civil war and an underdog story.

While our worlds may seem to shrink this time of year, it can also open space to recharge and learn in small, meaningful ways.

It is the great arrogance of the present to forget the intelligence of the past.

Ken Burns