Table of Contents

1. Life Update

2. Tools and Tips

3. Readers’ Favorite

4. Stuff

Life Update

Over the last couple of weeks, I've invested a lot of time and effort in decluttering our house.

What's decluttering, you ask?

"Clutter" is like "mess," but it's much more than that.

It's more than just having too many things lying around the house.

"Clutter" is having too much stuff you don't need.

"Clutter" is having stuff that's taking up too much of your space.

"Clutter" is having stuff that's taking up too much of your time.

It can be searching for your favorite shirt in a pile of other shirts, looking for a charger in a drawer filled with cords, or staring at a pile of paper on your desk.

It's ANY time you waste looking for something around the house.

Some of you might think you don't mind "wasting" a few minutes a day on these things.

And you may be right.

But there's a catch.

The catch is that clutter isn't just physical.

It's cluttering your mind as well.

You'll realize this as soon as you get rid of the clutter. Your mind will be clearer.

So, long story short, our house has much less clutter. I threw away some stuff and cleared our space to make it neat and minimal.

Our house is clearer. And so is my mind.

Highly recommended.

Number 116 is here!

Tools and Tips

Last week, I discussed three mistakes I made when coming to the US.

In a nutshell, we started the apartment hunt too late. I waited too long before applying for a Massachusetts driver's license, and I tried to change the system too often. You can read all about it here.

But don't get the wrong impression!

Almost all of our decisions ended up being right.

Today, I'll share three of these decisions. I chose them because I noticed that most people are unaware of how important they are.

🔵 Pre-visit

My first fellowship took place in Portland, Oregon.

I visited Portland twice before that: a year before my fellowship and three months before it.

These per-visits were priceless.

I got to know the people I work with and prepared myself for the move.

I looked around neighborhoods to see where I should live, and I opened a bank account. That made things SO MUCH easier afterward.

It was worth the price I paid for plane tickets and hotel stays 💰.

I HIGHLY recommend you do the same.

🔵 Arriving in the US separately

When starting my second fellowship in Boston, we were a family of four.

It was longer than my first fellowship and required much more admin (health care, licensure, school for the kids, etc).

Although I liked the idea of a pre-visit like I did a few years prior, we hadn't had time for one when moving to Boston.

But we did something else instead.

I moved to Boston two months before my family.

For two months, I took care of all the admin of moving to Boston 🏃‍♂️, and my dear wife took care of all the admin of moving out of our home in Israel 🏃‍♀️.

It was EXTREMELY difficult for both of us.

But when they joined me in Boston, everything was already set up for them.

They took a bath with a soap they liked, had their own towel, and went to a bed that was made.

My dear wife had an American SIM card set up, lunch and dinner in the fridge, and a train ticket for the next day. No admin, no headaches.

🔵 Planning the first day in the US

It took me weeks to figure out what I should do on my first day in the US.

But I prepared myself really well. I spent hundreds of hours online (yes, hundreds).

So, on my first day in the US, I managed to complete ALL the important things before sunset:

Social Security, credit cards, signing the lease, and so on.

And here’s the cool part - you don't have to waste weeks like I did. Just follow the list I prepared for you here.

Good luck!

Readers’ Favorite

Why do we care so much about what other people think? How does society perceive failure?

This is what I think.

Stuff

💡Gear I use - Here's how I declutter my chargers and cords:

I have a simple cord organizer glued to the side of my desk. It keeps everything tidy and easily accessible.

Epilogue

That’s it for this issue.

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See you next week!

Shay