Hello Reader,

We’re deep into the holiday stretch now—the week where days blur, obligations multiply, and your calendar starts behaving like it has a mind of its own.

This is the point in December when most people try to push a little harder. But that usually leads to the opposite of what we’re hoping for: more friction, more fatigue, less presence.

There’s a gentler way through this week.

It starts with a single question: “What kind of day is this?”

Not emotionally. Structurally. Because each day has its own natural capacity—especially this time of year.

That’s where Parity Theming comes in.

Parity Theming is a form of Time Theming inside TimeCrafting. Instead of treating every day as interchangeable, you assign odd and even days (or weeks, or months) different roles.

Not hierarchical. Not rigid. Just intentionally different.

For example:

• Odd days → creation, strategy, deeper thinking
• Even days → admin, communication, tying loops

Or:

• Odd weeks → expansion
• Even weeks → maintenance

This alternation removes a subtle but heavy decision: “What mode am I supposed to be in today?”

During a chaotic week like this, that clarity is a gift.

Parity Theming gives you a rhythm to meet the season as it is—not as you wish it were. It softens the sense of scrambling. It reduces the self-imposed pressure to be “on” in every direction at once. And it makes the days ahead feel less like a gauntlet and more like something you can move through with intention.

We don’t get extra days this time of year. But we can choose a better rhythm inside the ones we have.

See you later,
Mike

P.S. If this idea speaks to you, it’s one of many layers inside The Productivity Diet—a book built to help you work with your time in a way that’s sustainable, humane, and far more aligned with who you want to be. You can pick up a copy here. (It also makes a great last minute gift!)

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