So much to pay attention to in your Heyday Friday newsletter

Invaluable ideas for transforming your concentration, a never-knew-that tip, a classy TV recommendation and a hilarious commemoration in this week's newsletter.

Hello!

I want you to concentrate on something, anything, just for a couple of minutes. How did that go? Did you find your mind wandering off? Did you start thinking of any number of things you might be doing? Scrolling on your phone? Checking your messages? Compiling a shopping list?

Because if you did, you are very much not alone. In fact, I’d go as far as to say if you didn’t, you’re very much in the minority.

Our ability to concentrate, how and why it’s been so eroded and what to do to reclaim it, is the subject of this week’s blog. You can find out all of that and what on earth this picture has to do with the information in it

by CLICKING HERE.

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WORDS OF WISDOM

about the power of concentration. These are courtesy of Ray Knight, an American former major league baseball player (no, me neither. But I like his thinking)

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WHAT’S MADE ME HAPPY THIS WEEK

I’m afraid I can’t resist a proud - and, yes, more than a little bit wet-eyed, grandmother moment in this slot, because my two elder grand girls started school this week. Impossibly cliche to say I can’t believe the time has gone so fast, or that they both look so grown up.

Can only share a pic of one of them (suitably doctored because my girls very sensibly don’t show their girls faces on any kind of public platforms), as the other didn’t start until this (Friday) morning, after the mailing time for this newsletter.

I was bowled over by the amount of time and effort both the schools put into preparing their new little students ahead of their arrival on their first days including booklets explaining everything they would be seeing and doing, pictures of their teachers and other adults they would be encountering, as well as of all their classmates. It’s meant that they have both headed off on this new adventure with excited anticipation, rather than uncertain nervousness.

I don’t remember my girls primary school doing anything like that. In all honesty, I don’t remember their first days at primary school at all. Or my own for that matter (though I do remember what the school looked like, so it’s not a total black hole. And I certainly remember being very happy there). Do you have any memories of either?

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I don’t know if this qualifies as a

SMART SAVE TIP OF THE WEEK

but it’s certainly something that I had no idea about until I saw it on Instagram this week and it’s certainly something I’ll 100% be doing every time now. How about you?

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THIS WEEK I’VE BEEN…..WATCHING

Promising to be a mix between White Lotus and Big Little Lies (both of which I loved), I had high hopes for this classy, new six-part Netflix mystery drama set in the wealthy enclave of Nantucket Island on America’s east coast. And it didn’t disappoint. Well, mostly.

Absurdly rich, dysfunctional family all together in their impossibly stylish home. Tick. A pivotal event that is disrupted by a shocking discovery. Tick. A death that might not be all it seems. Tick. A number of possible suspects with a number of possible motives. Tick. So far so binge-worthy good.

Throw in a team of relatable police officers trying to unravel the lead-worthy information from the head-shaking, but unexpectedly legitimate statements given by the role-call of possible suspects, a panoply of arresting (pun intended) characters and sub-plots, and a time-line that switches revealingly between the past and present, and you have all the ingredients for an entertaining and enjoyable few hours of television watching. Well, nearly all.

So what would prevent me giving The Perfect Couple five stars instead of four? Sadly it’s mostly to do with the lead actress. I’ve loved a lot of what Nicole Kidman has been in over the years (most recently and especially the aforementioned Big Little Lies), but she has done that thing of messing with her face, with the result that it not only looks weird, but is so frozen and pumped with skin-tightening filler that it barely moves, rendering it almost entirely expressionless. That and the equally un-natural looking wig she wears (I’m assuming it’s a wig. If not, they’ve done something just as odd with her hair) are unwelcome distractions from her pivotal role as Greer, the novelist matriarch of the well-heeled, entitled, Winbury family.

It’s certainly not enough to discourage you from watching The Perfect Couple, which is ludicrous and fun in equal measure, but don’t say I didn’t warn you about Nicole’s face.

You can see THE PERFECT COUPLE on Netflix

And watch the trailer HERE

PS - what absolutely isn’t disappointing in any way is the new series of Slow Horses. It’s as wildly good as the last. And the two before that. As soon as I’ve got more than a couple of episodes under my belt - it’s being released weekly, which is frankly just cruel - I’ll review it here.

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FRIDAY FUNNY

Instagram has been a fertile source of content for this week’s newsletter. I spotted this on a friend’s story and thought it was hilarious.

(Maybe they weren’t fully concentrating….I have a blog post that can help with that!)

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That’s it for this week.

Because it doesn’t feel right to have a whole newsletter without some mention of the weather, I’ll just say I’ve composed this in a thick sweatshirt and socks, two items of clothing I haven’t worn in months (I am, just to be clear, wearing something on my bottom half as well. Track suit bottoms, since you ask) and by one of those weird moments of coincidence, as I’m typing this, the radiator next to my desk is attempting to gurgle into life (the heating is set to come on automatically when the temperature falls to a certain level).

Hopefully it’s not too chilly wherever you are this week. I’m pretty certain you’ll find clicking on that little ‘like’ heart will give you a warm glow.

Thank you and see you next time