Take What You Need
a few thoughts for this quiet, slow January
👋🏼👋🏼👋🏼 Hi! I’m so happy to see you. I’m Laura Jane Williams, a UK-based romance author. How to Build a Life launched in August 2024, and now has thousands of readers in over 75 countries (!). You can expect personal stories about life’s mess and mayhem, and the search for a way of living that feels right. I’m almost 40, a solo parent by choice, and for 2025 am committed to stealing back time from my to-do list. I’m just sick of being busy with stuff that doesn’t really matter, you know?
I just revealed all the details about my summer 2025 book, and if you email me on me@laurajanewilliams.com with proof of your pre-order, I’ll comp you a free month to How to Build a Life, OR send you a hand-written love note no matter where in the world you live! Just let me know which you prefer.
Monday’s letter was quite heavy, and you received me with wide opens arms and gave me a soft place to land. Thank you. I wanted to take a breath between writing that and going into my “Part Two”, because it’s the fourth week of January and if you’re anything like me you’re still getting into the swing of this year. Leaving space for ourselves is key.
Taking breaths. Pausing on purpose. That’s what I’m all about for 2025. I haven’t undertaken a massive personality shift this January. Rather, I came into it slowly, gingerly. I’ve been taking notes within myself about how it feels to move with intent, noticing where I put my attention and how I spend my time, and like you will have spotted in my updated intro paragraph on every missive I send, simply trying to do less.
Or, rather, do less of what doesn’t matter.
It feels a bit aggressive to say fuck the to-do list, but… fuck the to-do list? Half the stuff on there is because somebody else asked it of me, or I have a weird and distorted concept of how “perfectly” I should be living my life, as if merit points are being given out for being “Single Mum Most Up to Date with Both Laundry and Getting the Car Valeted” and if I am to “win” (win what???) I must never leave the drying rack out or skip meal prep day.