A Glimpse Into a Chief Editor’s Weekend Life
A Rollercoaster of My Saturday: Challenges, Surprises, and Joyful Insights
A Tale of Curated Publications, Family Dinners, and the Art and Science of Balancing Life’s Ups and Downs
Like always, I woke up at 4 AM, a few hours before the rest of my family. They usually have a bunch of requests for the weekend. One might need a ride to a soccer match, another to the dance school for a show rehearsal.
The wife usually wants me to go to the farm to purchase fresh stuff — meat, veggies, and dairy — for Saturday dinner with neighbors and relatives.
After my quick 5-minute cold shower, a 15-minute calisthenics session, and a 20-minute meditation, I kicked off my day by tackling my priority list. Editing was up first, needing a clear mind, patience, and high energy.
Volunteer Work Starts
I focused on my special publication, ILLUMINATION-Curated, which serves experienced writers. About 500 impactful drafts assessed by senior editors were awaiting potential boost nominations. Some drafts had been in the queue for three weeks.
I picked out three exceptional pieces from my review list and dedicated an hour to editing each one to increase the chance of boosting. Once the edits were done, I submitted them for boost nomination, as they all met the requirements I documented in detail. I remained optimistic as this month, my nomination acceptance rate was over 90%.
As the family members started their breakfast, I decided to join them for a morning chat with a glass of cold water, even though I didn’t eat breakfast.
The one heading to soccer got really excited and asked if I could drive him to the venue early to warm up before the match. I agreed. Later, I also took another family member to the dance club.
On the way back, I swung by the farm to gather our weekly organic and whole food supplies. When I got home, my wife noticed I had been away for a while and reminded me that we hadn’t started cooking yet.
She asked me to hurry up, marinate the meat, and clean the veggies, which were looking quite dirty. She was planning to visit her mom for a few hours and wanted everything ready for cooking when she returned. I followed her instructions and got things prepped in the kitchen.
I put some of her favorite vegetables on the stove to boil but forgot to set the alarm to remind me of cooking time when I was working.
While waiting, I started reviewing stories for my largest publication, ILLUMINATION. There were 824 stories in the queue. By the way, I am a chief editor of 11 more publications on Medium.com, supported by 148 volunteer editors who review, publish, curate, and promote hundreds of stories daily.
When I logged into Slack, there were no editors available. I live in Australia and was ahead of those in the Northern Hemisphere.
Despite the time difference, I reviewed and published about 50 stories, reducing the publishing queue to 774. I was pleased with the progress.
However, after about two hours, I heard the smoke alarm and rushed to the kitchen. Turns out, all the vegetables in the pot had burned. I opened all windows and doors to clean the smoke.
When my wife returned home, she immediately noticed a bad smell. When I explained the situation, she was quite disappointed, especially since her favorite vegetables meant for her best friends had been ruined.
In response, she asked me to go to the grocery store and buy similar vegetables, considering that some of her friends are vegetarian or vegan, making it essential to have those options. I followed her advice and spent an extra hour shopping to ensure we had the right ingredients.
I returned to my study room to go through the daily messages on my Slack workspace, where I support a community of around 20,000 members, including writers, readers, and editors on Medium. Building this community over the past four years has been a fulfilling giveback activity that brings me joy and life satisfaction.
Among the messages, there were about 2,700 private messages and 350 tags from members. I decided to start from the top of the list. The majority of messages from writers were inquiries about why their stories were delayed and concerns about editors not pulling their weight. I dedicated about 5 hours to answering around 300 messages, addressing their concerns, and providing explanations. This is an unpaid work for me for altruistic reasons.
The messages I sent out were mostly along these lines:
“I apologize sincerely for the delays; we’re currently dealing with a substantial publishing queue. Our volunteer editors are working diligently, but to expedite the process, I’ve added your story to my personal queue. I’ll review and publish it within the next 4 to 6 hours, depending on my daily workload today. Thank you for your patience, and if you have any further questions or need assistance, please don’t hesitate to reach out.”
To the writer who expressed frustration about the time-sensitive story and decided to leave our publications, I responded,
“I understand your concern, and I apologize for the inconvenience. It’s crucial to us that your content is valued. If you decide not to send your content to our publication in the future, we respect your decision.”
To the writer who had an issue with the editor’s decision and requested to transfer the story to ILLUMINATION’s Mirror or Synergy, I explained:
“I apologize for the confusion. As of August 2023, ILLUMINATION doesn’t publish Medium meta stories, and that’s likely why your story wasn’t accepted. If you have other non-medium-related pieces, we’d be happy to consider them for publication. Feel free to reach out with any questions or concerns.”
Upon receiving the response expressing frustration with our editors, I replied:
“Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I apologize for not meeting your expectations, and I appreciate your feedback. I’m sorry to see you go, but I understand your decision. If you ever change your mind in the future, you’re always welcome to come back. Wishing you all the best in your writing endeavors.”
Negative Criticism Initially Stinks, But Later It Smells Good and Tastes Delicious.
Unexpected Helping Hands in My Timezone
Another editor from Australia (Mike Broadly, DHSc) reached out to me, extending a helping hand. During our brief conversation, he shared the recent challenge of dealing with recent scams duplicating his account, which was causing him distress. Additionally, he mentioned his adult children urging him to stop writing on Medium. I offered words of encouragement, emphasizing that he has valuable insights to share with the community, and encouraged him to persist in his writing endeavors.
Frustration: Now My Account Was Duplicated 4 Times in a Week by Scammers
Mike also shared his recent collection featuring the great works of our writers to create more visibility, as most of those stories go unnoticed.
Then another Australian editor Aiden (Illumination Gaming) called me and offered help with publishing and administrative duties. He shared his recently curated collection, which warms my heart.
More Family Commitment
When my phone rang, I was asked to pick up a family member from the soccer club. Unfortunately, it was rush hour, and the traffic near the club was gridlocked, with everyone leaving after the match. It took me a while, but I finally arrived to pick him up.
He expressed his frustration, saying, “Dad, where have you been? What took you so long? I am exhausted and frustrated with waiting here.” Upon learning that his team had lost the match, I empathized with his situation and apologized for the delay caused by the traffic jam.
When I got home, my wife was stressed because she couldn’t finish preparing dinner and asked for extra help. I explained that I had around 3 hours of work due to the large publication queue and some editors being away for the weekend.
She humorously criticized my workaholic approach, and her body language conveyed stress and frustration. In response, I agreed to set aside an hour to assist her and speed up the dinner preparation.
After helping with dinner, I dedicated another hour to publishing around 30 drafts from the ILLUMINATION queue, hoping to bring the number down to 744. However, when I checked after an hour, the number had increased to 861, with 117 new drafts added. Unfortunately, I ran out of time as visitors began to arrive for dinner.
I quickly glanced at my email, which had accumulated around 1500 new messages. Among them, I checked my whitelisted priority email list and found three messages from Medium curators. With anticipation, I opened each one, only to be surprised that the three nominated and exceptional stories I had spent three hours editing were not accepted.
Having developed immunity to rejections over decades and rewired my brain to see them as a natural part of life, I took a deep breath. I engaged in a brief moment of self-talk to neutralize the disappointment, viewing it as valuable lessons learned. I empathized with the curators, understanding that they might be dealing with a lot of stress like me.
Following that, one email in my priority list caught my eye because it had the keyword “boost.” The email was from one of my favorite writers, who also happens to be a boost nominator, Linda Caroll.
I opened Linda’s newsletter from Substack titled “Blunt Talk About Why Posts On Medium Don’t Get Boosted,” and the message offered me a fresh perspective. The most intriguing part was:
“Sometimes, there is no reason. It’s just whack. I have a pretty good eye for what the curators are looking for. I usually have an 80% acceptance rate on nominations. But sometimes a good story gets declined. And I don’t freaking get it. It happens to me, too. I wrote about Flowers For Algernon. Over 3K claps so far. It was not boosted. Curators are human. They get it wrong sometimes. That’s all I can say. They needed more coffee. Or made a bad call. No explanation except it happens. Don’t take it personally. It happens to all of us.”
Linda’s empathy, compassion, and honesty touched my heart and helped to reframe rejection of 3 stories I invested my precious time earlier in my hectic Saturday morning.”
The Dinner Time
Then dinner was served, creating a delightful atmosphere. Family and neighbors, consisting of herbivores, omnivores, and carnivores, gracefully shared the meticulously prepared food crafted by my wife and partially by myself.
During the meal, a meat-loving neighbor remarked, “I know you prefer grass-fed steak, but these cuts are tough to chew. Perhaps they used meat from older cattle. I’d rather buy tender meat from the grocery shop's meat section. Taste and convenience matter more to me.”
I acknowledged his concern, apologized for any inconvenience, and offered to buy him special meat from the grocery next time. Other meat lovers at the table expressed their enjoyment, which brought me great delight.
After dinner and saying goodbye to visitors, I felt exhausted. I went to my study room and did a one-hour meditation to clear my mind. After the meditation session, I started filling my daily journal with self-talk.
Writing My Daily Journal
Here is the entry:
“Was I upset with the curators not accepting my nomination? I was disappointed but not upset. They are human beings, too, and besides, they might have seen something behind my blind spot.
Was I upset with the writer who wanted to leave my publication and Slack? No, I wasn’t. She probably had many challenges in her life and needed better service to find her audience.
Was I upset with the growing queue of my publication? No, I wasn’t. It is a privilege for me to serve so many writers who prefer my publication and honor the audience I have built over the last four years. It is stressful, but joy comes with stress.
Was I upset with my wife making an extra demand for dinner? I was a little disappointed but not upset. She wanted to provide excellent service to our guests. Besides, I should have been more careful and remembered to set the alarm and not cause the burning of the vegetables.
Was I upset with my son’s insensitivity in criticizing my delay in the traffic jam? No, I wasn’t. It hurt me a bit as I did my best, but his pain was heavier than mine as he worked so hard to win the match but lost it.
Was I upset with the meat lover neighbor who did not enjoy the organic meat that I bought from the farm? No, I wasn’t. He wanted to have a delicious meal and was disappointed with the type of meat he couldn’t enjoy.”
After Journal Needing a Little Dopamine Boost
After completing my journal, I felt a sense of Euphoria and listened to the beautiful song of my best childhood friend on YouTube. I also checked the latest email of Mammadou, my sponsored child from Africa. His letters always warm my heart.
Then, I checked my daily stats on Medium and NewsBreak. The story I wrote about Speculative Selftalk on Medium yesterday got 100 views and 47 reads. This was a summary of my research into cognitive distortions in the 1990s impacting the lives of millions.
Then I felt more joy as a story close to my heart that I posted to NewsBreak was read by 2628 and shared by 229 readers and will most likely make viral content soon. I was grateful for the NewsBreak team to distribute my important content to a broader audience in the United States, where a lot of neuroinflammation happens.
The same story that I published on Medium last October received 371 views on ILLUMINATION after moving it to my personal publication, EUPHORIA. I was grateful for 172 people getting a chance to have this life-changing experience. Even a few readers are important to me if my story can resonate with them.
Final Thoughts for this Story
Then, with joy and serenity, I started writing this story to give a perspective to my readers who might be interested in my challenges, ups, and downs.
I believe this story might not be distributed to a broader audience as it relates to Medium publications. But it is my memoir, and publications are part of my life. Thus, I enjoy writing and sharing it with my audience, and I hope some writers can gain insights.
For those who might miss this story, I will share the content on my Substack, Converkit, and WordPress, followed by over 100K subscribers for free.
When I finished the story, I checked the writer registration portal, where numerous applications reflected writers eager to join and contribute to my publications.
I spent around two hours processing their applications and granting them access so they could begin sharing their stories on my pubs and building their audience. I did the same thing on Christmas night and New Year's Day.
Here is my unusual celebration of the New Year.
Writing a memoir is part of my life. If you want to learn more about memoir writing, you may check out my perspectives and experiences.
Despite life’s ups and downs, you may consider increasing your endorphins naturally if you want to taste euphoria more frequently. Here is how to do that.
Thank you for reading my perspectives. I wish you a healthy and happy life.
To inform my new readers, I wrote numerous articles that might inform and inspire you. My topics include brain and cognitive function, significant health conditions, longevity, nutrition/food, valuable nutrients, ketogenic lifestyle, self-healing, weight management, writing/reading, and humor.
100+ Insightful Life Lessons from My Circles for the Last 50+ Years
I publish my health and wellness stories on EUPHORIA. My posts do not include professional or health advice. I only document my reviews, observations, experiences, and perspectives to provide information and create awareness. Be Your Own Therapist in 10 Steps.
If you are a writer, you are welcome to join my publications by sending a request via this link. I support 26K+ writers who contribute to my publications on this platform. I also have another profile to write and curate tech stories.
Importance and Value of Medium Friendship for Writers and Readers
