A Note from Julie, the Greenhouse Curator:

How much of a good thing is too much?

 

I was thinking about that this week while standing over my kitchen sink, wringing water out of the root ball of this satin pothos.

I bought it at a big-box store a few days earlier, and I could tell it had been watered recently. The soil was dark, and the pot felt heavier than usual. When I pulled the plastic nursery pot out of the ceramic pot, I found about half an inch of water sitting in the bottom.

 

That made me curious, so I pulled the plant out to check the roots. The soil wasn’t just damp, it was soaked.

 

That’s not good for satin pothos. They don’t like to sit in wet soil, and overwatering is one of the easiest ways to kill them.

The thing is, water wasn’t the problem. The plant needs water. It had just gotten way too much.

 

As proofreaders and editors, we’ve got a lot coming at us: client emails, project files, courses, newsletters, podcasts, Facebook groups, business advice, new tools. Most of it is useful.

 

But maybe “Is this useful?” isn’t always the best question. Maybe the better question is, “Do I have room for this right now?”

 

A course can be useful, but another one may feel overwhelming if you’ve already signed up for three you haven’t finished. A good proofreading project can be too much when your schedule’s full. Even helpful advice can turn into noise when there’s already too much coming in.

 

Once I saw how wet the pothos was, I knew it didn’t need anything else from me. I needed to stop adding things and let it dry out.

 

Sometimes we need the same thing: less coming in and more room to deal with what’s already there.

 

What's one thing you could stop adding to your business right now?

 

I wrote more about this idea in Avoiding Root Rot: Lessons from My Houseplants. You might enjoy reading that too. 💚

Here are three posts I enjoyed reading on LinkedIn recently. Click the links below to read them.

The word “plantar” refers to the sole of the foot. Plantar fasciitis, for example, affects tissue along the bottom of the foot.

Catch of the Week screenshots come from my transcript proofreading. I can't change what a person said, but I can make sure words are spelled correctly and punctuation marks are in the right spots. If you're interested in learning more about transcript proofreading, I wrote an article about it here.

I never get tired of watching new leaves emerge. Philodendrons have to work a little harder to make that happen. Sometimes growth takes persistence. 🪴

Let's keep growing together!

What did you think of today's email? I'd love to hear your thoughts, questions, or feedback. Email julie@theproofreadergreenhouse.com

 

If this newsletter was forwarded to you or you found a link to it online, why not get The Leaflet delivered straight to your inbox? ✨ Subscribe now ✨ for grammar tips, tricky word pairs, client strategies, and helpful online tools.