Productive Living: Mindful Financial Independence, with Emily Guy Birken – TPW468

Having confidence in our finances can lead to a more fulfilling and productive life I'm excited to share with you my conversation with educator, author, and (unlikely) financial researcher Emily Guy Birken as part of our Productive Living series. Who is Emily? Emily is a former educator, a self-professed lifelong money nerd, and a Plutus Award-winning freelance writer specializing in the scientific research behind irrational money behaviors. With a focus on helping people take their finances from stressful to stress-free, she is the author of five books including The 5 Years Before You Retire and Stacked: Your Super Serious Guide to Modern Money Management, written with Joe Saul-Sehy. I’ve been looking forward to talking with her about financial matters. How Emily got started Emily likes to tell people that she "tripped and fell backwards" into writing about money. Her background is in teaching high school English but in 2010, that ended when she and her husband moved from Columbus, Ohio to Lafayette, Indiana. She also happened to be pregnant at that time with their first child. Emily's plan was to take one year off of teaching (because she was unsure of who would hire her so far into her pregnancy). Since Emily and her husband went from two incomes to one, she decided to start looking for some freelance writing work. One of her first gigs was for a personal finance website called ptmoney.com. This type of writing may sound out of the ordinary for Emily but she had always had an interest in finances, especially when her financial advisor father would discuss his work. While writing, Emily was able to bring her literary sensibility and the base knowledge she learned from her dad. She was initially intimidated by the financial world but eventually found that financial writing was an excellent fit for her. Her initial one year off from teaching has now turned into thirteen years. Emily has remained exclusively in the personal financial community this whole time and continues to enjoy it. She enjoys thinking about how money fits into our daily lives and how she can make the topic of money palatable to others. A typical day for Emily Later on in her adult life, Emily was diagnosed with ADHD, which put a lot of things into context for her. Emily realized that what worked for her as far as productivity goes may not work for others. With that being said, a typical day begins early in the morning between 5:00-5:30, when she begins her day's writing even before getting dressed. Emily has found that one of the most satisfying parts of productivity is when she feels like she's getting a head-start on her day and her work. By starting this early, she feels she can work on things before her actual day starts and she is less likely to procrastinate. Around 6:30 am, Emily will stop and walk around the neighborhood and is usually back by around 7:15, which is when her husband and kids are awake. They have breakfast together (which includes Wordle and coffee) and she gets the kids off to school. Emily then focuses on work emails, working on her financial spreadsheet, and other admin work. By the time she is done with that it is about 9:30 am and she will return to her writing. She works continuously until her children are home from school at 3:30. In the evening, Emily spends time with the kids, tidying up the house, making dinner, and getting everyone to afterschool activities. They might even have a family movie night if they can fit it in. By 9:00 p.m., Emily is in bed. By allowing herself to be productive in a way that works for her,...