17 Newsletters That Make My Inbox a Happy Place

For the longest time, my personal, non-work related inbox used to be filled with the most banal of communications. Bills to be paid. Deliveries dispatched. One-off social media notifications. Sale updates from retailers that I really didn’t care about. Spammy offers for collaboration. Basically, all kinds of things adulting. That’s all that ever used to come through.

Fed up with the sheer boringness (+ uselessness) of it all, sometime in this past year, I started making some changes. First was obviously unsubscribing from random updates and rubbish newsletters that I signed up for. Then, I created proper labels for things and arranged online shopping related purchase/shipping confirmations to go straight to their designated folders. And finally, I started signing up for some “proper” newsletters. Because, yes, I am always going to be an absolute sucker for knowing cool, obscure things, beautiful words, and *trying* to enhance my knowledge and self-awareness as much as I can.

After a few months of experimentation, I now have a solid list of 17 newsletters that I truly look forward to reading. Through trial and error, these are the best newsletters I’ve found in the last few months, and they’ve totally elevated my inbox experience.

The Best Newsletters to Subscribe To

1| 3-2-1 BY JAMES CLEAR

Okay, to be fair, I’ve subscribed to James Clear’s newsletter for years now. YEARS! Long before he’d even published Atomic Habits {aff}. His newsletters are filled with actionable wisdom and some amazing food for thought. I look forward to his Thursday dispatches, and his tagline “Working to deliver the most wisdom per word of any newsletter on the web.” is not too far from the truth.

Click here to sign up.

2| YOUR DAILY DOSE OF SOUL-EXPANSIVE GUIDANCE BY AVA JOHANNA

I love Ava’s daily newsletter. It’s a short, uplifting message which she sends out daily and something about it never fails to fill me with hope, possibility and direction. I discovered her newsletter via her excellent podcast The Alchemized Life, and I find her endlessly inspiring.

You can subscribe here.

RELATED: 9 Podcasts Worth Listening To

3| 5-BULLET FRIDAY BY TIM FERRISS

If you’ve been around the internet and the world of self-development over the last decade, you’ve probably already heard of Tim Ferriss. He calls himself the human guinea pig and I am in awe of his ability to experiment and push himself to find the better ways of living and working.

Anyway, he sends out a couple of newsletters every week, but the one that I specifically look forward to is the 5-Bullet Friday, which he describes as “a list of what I’m pondering and exploring.” It’s usually filled with some brilliant suggestions from books to read, shows to watch, and all sorts of good living ideas.

You can subscribe here.

4| The Workout Today

Admittedly, I haven’t done enough justice to the “workout” part of this three-times-a-week newsletter, but it’s the message that accompanies each workout that I’ve come to love. Peter & Keeley impart valuable life lessons about healthy living, fitness and life in general, in a short, brief, impactful note and I almost always learn something new.

So really, come for the workout, stay for the message. :) You can sign up here.

5| Lorem Ipsum BY MARGOT

I started following Margot Boyer-Dry’s excellent newsletter primarily for the music recommendations (which are usually brilliant, btw), but since then, have started loving her take on all things culture which she covers as well. Her tone is irreverent and with just the right amount of dry humour, her newsletter truly packs a punch.

Subscribe here.

6| The Newsette

This is a very recent discovery, but one that I look forward to every week day. The Newsette is chockablock with news-y updates told with a perfect side of sarcastic humour and it quite literally feels like an extended chat session with your girlfriends! And yes, the coverage is fairly US-centric but I still find it interesting enough to keep reading.

Sign up here.

7| Girls’ Night In

I don’t know why it took my forever to sign up for this newsletter but now that I am, I am never letting go. As I’ve documented on Twitter for the last two Fridays in a row, this is one piece of absolute joy in my inbox. There’s usually an uplifting note or interview to start off with, followed by a bunch of cool, inspiring weekly finds. I’m never not smiling after reading through the weekly edition every Friday.

Thanks to the Girls’ Night In, the Window Swap is one of the most beautiful things I’ve discovered on the internet lately.

Go on, hit subscribe to this newsletter. You will not regret it.

8| A THING OR TWO

A little bit in the same vein as say, Girls Night In, A Thing Or Two is a well-curated list of the next big things in popular culture. They also carry some amazing recommendations for recipes and new things to try! It’s put together by two friends, Claire and Erica of Of A Kind fame, so it kinda follows that their newsletter is going to be classy and curated with an impeccable eye.

Click here to sign up.

9| POME BY MATTHEW OGLE

Okay, Pome is a far, far cry from any of the other newsletters on this list. It’s an unpretentious little newsletter, carrying one new poem each day. There’s no deeper analysis, no detailed history behind the poem or why he chose to share it. It’s just the poem, and you’re left to interpret it however you want without any outside context, as should be the case with all things poetry.

I absolutely love it, and some poems have been absolute gems. The poems selected are usually short, running not more than a few lines, and a good mix of stuff from the olden days (like the 70s or so) and the recent years.

Subscribe here.

10| Austin Kleon

Austin Kleon calls himself a writer who draws, but I like to think of him as creative encourager extraordinaire. His books are best sellers and it’s quite possible that you’ve already read one of them. He shares 10 worthy things every week on Fridays, covering everything from documentaries worth watching, cool apps, art, creativity, and meaningful articles.

On his recommendation, I watched the super fascinating The Speed Cubers documentary on Netflix and was blown away.

Subscribe here.

11| DRAWING LINKS BY EDITH ZIMMERMAN

Edith Zimmerman is essentially a cartoonist and writer, and her periodic newsletters are a mix of her drawings and some cool links. For me, it’s her cartoon strips that stand out most. It’s usually about everyday things, like running, spirit animals, books she’s reading, but she manages to add some profound meaning into what starts off as some inane observation.

Sign up here.

12| THE PROFILE

So there’s a free version of this and a paid version. I’ve signed up for the free version and that delivers more than enough goodness every week. Each week, Polina Marinova profiles a prominent individual from across a broad spectrum of fields – which is carried in her premium, Wednesday edition. The Sunday edition, which is free, contains a thoughtful, longform article, and plenty of amazing recommendations.

Her latest newsletter led to me this science fiction short story, Story of Your Life, which was adapted for the movie “Arrival” (brilliant movie!), and then I ended up spending some time reading about the impact of language on our thoughts, our personalities etc. Absolutely fascinating stuff!

Click here to sign up.

13| DARIUS FOROUX

I discover Darius on Medium a couple of months ago, and I was so impressed with his content that I promptly signed up for his newsletter. His newsletters cover all things personal growth, and is filled with tips for optimizing your life and career. His writing is informative without being preachy and he has a way of breaking down seemingly obtuse concepts into easily digestible takeaways.

Sign up here for his newsletter. His Growth Kit alone makes the subscription worth it!

Okay, onto some bloggers now. I use the word “blogger” very, very loosely here, because they are a lot more than bloggers. Maybe a more accurate way to describe them would be amazing women doing amazing things in their own way! They all run their own businesses of various shapes and forms, but I first knew of them as bloggers, hence that has stuck.

Two of the names below – Elise and Hitha – are women I’ve followed for nearly a decade now – through their blogs, their social media accounts, and have seen how they’ve scaled up their blogs / businesses / lives in a way that makes sense for them. I don’t know them personally, but I do admire them for living life on their own terms and inspiring me through the years.

And then there’s Jessica – her’s is a way of life that is so far removed from mine, but I find her endlessly inspiring. With her take on slow, conscious living, and this refusal to be just one of the herd, her voice is unique and most essentially, it rings true to her.

Lastly, Allie. She doesn’t really blog anymore, but I remembered her posts being unique and peppered with creativity and passion. She continues her work as a creative in the agency that she runs with her husband – The Wonder Jam. I rediscovered her by chance a few weeks ago and promptly signed up to her newsletter.

14| Elise Blaha

Elise was probably one of the first bloggers I started following way back in 2011, when I discovered the world of blogs for the first time. Since then, she’s gone on to create a successful business and has published a book on goal setting {aff} as well.

Her periodic newsletters are equal parts conversational and inspiring. Her messages motivate me to take inspired action and she does it without using a lot of “branded” jargon. Lest you think she’s always talking about goals and doing things, be rest assured that her adorable family is featured often enough. Like her newsletter from yesterday – “my husband Paul sent me an email with things he is looking forward to when he gets home. It’s a long list of small good stuff like…roasting coffee and meeting the chickens and making mac & cheese for the girls. It simultaneously makes my heart ache and inspires me.” ???

Sign up here.

15| 5 SMART READS BY Hitha Palepu

Like Elise, Hitha is a published author as well, and she’s swapped blogging for #5SmartReads. It started off as 5 meaningful links that she would share on her Instagram daily which has now become a newsletter in its own right. Hitha’s newsletter covers important news analysis pieces (mostly US-centric), fantastic culture highlights and a roundup of things that will make your life better.

Oh, did I also mention that as her “day job” she runs a pharmaceutical company along with her dad, and that she also happens to be an investor in many women-led businesses? Truly, this woman is the epitome of being a multi-hyphenate.

Sign up here for 5 Smart Reads.

16| JESSICA ROSE WILLIAMS

Jessica blogs about living a simple lifestyle from her adorable cottage home in the Peak District in England. She’s all about slow and sustainable living, and usually her newsletter is in the same vein. The pace of my life in Bombay is poles apart form the slow living that she advocates, and yet, every newsletter of her inspires me to bring in some aspect of slow living into my daily life. I find her writing uplifting, accessible and impactful.

Sign up here for her newsletter.

17| A CONSIDERATION BY ALLIE LEHMAN

Allie’s emails are like emails exchanged between friends. Heartfelt stories, meaningful epiphanies, and random musings, it’s all there. Her emails truly feel like a warm hug and I am usually left mulling over my interpretation of her notes.

This piece from her latest newsletter warmed my heart so much: “…The first instance was from the book Braiding Sweetgrass where the author talks about breathing in deeply in nature and when you’re outside. That when we do that, oxytocin is released. Oxytocin is sometimes known as the “cuddle hormone” or the “love hormone,” because it is released when people hold their children or snuggle up to someone they love. How sweet it is that we experience that with Mother Nature.“

Click here to sign up.

Other Honorable Mentions

If you’re looking for meaningful US-based news round up, you should definitely subscribe to Dave Pell’s daily newsletter.

If you want to read mostly tech-focused stories in other parts of the world, Rest of the World’s weekly newsletter recaps all their articles from the week, and I’ve read some fascinating stories since I’ve subscribed to it.

The New York Times has a whole bunch of newsletters on various subjects – I usually just skim through them, but they’re super solid newsletters for sure.

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I am sure I’ve not covered the entire breadth of amazing newsletters out there and I remain super curious to discover more. Let me know in the comments below which are the best newsletters that you subscribe to!

PS – Before I wrap up, here’s a shameless plug for my newsletters: I send out a super crisp, easily digestible, The Good List newsletter every Monday morning with inspiring words and interesting links (sample here), and The Good Living Digest once a month (sample here).

Click HERE to sign up and receive this exclusive daily self care checklist (in 4 colours) as a bonus!

Are there any other newsletters that you love receiving? Let me know in the comments below!