The Friend Hack

In this week's P.O. Box:

I’m in Arizona this weekend with my college buddies for our annual Divisional Round trip.

I’ve written about it previously, but it’s always one of my favorite weekends of the year.

I read this article the other day (h/t Stephen) about how it’s hard to keep up with your friends as you get older unless you find a way to schedule a recurring event that becomes a part of everyone’s routine.

This is very true from my experiences, especially when it comes to old, IRL friends who aren’t criminally online or part of my fantasy football circle.

Our friend group gets so much mileage out of this one single trip—a year-round group chat that spirals into much more beyond just planning/prepping for the annual meetup.

It can definitely feel lame or corny to schedule stuff, but when the alternative is ceasing to communicate, I don’t mind biting the bullet.

It's why I continue to send out my annual top albums/songs of the year list to the same 20+ friends from college at the end of every year. Over the years, the music recommendations have become a trojan horse for life/family/work updates.

That thread now functions like some giant e-reunion with people catching everyone else up on what they’ve been up to for the past twelve months.

But the key to all of it is the consistency of the routine—I simply won’t let the calendar flip without sending that email and I know exactly where I’ll be for every Divisional Round weekend.

💎 Divisional Round DFS plays. Used the Fantasy Life DvP tool to hunt for some angles in DFS contests this weekend. Check it out here, along with the usual weekly batch of Fantasy Life newsletters.

⏰ OOTC: Divisional DFS Strategy, Sleepers & Pick ‘Ems. Last BR slate of the year. Savor it.

💪 THE SWOLECAST: Divisional Round First Look. An Overzet’s Overview that actually covered the games!

☣️ LOLZ: Why Everyone Is Mad At Barstool’s Big Cat. A classic ep that gets everyone riled up.

☕️ POURTFOLIO REVIEW: The Wildcard heroes you need to ship. I “accidentally” faded The Big Dog. Whoops.

I pasted links to all of the Divisional Round pick ‘ems from OOTC in the comment section if you’d like to click & tail.

No shows this weekend. I’ll be back for the Pourtfolio Review on Monday if I’m not a zombie. Enjoy the games.

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