Our aim at Athena is to give you your time back so you can spend it in the ways that matter most.

In each issue of our newsletter you’ll get unique delegation tips and leadership inspiration.

Joan Didion, Virginia Woolf, and DFW

Joan Didion once said, “I don’t know what I think until I write it down.”

Virginia Woolf wrote, “Nothing has really happened until it has been described.”

And David Foster Wallace described the essay as a way to “make sense of all the static in my head.”

Three writers, three decades apart, all saying the same thing.

Writing is cognition.

When you write, you’re not only documenting your thoughts, but actively creating them. Each sentence is an act of discovery. Each revision is a correction of perspective.

Clutter is shaped into order.

That’s why people who write regularly, even just a few lines a day, often sound clearer when they speak. They’ve spent time thinking with themselves.

So if you ever feel stuck, foggy, or uncertain: write.

And if you prefer to dictate rather than write, try Athena’s guide to audio morning pages.

Vicarious Feedback

The most effective way to turn your assistant into an extension of yourself is real-life feedback, but traditionally you’re limited by how many moments naturally occur.

Vicarious feedback solves that by using real interactions where someone else could have delegated better.

It lets you workshop stronger approaches, and it’s often easier to internalize feedback when it’s about another person’s work.

Set up this simple system with your assistant:

Forward real emails and texts with a note:

• "Great example - notice how they handle the pushback"

• "Poor approach - draft how you'd handle this better"

• "This killed the deal - identify what went wrong"

Responding to real scenarios:

• A board member's perfectly timed follow-up versus your colleague who waited two weeks

• Your lawyer's crystal-clear contract summary versus another advisor's 10-page ramble

• A sales rep who gracefully handled rejection versus one who got defensive

Your assistant learns your standards by observing what works and what fails in the wild. They internalize your thinking without feeling criticized, because the feedback targets someone else's work.

Every interaction you have becomes potential training material.

Learn the full vicarious feedback system here.