Did that self-deprecating aside about my childhood distract from the fact that my answer to the first part of this question was “yoga”? I sincerely hope that it did!

At night, I do this thing where every email I forgot to send during the day flits across my consciousness and I write a shorthand list of guilt in a note on my phone. Then I move my phone to a different room. Then I get out of bed and write more things in that note. Then winding down. Just one woman’s foolproof technique.

You recently left your post as editor of Sunday Review, where you worked with writers like Roxane Gay and Lindy West, to become a deputy editor on politics. How are you hoping to shape our coverage as we head into 2020?

One appealing aspect to taking this new role was thinking about the audience we’re trying to reach: The people who have, since Nov. 9, 2016, made politics their social life/religion/main topic of conversation — and the people who have tuned it all out. It’s important (for The Times and, I would argue, for the country) that we figure how to engage as many people in both of those groups as possible. And, especially for a features editor, that is an exciting challenge. Because it means experimenting.

When I was editing Sunday Review, I tried for each issue to have at least one story in these categories: something urgent, something funny, something surprising and something that introduced readers to a new voice or perspective. Editing political stories is different from a weekly section of course. But I think aiming toward that general mix is a useful aspiration for keeping readers engaged and for adding breadth to the kinds of stories we tell.

Do you ever face self-doubt?

Recently, I spent most of the day hanging out with a friend’s 5-year-old. We did a lot of playing: the throwing-the-stuffed-animals-into-the-air game, the pretend-sleeping-with-very-loud-snoring game, the this-fort-will-protect-us-from-dinosaurs game — all the hits. At one point, she looked at me, genuinely confused, and said: “Wait. Are you a grown up?” This was a very affirming encounter. So I guess at low moments I like to either FaceTime my 5-year-old friend and make her tell me how much fun I am or, in a pinch, force people to listen to this story.

In addition to editing, you do standup comedy. Does comedy help with your day job?

I have a joke in my act about a diary I kept in junior high. Once, I decided to add a few extra lines about how much I loved Jane Austen. Just a totally unnecessary aside about what “Persuasion” meant to 13-year-old me. It bombed. There is nothing quite as clarifying as a silent crowd. Especially if people had previously been laughing and are now telling you, through not responding verbally in any way, that your joke was self-indulgent.