This is a really amazing interview that gives a glimpse at the extent that a major corporation will go to ensure its longevity. Makes you wonder what else we have been tricked into liking?
How Coca-Cola has tricked everyone into drinking so much of it – The Washington Post
Now this is interesting. According to this article, if you really want to persuade people you need to stop arguing with them and instead listen to them which makes so much sense, but is still somehow surprising?
There is a lot of power in being able to understand someone’s position so well that you can clearly articulate it back to them.
Another great article on writing well.
My favorite quotes:
What you choose to write is for the use of someone else. Always choose selflessly.
If you don’t subsequently cut out 5, 10, or even 20% of your work in revision, have you really refined anything? Sculptors have marble and writers have ideas; it’s best to start with a block of material and whittle away to what’s needed.
Never bury the lede. Make the value proposition clear from the outset in everything you write. If your objective and the reader’s incentive are not obvious within the first few paragraphs, re-write them.
This is a really great article on time management techniques. Includes some controversial ideas like not using to-do lists at all. Highly recommended.
Have you ever tried a high intensity interval training (HIIT) workout? There have been numerous studies showing that these are highly beneficial, but the downside is that they are often difficult to track and maintain. This article suggests a new simpler method with similar results.
This is a very interesting article that states three common lies we believe regarding meaningful work:
Lie #1: Meaning comes from where we belong.
Strategy: Focus on your occupation, not on your organization.
Lie #2: Meaningful work is knowledge work.
Strategy: Realize that the most meaningful work is about serving others and that you can do this in any job.
Lie #3: Meaning depends on having a visionary boss.
Strategy: Take the initiative to become an active architect of your own job.
According to this article, drinking coffee triggers the release of Cortisol in your body, which isn’t good because Cortisol is the stress hormone. But if you drink coffee every day your body builds up a tolerance and you aren’t as stressed.
This article also explains that your body can also build up a tolerance to the caffeine in coffee because your body prepares for the incoming hit of caffeine. So if you smell coffee in the morning but don’t get any you will actually feel more tired then if you didn’t smell that coffee.
So, if you really want your morning coffee to make you more alert you need to not drink it every day, but then you have to deal with the Cortisol rush and the stress. I think I’ll stick with my daily habit addiction for now.
Boredom is not a problem to be solved. It’s the last privilege of a free mind – Gayatri Devi
Have you ever realized that boredom is a privilege? Crazy!
This article includes some great strategies for how to lean into boredom and make the best use of it.
Source: Geocentric direction systems use uphill, uptown instead of north/south: Found in Bali, NYC, etc
This is a cool article on direction systems. I like that it makes you think about assumptions, like our current direction system based on North, South, East, and West.
In Hamilton, ON (where I live) there is a big distinction between above and below the “mountain” (it’s what we call it, but it’s a medium height cliff running through the city), and locals often describe how to get somewhere based upon the geography. Also interesting in Hamilton is that it is south of the lake, which is opposite to Toronto so there is a lot of confusion among recent arrivals as to North and South and so a lot of people use the “mountain” and the lake to orient themselves in the city.
Project managers communicate through writing. Read this to make each word count.
Writing that reads effortlessly takes great pain to create. Here’s how to make each word count.