In his new book "Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals," Oliver Burkeman asserts that instead of trying to cram as much as possible into their 4,000 weeks, people should focus more on prioritizing how they spend their 4,000 weeks. Doing so might lead to being "busy" less and being happy more. Full Story: The Atlantic (tiered subscription model) (8/11)
How time-blocking can make your schedule easier Swapping your to-do list for blocks of scheduled time can help you lock in on the most important tasks "without worrying about finding time for deferable tasks," writes Naphtali Hoff. "In effect, you're telling yourself, 'This one task is of great importance to me, and I will devote time and singular focus to it, to the exclusion of everything else,' " Hoff writes. Full Story: SmartBrief/Leadership (8/11)
Why Socrates can help you connect with audiences The Socratic method can be adapted to help speakers engage with their audience more deeply, writes Amy Boone. Quickly summarizing what has been learned so far during the speech can also remind audiences of your points and help them remember more. Full Story: The Ethos3 Blog (8/9)
Hire Smart
Best millennial employers offer retention advice Five large employers that ranked on the Best Workplaces for Millennials list from Fortune and Great Place to Work offer advice on how companies can retain millennial talent. Cisco's Macy Andrews says millennial employees want a people-first approach that leans into purpose, while Hyatt Hotels Corp.'s Nikki Massey talks about the importance of employee wellness and enabling workers to be their "true selves." Full Story: HR Dive (8/11)
The Landscape
Why design can improve workplace inclusion The design of office spaces and the way digital technology is used can foster "casual encounters" between employees of different racial groups that overcome the default of segregation and bias. The authors walk through what that might look like in physical and digital settings. Full Story: Harvard Business Review (tiered subscription model) (8/11)
Businesses can generate more creative ideas from people "when they assume physical expressions that contradict their state of mind," an experience called mind-body dissonance, according to Li Huang, associate professor of organizational behavior at INSEAD. "Because of its atypicality, MBD is likely to promote a mindset where employees are receptive to atypical ideas, which has been shown to be conducive to creative thinking," Huang writes. Full Story: INSEAD Knowledge (8/11)
The moment when a song deviates from what a listener is expecting to hear is called a "harmonic surprise." Researchers say some hit songs these days might be so popular because they features more and more harmonic surprises. The song that researchers ranked as the most harmonically surprising is "This is America" by Childish Gambino. Full Story: Ars Technica (8/10)
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