News You Can Use: 5/1/2019
- The Devastating Consequences of Being Poor in the Digital Age
Not only did Americans with lower levels of income and education have fewer technology resources and lower levels of confidence in their ability to protect their digital data, but they also expressed heightened sensitivities about a range of overlapping offline privacy and security harms. This helped to illustrate a critical dimension of digital inequality that is often overlooked; the poor must navigate a matrix of privacy and security vulnerabilities in their daily lives — any of which could dramatically upend their financial, professional or social well-being. For example, when someone who is living paycheck to paycheck falls victim to an online fraud or loses the ability to use his or her smartphone after it gets hacked, the cascade of repercussions can be devastating.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/25/opinion/privacy-poverty.html
- A Post About China’s “996” Workweek Went Viral On GitHub. Now Microsoft Employees Want To Protect It From Censorship.
The original statement they’re trying to protect, posted by Chinese developers about a month ago (here is an English-language translation), says overwork in the Chinese tech industry could be both a health hazard and violation of Chinese labor law. The phrase “996.ICU” is a joke, suggesting that a 72 hour workweek could land workers in intensive care.
While the post is still accessible in the United States, the Microsoft employees say it has been the target of censorship on some Chinese browsers and are concerned Microsoft could soon come under pressure by the Chinese government to remove the pro-worker repository as well.
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/carolineodonovan/microsoft-petition-996-icu-workweek-china
- Ageism in the USA: The paradox of prejudice against the elderly
- This Is What Makes You Stressed at Work, According to New Study
When asked about the biggest stressor on the job, the top concern wasn’t a commute or bad management — those were tied for second place. Forty-one percent of respondents put “unclear goals” as the top reason for stress. Difficult co-workers were third, and then too-long hours came in last.
A third of women respondents and nearly half of men reported that those undefined work goals created more stress than anything else they dealt with at work. And more than half of women and half of men reported feeling burnt out at work.
- Why You Might Need to Fire Your Most Talented Employee
And if you have toxic employees within your organization, you’ll have other employees who are scared to have meetings with them. You’ll have people who are spending time navigating discussions with those employees than actually executing.
Your people will be spending time on politics. Not on execution.
When you build a culture where people feel safe and excited to come to work, they won’t worry about dealing with other employees as much.
https://www.garyvaynerchuk.com/firing-employees-who-are-talented-but-toxic/
News You Can Use: 4/3/2019
- How Better Communication Skills Can Make You a Better Leader
You might stray away from being assertive, in fear that it’ll come off as confrontational — trust us when we say they’re not one and the same. Part of being assertive is the ability to confidently stand behind your words and offer up a much-needed sense of direction or action plan.
Fact is, everyone possesses knowledge — but what makes individuals stand out as leaders is their ability to communicate that unique information. And beyond just relaying that information, figuring out a way to inspire and motivate others.
- Apple still has a lot to prove with its new subscription services
The best answer I can come up with is this: Apple has a huge effect on technology and culture, and Apple is trying to tell a new story about what it is and what it makes. You should care because the story Apple tells us and tells itself has real effects on the products it makes and its effect on culture.
So yes, Apple makes subscription services now. But if the whole story is just “Apple can make more money now that iPhone sales have plateaued,” then none of this really matters or changes anything.
- Shh! Keep Your Big Goals to Yourself.
Some experts argue that praise before accomplishment can actually prevent us from reaching our goals. In 2009, researcher Peter Gollwitzer asked the question, “Are scientists more likely to write papers if they tell colleagues about their intentions or if they keep their intentions to themselves?”
After completing a series of studies, Gollwitzer and his team found that when people set a goal that’s closely tied to their identity and share their intentions with others, they’re less likely to achieve that goal. In converse example, telling friends that you’re going to start taking vitamins likely won’t affect your follow-through. That’s because vitamins probably aren’t deeply tied to your personal identity.
- Move over, WeWork. This Belize beachside coworking space is the dream
While all coworking spaces claim their business is “more than a workspace” and their unique design and the various perks they offer “set them apart,” the Belize Tourism Board (BTB) may actually be right. The bungalow is situated over the brilliantly blue water on Tobacco Caye. The coworking space has an open-concept layout to help coworkers feel right at home and make collaboration easy. There are standing desks, a wellness center, executive parking, a VIP boardroom, and, of course, Wi-Fi and a killer view.
Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash
News You Can Use: 2/20/2019
- We Reject the Side Hustle
Maybe this was all true, but what was also true is that working outside of work quietly became a major drain on my energy levels, negatively impacting my mental, emotional, and even physical health. I also started spending money more stupidly (some might say compulsively) as a response to rising stress, which had the perverse effect of making me feel that I needed that extra cash flow even more. Rather than acting as a financial security blanket, my outside income became a specter that I kept in my life mostly out of fear. When I finally bit the bullet and focused on having just one job at a time, unsurprisingly, all that extra stress and anxiety dissipated almost immediately. I slept more, I took fewer overpriced cabs, I was better at my actual day job.
- We need to stop striving for work-life balance. Here’s why
Balance is a limiting concept, and if we set the bar too low, we won’t demand enough of ourselves, our leaders, and our companies. Right now, too many companies are still operating in an either/or mentality (though thankfully, it’s starting to change). That’s why there are still workplaces that penalizes parents who choose to take parental leave or assume that employees who don’t put in as much “face time” aren’t committed to their jobs.
I always like the mantra that “you can have it all, just not all at once.” There are seasons of life where you’ll have less time for yourself and will devote more to school or family or work. This is part of the normal ebb and flow of life. When you think big and expect that you can have a positive experience with all that work and life have to offer, you’ll be more likely to make that happen.
https://www.fastcompany.com/90308095/why-you-should-stop-trying-to-achieve-work-life-balance
- Alexa, are you exploiting me?
- Taxed out: Here’s why your refund may be smaller or nonexistent in 2019
So far, the average refund paid to taxpayers is down 8.7% to $1,949, from an average of $2,135 this time in filing season last year, according to the IRS.
Some taxpayers actually do owe more under the new tax law, which capped deductions for state and local taxes, especially affecting homeowners in high-property tax coastal states, and eliminated some deductions, such as those for unreimbursed expenses incurred as an employee.
Photo by Alekzan Powell on Unsplash
News You Can Use: 1/30/2019
- How Companies Secretly Boost Their Glassdoor Ratings
In the Journal’s analysis, five-star ratings collectively made up 45% of reviews in the months where the number of reviews jumped, compared with 25% in the six months before and after. While it isn’t possible to determine from the data alone what caused each spike, a statistical test shows the likelihood that so many would skew positive by chance is highly improbable.
Well-known names with large spikes included messaging-app developer Slack Technologies Inc., professional-networking site LinkedIn, health insurer Anthem Inc., household-products maker Clorox Co. and Jack Daniel’s maker Brown-Forman Corp.
- It’s Now Clear None of the Supposed Benefits of Killing Net Neutrality Are Real
In the months leading up to the FCC assault on net neutrality, big telecom and FCC boss Ajit Pai told anybody who’d listen that killing net neutrality would boost broadband industry investment, spark job creation, and drive broadband into underserved areas at an unprecedented rate.
As it turns out, none of those promises were actually true.
Despite the FCC voting to kill the popular consumer protections late last year, Comcast’s latest earnings report indicates that the cable giant’s capital expenditures (CAPEX) for 2018 actually decreased 3 percent. The revelation comes on the heels by similar statements by Verizon and Charter Spectrum that they’d also be seeing lower network investment numbers in 2018.
- The experience economy is coming
- Everyone hates open offices. Here’s why they still exist
For as long as these floor plans have been in vogue, studies have debunked their benefits. Researchers have shown that people in open offices take nearly two-thirds more sick leave and report greater unhappiness, more stress, and less productivity than those with more privacy. A 2018 study by Harvard Business School found that open offices reduce face-to-face interaction by about 70% and increase email and messaging by roughly 50%, shattering the notion that they make workers collaborative. (They’re even subtly sexist.) And yet, the open plan persists–too symbolically powerful (and cheap) for many companies to abandon.
This is about saving money, not about work culture:
Of course, one of the main reasons that business leaders default to open plans is simply that they’re inexpensive. According to commercial real estate association CoreNet Global, the average space allotted to individual employees globally fell from 225 square feet in 2010 to 176 square feet in 2013, and is projected to keep decreasing. This adds up to hundreds of millions of dollars–or more–in savings per year at the country’s largest companies, according to calculations from Erik Rood, an analyst in Google’s human resources department who examines corporate financials on his personal blog, Data Interview Qs.
https://www.fastcompany.com/90285582/everyone-hates-open-plan-offices-heres-why-they-still-exist
- How to Declutter and Organize Your Personal Tech in a Few Simple Steps
Pick somewhere in your home where your various wires will live, like a closet, cabinet or drawer. From there, categorize the wires and give them compartments. I separate my different types of wires — earbuds, phone chargers, miscellaneous USB cables and computer chargers — into Ziploc bags and label them with a label maker. All the bags live in a drawer in my TV stand.
There are different approaches to organizing your power cables. Families with children could give each member a compartment. For example, put your son Joe’s iPhone charger, laptop charger and earbuds into one Ziploc bag and label it “Joe’s tech.”
This step is a must. “If you don’t have a dedicated place for your items, then you’re wasting your time finding them,” said Keith Bartolomei, a professional organizer for Zen Habitat.
Photo by Artem Bali on Unsplash