A mid-January batch of links
Since the most recent batch of links went out, paying subscribers received my annual end-of-year reflection on friendships, then they enjoyed a suggestion for better team-building activities ahead. This coming weekend, they’ll get a column about talking to teenagers.
Below, you’ll find a batch of links that cover the themes of this newsletter: career development, community building, and self care.
I’m a Supercommuter. Here’s What It’s Really Like.
Costs mounted in the fall, New York’s prime tourist and business-travel season. Friends teased me for embracing a life of chaos. They weren’t wrong. Without a refrigerator or stove, late-night dinners often consisted of yogurt and fruit purchased from a 24-hour CVS. Needing to pack light, I stored shoes under my desk and left spare outfits on an office coat rack.
US Animal Shelters in ‘Crisis’ From Surge in Unwanted Dogs.
Sports fandom deepened my friendships and gave me the superpower of small talk. This is the best argument I’ve seen in a long time in defense of sports fandom. Often, sports doesn’t deliver what people believe to be true, and they’re afraid to admit that aloud for fear of shame. This piece gets it right.
Can breastfeeding at work get easier? A Philly-native’s lactation startup says yes.
Tik Tok Trend Watch: Why are skits about corporate work life going viral? These skits (and that platform) are not for me, but I recognize that it’s an effective way for people to bond and relate to one another in the workplace setting, to share humor and spread humor. I support what they’re doing, but I must say that if some of these things are true for your place of business, it’s time to look elsewhere.
I tried face yoga. I hate that I spent any of my wild, precious life on it.
Gen Z and the Art of Incentivized Self-Actualization.
Against this background, in 2024, the pursuit of passion will continue to be viewed as a luxury by many with fewer resources, while the divide between the college-educated and the rest of the population will continue to deepen, including their quest for dignity through work. If we want to live in healthy societies, we must extend recognition to those without a college education—and learn how to truly see others properly.
Who’s Getting Big and Small Raises in 2024.
Thousands of Software Engineers Say the Job Market Is Getting Much Worse. An important story to read to change perceptions of how easy it is out there for engineers to get on the move again. In better times, I used to say that engineers were one bad mood away from being in another company within a month. Not so anymore.
You Don’t Need More Resilience. You Need Friends. And Money.
To Cut Back on Drinking, Try Damp January. This seems more reasonable to me about changing habits through doable moderation, not treating it as all or nothing. The resolutions that stick require you to consider how to live differently, not just avoid things you like.
After COVID, this healthcare worker quit her full-time job to escape burnout.
Productivity doesn't have to be hard work. I don’t personally need this timeboxing exercise, but it sounds like something worthwhile for those who allow time to get away from them. I do like the example of a blog post that they give, which can bog someone down as they aspire for perfection rather than completion of the task.
Labor Department wants to get more gig workers on company payrolls.
American Workers Are Staying Put.
The Great Resignation was to some extent a misnomer. People weren’t really dropping out of the workforce: Although Americans were leaving jobs at unusually high rates, many workers were jumping to new ones that paid more, or otherwise better served their needs.