What You Need to Know Today: December 31
Good afternoon, Early Risers!
Here’s what you need to know
TECH
Uber wants to plan your next vacation. “Uber isn’t only about booking cars. It looks like it’s thinking of becoming a travel agent. On December 24, Uber secured a new patent that could be used to plan trips. Called “Uber Travel” in the images, it looks like a normal flight search like you would see on Expedia, but it adds Uber cars into the mix,” says TIME. Full details.
+ 7 rules you should know before you fly your done.
CAREER
FALSE: “Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.” We’d all like to believe that if we work hard our determination will be enough to compensate in areas where we lack natural ability. However science would suggest otherwise. A new study about to be published compared “naturals” vs “strivers” and looked the perceived biases of hiring mangagers. The results are surprising.
Open offices are killing productivity. “These new floor plans are ideal for maximizing a company’s space while minimizing costs. Bosses love the ability to keep a closer eye on their employees, ensuring clandestine porn-watching, constant social media-browsing and unlimited personal cellphone use isn’t occupying billing hours. But employers are getting a false sense of improved productivity,” says Lindsey Kaufman. Here’s the truth about open office culture.
+ How to focus: 5 research-backed secrets to concentration.
LIFESTYLE
Your argument for starting work at 10 a.m. “At the age of 10 you get up and go to school and it fits in with our nine-to-five lifestyle. When you are about 55 you also settle into the same pattern. But in between it changes a huge amount, and, depending on your age, you really need to be starting around three hours later, which is entirely natural,” says Paul Kelley, sleep researcher at the University of Oxford. Here’s what time Kelley recommends millennials start work at.
Sheryl Sandberg’s New Year’s resolution sounds familiar. 2015 was a rough year for Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg. After the sudden death of her husband Dave Goldberg, Sheryl found getting through each day to be a struggle. That is until a friend recommended she try this exercise. “My friend Adam Grant suggested that every night before bed I write down three things I did well that day. I tried to do this, although some days I had such a hard time thinking of anything I did well that I’d end up listing ‘made a cup of tea.’ But over time, focusing on things I’d done well helped me rebuild my confidence. Even if it was small, I could record something positive each day,’” says Sandberg. This sounds a lot like an exercise we teach to all our readers at ETR.
#NOWYOUKNOW
A Positive Plan for 2016
By Craig Ballantyne
Surround yourself with ‘can-do’, positive, energetic, and intelligent people. They are out there. Dump the negativity and toxicity. Don’t settle for less. You deserve better. With great people on your side, you can achieve great things. Get their support and accountability to build a foundation for your dreams and desires. Now plan, act, and succeed with them on your side. ‘Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it!’ – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe