EDITION 913
4 APRIL 2022

There is no escaping it: too much news is bad for you. It should come with a government health warning: “This intellectual diet is fine taken in small doses, and preferably in weekly instalments, via a well-balanced newsletter, such as 10 things from William Montgomery."

So, as another week slips by, here are 10 things which caught my attention and may have escaped yours. Please feel free to share on social media and forward to your colleagues and friends so they can also subscribe, learn and engage. I would be very grateful if you did.

William Montgomery
Editor and CEO of TEN

1. How to find extra time each day to do what you love. By implementing certain tried-and-true tactics, you can carve out ample time for yourself each day to read, go to the gym, watch a movie or do whatever relaxes you. READ MORE >>

2. Stamp prices increasing. The price of a first-class stamp has risen by 10p to 95p, with second-class stamps also increasing by 2p to 68p. Royal Mail said the rises were necessary to ensure the business remained “sustainable” and “relevant” as it is forced to deliver to a growing number of addresses. Royal Mail’s annual profits quadrupled to £726m in the year to 28 March, up from £180m a year earlier. The Times

3. Two new ways to control your Instagram feed. Meta just made it a little easier to escape the algorithm. The tech giant will once again allow Instagram users to view their feeds in chronological order, nearly six years after introducing algorithm-curated feeds. Users can choose between ‘favourites’ and ‘following’, which will either show you the latest posts from a specific list of accounts you select or posts from people you follow. But there's a catch: the algorithm-based feed will remain the default, and Meta plans to add "more recommendations to your feed based on your interests" over time. Would you like to follow us? CLICK HERE >>

4. The world’s longest flight is? Cathay Pacific is set to operate the longest commercial flight in the world by rerouting its New York to Hong Kong service to avoid Russian airspace. The route would go via the Atlantic instead of the Pacific, covering a distance of 16,618 km and requiring a non-stop flight duration of 17 hours and 50 minutes. This surpasses Singapore Airlines’ New York service, which covers 15,349 kilometers and takes around 17.5 hours. The Indepdenent

5. Are meetings a waste of time? A two-year study in more than 50 countries found the most common meeting structure was a “performance”, where junior colleagues reported findings to a manager. Of the companies studied that dropped meetings entirely, rates of stress and micro-managing fell. However, the companies that benefitted most, both in terms of how employee morale and overall business performance, were those that restricted meetings to two days per week. With the study finding that stress fell, and communication improved when there were fewer meetings, is it time to cut the meetings? VOTE HERE >>

6. Making remote mentorship work. Traditional mentorship has shifted online as companies embrace remote and hybrid work. While virtual mentoring has its benefits, such as more flexibility, it "may require greater intentionality than mentoring in the face-to-face office," writes Harvard Business Review. Therefore, mentors and mentees have to establish a strong foundation for their relationship from the start, using the following strategies: [1] Build trust. [2] Clarify rules for engagement. [3] Be intentional when forming the relationship. [4] Balance authenticity with boundaries. [5] Collaborate when possible. READ MORE >>

7. Don’t be a table hogger. Debrett’s, that long-standing guide to all matters of etiquette, has turned its attention to the correct form when ‘WFC’ – or ‘working from cafés’. Do not, it tells its readers, be a “table hogger”. Make regular food or drink orders. And never look askance at noisy neighbours. If someone’s crying baby is interrupting your concentration, “that is your problem, not theirs”. The Guardian

8. The rise of the ‘coasting’ worker. Clocking in-and-out while working remotely, getting the bare minimum done and collecting the pay cheque: Rather than quit, more and more employees are happy to just get by. A recent survey, reported by the BBC, found that 39% of workers were coasting. Some employees are “completely mentally checked out” from work, neither failing nor ignoring their jobs, but simply choosing to prioritise other aspects of their lives. Is long-term slacking at work necessarily a problem then? What do you think? Should coasting workers look for more exciting jobs or is it fine to only get fulfilment outside your career? CONTACT US >>

9. Refugee visa backlog. So far, only one in ten Ukrainian refugees who have applied to come to the UK under the Government’s Homes for Ukraine sponsorship scheme have been granted a visa, Home Office figures have revealed. In total, more than 28,000 people have applied for these visas, and 2,700 have been granted them. Campaigners described the figures as “woeful” and urged the Home Office to simplify and speed up the process. The Daily Mail

10. The bottom line. Five million households will be forced to spend at least 10 per cent of their budget on energy bills after Friday’s price cap hike according to the latest analysis. The prediction comes as the limit on bills leaps by 54 per cent adding an average of £693 a year to the cost for those on default tariffs. A number of major energy suppliers websites crashed Thursday as customers raced to submit meter readings ahead of the increase. Users reported being unable to access the websites of energy giants such as British Gas SSE E.ON and EDF. The Independent