EDITION 926
4 JULY 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 small changes can help you disconnect from work. We know that working excessive hours leads to exhaustion and impaired judgement. Yet it’s still so hard for many of us to disconnect. Make it easier by thinking small. Rather than trying to modify all of your work habits, find one thing you can change about your behaviour and start there.  READ MORE >>

2.  The pursuit of happiness. As it is the Fourth of July, I have been reflecting on "the pursuit of happiness". After all, the Declaration of Independence guarantees the right to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." That said, seeking happiness [the pursuit] is one thing but actually obtaining it and experiencing it is an entirely different matter. It's the difference between dreaming and reality. You can achieve happiness by a process of elimination. We are all for simplification, so streamline your pursuit of happiness by eliminating the things that take you off track. READ MORE >>

3. The price of an ideal life. Most people in Britain don’t think they’d need to be richer than Croesus to live their dream life, a study has indicated. Most of us reckon £8m would do it. For the research, 7,860 people from 33 countries were asked to picture their “absolutely ideal life”, and to specify the amount they thought they’d have to win to afford it. In the UK, 62% thought £8m or less would be adequate, and five times as many chose £800,000 (27%) than opted for £800m million (14%). Only 14% grabbed the largest sum (£100bn), more than in China (8%) but fewer than in the US (32%) and Indonesia, which came top with 39%. The findings, said the team, challenge the idea that humans have “unlimited wants”. The Guardian

4. Doctors and Barristers make demands. Doctors have called for a pay rise of up to 30% over the next five years, in a move that increases the chances of strike action. Delegates at the British Medical Association’s annual conference voted to press ministers to agree to the increase to make up for real-term cuts to their salaries over the last 14 years. Barristers also walked out of courts across England and Wales in protest about legal aid funding. During their strike, they refused to accept new cases and to carry out “return work” – the practice of stepping in and picking up hearings when colleagues are on cases which overrun. BBC

5. Met put in special measures. The Metropolitan Police has been put in “special measures” by the policing watchdog. Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services discovered systemic problems including scandals, failures in stamping out corruption and a failure to log 69,000 crimes. The special measures move will place extra scrutiny on the Met and require its leadership to produce a remedial plan. The force will have to report regularly to inspectors, the Home Office and other organisations. Just three out of the 43 forces in England and Wales are in special measures. The Times

6. 40 new hospitals pledge faces watchdog review. The Conservatives' 2019 election pledge to build 40 new hospitals by 2030 faces a review by the government's spending watchdog. Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting asked for an investigation into delays surrounding the programme and warned of taxpayers' money being wasted. The National Audit Office (NAO) intends to conduct a "value for money review" later this year, its comptroller said. However, a "new" hospital has not been defined as solely a new construction. BBC

7. Tides are the future of green energy. Green energy might now rely on a new source - the motion of the ocean. Following Europe’s turning off of Russian Taps, tidal energy seems to be turning mainstream. This form of energy is produced by underwater turbines that resemble a “yellow submarine.” The presence of these devices in the ocean will have “one order of magnitude less” of an impact than climate change will, the UK’s National Oceanographic Centre says. Tidal energy is expected to account for 11% of U.K.’s electricity, compared to 3% today. Time

8. Ministers consider 50-year mortgages. Boris Johnson is considering encouraging ultra-long mortgages that could be handed down to children. PM, who is seeking “creative ways” to increase home ownership, hopes to encourage people who would otherwise struggle to take out a loan to take out longer-term mortgages, so their children could inherit the debt along with the property. However, mortgage experts warned that the plan would not address the fundamental issue of housing supply. Daily Mail

9. Men feel pressure of ‘picture perfect’ culture. A third of young British men told researchers they are trying to alter their appearance because of the “picture perfect culture” on social media. The survey of more than 2,000 people also found that it was affecting the mental health of one in 10 of them. A cosmetic surgeon said that some men are abusing steroids which can cause breast growth, meaning he is performing hundreds of breast reductions on men every year. Sky News

10. The bottom line. Most people are glued to their smartphones. 46% of smartphone users spend between 5 and 6 hours per day on their smartphone; the average adult spends three hours and 54 minutes on their mobile devices per day; on average, we pick up our smartphones between 150–344 times per day (that’s once every 4 minutes). BBC