EDITION 975
26 JUNE 2023

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 put work goals within reach. Many people have goals to accomplish. But it is one thing to set them - network more, learn to meditate, or get better at writing - and quite another to actually accomplish them. Goal setting is a process that starts with careful consideration of what you want to achieve and ends with a lot of hard work to actually do it. In between, there are some very well-defined steps that transcend the specifics of each goal. Knowing these steps will allow you to formulate goals that you can accomplish. READ MORE

2. UK economy in a ‘doom loop’. The UK's economy is trapped in a growth "doom loop" due to underinvestment by both government and businesses, the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) has warned. The research by the left-leaning think tank shows that UK business investment is the lowest among G7 countries and ranks 27th out of 30 OECD nations. It also highlights that the UK has consistently lagged in infrastructure spending, research and development, and skills and training. The think tank suggests that increased public investment could encourage private sector investment and position the UK as a hub for green businesses. However, business leaderscite factors such as political instability, Brexit, high inflation, and rising interest rates as deterrents to investment in Britain. The Guardian

3. Nice people do finish first. Researchers at The Ohio State University asked people with medium levels of depressive or anxiety symptoms to participate weekly in small acts of kindness, social interactions or thought recording to alleviate their symptoms. While all three experienced reduced symptoms, acts of kindness had the added benefit of promoting social connection, a key predictor of both well-being and recovery from anxiety and depressive disorders. Proven resources like therapy or practices like meditation still play a pivotal role in improvement, but as the research is suggesting, adding random acts of kindness clearly can’t hurt. Journal of Positive Psychology

4. Surprisingly stubborn inflation. The Bank of England this week raised interest rates for the 13th time in a row, as it scrambled to bring down stubbornly high inflation. Figures released on Wednesday showed that annual inflation remained stable at 8.7% in May: it had been expected to fall to 8.4%. Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, rose from 6.8% in April to 7.1%, its highest level since 1992. The following day, the Bank, which is tasked with keeping inflation at 2%, raised rates from 4.5% to 5%. The Times

5. The benefits of walking meetings. Walking meetings, whether with a colleague, friend or family member, can be less stressful than face-to-face contact, according to research. Being outdoors and talking things over with a coach can be beneficial for people going through burnout, a study found. And aside from burnout, walk-and-talks can be an opportunity to bond with colleagues, as they allow for tangents of conversation to develop easily. Silences can be more comfortable when you are on the move, too, and this allows for more reflection as part of your conversation. But if you're looking for a walk prompt or theme, suggestions include discussing challenges or things currently on your mind, exploring somewhere new to both of you, or swapping stories about a specific topic. Journal of Environmental Psychology

6. Rent absorbs 28% of tenants' wages. UK tenants are now spending over a quarter of their pre-tax income on rent, the highest in the past decade, according to property portal Zoopla. Across the UK, average rents have increased by 10.4% in the last year, with Edinburgh, London, and Glasgow experiencing the highest growths. Renting in London is particularly expensive, with rent accounting for 40% of gross earnings. The shortage of rental properties compared to the high demand has contributed to the rising costs and it's being made worse by the "constant flow of landlords selling". The situation has also made it difficult for renters to transition to home ownership, as securing a mortgage has become more challenging. BBC

7. Retailers failed on minimum wage. Marks & Spencer, WH Smith and Argos have been named and shamed for failing to pay the minimum wage. Some 202 companies are facing penalties of nearly £7m and must reimburse workers for breaches dating back over a decade. The three retailers said the breaches were unintentional and had been swiftly remedied. In total, about 63,000 workers were left nearly £5m out of pocket because of a “clear breach of national minimum wage law”, according to the department for business and trade. The Independent

8. UK Covid death rates worse than neighbours. Death rates in the UK were among the worst of major European economies during Covid. Overall death rates in the UK were more than 5% higher on average each year of the pandemic. That was above the increase seen in France, Spain or Germany, but “significantly lower than the US”, said the corporation. It would take “many inquiries” to “tease apart the effect of all the possible reasons behind every nation’s pandemic outcomes”, it added, with “preparedness, population health, lockdown timing and severity” among the factors. BBC

9. We can now be whatever we want to be. A secondary school in East Sussex found itself at the centre of a social media storm last week, after a teacher was recorded calling a pupil “despicable” for refusing to accept that there are multiple genders. The row erupted when the Year 8 girl questioned a fellow pupil identifying as a cat. There are other schools where children identify as non-humans: it found one case of a pupil identifying as a dinosaur; another as a moon. The Daily Telegraph

10. The bottom line. Tory support has fallen to 22%, a figure not seen since February. Only 15% of people think that the government is handling the economy well, down four points on last week. The poll puts Labour on 47%, a 25-point lead. The Times