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Good morning 1. How to build your credibility. Leading people who used to be your peers is tough. You need to establish your authority without acting like the promotion's gone to your head. Credible leaders attract enthusiastic and committed followers, and people want to work for them. Credibility is important in many areas, not just in leadership roles. READ MORE 2. BoE’s quantitative easing could cost £100bn. The Bank of England's (BoE) quantitative easing program could cost British taxpayers £100bn, warns the Office for Budget Responsibility. Quantitative easing, or QE, gained popularity in the aftermath of the global financial crisis and is a tool used by central banks like the BoE in which they buy the government's debt. The process sees more money injected into the economy and is meant to encourage more lending and spending, helping to boost economic growth. However, there have been suggestions that Treasury did not adequately manage the risks and potential losses associated with the program and that alternative approaches, such as buying private assets, might have proven less costly. Financial Times 3. People feel older if underslept. Just two nights of broken sleep is enough to make people feel up to four years older, research has found. But when people in a study were allowed to sleep for nine hours, they felt three months younger. Those who have less sleep are also more inclined to eat unhealthily, exercise less and seek out socialisation and new experiences less, meaning the overall feeling of being older may be intensified. People who prefer to go to bed and get up late typically felt older than their real age, but early risers felt older if their sleep was disrupted. If you want to feel young, the most important thing is to protect your sleep. Understanding what can make us feel younger may help people who want to experience the associated benefits, such as increased social and physical activity. CNN 4. Is music or silence better for work? Do you do your best work listening to the dulcet tones of your favourite podcaster? For some people, having a bit of background noise is the best way to concentrate, but this can be overwhelming for the brain according to research. Getting used to music, a podcast, or a video while we work can make it hard to adapt to silence. In an online poll on how people prefer to work, 45% of respondents chose silence, 44% chose music, and 7% opted for a podcast. Wall Street Journal 5. Avoid burnout at work. Burnout is a real issue for many workers in today's hyper-connected world, but it can be prevented. Accepted by the World Health Organization as a syndrome, burnout is a state of physical, emotional and mental exhaustion, often caused by prolonged exposure to high levels of stress in the workplace. Many professionals highlight the role organisations can play in offering awareness and education, fostering a culture of psychological safety and encouraging leaders to be role models for healthy behaviours. For individuals, taking steps to prioritise self-care, practise mindfulness, disconnect from devices and take regular breaks can also help. World Health Organization 6. Do chief executives really deserve such generous compensation? In 1965, the CEO-to-employee compensation ratio at US companies was 20:1 – for every $1 earned by the average employee at a company, the chief executive at that company made $20. By 2021, the ratio was 399:1. Although the pay disparity at UK companies is not quite so stark, recent figures show that median executive pay at FTSE 100 companies is more than 100 times that of the median full-time worker. Moreover, that gap is widening. Executive pay is always a contentious subject, but the issue is drawing even greater attention now as many employees struggle with the cost of living. Do chief executives really deserve such generous compensation? VOTE HERE 7. Is fasting dangerous? A lot of people swear by intermittent fasting as a weight-loss technique. It’s also been said to reduce blood pressure. Now a new study by Chinese researchers has found that it may damage the heart. The team’s eight-year survey of 20,000 American adults revealed that those who’d followed a time-restricted eating plan, in which they ate only within an eight-hour period each day, were 91% more likely to die from cardiovascular disease than those whose meals were spread across the more normal 12 to 16 hours. The Washington Post 8. UK housing quality lags behind. The UK's housing stock is "expensive, cramped and ageing" compared to other advanced economies, a new report has revealed. Households in the UK are paying more for housing, but getting less in return, with homes in England having less average floor space per person (38 sq meters) than many similar countries, such as the US (66 sq meters), Germany (46 sq meters), France (43 sq meters), and Japan (40 sq meters). The UK's housing stock is also the oldest in Europe, with 38% of homes built before 1946, compared to around a fifth (21%) in Italy and one in nine (11%) in Spain, making it less energy efficient. Resolution Foundation 9. Brits donated record £13.9bn in 2023. The British public donated a record £13.9bn to charity last year, 9% more than in 2022. According to the Charities Aid Foundation report, three-quarters of adults supported charities last year, whether by giving money or goods, sponsoring, volunteering, or fundraising. The poorest parts of the country gave the most as a proportion of household income, but the rise in the total sum donated was driven by a million or so "super-givers", who give far more than average. The Guardian 10. The bottom line. If a general election were held tomorrow, 15% of adults in Great Britain say they’d vote for Reform UK, 19% for the Conservatives, and 44% for Labour according to YouGov. Among those who voted Conservative in 2019, 32% would now vote for Reform. Daily Mail |