EDITION 842
2 NOVEMBER 2020

As another week slips by, here are 10 things which caught my attention and may have escaped yours. So grab a brew and find out what's new.

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1. How to react when you feel you are being overlooked. Your progress at work and in your career can be influenced to a great extent by your line manager. It can thus be demotivating and career-limiting if your line manager constantly favours your colleague over you. But there are ways in which you can turn this around. READ MORE

2. England to enter a month long lockdown. England will enter a month-long lockdown on Thursday, Boris Johnson has announced, as coronavirus cases continue to climb across the country. The prime minister said that, from 5 November, the public should only leave home for specific reasons, including going to work (if they cannot work from home), attending medical appointments and shopping for essential goods. The news comes as more than one million cases of coronavirus have now been confirmed in the UK since the start of the pandemic. BBC

3. Escape the procrastination doom loop. Do you find there are some tasks that always fall to the bottom of your to-do list? Research suggests it’s less about time management and more about emotions. You put off the task because you’re not in the right mood, then as the deadline approaches, you regret not starting earlier and ultimately feel much worse. Getting out of this “doom loop” requires understanding why you’re putting something off. Is it as simple as needing a snack, or are you dissatisfied with your work? To end the cycle, break a task into smaller chunks, avoiding perfectionism and focus on how you’ll feel when the task is done. Taken from THINK EFFECTIVENESS, a module of 10/10. READ MORE

4. Black Lives Matter applies to become political party. A Black Lives Matter group has applied to register as a political party and could field candidates in next year’s local elections. The application suggests that the party intends to operate over the whole of the UK, launching splinter groups in Wales and Scotland. It may also try to contest the London mayoral and assembly elections next year under the name Black Lives Matter for the GLA. The Telegraph

5. Vaccine could be ready in UK by Christmas. A German-developed Covid vaccine could be ready to distribute in the UK before Christmas. Ministers have already bought enough doses for 20 million people and are anticipating that some will be available for use immediately if the drug is shown to be successful. The first doses of the jab, which is backed by Pfizer, are earmarked for the elderly and vulnerable. The Times

6. Majority of Britons would blame Johnson if Brexit talks fail. Most Britons would blame Boris Johnson if Brexit talks fail to reach a deal, a new YouGov poll has found. Some 65% of the public believe the government has “generally failed” in negotiations and 57% say the UK side would be to blame for a no-deal. The survey “piles pressure on the government to negotiate an agreement” as talks move to Brussels. The Independent

7. Banishing email anxiety. Are you the type of person who experiences anxiety if there are unread emails in your inbox? If so, you're letting your email account control you, rather than using it to assist you. Email is a habit for many people. Rather than being managed by the inbox, we need to find ways of making it work for us in the most effective way. Here are some tips for managing your inbox without it becoming an obsession: [1] set specific times when you check your emails; [2] turn off email notifications’ [3] banish ’email anxiety’ by using the ‘out of pffice’ or automatic responder tool if you are not able to answer; [4] You can also use an auto-responder to make people aware you might be slow to reply; this helps to manage people's expectations. Editor

8. WFM boom may feed satellite cities. So-called ’secondary cities’ around the world may reap the benefits from a fall in commuting. The work-from-home model has proven successful, with around 28% of jobs in Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Sweden and the UK able to be remote, and up to 37% in the US. It is predicted that post-pandemic workers will not return full time to an office, prompting an exodus to smaller towns for more space and cheaper housing. These towns will need to amp up their broadband infrastructure to cope with a new generation of ‘telecommuters’. The Guardian

9. Liams are taking over the world. The short form of the Irish name Uilliam, which, in turn, is derived from the Germanic name William meaning resolute protector, is already one of the most popular boys’ names in the US and Canada, and it is also gaining ground in Europe. Although only 334 Liams were born in the Republic of Ireland last year, an estimated 3,800 were recorded in Germany, along with 962 in Spain, and 760 in Sweden. Metro

10. The bottom line. Most likely, your future is brighter than what you may think at your darkest moments. So dispute your pessimism not with mindless optimism, but with facts. Build a solid case for something other than the worst-case scenario and argue it to yourself like a lawyer. Editor