EDITION 892
25 OCTOBER 2021

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 regain your focus. It can be hard to concentrate with all the inevitable distractions. If you are struggling to focus on work, these techniques will get you back on track. READ MORE >>

2. Pension age ‘should rise by two years’. Britain’s state pension age must increase by two more years to avoid a debt crisis, said the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The group argued that each time life expectancy rises by three years, governments should delay retirements by two years to split the benefit between work and retirement. Britain has already begun increasing the state pension age, which will move from 65 to 68 by the late 2040s. The Telegraph

3. Extra £5.9bn pledge for NHS backlog. This week's Budget will include an extra £5.9bn for the NHS in England, the government has announced. The money will be used to help clear the backlog of people waiting for tests and scans, and also to buy equipment and improve IT. More details are due on Wednesday - but Chancellor Rishi Sunak called the money "game-changing". BBC

4. Rate rise ‘would be reversed’. Markets are betting that the Bank of England will have to start cutting interest rates again immediately after stamping out a surge in inflation. Analysts have forecast a string of interest-rate rises from 0.1% to about 1.2% by the end of next year, but many expect the bank to “reverse course after hurting the economy by increasing interest borrowing costs too quickly”. The Telegraph

5. Treasury warns of green tax rises. Householders face new taxes or reduced public spending to pay for the country’s rapid transition to net zero, the Treasury said last week. Boris Johnson pledged that Britain could meet its ambitious net zero targets “without so much as a hair shirt in sight” but Rishi Sunak seemed less confident. He said the Treasury would have to deal with a £37bn-a-year black hole in its finances because of the loss of revenue from fuel duty. The Times

6. Do you need a cover letter? Cover letters have, perhaps surprisingly, taken on an even greater importance since the pre-pandemic days. Here's why submitting a good cover letter as part of your application is still important: [1] Writing a detailed cover letter signals that you have made some effort and are serious about landing a job offer. [2] A cover letter gives you some room to explain any employment gaps on your resume and clarify why you made a career switch. [3] It is always wise to assume that your cover letter will be assessed at some point in the application process, if not in the beginning. Do you agree? Let us know in our latest poll. VOTE HERE >>

7. How feasible are four-day work weeks? Four-day work weeks have been given their fair share of experiments around the globe. And although some trials have been deemed an "overwhelming success," the majority of us are still working our 9-to-5 jobs, five days a week; and sometimes more. But research shows working fewer hours can actually decrease stress and improve well-being, while maintaining productivity - a potential solution to the burnout workers have been battling over the pandemic. Editor

8. The pursuit of happiness matters. When you introduce yourself, do you say your name and quickly follow up with your job title? If you do, you may have an issue self-objectifying with your job or career. We cannot count on our careers to deliver satisfaction and happiness. Work culture pushes many to think like this, but it's a road to inevitable decline. What can you do to switch gears? Getting some space and forging relationships with people who don’t see you as a professional object, would be a good starting point. Editor

9. WHO warns pandemic will ‘drag on’. The pandemic will “go on for a year longer than it needs to” because poorer countries are not getting the vaccines they need, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Less than 5% of Africa’s population have been vaccinated, compared with an average of 40% on most other continents. This means the pandemic could “easily drag on deep into 2022”, warned the WHO’s director-general. Daily Mirror

10. The bottom line. Half of British adults think there will be another lockdown this year, and 74% are concerned about a new virus wave this winter, with fears highest among over-55s. More than half believe the worst of Covid is behind us, but 19% think the worst is yet to come. The Daily Telegraph