EDITION 795
9 DECEMBER 2019

As another week slips by, here are 10 things which caught my attention and may have escaped yours. This newsletter is sent to 50,000+ subscribers each Monday. Please share on social media and forward to your colleagues and friends so they can subscribe, learn and engage. I'd be very grateful if you did.

1. How to avoid your next angry outburst. When you’re angry or disappointed with a colleague, it can be tempting to dash off a text or email to say so. But an angry message sent in haste can ruin a relationship. Before communicating, ask yourself these four questions: READ MORE

2. Britain’s boardroom diversity issue. Britain’s top firms are failing to improve the ethnic diversity of their boardrooms, with the total number of black, Asian and minority ethnic board (BAME) members falling from 9% to 7.4%. Talent pipelines for BAME executives were squeezed after representation below board levels plateaued, and 47 FTSE 100 companies still lack BAME board members and executives. The news comes as the BBC announces a new policy, under which each of its key leadership groups will appoint at least one adviser with a "deep understanding of BAME issues". The Guardian

3. The first rule of the apostrophe? The Apostrophe Protection Society, which advocates for the proper use of the apostrophe, will shutter operations after 18 years of fighting the good fight. Founder John Richards, a retired journalist who is now 96, admitted defeat at the hands of “ignorance and laziness”, and critiqued organisations that he says improperly abandoned the apostrophe, such as Waterstones (formerly Waterstone's). Richards had received hundreds of supportive letters from around the world after initially founding the organisation in 2001. The Independent

4. Britain’s happiest towns. Turns out it's not so grim up north after all as Hexham in Northumberland has been named the happiest place in which to live in Britain. Property website Rightmove surveyed 22,000 people on how they would rate the likes of their local amenities and community spirit plus whether they feel safe and earn enough to live comfortably. The results placed northern English towns in half of the 10 top spots, with Harrogate, Skipton, Altrincham and Southport all joining Haxham in the shortlist. Richmond-upon-Thames, Llandrindod Wells, Monmouth, Dorchester and Sevenoaks completed the list. Daily Mail

5. The disastrous effects of busyness. At the end of every workday, many of us may find that while we worked hard, we've hardly made a dent in the big and sometimes career-defining projects that we want to tackle that week. We vow to work on them tomorrow, only to find ourselves busy once again - sometimes working on that bigger idea at home during off-hours. That's the wrong strategy for success. Shifting our mindset to value time and bandwidth as scarce resources that require trade-offs is key to keeping us healthier, wealthier and making wiser choices. Strategies for effectiveness, and much more is covered in 10/10. See below for details.

6. The key to avoiding distractions. Distraction is dangerous business. When we frequently switch tasks, we're less likely to get much of anything done. That, in turn, raises our stress levels and can result in a loss of motivation and burnout. In the end, countering distractions is more about getting better at managing our attention than our time. How can you start? Start paying attention to, well, your attention. Record when, how and why you are distracted. Devise potential methods to steer your attention back to what's important. See which ones work best for you and repeat. Harvard Business Review

7. The world’s smartest students. China’s schoolchildren are now the smartest in the world, outperforming their American and British peers in an international assessment of reading, maths and science. The UK has made “modest improvements” in its test results from previous years, now ranking 14th in reading, 14th in science and 19th in maths. Among the top performing in the UK, England was the highest in all three subjects, with Wales deemed as the lowest performing. The results of the triennial study underscore the struggle of advanced economies to close gaps in education. BBC

8. More than 180 UK children become homeless every day, says Shelter. An estimated 135,000 British children will be homeless on Christmas Day this year, homelessness charity Shelter has warned. Most will be living in temporary accommodation rather than on the streets. Shelter says that 183 children lose their homes every day, with the total number of homeless youngsters at a 12-year high. All main political parties have promised to address this crisis if elected on Thursday. BBC

9. How many times do we touch our phones every day? The typical smartphone user touches his or her phone 2,617 time every day, according to a study by research firm Dscout. But that's just the average user: The study found that extreme smartphone users - meaning the top 10% - touch their phones more than 5,400 times daily; or more than a million times a year. Sky News

10. The bottom line. There are 17 Johnsons standing for election on Thursday - although, this time, none of them is directly related to the prime minister. Boris Johnson's brother Jo resigned as an MP in September saying he was torn between family loyalty and the national interest. He opposed the Tories' position on Brexit. There is only one Boris standing, but the most popular name among all candidates is David. Among female candidates, it is Sarah, with 22. BBC