EDITION 810
23 MARCH 2020

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 at 10am. 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 work from home. As the new coronavirus continues its romp around the globe, more and more of us are being asked to work from home. Working remotely is not easy. But there are ways to help you cope and keep you sane. This week's leadership tip offers five ideas to help get it right. [MORE]

2. PM stresses need for social distancing. Boris Johnson urged the British public to abide by social distancing, with some parks saying they will close if government advice is not heeded. Johnson reminded the public that fresh air does not provide immunity against coronavirus and that people should stay two metres apart. The Prime Minister told Britons on Sunday that open spaces like parks are important for people's well-being but they should follow social distancing rules and take government advice "seriously". The stark reminder came as cases passed 300,000 with more than 13,000 deaths around the world, and an 18-year-old became the youngest person in England to die from coronavirus, BBC 

3. New designated survivor to be announced. The UK government is believed to have set up a 'designated survivor' plan setting out who takes over if Mr Johnson becomes ill and is unable to continue working. Dominic Raab, the Foreign Secretary and First Secretary of State, will take on the top job should it occur. But the decision has not gone down well with some top Cabinet ministers who think it should be them stepping up to the plate. One of these is Michael Gove, of course. The term designated survivor has been popularised by the Netflix series of the same name. The Sunday Times

4. Combatting loneliness during the pandemic. Social distancing may help us slow the spread of COVID-19, but such isolation can exact a hefty toll on our emotional and physical health. Loneliness can be just as taxing on our health as smoking, and it is a stronger predictor of mortality than obesity. Thankfully, even during these challenging times, there are plenty of things we can do to keep such feelings at bay. Ripley's recipe: Get exercise if you can, pick up the phone and call a friend or family member, give meditation a try and do what you can to help others. The Washington Post

5. Self-isolation ‘very likely to cause divorce spike’. The coronavirus outbreak is “very likely” to lead to a rise in marriage break-ups as couples are confined together for long periods in self-isolation, according to a leading divorce lawyer. Baroness Shackleton of Belgravia, who has represented clients include Paul McCartney and Prince Charles, told peers at Westminster that she fears the UK legal system will struggle to cope. Yahoo

6. How to conquer procrastination. Avoiding tasks that we find intimidating, frustrating or just plain boring is a fact of life. But there's no sense beating yourself up about it. In fact, procrastination often has little do with our work ethic and much more to do with how we are feeling. In many cases, we put things off out of fear of failure. So, instead of attempting to whip yourself into shape, ask how you can better manage the emotions that are keeping you stuck in neutral. When we show ourselves a bit of self-compassion, we can truly get to work. Editor

7. Finland is named world's happiest country again. Finland has been named the world’s happiest country for the third year in a row. The annual United Nations World Happiness Report put the Nordic country at number one once again. The UK fell short of the top 10, coming in 13th place. The least happy countries were said to be Afghanistan, South Sudan, Zimbabwe, Rwanda and Central African Republic. Daily Express

8. Londoners happiest when active outdoors, say researchers. A new study for the World Happiness Index has found that Londoners get the highest feelings of exhilaration when outdoors, particularly when gardening or jogging. The researchers used data from a specially created app to analyse 500,000 individual moments of happiness recorded by around 13,000 residents of the UK’s capital. Daily Mail

9. The etiquette of working from home. With the spread of the coronavirus pushing many people into enforced self-isolation, businesses are starting to see more extended periods of remote working. At home, people are finding their own best practices for avoiding distraction and getting work done. But while remote technologies are now easy to use, whether video conferencing or instant chat, the etiquette of working from home is still being established. When is a phone call better than messaging? Should you video conference from your sofa? And does all this remote working show we don’t really need offices at all? Is remote working the way forward? Let us know what you think. [COMMENT]

10. The bottom line. The UK has 6.6 critical care beds per 100,000 inhabitants, more than China (3.6) and India (2.2) but fewer than France (11.6), Italy (12.5), Germany (29.2) and the US (34.7) [Data from 2009 (US), 2012 (EU) and 2017 (Asia)]. The Sun