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Self-Imposed Deadlines Don’t Stop Procrastination. Here’s What Might.
Fast Company: Mark Twain advised people never to put off until tomorrow what they can put off until the day after, and a lot of us listen. Estimates suggest that 15% to 20% of all people are chronic procrastinators, and that share goes up for situational delay: As one example, four in five people put off retirement savings despite knowing better. Then there are the innumerable office procrastinators, many identifiable by the mere fact that they're reading this article. The devious thing about procrastination is that while we tend to shrug or laugh it off as part of the work process, evidence suggests it's far from harmless.
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Talk About Class
Inside Higher Ed: During January’s White House opportunity summit, policy makers and higher education leaders announced over 100 new initiatives designed to bolster first-generation and low-income students’ college success. While students who overcome the odds to gain access to college bring with them significant grit and resilience, the road through college is often a rocky one. First Lady Michelle Obama described the obstacles that first-generation and low-income students commonly confront. No stranger to these challenges, she said: You’re in a whole new world. You might have trouble making friends because you don’t see any peers who come from a background like yours.
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Why Girls Get Called Bossy, and How to Avoid It
The Huffington Post: Many girls want to lead, only to be discouraged by criticism for taking the reins. By launching a campaign to ban the word "bossy," Sheryl Sandberg is planting important seeds for many more women to become leaders. For these seeds to blossom, we need to understand the behaviors that lead people to brand girls as "bossy." As my daughters learned when we read the classic Little Miss Bossy book by Roger Hargreaves, girls get pegged as bossy when they order people around. Yet, we don't label every girl who issues, commands and exercises authority as bossy.
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How Spring Opens the Mind
The Atlantic: This time of year brings out humanity’s loosey-goosey side. For Easter, Czech people douse each other in cold water as part of an ancient fertility ritual. South Asians pelt each other with colored powered as a celebration of the triumph of good over evil. Washingtonians gawk at pink trees and listen to jazz while sitting on the grass in their pinstripes. This kind of thing can be cathartic after a winter's worth of suffering, but there's evidence that it might be good for you, too. We’ve long known that cold weather can dampen spirits.
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Longevity and Purpose, Starting Now
I have several close friends who are contemplating retirement, and a few have been teetering on that decision for a while. They are not hesitating over financial worries, but more over quality of life issues. They want to be sure that the next stage of life is at least as rich and purposeful as their working years have been. They want their days to be full. Who doesn’t? But there are other reasons for planning a meaningful retirement, most notably the health benefits. Our later years bring added health risks, but accumulating evidence shows that older people with goals and a clear sense of purpose live longer. But why focus on just the old?
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Ways to Say ‘No’ More Effectively
The Wall Street Journal: Lesley Ronson Brown knew the woman on the phone asking her to serve on the board of a nonprofit was making a good point, detailing how the group would benefit from her leadership skills. Ms. Brown politely explained that she was busy with other volunteer activities and wanted to spend more time with her family. The woman kept pleading. So Ms. Brown did the only thing she could think to do: She climbed up on the chair in her office—to feel bigger and more powerful, she says—and "practically growled" her answer. "I was trying to say 'no' in a lower-octave, tall brunette voice," says Ms. Brown, who is petite (and was blonde at the time).
