Three Things
Three things to make you better
Does winning a Nobel Prize kill your productivity? Yes. Researchers found that after winning a Nobel prize, scientists’ “productivity decreased sharply.” This is confusing because recipients of the similar but less well-known Lasker Award don’t see a productivity decrease.
Why? Because a high profile award is distracting. Laureates begin “replacing time in the laboratory with time leading committees and institutions, serving on government and professional bodies, and writing books.”
How does this make you better? Offering a reward can contain downsides. (For instance, giving your kid $100 to read a book might cause them to demand payment for homework.) So before offering a reward, consider: What are the costs of winning?
Can being awkward make you popular? Yes, particularly when your kind of awkwardness is interesting. Consider The Really Good Podcast, which became a Tiktok sensation only once the host decided to lean into an “awkwardly funny, deadpan persona.”
How does this make you better? Surprise is captivating. When someone seems surprisingly interesting, or surprisingly awkward, or surprisingly kind, we pay closer attention to them. So figure out: What about you is surprising? How can you display it?
When’s the best time to buy holiday gifts? October. But if you want to buy fitness equipment, wait until January. Grills are cheapest in March, and lingerie usually goes on sale in June. There’s a guide.
Have you found any amazing gift for the holidays? And, what tricks have you found to get kids to read? Let me know in the comments!
Have a great weekend,
Charles
Tricks for getting kids to read? For us, it was make it a consistent part of our family culture. Read together, read before bed, discuss what you read, share interesting stories and encourage different types of reading materials (recipes, comics etc). It seems to have worked. They all read 30 minutes every day on their own in addition to their homework. Consistency, engagement and modeling worked for us.
I credit my Grandmother for my love of reading. Books were scarce and expensive in my childhood. My Grandmother had a full set of Shakespeare.She'd read and out act out parts! She loved Philosophy and Poetry. She would ask me questions as she read. What did you think about that? Who is your favorite character? Why? What would you do? Why? Very interactive. I'd ride my bike a good distance to the Library. I can hear my Father say :put down the book and go out and play." I hid books in an old school bag behind the Laundry tubs or the coal bin and go to the Park to read. GREAT Memories! My Brother bought a set of Encyclopedias. So much fun! No TV or computers then.