thor Oliver Burkeman wrote: "Few things feel more basic to my experience of adulthood than this vague sense that I'm falling behind." It takes a lot to sustain this Rube Goldberg machine you call a life. All the errands and duties can feel like a case study in entropy prevention. And they never seem to end. The clowns keep coming out of the clown car and you’re like Beaker from the Muppets putting out fires in the lab. You can…
at happens when people eat right, maintain a healthy weight, exercise, and don’t smoke? They prevent 80% of heart attacks, 90% of type 2 diabetes, and significantly reduce the chance of cancer, dementia and pretty much every other bad thing you can think of. But we’re, uh, not very good at eating right. When Harvard researchers analyzed the average American diet, it scored a 48 out of a possible 110 in terms of health. Yeesh. Unfortunately, what we call “living…
lot of men were dying and nobody knew why. In the late 70’s, the CDC realized that a shocking number of Hmong immigrants, ages 25-45, were dying in their sleep. They would gasp for breath but before help could arrive, they were gone. Autopsies revealed nothing. Perplexed, epidemiologists started calling it “Sudden Unexpected Nocturnal Death Syndrome.” SUNDS was killing more Hmong men than the top five causes of death combined. But someone had an idea. Oddly enough, she wasn’t…
ve got a secret. In fact, I’ve got 13 of them. So do you. That’s the average number of secrets people say they have when surveyed. Five of them are “complete secrets” – you’ve never told anybody. And eight more are “confided secrets” – you’ve told at least one other person but won’t be going public with it anytime soon. A study of 2000 people in the US revealed the most common types of secrets. 92% of the time secrets…
fore the match, you have to take a freezing-cold shower. Every time. When you walk on the tennis court, never step on the lines. Oh, and always cross the lines with your right foot first. Your tournament ID has to be face up. Always. Consume an energy gel during your warm-up and make sure to squeeze it four times. Not three times. Not five times. Four. Hop up and down as the ref does the coin toss. Then run to…
u can reach a point where your job makes you feel completely embalmed. Your favorite horror movie is everyday life. It would be an interesting dilemma if there wasn’t so much to be uninterested in. You need a career transition. If it’s any consolation, a lot of people are dealing with this right now. There’s been a lot of discussion lately about “quiet quitting.” (Plenty of loud quitting too.) After the two most collectively stressful years in modern history, people…
me days everything seems to be outside your comfort zone. A bit of anxiety is part of the modern world. Worry about that presentation at work, worry about the kids at home, worry about what’s on the news… worry, worry worry. Worst-case scenarios ping pong around in the echo chamber of your skull. Your brain is like a close friend who keeps trying to kill you. You can try to think your way out of this but, if you’re an…
u’re dropped off in the middle of a forest with nothing but the clothes on your back. You’re going to need to live off the land to survive. (Hope you paid attention during all those Bear Grylls episodes.) Oh, and you’re being hunted. Dangerous people are trying to capture you. You know: your average Sunday. And even if you do manage to survive this, the next phase is even worse. You’re caught, blindfolded, and locked in a cell. Music blasts…
I want to subscribe!