How to Look Smarter

The tactics people use to look intelligent often backfire; fancy words don’t work.

Read more in the WSJ.

HBR Daily Stat // You Always Suspected It: Supervisors Take a Dim View of Late-Starting Employees

Bad news for those who would prefer to work later in the night rather than early in the morning:

In a study of nearly 300 workers and managers, employees who chose later daily start times than most of their colleagues in accordance with flextime policies were rated as lower performers by their supervisors, in comparison with employees who chose early start times, says a team led by Kai Chi Yam of Washington University. But supervisors who were self-reported "evening" people, preferring to sleep late on weekends, for example, showed no such bias toward late starters. The researchers suggest that in adopting flexible work schedules, companies train managers to put aside their morning biases so that employees don't suffer for choosing later start times.

Read more in HBR.

Follow-up To MIT Blonde Engineer

Alice Zielinski wrote a remarkable follow-up to her Medium post last week.

Read her original post here.

How to Stay Focused When You Get Bored Working Toward Your Goals

One of my favorite things I've read this month. An excerpt:

On this particular day in the gym, there was a coach visiting who had worked with thousands of athletes over his long career, including some nationally-ranked athletes and Olympians. 

I had just finished my workout when I asked him, “What’s the difference between the best athletes and everyone else. What do the really successful people do that most people don’t?” 

He briefly mentioned the things that you might expect. Genetics. Luck. Talent. 

But then he said something I wasn’t expecting. 

“At some point,” he said, “it comes down to who can handle the boredom of training every day and doing the same lifts over and over and over again.” 

That piece of advice surprised me because it’s a different way of thinking about work ethic.

 Read the full post on James Clear.

Travis Rice and the History of Baldface

Thanks, Scott

Techies In San Francisco Are Going To 'Digital Detox' To Free Them Of Their Internet Addictions

Read more in Business Insider.

Thanks, Ali

HBR Daily Stat: Caffeine May Be an Antidote to Unethical Behavior After Sleep Deprivation

Hm, maybe I should start drinking caffeine after all:

Research subjects who chewed caffeinated gum were less likely to feel mentally depleted by having stayed awake all night, and this effect diminished their tendency to deceive others for personal gain, says a team led by David T. Welsh of the University of Washington. The finding suggests that caffeine may be a way to prevent lack of sleep from leading people to engage in unethical behavior. Caffeine is the most widely used psychoactive drug, with some 90% of Americans consuming it daily, the researchers say.

Read more in the HBR Daily Stat.