Take Fridays Off (Science Says)
Advice from our experts, great health and wellness reads, and your feedback
Welcome back to your weekly dose of wellness, helping you make tomorrow a little better than today .
THIS WEEK’S PRESCRIPTION: TAKE FRIDAYS OFF
Most of us are at our worst on Fridays, new research reveals. We get less work done and we don’t do it so well. Mistakes increase. Meanwhile, real-world pilot studies have found that four-day workweeks can decrease burnout, improve employee health and boost a company’s bottom line. So for the sake of worker productivity, mental health and company profits, I hereby grant you Fridays off from now on. (I’ve got the data if you need to show your boss.)
Read: Here’s Why We Should All Take Friday Off
YOUR INSIGHTS
Thoughtful reader comments on recent Wise & Well stories:
“People don’t realize how debilitating dizziness can be. Thanks for sharing your story.”
— Missy, re: The Hellish Episodes of My Meniere’s Disease Journey by Tim Rees
“Thank you for this report. I have subscribed to the newsletter Wise & Well. I fully understand heat is the most dangerous condition for me because of physical, health, and age conditions. It seriously constricts my summer activities, and makes it impossible to hold many jobs. I had to retire from performing as an entertainer early on because of heat-related issues.”
— Sana Sparks, re: our 12-part Special Report: Extreme Heat and Human Health
“By far the best article I’ve EVER read breaking down the complex motivations and necessary components of narcissism.”
— Myla Morningstar, re: Is Everyone a Narcissist These Days? by John Kruse
“All of these lifestyle changes are a struggle for me! Sometimes it’s the lack of time. Each day, I try to practice a healthy lifestyle change, like a walk or a healthy meal.”
— Linda Ng, re: Can These 8 Habits Really Add 20 Years to Your Life? by Robert Roy Britt
HEALTHY READING
A selection of this week’s informative and insightful articles:
People: Can’t Live With Them, Can’t Live Without Them
Sometimes the better we get to know people, the more we desire to be left alone, especially in today’s highly polarized social climate, with the collapse of manners and a growing cultivation of indifference to others. But there’s a path forward, this writer and author argues in a poignant essay, through better, if perhaps more limited, interaction with others.
—By Niall Stewart
It’s Time to Rethink Our Relationship with Time
This researcher, psychology lecturer and time awareness coach offers a mini-essay on how we think about #time how we spend it, how we feel about the past, present and future, how our language hangs so heavily on temporal concepts, and how no matter what we do, we can’t alter the simple arrow of time’s passage. BTW, who knew there was such a thing as a time awareness coach?!
—By Anna Navin Young
Are the Benefits of Failure Overblown?
The writer and psychologist was terrible at baseball as a kid, avoided going to bat in gym class. But she recognized the failure as inevitable and didn’t let it ruin her overall sense of self-worth. Sometimes, she argues, failure is just something to move on from, rather than agonizing over lessons that supposedly need to be learned. And she’s got tips to help you figure out how best to deal with the many failures you can expect in life.
By Gail Post, PhD
Uh-Oh: Mosquitoes and Other Disease Carriers Thrive in Soaring Temperatures
Global warming is affecting human health in many ways. And now this: Mosquitoes, ticks and other disease-carrying vectors absolutely love warmer temps. Malaria in the US? Yep. These pesky insects are expanding their range and becoming more active — they bite more. But all is not predetermined, history suggests. This writer/doctor explains what government needs to do, and how you can protect yourself.
—By Denny Pencheva, MD
A Wildflower’s Limited Medical Use Has Been Hijacked By Pseudomedicine
Before you ingest any gels, teas, or capsules of arnica, a recently popularized folk remedy made from the yellow flower Arnica montana, read this common-sense analysis by a scientist of this potentially harmful substance. You know, or just don’t use it because some idiot on social media said it’s better than Tide Pods.
—By Sam Westreich, PhD
How 7 Unsolved Murders Changed the Way We Eat and Drink
Why are medicine bottles so hard to get into? Why are jars, and plastic food packages so frustrating to open? It’s because people have licked the ice cream and put it back, snuck needles into packaged food, and once, long ago, well… maybe you’re old enough to remember the Tylenol scare. Read this and maybe next time you need pliers and a blow torch to get at your food and drugs, you can reflect on the important reasons why government regulations exist.
—By Kathleen Murphy
RANDOM BIT OF WISDOM
“There is neither happiness nor misery in the world; there is only the comparison of one state with another.”
― Alexandre Dumas
If you like what you see, please follow Wise & Well on Medium. Meanwhile, I hope we’ve helped you make tomorrow a little better than today. — Rob