Be careful not to invent words or use them incorrectly when speaking with others in a meeting, writes Amy Elisa Jackson. In addition, avoid overly casual terms such as "bro" or "dude" while steering clear of overused terms such as "synergy," Jackson writes. Glassdoor (5/13) Why it's good to let your brain stop focusing While being able to focus is important in any career, it's also important to activate your brain's default mode network to unfocus each day, writes Srini Pillay. By using positive constructive daydreaming or even taking a nap, you can boost your mind's agility, creativity and ability to make good decisions. Harvard Business Review online (tiered subscription model) (5/12)
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Making the Connection
Accompany, Slack among top productivity tools Productivity app Accompany's easy access to contacts and company data makes it indispensable for professionals who need to prepare for big meetings, while Slack's effective approach to group communications can provide benefits to companies of various sizes, writes Deep Patel. Another useful productivity tool is CamCard, which can be used to take photos of business cards and quickly insert the person's information into your contacts. Forbes (5/12)
The Landscape
Motherhood increases likelihood of discrimination among physicians Seventy-eight percent of the respondents to an online poll of the "Physician Moms Group" on Facebook said they had faced some form of discrimination, 66% said they had experienced gender discrimination, and 36% said they had experienced discrimination due to breast-feeding or maternity leave. Discrimination was associated with higher rates of burnout, researchers reported in JAMA Internal Medicine, and suggested solutions included greater workplace flexibility, higher pay, longer maternity leave and support with child care. MedPage Today (free registration) (5/9),Reuters (5/9)
Your Next Challenge
Don't approach every interview the same way If you present yourself in the final interview the same way you did in previous interviews, you'll miss an opportunity to provide new information on your skills and abilities, writes Don Raskin. Switch up your answers and emphasize new skills while getting more detailed on subjects that you touched upon in previous interviews, Raskin writes. Fast Company online (5/13)
It's important to scrutinize your morning routine to ensure that each individual part is geared toward a sensible goal, writes Nicolas Cole. "You have to ask yourself why you're doing what you're doing, otherwise you don't have a morning routine," writes Cole. Inc. online (free registration) (5/8)
$100 survived 34 transactions in a currency-exchange experiment Carl Bialik took $100 to a currency exchange to see how many transactions he could make between different currencies before running out of money. Most exchanges require you to convert back to US dollars before going into another foreign currency, which led to significant fees when buying dollars with less popular currencies. FiveThirtyEight (5/11)
It is easier to live through someone else than to become complete yourself.
