With the year's longest night approaching and temperatures dipping below freezing in many parts of the country, it's going to be a good month for curling up next to a fire with a good blog post. The following cover productivity, technology, options for exiting your business and some resources to add to the ambience and fun of the season.
1. Post: “Bursty” Communication Can Help Remote Teams Thrive
How to make working remotely as effective as working under the same roof is an ongoing debate. This post from Behavioral Scientist reveals that it's not so much where people are, but how they communicate that determines productivity. It argues that teams with bursts of communication followed by longer periods of silence are most conducive to getting stuff done.
2. Post: Seven Stories of People Building Incredibly Productive Morning Routines
Every individual has their own routine for making the most of their day. For some, it comes down to the night before. For others it's those quiet early hours that allow them to give their best. It's different for everyone. Here are seven examples of productive individuals who have found their own unique recipe for success.
3. Post: The Top 11 Weird and Wonderful Christmas Traditions from Around the World
This post from travel site Momondo offers an overview of a variety of unique traditions from around the globe. Prepare yourself for lights, KFC, frightening creatures and more unexpected holiday surprises.
4. Post: How to Pick an Exit Strategy for Your Small Business
How you exit your business depends on what you want. This post from the Balance Small Business offers a quick overview of seven different ways to transition your business and some of the pros and cons generally associated with each.
5. Post: The Lost Art of Concentration
Your email may be reducing your IQ. This article from the Guardian examines the effects of repeatedly broken concentration, usually due to digital distraction, and offers a variety of practical steps (that go beyond switching off devices) toward rebuilding your powers of concentration.
6. Playlist: Christmas Classics
The best Christmas music depends on what you prefer. At time of writing, 'Christmas Classics' is Spotify's most popular Christmas playlist with nearly 2 million subscribers. It features the artists, from pop stars to crooners, you're probably used to hearing. Whatever your taste, there's a list for you: classical, instrumental jazz, acoustic, kids, medieval, bluegrass, country, R&B, harp, a cappella, Sufjan Stevens, etc.
7. Post: How a Former Canadian Spy Helps Wall Street Mavens Think Smarter
Slow is the new fast. The New York Times reports in this story that some players on Wall Street are finding their competitive edge by slowing down, stepping away from their computers and giving themselves time to think and read.
8. Post: Is This AI? We Drew You a Flowchart to Work it Out
The term 'artificial intelligence' gets thrown around a lot these days and understanding what it is can be a challenge. Since AI will likely play a role in the future of business, here's a quick read from MIT Technology Review explaining what is and isn't AI, with an overview of the goals and some common uses of this much-discussed technology.
8b. What Is Machine Learning? We Drew You Another Flowchart.
The question that logically flows from discussing AI led to this second post from MIT Technology Review which delves into the world of machine learning. This is also a short post written to give readers a basic understanding of a popular technology that could lead to major changes in how we do business and how we run organizations.
