Kickoff For June 24, 2019

Welcome to this week’s edition of the Monday Kickoff, a collection of what I’ve found interesting, informative, and insightful on the web over the last seven days.

Crazy days these are, folks. Crazy days. But in all the craziness, don’t forget to tell your nearest and dearest how much they mean to you.

Let’s get this Monday started with these links:

Productivity

A Guide to Letting Go of Stress, wherein Leo Babuata teaches us how to handle the avalanche of … well, everything in our lives that weighs on us.

The Ultimate Productivity Hack is Saying No, wherein James Clear explains that to actually get some things done, you have to refuse to do many other things.

The life-saving power of a simple checklist, wherein we learn how following a checklist can help surgeons to not gloss over small but vital steps during operations, and how a checklist can help in other areas of work and life, too.

Ideas

The Digital Unconformity, wherein Doc Searles ponders whether or not our digital footprints will survive into the future, and if they do whether or not anyone will be able to read or understand those footprints.

Has the New Dark Age Begun Yet?, wherein Peter Fleming explains the need to chronicle the decline of civilization (ours, in case you’re wondering) and how knowing how to face the awful truth permits us to finally face ourselves.

The Beauty of Being Satisfied With ‘Enough’, wherein we learn that maybe we should rethink our relationship with possessions and the earth, and try to achieve excellence, integrity and contentment over wealth and power.

Business

Do Corporations Like Amazon and Foxconn Need Public Assistance?, wherein E. Tammy Kim argues that government incentive packages to big businesses in auction-ready form, are generally undemocratic, and that the people in the communities affected by those incentives should be consulted at all stages of those deals.

Have We Reached Peak Lyft?, wherein Daniel Albert looks at the phenomenon of Peak Car and how companies like Uber and Lyft are making an almost Quixotic effot to fill the supposed gap of people buying fewer cars and to fulfill their need to get around.

The Corporations Devouring American Colleges, wherein we learn about the online program management companies that have wormed their way into American higher education, and how those companies have helped contribute to rising tuition costs and levels of student debt.

And that’s it for this Monday. Come back in seven days for another set of links to start off your week.

Scott Nesbitt