/// Featured Content
Welcome to the Era of Creative Meritocracy
Article
What if the most talented people had the best chance of succeeding? Scott Belsky on why merit-based opportunity is the future of the creative industries…
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2010 99% Conference: Stop Dreaming & Start Doing
Soak up the action and insights from our 2010 99% Conference with Cool Hunting's 3-minute redux, featuring Jack Dorsey, Stefan Sagmeister, John Maeda, Fred Wilson, and more.
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Action Method III: Make Time for Processing Your Next Steps
As you hurry through days filled with emails, phone calls, and meetings, action steps and references pile up. Why daily “processing time” is essential.…
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Atelier Martino&Jaña: Tapping into the Collective Brain
Is your creative team maximizing its collective brain? Atelier Martino&Jaña explain how "the best individual skills create the best collective work."
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/// Featured Tips
The Key to Creating Remarkable Things
What is the one simple change you can make to vastly
improve your creative output? It starts with aligning your focus with your real
priorities…
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The Cure for Creative Blocks? Leave Your Desk.
Feeling stuck? New research suggests that leaving your desk, traveling to far-flung places, and spending time alone all improve your creative thinking.…
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/// Noted
Insightful articles and links from around the web.
7/29/2010
Want to Live Longer? Get Some Friends
A new study finds strong friendships can provide as many health benefits as quitting cigarettes.
Why Money Makes You Unhappy
Knowing that peak experiences are available undermines ability to enjoy small pleasures.
7/28/2010
To Dream, Perchance to Sleep
Turns out that if you sleep few hours during the week, "catching up" just provides a false sense of recovery.
Write Your First Email Line Like a Tweet to Grab Interest
Tweeting has taught us much about importance of attention-grabbing. Why not write your first email line like a tweet?
7/27/2010
Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us
Dan Pink on the surprising truth about what motivates us: Animated!!
Consider What Your "Top Idea" Is Making You Do
What pops into your head in the shower is more important than you think. "Top Ideas" influence all our other thoughts.
Six tips for organizing your time spent on the telephone
Work calls are unavoidable, but less to-the-point than emailing. Here are tips on making them more productive.
7/26/2010
The Four Burners Theory - Your Thoughts?
Following our 99% interview, Chris Guillebeau looks at "The Four Burners Theory" and work-life balance.
A Simple Question to Jump-Start Your Finances
Spoiler alert: What would you do if, starting tomorrow, your income was immediately cut in half?
ToneCheck Test Drive: Spots "Unprofessional" Email
Make sure your email's intended tone is getting across with ToneCheck. "Check yourself before you wreck yourself."
7/23/2010
How Do You Censor Your Online Activity?
The internet doesn't forget. What do you do to protect yourself from the effects of "the internet's photographic memory?
Bill Murray Is Ready To See You Now
"Last time doesn't exist. It's only this time & everything is going to be different this time."
Twitter Strangers
"Being exposed to a constant stream of unexpected tweets...can actually
expand our creative potential."
7/22/2010
How The Brain Benefits From Musical Training
How musical training helps you judge emotions based on shifts in vocal pitch.
Know Your Icons Part 1 – A Brief History of Computer Icons
Illustration of 20 years of Mac and Windows computer icons.
7/21/2010
The Dream Job Project Part II
Be a part of "The Dream Job Project" that Design Observer is putting together. Lend your opinions on life and work.
Polaroid Print - Keep Calm Gallery
"Don't undertake a project unless it's manifestly important & nearly impossible." -E. Land. Here's the poster.
7/20/2010
Are Negative Emotions More Important than Positive Emotions?
"Even though English contains more words with positive than negative connotations, the reverse is rue of words describing the emotions."
Does Your Job Title Get the Job Done?
A nod to offbeat job titles, & how they may help us love what we do.
7/19/2010
Matisse at MoMA: Carving With Color
At MOMA: a driven, even tormented Matisse, who second-guessed himself, rethought and reworked his images.
How Do You Define Financial Freedom?
Can freedom be bought? Are there any (financially) poor people who are free?
7/15/2010
Can Creativity Be Taught?
Newsweek proclaims a "Creativity Crisis."
What Caffeine Actually Does to Your Brain
It Boosts Your Speed, But Not Your Skill. Exhaustive analysis of your brain on coffee from Lifehacker.
7/14/2010
Use an Informational Interview to Overcome Mental Barriers
If you think going after your goal seems risky, doing nothing can be even riskier.
Newly Published Mark Twain Essay, 'Concerning the Interview'
"No one likes to be interviewed, and yet no one likes to say no." Mark Twain on the perils of journalism.
7/13/2010
Mastering recurring responsibilities
Like it or not, some tasks do have to get done each day.
Penn and Teller interview
“Doing beautiful things is its own reward." Penn & Teller on 35 years of artistic partnership.
Weird and Wacky Job Interviews: Bad Hiring and Bad Psychology
Think your wacky interview questions are a creative way to find the best candidate? Research says otherwise.
7/12/2010
Making Mondays — and your week — more productive
Taking 15 minutes each Monday morning for planning (and coffee!) will keep you motivated and positive for the week.
10 Fascinating Facts You Didn’t Know About Apple
Apple history and trivia, including who was featured on the very first Apple logo (hint: he was once hit on the head with an apple).
7/9/2010
How to Deliver Bad News in a Good Way
Take advantage of the silver-lining principle - separate a small gain from a large loss to make the blow less painful.
Core77 speaks with Jonathan Ive on the design of the iPhone 4
"The only way you truly understand a material is by making things with it."
