Weekender #183

🚗 Drive change with these 8 workplace initiatives for gender equality.

💅 Transition from winter to spring with this nail guide.

📅 Make Mondays work for you with these strategies to start the week more productively.

🎥 Video interview tools to help you crush your next Zoom call.

I’ll admit—I’ve fallen victim to the news spiral.

I wake up and immediately seek the dopamine hit of “OH GOD, WHAT’S THIS EPISODE OF AMERICA GOT IN STORE FOR ME TODAY?” I turn on the news and keep it playing in the background while I work.

Then, during a quick Instagram break, I’m hit with more world updates and political takes. By dinner, I’m watching the evening news and late-night talk shows while semi-yelling at the screen and making snide comments every time something absurd comes up (which, let’s be real, is often).

I know, I know—it’s self-inflicted 🤣. But I’m clearly not alone.

In fact, 77% of Americans say the future of our nation is a major source of stress. The news cycle seems built to keep us anxious, angry, and exhausted. And it’s not just a feeling—experts say that much of modern journalism is driven by outrage and fear, rather than hope or solutions. If you haven’t already, watch this breakdown of what’s wrong with the news by journalist Jay Rosen—it’s eye-opening.

So how do we stay informed without letting the headlines hijack our mood, motivation, or mental health?

Here are 8 things I’m trying so I don’t spiral every time I catch up on the news:

1. Set Time Limits

Designate a 10–15 minute window in the morning and evening to catch up. That’s it. No late-night doomscrolling or background noise all day.

2. Curate Your Sources

Stick to a few reliable outlets with balanced reporting. Bonus: subscribe to concise newsletters like The Skimm, The Donut, or Semafor that keep you updated without sending you into a tailspin.

3. Choose Formats That Work for You

Podcasts like Up First or The Daily are great for commuters. Prefer to read? Opt for summary-based newsletters or roundups that avoid clickbait.

4. Don’t Rewatch Trauma

Watching the same upsetting footage or reading five versions of the same tragic story doesn’t make you more informed—it just messes with your nervous system.

5. Give Yourself News Boundaries

You’re not a policy expert. You don’t need to absorb everything in real-time. It’s okay to say, “I’ll read up on that later” or “I’m not in the headspace for this today.”

6. Mix in Good News

Balance your feed with positivity. Follow accounts like @goodgoodgoodco or subscribe to Nice News for stories that remind you people are still doing good in the world.

7. Listen to Your Body

If you’re clenching your jaw, holding your breath, or feeling tight in your chest, it’s probably time to pause.

8. Take Action—Then Log Off

If something fires you up, take a small action—call your rep, donate, or share a helpful resource—then step away. Action restores agency. Obsessive consumption steals it.

Staying informed is important. But protecting your peace is too. You don’t have to carry the weight of the world to care about it. Find your balance, stay grounded, and remind yourself: not every headline deserves your nervous system.

Thania (TA Content Mgr)

Still chasing down receipts and decoding expense reports? Expense reports don’t have to be your villain origin story.

Here are two options worth bookmarking—depending on how much you want your expense tool to do (and how integrated your setup already is):

Zoho Expense

If you want a dedicated expense management system with automation, receipts that scan themselves, global tax support, and powerful reporting—Zoho keeps it clean and focused. Perfect for teams who just need expenses handled (and handled well).

🔗 Explore Zoho

Rippling

Already using Rippling for payroll or HR? Their expense tools plug right into your existing setup. Approvals, reimbursements, and payroll live in one place—less admin, more flow.

🔗 Explore Rippling

tl;dr: Zoho is ideal for clean, standalone expense tracking. Rippling is your move if you want expenses to play nicely with HR, payroll, and more.

Either way, ditch the spreadsheets. Your future self will thank you.

📚 Read: Tomorrow Will Be Different by Sarah McBride

In this powerful memoir, activist Sarah McBride shares her journey as a transgender woman fighting for equality, love, and dignity. From coming out to becoming the first openly transgender state senator in the U.S., her story is as personal as it is political. A heartfelt and inspiring read that speaks to the power of authenticity and resilience.

📺 Watch: The Electric State

Set in a retro-futuristic world, The Electric State follows a young woman and her robot companion on a cross-country mission to find her missing brother. This sci-fi adventure features an all-star cast including Millie Bobby Brown, Chris Pratt, and Woody Harrelson, and comes from the creators of Stranger Things. With stunning visuals and emotional depth, it explores humanity, memory, and connection in a fractured world.

🎧 Listen: If Only I Could Wait by Bon Iver & Danielle Haim

This dreamy collaboration blends Bon Iver’s haunting vocals with Danielle Haim’s delicate harmonies, creating an intimate, ethereal soundscape. If Only I Could Wait is a slow-burning reflection on time, longing, and stillness—perfect for quiet mornings or introspective nights.

If you love a good brain dump, color-coded chaos, or the satisfying slide of sticky notes across a digital board…welcome home.

We love Miro for organizing the mess and making work look good. So we designed a set of custom templates for people juggling 100 tabs (mentally and literally). These aren’t your average drag-and-drops—they’re built for real workweeks, messy brains, and way too many meetings:

1. Weekly Wins Planner

You know that “What did I even do this week?” spiral? This template pulls you out of it. Break your week into bite-size pieces, log your wins (yes, even the small ones), and set clear goals for what’s next. Start strong, end stronger.

2. The Daily Standup

Whether you’re working solo or syncing with a team, this daily check-in template is your ritual for clarity. It cuts through the noise, surfaces what matters most, and keeps projects moving without the overwhelm.

3. Ice Breaker & Productivity Bundle

Part workflow upgrade, part team morale boost—this template bundle helps you run your day and your meetings. You’ll get daily-to-monthly planners, meeting minutes, and SOP templates to keep your tasks on track—plus fun icebreakers to liven up even the driest standups.

💸 Bonus: The Pay Raise Planner

Thinking about asking for a raise? This one walks you through exactly how to prepare—from highlighting your wins to organizing your talking points. It’s equal parts pep talk and practical tool.

Bookmark these. Use them weekly. And don’t be surprised when your coworkers start asking for your secret.

Meet Mosie, a 15-year-old rescue with a big heart. Despite missing teeth and some arthritis, this sweet girl (formerly “Growly Tiger”) stole their hearts instantly. Don’t let her RBF fool you – she loves pets and cuddles! Mosie also has an impressive internal food clock and a charmingly soft chortle of a meow that often accompanies a hopeful gallop for treats.

🐾 Got a cute fur baby? Submit them to be our pet of the week in an upcoming issue.

• Ultimate Staffing is hiring for an HR Generalist (Tualatin, OR).
• Pegasystems is hiring for a Director of Internal Communications (Waltham, MA).
• Intelletec is hiring for a Digital Consultant (New York, NY).
• Fracsun is hiring for a Vice President of Sales (San Luis Obispo County, CA).
• WorldTech IT, LLC is hiring for a Lead Generation Manager (Austin Metropolitan Area, TX).

⭐ View more jobs here >

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