Quote of the week
What I'm reading
"Night School: The Life-Changing Science of Sleep" by Richard Wiseman. In preparing for this Friday's article, I used this book more than a few times. Wiseman writes about science and health, and makes it read like an adventure story. Good - puzzling, but good!
"Fifty Sounds" by Polly Barton. This book has everything I love: stories about language, philosophy, learning (and failing to learn), understanding (and failing to understand). Bonus: it's about Japan. Premium lockdown wanderlust material.
"No Is Not Enough: Defeating the New Shock Politics" by Naomi Klein. As the era of Trump draws to a close, it's good to keep this book in mind - for the inevitable occasions when history (somewhere, sometime) dares to repeat itself.
(Please, note: if you go ahead and buy a book using one of the links above, you’re supporting a non-Amazon bookshop, and I may get a percentage of the sale. You don’t pay any extra though.)
What I'm hearing
"Sleep" by Max Richter. This is brilliant. An 8-hour album composed with one thing in mind: to provide a peaceful soundscape for those who need to drown out noises to get some shut-eye.
"Descending Night" by Ambient Soundbath Podcast. Another sleep-themed selection. An hour this time, but the purpose stays the same: play this, and try to get a peaceful nap.
"Kinematografia (Remaster)" by Paktofonika. Three gentlemen from my home town whose rhymes and beats helped build Polish/Silesian hip-hop. How is this 20 years old already?!
Elsewhere online...
"How sleep and jet-lag influences success in the travel-crazy NBA" (The Guardian / Ian McMahan). That's where I learned the phrase "an NBA nap" (a 2-3 hour nap).
"How The Sleep Industry Is Making Billions From Our Sleepless Nights" (Forbes / David DiSalvio). A more critical look at what's happening with the sleep industry. If having to pay off another pricey sleep gadget means working longer hours...who wins?
Freebies, deals, and offers
"Fundamentals of Digital Marketing", a free online course by Google. This one looks well-suited to beginner marketers, and to those who are keen to build their own marketing campaigns online.
"Project Management by Wiley Books" is another good Humble Bundle. There are 14 days left to get it (as of 18 Jan 2021). I think I need one of these myself...
This week's premium post: a sneak preview
The premium post this Friday is all about sleep. Are you sleeping well? Could your sleep routine be sabotaging your own health and productivity?
Look out for the Friday post. In the meantime, enjoy a sneak peek - a mindmap I created to plan my writing ahead of publication. (Subscribe now if you want to read it!)