Stuff #121 - you cannot lifehack wisdom.

Hey from Dublin,

Welcome to the year of The Rabbit.  Kung Hei Fat Choi!

I think January must be dragging some you, the most clicked link last week was the list of self-care ideas.   I hope Stuff finds you well, and taking good care of yourself this week.

Thanks for all the likes and comments about the Stuff Mixtape, if you haven't listened yet, now is a good time for 90 mins of top tunes to keep you company while you read this edition.

If you're enjoying Stuff, I'd ♥️ if you would hit 'forward' and share this with a friend, if not hit 'reply' and tell me how I can make Stuff better for you.  

As always - thanks for being here - it's great to have you join me each week! If you received this from an amazing friend, get your own copy here.

1. Monday Motivation:  Let this week be the one where you improve your ability to change.  It is difficult to overcome resistance to change, especially when our brain's adaptive capacity is depleted.   Luckily there are ways to improve your ability to cope with change at work, and broader ways to prepare for change in your general life.  
2. Your new superpower:  We're all still doing a lot of video calls and conferences, here are 10 principles to looking better on camera.  Follow these and you'll get better results this week.
3. Essential Reading:  Your memory is probably better than you think, but it is worth understanding the science behind your recollection. Of course, there are practical ways to improve your memory.  One of them is to learn something new every day, which is where Stuff comes in.
4. Take care: Musclewiki is an invaluable resource if you need to exercise or stretch something.   Simply click the type of exercise, and the muscle group, and Musclewiki has you sorted.   Brilliant.  Bonus - see Darebee for hundreds of free no-equipment workout resources, including some decent 30-day challenges.  
5. TWIL:  The Lunar New Year prompts the world's largest migration, as well as some other interesting traditions.  
6. To feel more joy...  Cory Muscara spent 15 hours a day meditating with Buddhist monks for six months, here's what he learned in that time.
7. Musicify:  Your Spotify account contains a wealth of cool data.  You can find out if your music taste is more obscure than most, you can build an Iceberg out of your listening habits and you can even design your own summer festival.
8. Pizza + Data = Beautiful:  Liam Quigley has studiously logged every slice of Pizza that they have eaten in New York City.  So many pizza-based insights.
9. Another week, another cool clock:  I would very much like someone to build a physical version of the wobbly clock.  
10. Finally:  Can you draw a perfect circle? My high score is 91.9% - this is much harder than it looks.

🎧 This was unexpected.

I'm not a Supergrass fan, but this week, I've really been enjoying 'Turn the Car Around' by Gaz Coombes, previously the lead singer of the Oxford band.

The new album finds Coombes in a less poppy space, and brings together 9 gently psychedelic tracks that have a laid-back feeling.  

It's a nice easy listen and well worth 40 minutes of your time.

🎬 It's awards season, so I'm trying to see some of the movies to be informed. This week I watched a film that has been nominated for 14 BAFTA awards.

All Quiet on the Western Front is a German language adaptation of the novel by Eric Maria Remarque and tells the story of a young man involved in the final days of conflict in the First World War.

Set against a backdrop of trenches, mud and destruction, this isn't the most uplifting of stories, but there is much to enjoy on the screen.  The friendship of the boys on the front line, the characters of the soldiers that surround our main character Paul and the desperation of the final days before the Armistice.

Technically it's a stunning film, with excellent cinematography, bleak and beautiful scenery/sets and a superb haunting soundtrack from Volker Bertlemann.  

All Quiet on the Western Front is on Netflix - and very highly recommended.