Stuff is 150 editions old, nearly three years since I started this newsletter to stay in contact with a small group of people after I lost my job. It has been a fun and rewarding journey - thank you for being here.
Last week, the most clicked link was about procrastination, I'm hoping that no-one used the newsletter to delay that things they were putting off!
This week, I'm thinking about change management, and how to survive big changes at work - and I have the usual round-up of links from across the vast interwebs.
Thank you all for being here on our joint journey of curiosity.
Till next Monday, enjoy...
👓 The Big Stuff - times are changing
I'm being reorganised.
Sometime over the next weeks, I'm going to hear news about some changes to my organisation at work. It can be an unsettling process, but its a common process especially as organisations change for the future.
Fortunately, there are things you can do to prepare for organisational change, and some excellent guidance on what you can do and say after a tough reorg. These ten tips on surviving a reorganisation are super useful - #3 and #4 are especially important.
My biggest learning from all the reorgs I have survived (100%!) is to focus on the facts. Nearly all of the anxiety I have experienced has been from unknowns, or rumours.
The rumor mill can be alarming, so stick with facts and don’t let yourself become anxious about things that aren’t real.
If you are involved in driving the reorg process, there is some excellent guidance available. This guide to organisational change management is a great jump off point, for all types of change.
My key advice is to 10x your communication during times of change to avoid the rumours, and then invest time creating a clear vision for the change.
Finally, if you really want to learn how NOT to manage change in an organisation, I think this timeline is a good guide to a poorly managed change.
🧠 The Other Stuff
- Habits: These eight habits could add up to 24 years to your life.
- Reading: When was the last time you read a book? Librarians share secrets for getting into books. Josh Spector went from zero to twenty books a year. I work on the principle of 20/30 pages a day.
- Focus: How to deal with distractions and protect your focus. Great advice.
- Insomnia: Fifteen ways to get back to sleep when you wake up at 3am.
- Remote Work: Zoom (ironically) is telling employees to get back to the office.
🌞 The Little Stuff
- Free Food Fridges: An innovative way to combat food waste and hunger.
- Insta-hits: Greenlight Wisdom | Vintage Audio | City of Light | PostPunk
- I(heart)NY: No spoilers, this is a clever and beautiful site.
- Wibbly wobbly timey wimey: This fractal clock is mesmerising.
- Finally: beanbeanbean - do a quiz, donate beans to charity. Do not lose the beans.
Stuff that MattR's
🎧 Aural Stuff
On the Stuff Speakers this week...
🎧 My audio treat this week is a compilation album of seven inch singles previously released on Batov records and selected by the label owner - DJ Kobayashi.
The compilation opens with the desert funk sound of "Badawee" by the iconic producer and multi-instrumentalist, Kutiman, followed by the instrumental edit of "Ya Raiyat" by Tel Aviv digging pioneers Radio Trip. Other highlights include the deranged & spooky synths of “The Egyptian” by Baharat, a prime example of the label's core sound, the psychedelic Middle Eastern groove bomb "Deli Deli" by Şatellites, and “Nasnusa”, Sababa 5’s acclaimed collaboration with Japanese vocalist Yurika Hanashima.
I love the varied and eclectic sound of this album, it is highly recommended.
Stuff that MattR's
👂🏼 Stuff Someone Said
"Sow a thought and you reap an action; sow an action and you reap a habit; sow a habit and you reap a character; sow a character and you reap a destiny."
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