This Week In Your Wallet: Back To Real Life
Whether or not you have children in school, the day after Labor Day still feels like the first day, well, back. Back to work. Back to life. Back to reality. There’s really no way around it. So this week, a few tips to help you adjust, starting with an answer to the question: What do you say to your boss when teeing up the idea that every weekend should be a three-day one?
Earlier this summer, the team at Inverse, a science- and technology-focused media startup, published a piece on the psychological benefits of regular three-day weekends. They relied heavily on a study from the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) that documents how two-day weekends can disrupt your circadian rhythm (the body clock that controls your sleep cycles), plus negatively affect mood and mental ability when returning to work or school. It seems that two days of sleeping in aren’t enough to catch up on the sleep you missed during the week, but “when people can take off Friday to relax… the result is a clearer mind and more productive work during the week,” wrote science journalist Dan Robitzski. Perhaps this is why my team keeps adding “Friday off?” to our work calendar.
Back To School
Filling the school supply list seems to get more expensive every year. According to Huntington Bank’s 2017 Backpack Index, an elementary school student’s supply list runs about $662 this year, and for middle- and high-school students, it could reach $1,001 and $1,489, respectively. On average, that makes the typical back-to-school cost about $1,000 — nearly the same cost as the average U.S. monthly mortgage payment, reports NBC News. If you’re aiming to save, the best advice I can offer — from trial and error in shopping for my own kids — is to shop your home first. There are usually some pencils and pens still in the box from last year’s trip, and that calculator they need? It may well be lying forgotten in a pocket of your kid’s backpack. After taking inventory, make a list and stick to it — no matter how tempting those movie character-shaped erasers by the cash register are.
Back To College
On another note, if your kid has headed back (or off) to college, they may want to do a self check-in to make sure they’re happy with both their major and its job prospects. A study from Trade-Schools.net found that STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) majors reported the greatest satisfaction (81 percent) with their decision post-college — and many grads who majored in other fields said they would change to STEM if they had a do-over. Accounting and computer science came out on top as the most satisfying majors, while fewer than half of fine arts and English majors said they were happy with their choice. (As an English major and liberal arts fan, I have to say this is more than a little depressing.)
But before second-guessing your kid’s future, there are two things to keep in mind. For one, grads were more likely to be satisfied if their parents had little input (meaning we should all probably curb our “nagging” somewhat). Secondly, across all majors, the participants most satisfied were those who went with their middle school dreams. Years ago, I was giving a speech to a group of college students, and I rounded up bits of career advice from successful people in my world. John Huey, the fabulous former editor of Fortune magazine (and then all of Time, Inc.), said: If you’re not sure what you want to do, think back to what made you happy when you were 11. Do that. Looks like he was right.
Back To Work
And when it comes to overcoming the summer slump in the office? The key is to give yourself time to adjust, reports Forbes. Pace yourself, and build up your daily schedule and task list gradually if you can. Start by making a list of “easy wins,” or top-priority tasks that you’ll be able to tackle and check off quickly to increase both your momentum and focus. Another pro tip? “Get into the habit of taking three, long deep breaths before you tackle a thorny issue,” reports The Telegraph, and “take regular breaks from your computer and desk.” Finally, to keep stress at bay and improve sleep, avoid checking your work email when you’re not at work — especially right before you go to bed.
And since we’re on the topic of email… While writing one, it’s a good idea to end with a quick “Thanks!” According to a study by email scheduling app Boomerang, emails concluding with some variation of “thanks” yielded an email response 62 percent of the time, compared to 46 percent for other emails. So… thanks!
Have a great week,
Jean
