Health

To-do lists are so last season, this year it will be about the done-list

Checking boxes isn’t the only way to feel accomplished.

To-do lists can be life-savers, bringing structure to a day and clarifying what you need to, well, do. But sometimes the unchecked boxes pile up, and what starts as structure turns into stress. The problem isn’t that you’re not doing enough, but that you’re not noticing what you’ve already done.

As Erik Barnes reports in this story, creating a list of things you’ve already accomplished can unlock momentum when motivation is running low. Which is why I say, with gleeful intra-holiday irony, you might want to put creating a done-list on your to-do list. Sometimes momentum starts by looking backward.

And what did we learn?

Last week, we explored the confidence-building power of micro-decisions.

I wanted to know how much freedom to choose is too much. So how many choices are too many choices, according to GOOD readers? Over 55% of you like choices, but not TOO many choices. I didn’t vote; I was overwhelmed by the number of choices.

• Just decide for me. Even this poll is stressing me out. (13.3%)

• A few options max. A McDonald’s menu board is already pushing it. (55.6%)

• I want choices, then I want to complain about them a little. (14.4%)

• All the choices. I live for the epic sprawl of a Cheesecake Factory menu. (16.7%)

Science(?)

Remote touch sounds silly, but the real phenomenon has serious implications

It’s pseudoscience right up until it starts helping detect landmines.

Don’t look this up, but I’m pretty sure “remote touch” is a spell from D&D, right? It seems like it would be, but as Mark Wales reports in this story, scientists just demonstrated that humans can reliably sense hidden objects without ever making contact.

This ability was once thought to belong mainly to shorebirds like the Red Knot, which hunt food under sand by detecting tiny pressure changes. Now, researchers say this “remote touch” could reshape how we understand perception, evolution, and the invisible ways our bodies read the world.

It could also lead to safer, cheaper tools for landmine detection and robotic sensing.

Health

A former monk thinks anxiety has a branding problem

The product you love, in new, exciting packaging?

The world’s greatest mind manipulators are marketers. They seem to know just the right things to do to get our brains to do their bidding. And sometimes, when they can’t change the product, they just change the box. As Erik Barnes reports, former monk Cory Muscara thinks anxiety might just be excitement in the wrong packaging. 

In his post-monk era, Muscara is a mindfulness expert, author, and holder of a master’s degree in positive psychology. He says shifting your framing from one of anxiousness to one of excitement can help you perform better and feel better.

The trick sounds simple. The part most people miss is when and how to try it.

Daily GOOD Exclusive

Not ready to be done with the holidays? Neither is the rest of the world.

You can keep that holiday spirit, just change the holiday.

How long do we wait to un-deck the halls? In my house, we’ve started looking at the tree with a bit of side-eye. We’re not ready to be done with the holidays, and maybe we don’t have to be.

Scotland’s Hogmanay stretches New Year’s into a multi-day celebration from December 29 through January 1. Kwanzaa carries reflection and community building from December 26 straight into New Year’s Day. Spain waits until January 6 for Three Kings Day for their big gift-giving day. No stockings here, but kids leave their shoes out. Italy uses that same date to officially close the season with La Befana. Many Orthodox Christian families celebrate Christmas on January 7.

And January is just getting started.

In India, bonfire and harvest celebrations like Lohri and Pongal arrive around January 13 to 17, alongside kite-filled Makar Sankranti on January 14. Mid-month, the Philippines bursts into motion with Sinulog’s grand parade on January 18. A day later, Ethiopia marks Timkat on January 19, a powerful renewal celebration centered on water. And just as the water festivity tide recedes, Scotland steps back into the ring with Up-Helly-Aa in late January, celebrating Norse heritage with the burning of Viking-style galleys.

So, if the tree is looking a bit crispy, take it down (we don’t need housefires, thanks!), but keep those spirits up! There’s plenty of celebrating left to do.

On December 27th, 537, after a shockingly quick construction time of only five years, the Hagia Sophia was consecrated. Hagia Sophia (Greek for Holy Wisdom) is a massive dome structure that has, in its 1488 years, served as a cathedral, a Latin Catholic Church, a mosque, a museum, and then a mosque again, which it remains to this day. At 182’, the massive structure was the tallest cathedral in the world for almost a thousand years and to this day is a defining part of Istanbul’s skyline.

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