Lifestyle
Alongside taking care of other people and the planet, make sure you take good care of yourself. The Lifestyle section at the Optimist Daily has solutions for everyday wellbeing on topics like food, beauty, fashion, and the latest trends. Curious about caring for houseplants, eating plant-based, or parenting tips? It’s all in there.
The public audio installation that lets you listen to the city breathe
A Brooklyn-based artist has placed a public art installation in the center of New York’s City Hall Park that can’t be ignored. Inside the park, opposing rows of speakers line a path that connects the area’s central foundation to the nearby municipal building. As visitors come within earshot, Read More...
Plant consciousness is forcing us to confront the limitations of the human mind
The inner life of plants arouses the passions of even the mildest-mannered naturalists. A debate over plant consciousness and intelligence has raged in scientific circles for well over a century—at least since Charles Darwin observed in 1880 that stressed-out flora can’t Read More...
This silver-infused underwear can help clean up the fashion industry
Washing and drying clothes requires lots of energy and contributes to water pollution—and no garment is more culpable than underwear. Generally speaking, underwear has a very short life cycle and needs constant washing. That’s why a Danish entrepreneur has created a line of underwear that uses Read More...
Vermont will pay you $10,000 to move there and work remotely
Remote workers: the state of Vermont wants you. Starting in 2019, Vermont will pay people who move there and work remotely for an out-of-state employer $10,000 over two years to cover relocation expenses, coworking memberships, computers, internet, and other work-related expenses. Gov. Phil Read More...
The right way to respond to negative feedback
Feedback, as they say, is a gift. Research bears this out, suggesting that it’s a key driver of performance and leadership effectiveness. Negative feedback in particular can be valuable because it allows us to monitor our performance and alerts us to important changes we need to make. And Read More...
How to start composting at home
Leftover salad and the pear you forgot about inthe back of the fridge don’t belong in a landfill. Instead, toss organic waste into a backyard compost pile to transform that refuse into nutrient-rich fertilizer for your lawn and garden. Inside the mound, a community of worms, bacteria, and other Read More...
The Ivy Lee Method: A 100-year old routine for stress-free productivity
In the early 1900s, Charles M. Schwab, President of Bethlehem Steel Corporation — a steel and shipping company — wanted to increase the efficiency of his management team. Oil business magnate, John D. Rockefeller Sr. suggested that Schwab meet with Ivy Lee — a highly respected productivity Read More...
The secret to happiness is regularly eating meals with others
A new study found that regularly eating meals in isolation is more strongly associated with unhappiness than any other factor apart from having a mental illness. This research is far from the first to suggest a link between eating with others and happiness. Researchers at the University of Oxford Read More...
Let this brain scientist optimize your morning routine
Struggling to focus throughout your workday? You’re not alone. We live in a world of never-ending distractions, making it harder to concentrate for long periods of time. However, a few simple changes to your morning routine can significantly boost your cognitive functioning. As a neuroscientist, Read More...
Fighting crime with string quartets
Burger King in San Francisco is following experiments in the UK that have shown that playing loud classical music brings down violence in the Read More...