And now, it turns out some of us are making a common storage mistake ― you really shouldn’t store potatoes next to onions, it seems.
On Martha Stewart’s site, vice president of culinary recipe box company Blue Apron says that onions should be kept far away from potatoes (and apples).
“Storing onions and potatoes together will hasten the ripening process on the potatoes, leading them to grow eyes and sometimes roots,“he revealed in an article about the topic.
Despite previous advice to never store potatoes in the fridge, the Food Standards Agency has since found that the crisper drawer is actually a pretty great place to keep your spuds.
In fact, data from the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) suggest that spuds kept in the fridge can last up to three times longer than those stored in the cupboard.
It’s only natural to want to limit your exposure to these products, especially since the unfortunate reality is that most people have some level of microplastic in their system, according to Jamie Alan, associate professor in the department of pharmacology and toxicology at Michigan State University. Research is being conducted to understand the full effect of microplastics, but they’ve been found in the plaque in our arteries, in placentas, in our blood and more.
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Studies have also looked at the effect that microplastics have on our cells and organoids, Alan told HuffPost. Research shows that when microplastics get into our cells it can lead to cell death, she said. Additionally, they can attack our DNA and cause unwanted DNA changes, Alan explained.
“You can get a [DNA] change that causes zero effects, but you can get a change that can cause effects,” Alan said. This sounds scary ― and it is scary ― but it doesn’t mean you should totally panic. Our body is trained to handle these kinds of changes, she noted. However, there can be adverse effects — most notably cancer and fertility issues.
All in all, this is obviously very concerning, especially given the sheer prevalence of microplastics. While you can’t totally avoid them — they’re in our air and in our water, too — you can make some choices that limit your interactions with microplastics. Here’s what experts say you can do:
Watch how much ocean-caught fish you’re eating
Microplastics often come from food, Alan said. “If you think about fish and things like that, there’s a lot of microplastics in our oceans, and the fish are eating these, and when we consume the fish, we’re consuming microplastics from them,” Alan said.
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What’s more, microplastics are thought to be carriers of heavy metals and other elements. “And we worry about mercury and things like that in fish,” but elements such as chlorine have also been found in microplastics, Alan said.
As a result, reducing the amount of ocean-caught fish you eat can decrease the amount of microplastics you consume this way, along with other chemicals you likely don’t want in your system, she noted.
If this feels like a lose-lose situation, you aren’t wrong. We’re told to eat fish and follow a Mediterranean diet for the sake of our health, but the fish at the center of such a diet can be full of microplastics. Sigh.
So what can you do? Alan said you can be mindful of the food you’re eating and be aware of the items that are known to contain higher amounts of microplastics than others.
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Though microplastics are prevalent in a lot of our foods, chicken breast, pork loin chop and tofu have less.
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Microplastics are found in our waterways and in our air, making it impossible to totally escape them.
Consider your clothing materials
A major source of nanoplastics in our waterways and airways is our clothing, according to Kizzy Charles-Guzman, CEO of the Center for Environmental Health, who added that “about 70% of all our clothing is made from plastic materials.”
This includes nylon, polyester, acrylic and synthetic fibers — anything that is not a natural fiber like wool, cotton and linen, she said.
“When these textiles are manufactured, when you wash them in your laundry, when you wear them, when you dry them, they are releasing tiny plastic fibers into the water and into the air,” Charles-Guzman explained.
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“So clothing, bedding, any other textiles that are not natural materials, they shed microplastics in fiber form,” she said. “And then they’re just carried off into the environment … either by air or water.”
These microplastics are too small to be filtered in wastewater treatment plants, so they end up in our waterways, she noted.
“The reason this is important is that that’s why you’re seeing [microplastics] in almost everything that we eat and drink,” such as fish and tap water, said Charles-Guzman.
“To limit our exposure … it’s consumer choice. So, selecting natural materials whenever we can — cotton, linen, wool — those are really the best products for reducing plastic microfiber pollution,” she said.
It’s worth noting that polyester blends ― when compared to fabrics like wool ― are often more affordable, making this an impossible choice for many people. (Although thrifting can be a good option, Charles-Guzman noted.)
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Rethink your plastic food storage containers
“Food containers and takeout food is a big one,” Alan said. “It goes in these plastic containers a lot of the time, and those plastic containers can leach out nanoplastics into our food.”
Then, when you eat your meal, you’re putting those microplastics in your system, she said. Microwaving these plastic containers is particularly harmful because they release even more microplastics when heated up.
“If you can get a paper food container or something non-plastic, that’s great,” Alan said. “And that’s another way you can reduce your intake of these plastics.”
You can also opt for glass containers, which are readily available online and at most home retail stores.
Choose reusable water bottles when possible
It’s well-known that plastic water bottles are bad for the environment. Even more, they are a source of the microplastics, Alan said. To avoid the microplastics, simply switch to metal or glass reusable water bottles.
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When it comes to the microplastics in our tap water, new research suggests that boiling your tap water can reduce the amount of microplastics you’re consuming, too.
Pay attention to microbeads in personal care items
Plastic microbeads, which are associated with personal care products including body scrubs and toothpaste, are another item you should try to avoid, according to Charles-Guzman. These tiny plastic beads used as scrubs or exfoliants are too small to be filtered out in wastewater treatment plans, “so they end up in our lakes and rivers and oceans and all of that,” Charles-Guzman said. From there, the microplastics get distributed in our seafood, drinking water and more.
While the Microbead-Free Waters Act of 2015 prohibits the use of plastic microbeads in rinse-off cosmetics, such as soaps, microbeads are not banned in all self-care products, she said.
“It’s important to note that [the act]does not include microbeads found in deodorants, lotions or other non-cleansing cosmetic products,” said Charles-Guzman. “We hope the scope of the statute expands to ban microbeads in more consumer products.”
Look at product labels to determine if what you’re purchasing contains microbeads and opt for products that don’t, she said.
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Show your support for those who are working to combat microplastics
The truth is that this work should not all fall onto the consumer’s shoulders — and, in reality, there is only so much you can do to control microplastics.
“The main thing that needs to happen, and this is the boring answer … it’s a systemic change,” said Charles-Guzman. “What we need to do is governments and companies need to work together to stop the pollution and reformulate away from harmful chemicals.”
Though the actions above can limit your own microplastic use and send messages to corporations about the types of products folks want to buy, more change is necessary.
“We all can play a role, but also … there is a systemic change here that needs to be made, and we are the ones that need to be asking for that change to be made,” she added.
How? You can vote for representatives who want to protect public health, and you can use your dollars to show support for companies that give safer alternatives to shoppers, she said.
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This can mean purchasing from brands that sell 100% cotton shirts as opposed to stores that sell polyester alternatives. Or it can mean bringing your reusable mug to your local cafe for your coffee order instead of using one of their plastic cups.
Additionally, know that there are corporations doing the work to create federal and local change when it comes to microplastic use, said Charles-Guzman. You can consider getting involved with organizations like the Center for Environmental Health (Charles-Guzman’s organization), the Plastic Soup Foundation or the Environmental Working Groupto push the cause along. These organizations also have resources that can help you determine if the products you’re using are safe.
Four years since the COVID-19 pandemic forced businesses to shut down office spaces around the world, remote and hybrid work seems here to stay.
About a third of US workers who can work from home now do so all the time, according to a Pew Research Center survey from March 2023. (The majority of U.S. workers – 61% – do not have jobs that can be done from home, Pew notes.)
Companies that insist on mandatory full-time attendance at the office do so at their own peril; today’s employees value the autonomy that comes with remote or hybrid work and are increasingly leaving workplaces that forget they have lives outside their 9-to-5.
In March 2022, Microsoft’s second annual Worker Trend Index found that 53% of respondents prioritise their health and well-being over work, “and if unhappy, more than half of Gen Z and millennial respondents said [they’d] seriously consider switching employers over the next year.”
Of course, working from home is not without its drawbacks. Many working women say they feel greater conflicts between their job and family roles while teleworking, and studies have shown increased rates of depression and anxiety during remote work. (Though it’s worth noting, most of the research was conducted while respondents were living through an active pandemic ― stressful in its own right.)
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Still, with increased social support and systems put in place by managers and organisations trained in managing hybrid teams, research also suggests there’s plenty of benefits to working from home. Below, 10 studies and surveys that quantify just how game-changing remote work can be for employees and companies.
Remote workers experience a better work-life balance
Prior to the remote work era, a healthy work-life balance often felt like a pie-in-the-sky goal for workers: nice to idly dream about but never quite attainable. Now, it’s more in reach: Among hybrid workers who are not self-employed, 71% say working for home at least partially helps them balance their work and personal lives, according to the Pew Research survey.
They don’t feel micromanaged, either, despite being out of the office and outside the eyeline of their bosses. The same Pew survey found that employees who work from home at least some of the time (71%) say their manager or supervisor trusts them a “great deal” to get their work done when they’re out of the office.
Working remotely can halve an office worker’s carbon footprint
Hybrid work arrangements help some, too. Working remotely two or four days a week reduced an individual’s emissions by up to 29% compared with office workers.
Working remotely two or four days a week reduced an individual’s emissions by up to 29% compared with office workers.
Remote workers tend to eat more healthy ― up to a point
Research on remote work can be a little contradictory – is it good for your mental health or does it lead to depression? – so in December 2023, British researchers set out to interpret over 1,930 academic papers on teleworking and hybrid work arrangements.
The study, funded in part by the British National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, pointed out some negatives, too. One of the studies reviewed found that 46.9% of employees working from home had put on weight. Another study put that number around 41%. Remote workers also tended to drink and smoke more.
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A downside for workers: Remote employees work longer hours
Though working from home is often equated with laziness and low productivity, the aforementioned British study found that remote workers tend to work longer hours and that their work is more likely to bleed into evenings and weekends. Regrettably, they’re also less likely to take sick time.
Another study – this one tracking more than 60,000 Microsoft employees over the first half of 2020 – found that remote work led to a 10% boost in weekly hours.
One drawback was less collaboration. The Microsoft study, published in the journal Nature Human Behaviour, found that cross-group collaboration dropped by about 25% of the pre-pandemic level.
Less commuting time means more time for work
Remote employees are working more because they’re spending less time stuck in traffic. One 2023 University of Chicago study looked at data from 27 countries and found that remote workers saved 72 minutes in daily commuting time. On average, employees spent about half an hour of that extra time engaged in daily work, which comes out to more than two hours a week.
Since the pandemic, some social scientists have highlighted the downside to eliminating the daily commute: In one 2022 study published in the Organisational Psychology Review, researchers argued that commutes are a source of healthy “liminal space” – a time free of constraints from work and home that gives people a chance to recover from the workday and mentally prepare for reentering the home.
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“Without the ability to mentally shift gears, people experience role blurring, which can lead to stress,” the study’s co-authors wrote in The Conversation. “Without mentally disengaging from work, people can experience burnout.”
Remote or hybrid work options may help with employee retention.
Worried about losing your employees to more enticing offers? Give them the chance to work from home. In 2019, video conferencing company Owl Labs surveyed 1,200 U.S. workers between the ages of 22 and 65 and found that remote workers were 13% more likely to stay in their current job for the next five years than on-site workers.
When asked if the opportunity to work remotely would make them happier, 83% of the survey respondents agreed, while 80% agreed that working remotely would make them feel like their employer cares.
People of colour say they’re able to manage stress better working from home
More Black professionals want flexible work policies than their white, Asian and Latino colleagues, according to a 2021 study conducted by The Future Forum, a research consortium organised by Slack.
Black workers reported a 50% increase in their sense of workplace belonging and a 64% increase in their ability to manage stress when they began working from home.
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In the wake of the pandemic and office closures, many Black Americans spoke of how draining microaggressions in their office environments can be.
“Most of my interactions with my co-workers are very focused on the work that we’re doing, and for me, I appreciate that,” Christina, a Black software engineer, told HuffPost in 2021 after switching to remote work. “Sometimes hearing your co-worker’s opinions on current events are not really the most inclusive opinion. It’s nice that I don’t have to delve into that with them.“
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Black workers reported a 50% increase in their sense of workplace belonging and a 64% increase in their ability to manage stress when they began working from home.
Mothers and caregivers report higher rates of well-being with hybrid work
A March 2023 study out of the University of Melbourne found that women – especially mothers and caregivers – reported improved well-being when they’re given the option to work from home. The researchers posited that such flexibility helps women balance paid employment with unpaid caregiving and household duties, which women disproportionately bear the brunt of.
Remote work has been a benefit for people with disabilities, too
Workers with disabilities appreciate the option to work from home because it reduces transportation and accessibility challenges they face going into the office every day. It also allows them to better manage chronic health conditions.
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“Before COVID-19, work from home was generally not popular, and disabled people had to try hard to get these accommodations,” Meenakshi Das, a software engineer focused on accessibility, told HuffPost in 2021. “It took a pandemic for people to realise how accommodations are low-cost and totally doable, and I hope it stays that way.”
There’s benefits for employers, too. Almost two-thirds of disabled employees believe they were more productive when working from home than at an office or external workplace, according to a 2023 study out of the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia.
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Workers with disabilities appreciate working from home options because it reduces transportation and accessibility challenges they face going into the office.
Employees with flexible schedules tend to have better mental health
Employees at workplaces that prioritize flexibility and higher job security are less likely to experience serious psychological distress or anxiety,according to a March 2024 study published in JAMA Network Open. The study, which polled more than 18,000 U.S. workers, defined “job flexibility” as the ability to adjust their own work schedule to meet personal demands.
Workers with flexible schedules were 13% less likely to experience daily anxiety, 11% less likely to experience weekly anxiety and 9% less likely to experience anxiety several times a year. The researchers also found that increased flexibility and job security led to reduced absenteeism ― a win for everyone involved.
We have all lied and been convinced that somebody is lying. Whether it’s your partner keeping a secret from you or even somebody close struggling to keep a surprise secret.
However, research has revealed that some of the things that we believed to be indicative of lying are, well, lies.
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Associate Prof Timothy Luke and colleagues at the University of Gothenburg looked at the past five years of research by 50 international experts on lie detection to truly define how to tell when somebody is lying.
To clarify, when speaking to BBC Science Focus, Prof Luke explained that when they discuss ‘lies’ they don’t mean the white lies that we all tell. Instead, they mean intentional deception.
He said: “The construct of deception is more complicated than a lot of people think,
“There are many kinds of psychological processes that can underlie it. We’re not talking about the same thing. Even superficial things, such as the length and type of communication, matter.”
He said that the core of deception is the intention to mislead another person.
The common misconceptions about lying
While one of the most common beliefs is that avoiding eye contact is a sure sign of a liar, 82% of experts agreed that liars are no more likely to avoid contact than people telling the truth.
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This is worth remembering when you consider that according to the Indiana Institute on Disability and Community, some people who have autism actively avoid eye contact and appear confused and anxious when it occurs.
Pär-Anders Granhag, a professor of psychology at the University of Gothenburg and one of the study’s co-authors said: “the only single issue that a large majority of the experts agree upon is that gaze aversion is not a diagnostic cue for deception.”
Additionally, liars don’t tend to be more nervous than those telling the truth.
Another common belief is that people shifting and constantly touching themselves are likely lying.
This is something experts are still in debate over. While some believe that liars do these things more often, others say that liars actually do them less and others believe that fidgeting doesn’t indicate anything specific, either way.
Prof Aldert Vrij, an expert in the psychology of deception at the University of Portsmouth, spoke to BBC Science Focus about this study and he believes that people thinking that non-verbal lie detection works is the most prevalent misconception about lying and deception.
He added that people trying to use non-verbal lie detection should proceed with caution. This includes famous technology like lie detectors, video analysis, or even looking for changes in vocal pitch.
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So, what is the biggest sign that somebody is lying?
72% of experts believe that a very effective method of identifying a liar is actually in their words.
That is to say, if there is a surprising lack of detail in what you’re being told, the person could be lying.
Prof Vrij agrees with this and added that if the number of details in a story, or complications that occur in the story seem concerning, this is something you should examine more than, say, body language.
He added: “Statement-evidence inconsistency is another cue. A liar’s statements are less consistent with the available evidence than statements from truth tellers.”
It seems that thinking critically about what we’re being told is far more important than the behaviour of the person telling it.
Ah, soggy ol’ Britain. An island where your outfit on any given day should account for all possible weathers because truly, who knows what the day holds? This is especially true during spring when we don’t seem to have any consistency for three solid months.
Following a few weeks of hopeful sunshine, a lot of the country now has, predictably, downpour. Which is set to last for at least the rest of the week with flood warnings even being issued for parts of England, according to the Met Office. Yay.
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Another issue that comes with this weather is that our gardens can get flooded (also known as waterlogged), which is dreadful news for those of us that were excited to finally get back into gardening after a long winter.
However, there are some things we can do to help our lawns recover.
How to fix a waterlogged lawn
Rhiannon Moore, a garden expert at Toolstation, shared her tips for tackling a flooded garden:
Remove any built-up debris
Moore advises that once the water has receded, you should immediately remove any leftover debris such as sticks and leaves to clear the surface of the lawn. She added that you shouldn’t use a metal rake for this as it’ll damage the already weakened soil surface.
Aerate the soil
Using a garden fork or aeration tool, spike holes into the soil surface that are no more than six inches deep.
Fertilise the soil
Using a feed that’s rich in phosphorus, fertilise your lawn. This will help to promote root growth as well as replace the lost nutrients in the soil.
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Moore added: “It’s also important to remember not to mow a lawn after a period of extensive rain and make sure to avoid watering until the ground has dried out.”
Early signs of waterlogging
If you’re not familiar with waterlogging or are new to the world of gardening, you may not be aware of the signs of a flooded lawn. Moore shared the most important signs to look for:
Bare patches – As the grassroots start to die, it will result in bare patches of lawn. These first strike in the worst affected area
Moss patches – Whilst a small amount of moss is beneficial to a lawn, large amounts of it can cause the grass to die as the moss steals the ground nutrients
Excess weeds – Rogue weeds are a common sight in lawns however, they can quickly take over a weakened lawn and starve the remaining grass of nutrients
Long-lasting solutions for a waterlogged lawn
Level out the ground – If the flooding is only happening in isolated areas, you can add some topsoil and new turf to level out the uneven lawn
Add garden walkways – Each time you walk over your lawn, you compact it beneath your feet. Adding a simple paved garden walkway will help to protect your lawn from damage
Consider a French Drain – If flooding is a regular issue, you may want to consider installing a French drain. This is a gravel-filled ditch with a perforated underground pipe to drain away the water. It’s best to check with your local planning authority before starting any digging
We don’t talk enough about the sensory experiences on flights. The popping ears, the flip of the stomach as take-off happens, the vast array of confined noises all happening at once… it’s a lot.
However, the one sensation that we really don’t talk enough about is just how much more gassy we are when we’re thousands of feet in the air. It’s fine, you don’t have to say it out loud, we’re saying it for you.
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There’s something so cruel about experiencing excessive gas when you quite literally can’t escape the situation but it really is normal and if you experience this, you’re not alone.
In fact, according to Dr Karan Rajan, it’s pretty much unavoidable.
Why you need to fart more on planes
In a reel posted on Instagram, the doctor explained that because the cabin pressure decreases which leads to the air inside of your intestines increasing by up to 30%.
Then, since your colon has limited space and can only expand so much, a natural consequence is to release the fumes. While you can try to hold farts in, not only is that going to leave you feeling uncomfortable, it’s also almost impossible on a flight.
This is because the pressure of the gas travelling down will take over the integrity of your anal sphincter, and some stinky fumes will make their way out. Sorry.
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If you’ve ever wondered why the food on planes is very carb-heavy, this is why. Low fibre foods are less likely to leave you quite so gassy.
However, Dr Rajan assures, the filters in flight air conditioners are actually charcoal and they can absorb a lot of the smell. If you do worry about farting too much or just have a sensitive stomach, he recommends avoiding high FODMAP foods such as onions, garlic, seeds, and some kinds of breads as well as eating slowly to aid digestion.
Plus, you can take comfort in knowing this can happen to everyone so you won’t be the only gassy passenger.
Now, there’s another heart health reason to be wary of alcohol, particularly for women.
In new research involving 432,265 people — roughly 243,000 men and 189,000 women between 18 and 65 — experts discovered that women who had on average more than one alcoholic drink daily were at higher risk of developing coronary heart disease. The research was conducted by Kaiser Permanente Northern California.
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Coronary heart disease, also referred to as coronary artery disease, is a condition in which the “major blood vessels that supply the heart (coronary arteries) struggle to send enough blood, oxygen and nutrients to the heart muscle,” according to the Mayo Clinic.
Symptoms include shortness of breath and chest pain. But for many people, a heart attack is the first noticeable sign of coronary heart disease.
Women who drink 8 or more alcoholic beverages each week are at higher risk of heart disease.
For the Kaiser Permanente study, participants reported their alcohol use between 2014 and 2015. In the four years that followed, researchers analysed their coronary heart disease incidence and found that 3,108 participants were diagnosed with the condition.
Those who had one to two drinks each week were categorised as having low alcohol consumption; three to seven drinks for women and three to 14 for men were categorised as moderate consumption; and 15 or more drinks for men and eight or more for women were categorised as high consumption.
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While definitions of binge drinking vary, in this study, it was defined as having more than three drinks a day for women and more than four for men. Researchers noted whether participants had taken part in binge drinking in the past three months. People who do not drink were not included in the study.
Researchers found that drinking eight or more alcoholic beverages each week was linked to a 33% to 51% higher chance of developing coronary heart disease in young to middle-aged women when compared with women who drank less, according to the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research. Those most at risk, though, were women who took part in binge drinking, which was linked to a 68% higher chance of developing coronary heart disease.
Alcohol’s negative impact on heart health has to do with a few factors. “Alcohol has been shown to raise blood pressure and lead to metabolic changes that are associated with inflammation and obesity, both of which increase the risk for heart disease,” senior study author Stacy Sterling told the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research.
While the worst impact was seen in women, men who engaged in binge drinking were 33% more at risk of developing coronary heart disease compared with those who were moderate drinkers.
“Women also process alcohol differently than men due to biologic and physiologic differences, and this may contribute to the increased heart disease risk we found,” said Sterling. “It’s concerning because there has been an increasing prevalence of alcohol use among young and middle-aged women, including in the number of women who binge drink.”
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This research is set to be presented at the American College of Cardiology’s Annual Scientific Session in early April, and it has not yet been peer-reviewed.
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People, especially women, who took part in binge drinking were at high risk of developing coronary heart disease.
If you want to drink less, here are some expert-backed tips.
With emerging research like this, it’s no wonder that concepts like “mindful drinking” and “damp lifestyles” — both of which decentre drinking — are popular.
If you are looking to curb your drinking habits, it’s a good idea to know some of the U.S. government’s guidelines for moderate alcohol consumption. If you choose to drink, the guidelines recommend no more than one drink per day for women and two for men. Once you know the guidelines, you can track your consumption habits to determine how much you drink. (The amount that people actually drink is often underestimated.)
If you like to have a different beverage after work or to break up the week, you can make mocktails or purchase nonalcoholic beers, wine and spirits. “The quality of nonalcoholic drinks and beers are much better than they were in the past,” Vanessa Kennedy, the director of psychology at Driftwood Recovery in Texas, previously told HuffPost. Having these kinds of drinks at the ready can help you reduce the amount of alcohol you consume.
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Experts say that it’s also helpful to track why you’re drinking. Are you doing it because you’re stressed, or because you’re bored? Once you determine the reason that you’re turning to booze, you can think of different things to fill that void.
“If you are saying, ‘Well, I just need this drink because I just need to relax’ … that alcohol itself isn’t actually what helps you relax,” registered dietitian Sumner Brooks previously told HuffPost. A bubble bath or workout class may help you relax more than a glass of wine.
Most importantly, if you are worried about your drinking habits or think they’re problematic, it’s important to seek support from an expert. You can find a therapist who’s trained in substance abuse to help you move forward.
Baking is always such a lovely idea in theory, isn’t it? The sun gently draping through the window as you lovingly, expertly blend precise ingredients together to make a delicious, moreish cake.
In reality, it often ends with a messy kitchen, a lot of excess batter lying around and baking pots and pans that have seen *much* better days that now need an intensive cleaning which just isn’t quite the baking dream, is it?
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However, a chef on Reddit has come to the rescue with their super simple trick to keeping cakes and bakes from sticking to the bottom of pans.
How to stop cakes from sticking to the bottom of the pan
Reddit user /u/jellysnake asked: “Chefs of reddit, what’s your number one useful cooking tip?”
Their post got thousands of responses including one saying: “A master chef told me this in culinary school: “You can always stop cooking. Take it off the burner or out of the oven if you need to. Surprisingly helpful tip.”
Which is incredibly helpful for those of us that get overwhelmed in the kitchen and good advice for life, really.
However, it was a comment from /r/soccermomjane that caught my eye. They said: “pastry chef here, not my best tip but the only one I can think of this early on my day off…flouring pans for cakes is a step not to be skipped but when it comes to chocolate cakes, it looks awful so for dark cakes, I use cocoa powder instead.“
GENIUS.
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Another commenter expanded on this saying: ”[flour is] a dry barrier that will discourage adhesion of the baked good, allowing it to rise as it bakes. Butter is fine if rising isn’t a concern, but fats are “sticky” and can actually hold flour-based things down. It’s the same reason you would flour a surface when you’re rolling out or kneading dough.”
This makes perfect sense.
However, if you are going to use cocoa powder, user /u/westorphales warned: “To piggy back on this, DO NOT use sweetened cocoa powder or semi-sweet, as the sugar will caramelize.”
Everyone has opinions about how to get a good job and keep one, and it’s hard to figure out which pointers are actually helpful to follow.
What your well-meaning uncle, professor or manager says you need to do for your next job move may actually be disastrous to follow. To be savvy, you need to learn how to weed out the kernels of good career tips from the bad.
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To help professionals avoid these mistakes, we asked career experts to share the worst, most common pieces of job advice you’re going to hear a lot in your life. Read on to learn why these boilerplate outlooks can hold you back and what alternative advice you should follow instead.
1. Only apply for jobs that you meet all the qualifications for.
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Too often, women and people of color stop themselves from applying to jobs where they don’t meet every qualification.
This is bad advice because job descriptions are not necessarily realistic and are often written as a “wish list” from the employer’s point of view, said Cynthia Pong, founder of Embrace Change, a career coaching and consulting firm.
“Many people, especially women of colour, people of colour, women in general and others from underrepresented backgrounds or with non-traditional career paths, may self-select out of applying because they don’t meet all the criteria listed,” she said.
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Just because a job listing states a desired education requirement does not mean you actually need it. For example, in 2017, Accenture, Grads of Life and Harvard Business School conducted an analysis of 26 million job postings and 600 business and HR executive surveys. They found that 67% of the job postings required at least a bachelor’s degree, yet only 16% of employees who were already in those jobs held that degree. The findings are a reminder that many jobs do not require a college degree to succeed, despite what companies advertise.
Instead of taking yourself out of the running before you apply, Pong advised that it is better to “apply if you meet most key qualifications.”
If you have every skill and experience listed in the description, the job opportunity is likely a lateral career move. But if the role is going to push you beyond what you already know, that’s a sign of a good stretch opportunity, and that’s what actually helps you grow in your career.
One important caveat, though, is that a hiring manager is not going to automatically understand why your unique skill set makes you the best hire — you need to explain that to them.
Pong said job seekers should use the cover letter or other application materials “to connect the dots for the hiring manager as to how your past experience is transferable and will enable you to excel in the particular role, even though you may not check all the boxes for them.”
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“As someone on the hiring side, I look at the overall qualities and growth potential that a person brings to the table more than their specific skill set, especially if the person demonstrates a strong ability to learn and teach themselves how to do new things,” she continued.
Even if you do not get the job, applying for the role puts you on an employer’s radar.
“If someone’s not a fit for a particular role, it’s a great opportunity to keep them in mind for another role or future work,” Pong said.
2. Find a job you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.
The message behind this common feel-good platitude is that passion alone will make the drudgery of work go away. But there’s no one correct way to feel about your job. It’s perfectly normal for a job to just be a paycheque that funds your life outside of it. Even dream jobs that are fulfilling and meaningful come with hard days, difficult deadlines and the potential for burnout.
Sometimes, the activity you love to do most is an unrealistic career. Don’t be guilted into monetising your passion hobby into your next side hustle just because you enjoy it. In some cases, it’s better to keep your ceramics hobby as a relaxing extracurricular than your next career.
As Gorick Ng, a career adviser at Harvard University and author of “The Unspoken Rules: Secrets to Starting Your Career Off Right,” previously told HuffPost, “Do you love the business of doing something as much as you love doing the thing itself? Not everyone will say yes to this question and that’s OK.”
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It’s normal to want meaning and purpose in what you do for a living, but don’t put more pressure on your work to be more than work. Ng suggested rewriting the advice of “find a job you love” to say, “Find something that brings you joy and purpose every day, and you’ll always have something to look forward to.”
3. You should stay in a job at least a year for your resume.
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Instead of sticking it out, it’s better to prioritize your well-being and leave a job that is no longer serving you.
There is an outdated assumption that the longer you stay at a job, the more reliable and responsible you seem to other employers.
Although some employers do judge “job-hoppers” as disloyal, there are many more who understand that a career at one company is unrealistic for people to achieve now in an unstable job market.
Harleny Vasquez, a career coach and university speaker, said she tried following the “stick it out” advice when she was starting her social work career.
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“I remember feeling burnt out and unsatisfied, and the idea of sticking it out at one job only added to that frustration,” she said. “What’s more, I already had a history of job-hopping, so pivoting felt like I was breaking some unspoken rule and made me feel guilty.”
From that experience, Vasquez learned that “it’s OK to prioritise your happiness and growth. If a job isn’t fulfilling you, it’s perfectly fine to explore other options.”
“Don’t let guilt hold you back from finding a career path that truly fits you,” she added.
Having multiple jobs can actually make you a more desirable candidate.
“Employers now often look for candidates who have a range of experiences, have tackled various challenge and have a demonstrated ability to adapt to new environments and learn quickly,” said career coach and diversity consultant Ebony Joyce.
Instead of the outdated advice to stick it out, a more relevant and empowering approach is to actively manage your own career paths, Joyce said. To do that, she recommended embracing continuous learning and being open to training in new skills that are relevant to what you want to do.
“Regularly assess whether your current role aligns with your personal values and long-term career goals,” she said.
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4. Make yourself indispensable.
The message behind this clichéd advice is that if you work hard to make an impact at your job, your company will reward your efforts and help you succeed. It can be comforting to believe, but arbitrary layoffs of talented individuals show the glaring problems with this viewpoint.
“I think that this advice makes us feel like we have some control over what companies decide to do when we absolutely do not [have control] if a company decides to eliminate a product or shut down a division or scale down a department,” career and leadership coach Phoebe Gavinpreviously told HuffPost. “They’re just going to do that.“
Instead of following the advice to “make yourself indispensable,” Gavin said employees should focus on building up their layoff resiliency. They can do this by building up their financial cushion and investing in their network, so that it’s easier to walk away from a role that’s not working for them.
“Humans are social creatures, we tend to share information and give the benefit of the doubt to folks that we know,” Gavin said. “And so if you have great skills, but you don’t have a great network, it is still going to be much more challenging for you to step into another role.”
5. Take on the extra work for the exposure.
Too often, professionals are asked to take on unpaid assignments or additional responsibilities outside of their role because it will supposedly be good for their career.
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“These requests come with the promise of increasing experience or enhancing visibility, but what is often not considered is that the employee is often not given the institutional support to thrive,” said Cicely Horsham-Brathwaite, a career coach and licensed psychologist.
Horsham-Brathwaite said she’s been given this advice and has taken on extra work or roles without a title, but it did not help her career.
“I felt devalued and a bit resentful, and it impacted my ability to be as effective in the role,” she said.
Before accepting any task for exposure, you should have a “formal and financial acknowledgment of the role you are being asked to take on,” Horsham-Brathwaite said. “If the company is unwilling to do so, use this as an opportunity to find a role or organisation that sees your value.”
But take this advice on a case-by-case basis. Sometimes, doing something for exposure can actually help your career. If it can give you a new ally or a marketable skill that you want, it may be worth it.
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Pong gave the example of someone being asked to lead a committee at work. The extra role would be additional, uncompensated work, but it would give this person access to meet certain influential people in the company and also build relationships with them. Working closely with these leaders could convert them into mentors who can later advocate on behalf of this employee.
“So if there were a significant likelihood of this kind of win in taking on the additional work, then it could well be worth it,” Pong said.
6. Wait for things to get better.
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Don’t just wait for work issues to sort themselves out.
Nell Wulfhart, a decision coach who helps professionals get “unstuck,” said the bad advice she often sees clients take is to stay at a job when a work issue does not change because someone keeps promising it will.
Wulfhart shared the classic example of when a colleague quits and you’re asked to pick up their duties.
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“‘It’s temporary,’ you’re told. ‘We’re going to hire a replacement ASAP,’ and then they don’t. And you just keep doing two jobs,” she said. “Whenever you ask when things are going to change, you’re told, ‘Change is coming, management is working on it.’”
Wulfhart said clients will often come to her to ask if they should quit their job because a promised reward, promotion or raise hasn’t arrived.
“They know that rationally it makes sense to quit, but there’s always a sense of hope that the people in charge will make good on their word, despite the lack of evidence to the contrary,” she said.
Instead of waiting around, Wulfhart said that it’s better “to look at what the company does, not listen to what they say.”
“Are they making a visible effort to hire that replacement, get you an assistant or give you a raise? Or are they just talking? Have you seen them make promises in the past and fulfil those promises or not?” she said. “Try ignoring the words for a while and observe actions instead ― you’ll have a lot more data with which to make your decision.”
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Actions speak louder than words. One of the hardest yet most rewarding career lessons is knowing when enough is enough and when it’s time to move on.
Picture the scene: I’ve spent the entire week dreaming of the weekend. I’m no party animal so all I have planned is books, baths, and home-cooked meals three times a day. Quiet, calm, heaven.
Only, when the weekend arrives, it’s sunny and warm. A rarity in Britain and even more so in my home in Scotland. I should go out. I should go to the park to read. I should see my friends. It’s SUNNY, what am I doing indoors!?
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But I don’t want to. My plans involved solely being indoors, at home. Which I stick with as a plan but feel guilty all weekend for doing so, and I worry that I’m missing out.
Sound familiar?
Well, apparently, this is called ‘Sunshine Guilt’.
What is sunshine guilt?
According to Dr. Nadia Teymoorian, a psychologist from the Moment of Clarity Mental Health Center that spoke with Bustle, sunshine guilt is that regretful feeling that settles in whenever you stay inside on a nice day, and it can be especially upsetting if you assume everyone else is outside and living their best life.
Apparently this is more common with people that live in cold places such as Scotland and Ireland. That checks out.
However, mental health campaigner and broadcaster Neev Spencer spoke with The Metro and said that the issue could be that we’re watching people enjoy sunny days on social media and assuming they’re happier and having a better time than we are.
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He said: “Always ground yourself in the knowledge that what you see isn’t always what you get. You may see your friends or colleagues having the “time of their lives” in the sunshine, but bear in mind that if that were truly the case, they might not have had the time to take quite so many carefully curated pictures for their Instagram stories. Being present will always be 100% cooler than not.”
Being present in the bath, reading a book, is better than taking selfies on the beach. Commit that to memory.
