The end of the Christmas term is coming, you are probably tired and unlikely to process much detail very well so here are three things worth knowing which might make a difference to you in the next week:

* Remember what went well this term. No question has received a response anything like as great as, ‘What would you do if you knew you would fail?’ The correct answer has a lot to do with focusing on the process rather than the outcome and seeing what is happening right now rather than fretting over the final goal, especially if it looks unachievable. How is this term feeling to you at this moment in time? Have you achieved what you hoped? The chances are it has not been perfect. But that is OK because you have achieved a lot this term, you just need to remind yourself of what those things are. Maybe start simple, count how many days you made it into work, how many deadlines you met and how many lessons you taught. Or think about a particular person you helped, an positive event which occurred or just a moment when you felt satisfied with what happened. I can assure you that this term was not perfect for you but there is plenty to be satisfied with so celebrate that.

* The way to make yourself happy is to do something nice for someone else. All around you the world may be falling apart but that does not mean you have no control over anything. In fact you always have control over one thing which is yourself. The something nice in question might involve time or money but the truth is that it need involve nothing more than a smile or asking about someone’s plans for the holidays. As Ryan Holiday says, ‘[generosity] helps the person who receives it but it also changes you into the kind of person who does stuff like that. Apparently Seneca said that every person we meet is an opportunity for kindness. Keep that in mind in these final days of term and as the holiday begins, you will feel much better for it.

* You feel much better if you manage your phone better. This is a great article about what Tech CEOs actually do with technology and the answer is that they do not use it much. Did you know that Sam Altman of Open AI takes notes on paper, that Mark Zuckerberg manages how much time his kids spend on social media and Pavel Durov, founder of Telegram, does not own a smartphone. You have probably heard it all before but you will be better off with no notifications on your phone, only answering emails and messages from a laptop or PC and keeping your phone out of your bedroom.

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