Hi,

Welcome to the Procrastilearning Newsletter, where you’re free to procrastinate with a meaningful break before getting back to work. The current format:

• 💡 3 ideas worth procrastilearning over

• 🗣️ 2 quotes to help you refocus

• 🪄 1 tip to keep you on track

3 things worth procrastilearning over

1. Soft skills are more important than hard skills in jobs

Back in 2012, Google carried out in-depth research to find what makes a team effective. They found hard skills, like Python or Excel fluency, weren't what came top. It was psychological safety, meaning a nice and caring environment, and dependability that was most important.

But how do you improve your soft skills? You can't exactly get a degree in not being an arsehole. There's also a problem in that 90% of people simply do not have an accurate picture of what their soft skills are. In this great little article from a few years ago, Anne-Laure Le Cunff takes a look to see what can be done.

Reading it, I'm not entirely sure it's going to be true for every job. After all, I think I'd rather have an excellent but unfriendly surgeon cutting open my chest than a useless but empathic one. But as a person who feels they probably have more soft skills than certifiable hard skills, I do find it encouraging.

Of course, these are insights from a few years ago. In a much more recent article from CNBC, we can see what some new surveys are saying about the most important skills to have today since entering the age of generative AI. Another recent survey mentioned in Fast Company suggests we all need to become "AI ethicists". Good luck with that one, Mum!

Of course, many people are worried about their jobs being replaced as AI becomes more and more prevalent. A recent study of the freelancing website Upwork has revealed which sectors are starting to suffer – and, wouldn't you know, writers are 33% less in demand. Good job I write this newsletter for myself 😅

2. Millions of people who had their DNA tested have had their data stolen

Last year, the most famous company in commercial genetic testing, 23andMe, was hacked for its data. Many had their information stolen, some including their genetic sequences.

There’s more on this from Wired here (paywall) or here as a podcast.

It's stories like this that put me off genetic testing. I would genuinely like to screen myself and my family for hereditary diseases, but when the likeliness is that that data might fall into the hands of hackers and spammers, it just feels too depressing.

What do you think? Is it worth the leap?

3. TikTok is making niche fashions popular

And they all have fantastic names. Here are some links to examples of these fashions in order of popularity:

• Cottagecore (62 million views)

• Cybercore (1.7 billion views)

• Goblincore AKA gremlincore (2.1 billion views)

• Naturecore (45 billion views)

@ro.collot

Just wanna Dripp at McDo :3 #fypシ #fyp #cybery2kfashion #cybery2koutfit #cybery2kroblox #cybery2k #minustwo

I think the most valuable lesson here is that if you take a random word and add "core" to the end, you're bound to get results on TikTok. Here are some more terms with lots of views and baffling videos: bardcore, frogcore, nostalgiacore, and finally an Arabic video explaining what Emaraticore and Egyptiancore are.

You now have no need to ever look at TikTok again. You're welcome.

2 quotes to keep in mind

1 tip to help your memory

Seek out novelty every day.

Novelty gets your brain to create new pathways and stay fresh, which can give your memory a boost. I hope this newsletter gives you at least a small hit that helps to that end.

Here's a rain-soaked Canadian in a forest explaining some simple tips to make novelty work for you. Highly recommended if you like the style of Wes Anderson movies.

That's all for today. Many thanks for reading. Here’s a picture of a tapir.

Adam

Adam Zulawski
Procrastilearning on Beehiiv / More stuff
Currently reading: Games People Play by Eric Berne

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