Writer and entrepreneur Ryan Holiday has had a varied career, from Hollywood agent assistant to marketing director for American Apparel. He’s put together a list of 37 pieces of hard-fought career advice that’s useful for anyone who works. Examples:

• Find what nobody else wants to do and do it. Find inefficiency and waste and redundancies. Identify leaks and patches to free up resources for new areas. Produce more than everyone else and give your ideas away.

• Always say less than necessary. Saying less than necessary, not interjecting at every chance we get — this is actually the mark not just of a self-disciplined person, but also a very smart and wise person.

• Your creative output, your personal relationships, and your social life—balancing all three is impossible. You can excel in two if you say no to one. If you can’t, you’ll have none.

• When people compete, somebody loses. So go where you’re the only one. Do what only you can do. Run a race with yourself.

— MF

It’s hard to take breaks even though I work from home. I appreciated reading these "5 Simple Guidelines For Better Breaks" and the reminder that 1. Something beats nothing. 2. Moving beats stationary. 3. Social beats solo. 4. Outside beats inside. and 5. Fully detached beats semi-detached. I need to remember to stop multitasking during breaks. — CD 

This post by Julia Evans addresses the misconception that doing good work automatically gets recognized and rewarded, and instead encourages you to maintain a “brag document.” A brag document is your personal record of accomplishments, contributions and learning experiences at work. This can be helpful in promotions and raises when your yearly review rolls around — but more than that it’s a good practice for reflection and discovering possibilities for future development. Here’s the template. — CD 

This article in Fast Company discusses the importance of emotional intelligence (EQ) in the workplace and gives advice on how to cultivate it. Three key signs that you might be lacking EQ are: 1. You often provoke unexpected reactions. 2. You don’t get the help you need from colleagues, and 3. You get passed over for promotions or other opportunities. Cultivating EQ requires developing self-awareness, active listening skills, curiosity, emotional regulation, as well as an ability to accept constructive feedback and show genuine empathy. An introspection practice I like to do at night is to replay the day backwards in my head and relive the day’s interactions through the other person’s eyes. This was advice I picked up for lucid dreaming, but it’s definitely helped me cultivate more emotional intelligence. — CD

If you define success in the conventional ways – wealth, fame, accomplishments — then Sam Altman has a great list of tips on How to Be Successful that are very helpful in nudging you in that direction. Altman is the co-founder of OpenAI and ChatGPT, but he published this essay five years ago before he was “successful.” — KK

This post on Instagram is meant to help you understand the difference between being busy and being productive. It also serves as a reminder that taking a 10-minute break every hour is important, and that you should be your biggest supporter and celebrate your accomplishments each day rather than focus on what didn’t get done. The account @thebraincoach is run by a neuropsychology doctoral student and my mental body is grateful for this kind of social media content. — CD 

Someone on Reddit asked “What’s your best advice from your profession?” and below is a summary of the most upvoted answers. — CD

• Doctor: Never be afraid to get a second opinion. If your doctor is offended, that's one more reason to get one.

• Teacher: Read to your kids from infancy, make books commonplace, and point out things in the pictures. This helps them develop literacy skills from an early age.

• Plumber: Check your basement weekly for leaks or signs of damage, and change your air filter regularly.

• Auto insurance adjuster: Get a dashcam to protect yourself in case of accidents or disputes.

• Librarian: Ditch Audible and get a library card to listen to free audiobooks. Many libraries offer apps where you can download audiobooks straight to your phone.

• Government worker: Find life satisfaction outside of the workplace.

• Sales: Never celebrate until the money is in your account, regardless of how many times the client said yes or if there are signed documents.

• HR: Underpromise, overdeliver, and keep your mouth shut to maintain a good reputation at work.