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December is here, and another year has blown by. Chances are, youre going to get some time off for the holidays. If so, you may have a week(-ish) to recharge before you have to ramp back up in January. In order to get the most out of your time off, it would be ideal if you could unplug from work completely to give your mind a rest and to focus on family, friends, and yourself. There are a few things you can do to prepare now that will help a lot and will also make your transition back to the office go smoothly. Close as many tasks as possible Research going back almost 100 years finds that when you have a task to complete, you are highly motivated to finish it. It stays active in your memory, and you seek opportunities to get it done. That tendency is normally a good one. But on a break, it is a factor that will drive your mind back to the workplaceeven when youre supposed to be relaxing. To give yourself the best chance to chill, see if you can close out key tasks before you leave. At a minimum, reach a good stopping place on tasks so that you dont feel like you have left them incomplete. You should also avoid starting any big new projects that will hang over the break. Instead, focus on polishing off as many unfinished things as possible. Comment your work If you take an introductory programming class, the instructors will drill into your head that you should “comment your code” as you go along. The aim is to write down a glossary of key variable names, the purpose of sections of code, and any other information about critical data structures, functions, or procedures that will remind you what the code was about. The idea is that the whole structure seems obvious while youre writing it, but if you have to return to that code weeks, months, or even years later, you will have no recollection of what you did. So, leaving comments will enable you to reconstruct the purpose of that section of code. The same holds true for many of the elements on your current to-do list. When youre in the office daily, you can recall from one day to the next the purpose of various meetings, the status of key projects, and the reasons for decisions that were made about ongoing work. Even after a week off, some of those details may get fuzzy. Before you head out for vacation, take some time to make notes on the core elements of ongoing projects. Include little reminders of why things are being done the way they are. Make sure you have good notes to remind you of meetings the first week or two you’re back from break. It takes extra time to add these notes (particularly if youre not used to doing so), but youll thank yourself later. Also, the AI systems powering many email systems are now trying to add relevant documents and notes to meetings on your calendar. That is great, but take the time to see whether the documents and other information included in the meetings on your calendar are actually relevant to what you need to work on. If not, add some information yourself to make sure youre ready after you get back. Check in with your team If you really want to be able to relax, check in with all of your team members the week before you head out. You probably arent in complete control of every project youre working on. When you talk with your team, find out if there are any major crises brewing that youll need to address when you get back. If there is anything you can do to help with those before the vacation, prioritize that. In addition, get early warning about any last-minute tasks you may be asked to do before heading out. You dont want to feel pressure to finish something on your way out the door to start your break. Most people dont do their best work in such a rushed situation. If you have any direct reports, encourage them to relax, recharge, and renew during the break. The people who work for you probably want you to have a good impression of their work, and some of them may feel like youll appreciate them doing additional work over the holidays. Everyone needs downtime. A word from youassuring them that the best thing they can do during the holiday break is to put their work asidewill go a long way toward helping your team come back feeling refreshed. Dont forget your vacation message You should do your best to avoid checking email over the break. It can be tempting to find out what has come in, but once you start checking, you run the risk of going down a rabbit hole that can eat up several hours of your precious relaxation time. Instead, before you head out the door, take advantage of the tools in your email system to leave an out-of-office message. Lots of people do that routinelybut if you have resisted so far, it is time to give in. If people know youre not going to be responding to messages until the new year, youre not under any pressure to get them a response faster. Of course, if youre in a business in which emergencies can arise, make sure key individuals and clients have a way to reach you should something serious go wrong. But otherwise, structure your communication channels so that there is no need to look at anything until after you get back.
Category:
E-Commerce
For most of my career at LOréal, I sold confidence in a tube: lipstick. But lipstick isnt just about applying color to your lips. Its about identity. Ritual. Power. Beauty has never been superficial. Its always been about self-esteem, self-confidence, and self-expression, knowing that how youre feeling inside is reflected on the outside. Today, the boldest expression of that confidence comes from beyond the makeup bag: Its a full nights sleep working with a skincare routine, balanced hormones supporting a healthy glow, nutrients fueling both energy and radiance, and gut health supporting complexion. The truth is simple: Health is the new lipstick. Health amplifies beauty, and beauty reflects health. HEALTH AND BEAUTY: ONE SYSTEM Beauty and health have always been collaborators, even when industries treated them separately. Both are rooted in science, innovation, and empathy. And both rely on trust, with the aim of helping people feel good in their bodies and confident in their lives. Its not a coincidence that the same ingredients work in products from both sectors. Hyaluronic acid hydrates skin while supporting joint comfort and gum health. Collagen strengthens hair, nails, skin, and bones. Omega-3s reduce inflammation that affects both your complexion and your cardiovascular system. Vitamin C brightens skin while boosting immunity. Consumers already see what brands are beginning to acknowledge: Health and beauty are inseparable. Their retinol serum sits next to their vitamins in the medicine cabinet. They use SPF and track their vitamin D. They meditate and hydrate, move their bodies and manage stressnot as separate rituals, but as one integrated practice of self-care. Younger generations, especially Gen Z, are leading this shift. For them, wellness is identity and self-expression. Their routines blend skincare with supplements, mindfulness with makeup. They dont distinguish between looking good and feeling goodboth are expressions of confidence and authenticity. This mindset is reshaping how the health and beauty industries must operate, not just as parallel markets, but as two sectors converging into a single wellness ecosystem. A CALL-TO-ACTION FOR BRANDS Its time for us not to redefine wellness but embrace it in its entirety. Our consumers arent just investing in their well-being, theyre investing in confidence, energy, and vitality that cant be replicated by the latest shade. That means that as leaders of health, wellness, and beauty brands, we must: 1.Celebrate holistic confidence. Emphasize that outer beauty and inner well-being are inseparable pieces of the same puzzle. 2. Invest in inclusive science. Diverse clinical research ensures that efficacy and safety reflect every skin tone, identity, and body typeand empowers each consumers sense of self. 3. Measure what matters. Lets show impact not just in numbers, but in the confidence, comfort, and care we help people achieve. 4. Align, not compare. Beauty and health brands can share insights, language, and purpose to meet people where their needs intersect. As brands, we should be guided by the consistent actions consumers follow when developing new products: fueling their body with the right nutrients, getting a good nights sleep, managing pain before it interferes with life, and yes, applying that favorite shade of lipstick before stepping out the door. When health and beauty work in harmony, confidence isnt just worn, its lived. Nathalie Gerschtein is the CEO USA and president North America of Haleon.
Category:
E-Commerce
If youre thinking of buying your kid a talking teddy bear, youre likely envisioning it whispering supportive guidance and teaching about the ways of the world. You probably dont imagine them engaging in sexual roleplayor giving advice to toddlers about how to light matches. Yet thats what consumer watchdog the Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) found in a recent test of new toys for the holiday period. FoloToys AI teddy bear Kumma, which uses OpenAIs GPT-4o model to power its speech, was all too willing to go astray when in conversation with kids, PIRG found. Using AI models voice mode for childrens toys makes sense: The tech is tailor-made for the magical tchotchkes that children love, slipping easily onto shelves alongside lifelike dolls that poop and burp, and Tamagotchi-like digital beings that kids want to try and keep alive. The problem is that unlike previous generations of toys, AI-enabled gizmos can veer beyond carefully pre-programmed and vetted responses that are child-friendly. The issue with Kumma highlights a key problem with AI-enabled toys: They often rely on third-party AI models that they dont have control over, and which inevitably can be jailbrokeneither accidentally or deliberatelyto cause child safety headaches. There is very little clarity about the AI models that are being used by the toys, how they were trained and what safeguards they may contain to avoid children coming across content that is not appropriate for their age, says Christine Riefa, a consumer law specialist at the University of Reading. Because of that, childrens-rights group Fairplay issued a warning to parents ahead of the holiday season to suggest that they stay away from AI toys for the sake of their childrens safety. Theres a lack of research supporting the benefits of AI toys, and a lack of research that shows the impacts on children long-term, says Rachel Franz, program director at Fairplays Young Children Thrive Offline program. While FoloToy has stopped selling the Kumma and OpenAI has pulled FoloToys access to its AI models, thats just one AI toy manufacturer among many. Whos liable if things go wrong? Riefa says theres a lack of clarity here, too. Liability issues may concern the data and the way it is collected or kept, she says. It may concern liability for the AI toy pushing a child to harm themselves or others, or recording bank details of a parent. Franz worries thatas with big tech companies racing to one-up each other the stakes are even higher when it comes to child products by toy firms. It’s very clear that these toys are being released without research nor regulatory guardrails, she says. Riefa can see both the AI companies providing the models that help toys talk and the toy companies marketing and selling them to children being liable in legal cases. As the AI features are integrated into a product, it is very likely that liability would rest with the manufacturer of the toy, she says, pointing out that there would likely be legal provisions within the contracts AI companies have that shield them from any harm or wrongdoing. This would therefore leave toy manufacturers who, in fact, may have very little control over the LLMs employed in their toys, to shoulder the liability risks, she adds. But Riefa also points out that while the legal risk lies with the toy companies, the actual risk fully rests with the way the LLM behaves, which would suggest that the AI companies also bear some responsibility. Its perhaps that which has caused OpenAI to push back its AI toy development with Mattel this week. Understanding who really will be liable and to what extent is likely to take a little while yetand legal precedent in the courts. Until thats sorted out, Riefa has a simple suggestion: One step we as a society, as those who care for children, can do right now is to boycott buying these AI toys.
Category:
E-Commerce
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