Morning Brew - 🏠 Sidekick’s big day off

Time-saving tools and products we’re really into rn.

• Feeling blue? Today is “Blue Monday”, which purports to be the most depressing day of the year, but may be baseless pseudoscience. Either way, January blues are definitely real, and British Vogue has a list of ways to help you fight them.
• Give yourself an even stronger defense in the fight against dreary winter weather with a glow light that’ll help you fall asleep and wake up alarm-free.
• Artist and writer Morgan Harper Nichols may have cracked the code to decreasing excessive screen time. (Let us know if you try this!)

What’s top-of-mind at the watercooler.

While the pandemic has shifted everything about work and life as we know it, it’s also had a terrible impact on the way we approach our PTO. With margs in Cabo and beaucoup Nutella crêpes in Paris off the table for most of the last two years, many of us have opted to simply not take time off at all. Pre-pandemic studies made it clear that even when there’s not a global crisis happening, Americans aren’t so great at taking their time off, with a shocking 768 million vacation days going unused in 2019 (that’s 2.1 million years of vacation, which, sign us up for).

Though our time away may look different for a while longer, taking it is still key to having a better relationship with work, Art Markman wrote in the Harvard Business Review. If you think about the persistent burnout and the growing number of resignations that we’ve all been witnessing, then the case for taking more time away becomes clear: “Rest and time away increases resilience, which makes people better able to deal with the inevitable setbacks at work. It provides perspective that can help people see new solutions to problems, and it gives people a chance to pursue other life goals, like spending time with family and seeing the world,”  Markman wrote.

So, while exploring exotic locations may not be on the cards for your time off this year, I asked around The Brew to get some ideas on how you can happily spend your time off right at home. Here’s what my colleagues had to say:

• Estefi Herrera, associate project manager: “I used the time off to focus only on me…making nice meals, getting my nails done, going to the park during the day, sleeping in and just only focusing on what would fuel me and not wear me out.”
• McCall Moore, account manager: “I made myself lean into the whole ‘rest is productive’ mindset and took a nap every single day of [winter] break.”
• Vicky Wolak, copy editor: “I tried to structure my day as much as possible (but that's just my personality type). I tried to pray and exercise every day, and I also came up with a bucket list of random things I had to get done or wanted to do and challenged myself to do one or two of those a day. It made me feel really productive because those little life admin tasks weren't hanging over my head when I got back to work.”

Your punch list for when you punch out.

Listen: Insecure may be over, but its amazing 400+ song playlist will live on forever.

Watch: Abbott Elementary, a show highlighting one of the most underappreciated professions, is back from its winter break, meaning now’s the perfect time to catch up on episodes.

Eat: When a recipe calls for tender beef birria AND ramen on its ingredient list, you know it has to be good.

Burning questions of our time.

In our digital and always on world, social media has surprisingly become a tool for users to build their careers. With a new career, opportunity, or connection just a LinkedIn message or tweet away, more professionals are looking to become industry leaders and household names through their social accounts. But this shift also has a darker side, in which people lose opportunities and connections due to their bad behavior online.

How valuable do you think social media is to building your career and building industry connections? Have you ever been offered a professional opportunity because of your online presence? Share your thoughts with me in the inbox!

The Reese vs. Ina Verdict: We’re going to rename y’all the Barefoot Sidekickers, because the overwhelming majority of you identify with Ina’s easygoing ways. Don’t worry, Reeses, we love you too...