2018 was a rocky year for Apple. Despite becoming the world’s first trillion-dollar company this summer, it has seen disappointing sales for the latest iPhone–its main cash cow–and, worse, analysts, industry players, journalists, and users believe that the Cupertino company has stopped innovating in favor of milking its user base with marginally updated products at higher price points. It’s a dangerous game that can go south really fast.

It’s not that the Apple Watch Series 4 or the new iPad Pro are bad products. They are good. But having a couple of good products and a passable phone is not enough in a hyper-competitive market where companies are working on new form factors for phones, computers, and wearables. The gap between Android and the iPhone widens –Apple has dropped to the number three phone manufacturer worldwide. Microsoft is quickly becoming the PC and tablet gold standard. Web services are dominated by Google and Amazon. And hundreds of companies are trying to create the next big thing. If Apple wants to stay on top, Tim Cook and his minions must fix a lot of things and, perhaps more importantly, start taking risks. Here’s the laundry list for 2019.

Streamline the UX across all devices

As Apple’s product line diversified over the past few years, so did the user experience. Apple needs to streamline its UX across all its hardware platforms. iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Watch are all different hardware platforms that feel similar but are remarkably inconsistent at times. And other times, it’s just bad, introducing hidden features and gestures that are only used by experts. It’s not only about keeping a unified graphic appearance–although that’s important, too.

It’s about unifying gestures and UI conventions while keeping it all user-centric, using scientific testing for usability–a UX research process that Apple abandoned a long time ago. If it is successful, all the products in the Apple lineup will offer a seamless intuitive experience, so the user has only to learn one set of conventions rather than dozen.

Look at Microsoft, a company that has focused hard–sometimes painfully so, like the glorious failure of Windows Phone shows–on creating a unified user experience across all its devices. From the operating system to its software programs and its hardware division, the Redmond company wants everything to be consistent. Its goal is to have a UX that scales across all its devices–including its future “phone” product, Andromeda. To do this, it has set standards that allow apps to run in any device’s form factor and adapt to it automatically and consistently. Google is working on the same goal, extending the same user experience from its phones into new types of phones, tablets, computers, wearables, and even cars using apps that can adapt to multiple hardware form factors.

Apple must focus on developing an elegant interface that can truly scale across all its devices, which includes coming up with a coherent laptop-tablet strategy like the Surface.

Fix all the broken crap

Aside from the tired and universally cloned iPhone–which has kept the same candybar design since the iPhone 6 in 2014–Apple hardware can be beautiful. But it also has quality assurance problems that are unacceptable in any product, but especially for its price tags.

The company had multiple quality problems in 2018. Its accessories, one of Apple’s fastest growing profit makers, are especially offensive. The company sells overpriced dongles and cables that may fail within months or weeks of usage. But there have been problems through many of its product lines: iPhone displays that fail, user data lost forever thanks to faulty solid state drives, lousy keyboards in laptops, poor battery life. The fact that the latest iPhone needs almost twice as many repairs as previous iPhones because they are made of glass all around–no matter how allegedly stronger they get every year–doesn’t exactly help quality perception.

Apple’s software and services are no exception. iCloud is a bad joke that Apple has unsuccessfully tried to fix since its introduction. It doesn’t work properly half of the time, with confusing ways to share documents and slow synchronization that often stops working altogether, which is why the tech site Lifehacker advised its readers to stop using iCloud. When you compare it to practically any other cloud service out there, the difference is staggering.

Make one great iPhone

The iPhone XS, supposedly Apple’s latest and greatest phone, has failed to innovate at all. It is essentially the same as the iPhone X: Same substandard battery life, same fragile all-glass body that requires ugly cases, and same notch eyesore on a body from 2014. The iPhone fails the battery life, durability, and aesthetic tests–the golden trifecta.

The fact is that Apple has been releasing the same phone since 2014–with incremental adjustments in the camera, CPU speed, and frothy features like Animojis. But there have been no advance in any of those three crucial aspects that are either truly useful or truly appealing to consumers. Hence the sales slump that has triggered multiple iPhone suppliers to drastically cut component orders. The company has slashed prices of its newest phones and dramatically increased advertising spending.

It’s time to get back to basics and release a single great phone. One that has a two-day battery life instead of this: an iPhone XS lasts 9 hour 41 minutes versus the 14 hours of a Huawei P20 Pro.

It has to be phone that is made of materials that don’t need a case, introducing surfaces that age well like ceramics, leather, carbon fiber, rubber, graphene, or even wood. There are also plenty of really cool polymers. And while we are at it: Why doesn’t Apple let consumers personalize their iPhones like it does with the Apple Watch?

A phone that perhaps can be used with one hand. One that kills Apple’s worst design mistake and uses a new design language, abandoning the rounded Chinese-clone candy bar aesthetic.

Lastly, simplify the phone lineup. I understand the market wants different price points, but having the iPhone 7, 8, XR, and XS in different variations is starting to feel like the late ’90s Macintosh line, which Steve Jobs eliminated because no consumer could understand it.

Having a single amazing iPhone will not only make it easier for consumers to buy, but also turn the product into an event that makes people line up again for days. But unfortunately, according to at least one analyst, it doesn’t seem that Apple will be releasing a radically different iPhone.

Stop trying to milk consumers

The company needs to stop being ludicrous about pricing. Sure, Apple exists to make a profit, but it’s absurd that the company is trying to peddle phones that cost as much as computers with no distinctive advantages to competition from makers like Xiaomi or OnePlus. It’s absurd that Apple is trying to make us pay $70 for a 61 W charger that is rated 1 out of 5 stars when there are much better chargers for $50 rated 4.5 stars. It’s absolutely offensive that Apple is selling $35 USB-C cables rated 2.5 stars out of 5. There are plenty of third parties out there that offer better quality hardware and accessories for a fraction of the price. Apple is counting on the fanboy suckers and its “official product” status to make obscene margins out of poorly built stuff.

Take a risk

Apple needs to resume true innovation. It needs to resist the temptation to add vacuous features and marginal upgrades to its hardware and software–which only leads to diminishing returns–and focus on developing truly breakthrough stuff.

When was the last time anyone said, “Oh wow, Apple did it again!”? Perhaps it was the iPad introduction. The Apple Watch Series 4 health features, like heart rate and ECG monitoring, were close to getting us to that point, but there’s a need for more if the company really wants to leapfrog everyone else once again.

Apple needs to take risks because if it doesn’t, it will be gone, like every other company that stopped innovating once it was at the top.

Go harder on what works

And of course, Apple needs to keep up the good stuff. The company’s stance on privacy–declaring it a fundamental right in opposition to Google and Facebook profiteering on users’ data–is the right one. The company needs to keep making that promise real, as it did in October by allowing people to download their own data, or by standing up to governmental pressure.

It also needs to keep expanding its product recycling strategy. But it needs to stop stifling third-party repair services. Using the aluminum from old recycled products to create new ones reduces their carbon footprint but allowing people to repair products at a low cost is even better for the environment.

In the end, maybe it’s about getting back to its roots and finding its mission again. Not to make the greatest profit. Not to be the most valuable company. It’s time to get back to changing the world one desktop at a time, one pocket and one wrist and one head and one anything at a time. The world needs change. Apple has the billions and the brilliant engineers. Go change it and win 2019.

Did you know that our obsession with productivity goes back nearly 300 years? Today’s time management gurus can thank Benjamin Franklin not only for creating the first to-do list but also for getting at the essence of what it means to be productive. He did this by asking himself two simple questions, one each morning and one at the end of each day. “What good shall I do this day?” and “What good have I done today?”

Left out of this lofty assessment was the actual business of getting stuff done. Which is what we’re here to help you with. Fast Company’s reporting and research on productivity is extensive (we even have a dedicated podcast that gives you the skinny on how to wrestle the most out of a workday), so as the calendar turns to a new year, we’ve mined this trove of intel to advise you on what to buy to have your best, most productive year yet.

The ultimate productivity app

The Things app has been completely redesigned and includes new features to boost the humble to-do list. Organized by time of day, you can add more details (tags, deadlines) that are searchable and link with your other devices. Things also has a feature to set both short- and long-term goals, and check off completed steps.

iOS $9.99 for phone and watch; $49.99 for Mac

A politeness tool for busy people

Any time you have a meeting on your calendar, CircleUp sends a daily summary with links that open a customizable template email, addressed to the people you met with, thanking them for their time.

CircleUp, $5 per month

A great read on how to make effective changes

Make Time  was penned by the creators of GV’s (formerly Google Ventures) renowned “design sprint. They have helped hundreds of teams solve intractable problems by changing how they work. In this book, they specifically show you how making small shifts in your day can save you from distraction and help you focus.

Amazon, $18.36

Daily buzz delivered to your doorstep

Stay fueled and save time by getting coffee delivered from Kohana Coffee, the first roaster to bring shelf-stable cold brew to the U.S. market. Kohana exclusively buys organic, fairly traded beans from female growers.

Kohana Coffee, 32 oz cold brew $12.50 and up; bags of beans $9.89; 10% off for monthly subscription

A thirst-quenching confidence booster

Stay hydrated and give your self-confidence a productive boost. These stickers are latest offering from PleaseNotes. Each a different quality or feeling on the front, and a matching affirmation on the back, like “Courage–I Am Choosing To Take Risks And Dare Greatly.”

PleaseNotes Label of Love Water Bottle Affirmations

Set of 3 reusable labels $12.95

An app to ensure you’ll always be at your best

The latest version of the Calm sleep app offers guided meditation and videos that help you gently stretch and prepare for a good night. Exclusive music and sound can be used to relax or focus. New sessions are released each day and Sleep Stories are new each week.

Calm, free trial subscription provides access to the entire catalog; otherwise $12.99/month, $59.99/year, and $299.99 for a lifetime subscription

The most productive way to rise and shine

The most productive way to sleep is to keep the phone away from your bed. This latest version of Philips’s Wake-Up Light Alarm Clock changes color and intensity until you rise (and if you don’t, it plays music). It does double duty as a bedside lamp and this latest version comes with a free three-month subscription to the Headspace meditation app.

Amazon, $49.99

The countdown to the new year is on. It’s that time when we reflect upon the previous year and set big goals for the year ahead. Maybe you’ve already written down your goals, said them out loud to family and friends, or made a vision board.

While many of us start January 1 with great goals and plans for the year, around mid-February (or earlier), life gets in the way and all those amazing goals start to drift further and further away.

Lara Casey, creator of the Powersheets Intentional Goal Planner, CEO of Cultivate What Matters,  and author of Cultivate: A Grace-Filled Guide to Growing an Intentional Life, says many of our New Year’s resolutions fail because the traditional method of goal planning is faulty. Goal setting, says Casey, shouldn’t be a once-a-year event, but should become part of our regular routine.

Here, she shares her tips for incorporating goal setting into your daily life:

1. Create your “big picture”

Say you want to start your own catering company in 2019. Look ahead five or 10 years from now and picture what your life looks like having accomplished this goal. Who are the people in your life? What are you doing? Where do you live? What does your home look like? What does your storefront sign look like? Pick out all the little details and create your big picture.

“So many of us are scared to think of that question. It seems too far away, but when you think big picture, it’s a gut check for today,” says Casey. What you see in the big picture will tell you what really matters to you and what doesn’t, and will help you to determine whether the things you’re doing today and the decisions you make today are pointing you towards achieving the big picture, or away from it.

2. Break your goal into even smaller steps than you think you need

We’ve all heard the goal setting mantra of breaking down a big goal into small steps, but Casey says the steps have to be much smaller than we think. When reaching a wellness goal, for example. The first step can’t be “I’m going to exercise three days a week.” Although that may sound like a small step, the real small step for our brains is putting on our gym shoes. Remember, our brains don’t really like change, so we need to trick our brain into adopting the new habit by breaking things down into small steps that it can handle.

Write down every step as you would a recipe. Purchase gym shoes. Pack gym bag. Put gym bag in the car. Schedule gym time in calendar. Drive to the gym.

Setting all of these small goals also allows you to celebrate the small steps along the way to progress, proving to your brain that you are making progress and putting that goal in closer reach.

3. Surround yourself with your goal every day

If you’ve ever tried to learn a new language, you probably didn’t have much success if you simply read a textbook and put it away on the bookshelf. But if you surround yourself with that language, through conversation, music, and books, you can probably now say that you have a good grasp of the language, if not that you are fluent in it.

The same process applies to goal setting. Surrounding yourself with your goals every day will help you to realize them. Create a vision board or write your goals on a Post-it and leave it on your monitor. Seeing your goals front and center in your everyday life tells your brain that this thing is important and allows you to make decisions that will lead you towards your goal. When faced with a choice–to attend a networking event or to spend money on an online training course, for example–seeing your goal every day will remind you to make the decision that will bring you closer to achieving the things you desire.

4. SMART Plus Heart Goals

We’ve all heard of SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-based), but Casey says SMART goals are missing a secret ingredient that is really the driving force to success–the secret sauce, she calls it. “Our brains really like to be nice and cozy and comfortable and seek out habit and routine,” she says. In order to allow your brain to accept the new habit you want to adopt, Casey says the goal needs to be connected to your big picture, your heart. “When the goal you want to achieve matters to you in the big picture, you will follow through,” she says. “And when you mess up, you’ll get back up, because your HEART is in it.”

“I could set a SMART goal to run a 5K, but if there’s no connection to my values, to my big picture, my brain will go to the couch,” says Casey. Instead of setting the SMART goal “I’m going to run a 5K,” set the HEART goal, “I’m going to run a 5K because I want to live a healthy life and be able to keep up with my kids.”

“If our goals aren’t bigger than us, bigger than our circumstances, bigger than our needs that we have today, your brain won’t be motivated to push through that hard period of change,” says Casey.

5. Schedule 90-day check-ins

“Our brains can’t focus on something intensely for over 90 days,” says Casey. Breaking your goals down into 90-day chunks and revisiting them on a quarterly basis not only helps you to stay on track but allows you to check in with your goals and determine whether they are still in line with your value system or whether something in your life has changed and you now need to alter that goal somehow.

So before you forget about your New Year’s resolution, schedule these check-ins into your calendar, create your vision board, break your goals into small steps, align your goal with your values, close your eyes, and see yourself having achieved this milestone.

What happens after you’ve been canceled?

In some cases, it must be a twisted relief. There has to be some kind of liberation in having the whole world know your dark secret. Once the thing you most dreaded coming to light has surfaced, the weight of all that dread instantly melts away, replaced by new, unfamiliar forms of dread. Although the reputation and career you painstakingly built has come crashing down around you, perhaps there will be a way, in time, to build it up again even better this time, unencumbered by having something to hide.

This is not how Kevin Spacey and Louis CK have handled their respective cancellations.

As the year comes to a close, both men have proven in different ways that they have not learned anything from having their terrible secrets exposed. They have taken the freedom that comes with having nothing left to lose, and instead of building something new, they’ve turned the wreckage of their careers into a shrine to their own supposed victimhood.

“I have spent my long and lucky career talking and saying anything I want,” Louis CK wrote in a semi-apologetic statement after the 2017 New York Times exposé. “I will now step back and take a long time to listen.” As we’ve observed since around August, the disgraced comedian ended up taking less than a year to listen to people explain why masturbating in front of women coworkers without their consent counts as an abuse of power, before returning to the stage to say anything he wants. After a Sunday night leak of a recent, full Louis CK set, we now have our clearest picture yet of what it is the comic now wants to say.

In addition to the expected material about what it’s like to lose $35M in a single day–with nary a whisper of how he brought upon this financial apocalypse himself–Louis CK aired some brand-new grievances. Apparently, the comic once famous for his trenchant observations about society and the struggles of being a parent has resorted to status quo old-man tirades that could be easily mistaken for alt-right anguish.

The leak of his entire set has since been removed from YouTube, but the Twitter user who most prominently spread awareness of it on Sunday night, Mike Pearl, helpfully transcribed one of the more offending bits.

Louis CK, 2017: "I have spent my long and lucky career talking and saying anything I want. I will now step back and take a long time to listen"
Louis CK, 2018: pic.twitter.com/2qN1RrbgPH

— Mike Pearl (@MikeLeePearl) December 31, 2018

What could be less edgy in extremely late-2018 than railing against kids’ gender identity? What’s next–a Caitlin Jenner chunk? This material scans as a grievance he may have once thought better of airing, but feels free to blast out now that he’s no longer constrained by the strictures of What People Will Think.

telling moment in the bootleg Louis CK set is when, after a particularly crude bit, he jokingly tells the crowd, "What are you – going to take away my birthday? My life is over. I don't give a shit." audience laughs.

— Dave Itzkoff (@ditzkoff) December 31, 2018

Later on in the set, he chooses an even more misguided target: the Parkland shooting survivors.

“They testify in front of Congress, these kids? What are they doing? You’re young, you should be crazy, you should be unhinged, not in a suit,” Louis CK vents. “You’re not interesting. Because you went to a high school where kids got shot? Why does that mean I have to listen to you? . . . . You didn’t get shot, you pushed some fat kid in the way, and now I’ve gotta listen to you talking?”

Fellow embattled comedian Aziz Ansari recently returned to the stage with jokes about progressive activists, but he didn’t go nearly this far. One of the worst parts about Louis CK’s new material leaking, though, is that his takeaway from the corresponding outrage will be that people are now too sensitive to take a joke, not that these jokes simply suck.

We’ve worked with plenty of comedians who have talked about us in a genuine, hilarious way.

This is just being a dick. https://t.co/fDVLHACZZT

— Delaney Tarr (@delaneytarr) December 31, 2018

Hey Louis CK – since you like making fun of me and other Parkland survivors behind closed doors, I’m right here if you want to talk. Just try to keep it in your pants, ok?

— Aalayah Eastmond (@AalayahEastmond) December 31, 2018

Let’s leave CK aside for a moment (maybe more than a moment–what about forever?) and move on to Kevin Spacey. As you’ll recall, Spacey has been accused of more horrific sexual abuse than his masturbating counterpart. The former House of Cards star allegedly once came on to his Broadway co-star Anthony Rapp when Rapp was just 14. Later, 20 more men alleged that Spacey had sexually harassed them in one form or another, and the cast and crew of House of Cards reported that the star’s flirtations, and worse, made for a toxic work environment. Spacey responded by disappearing entirely for a year, and his recent return to public view suggests that he should have stayed away.

First, there was the cryptic Christmas Eve video. Conveniently arriving the day the star was hit with charges for his most serious allegation yet–the felony sexual assault of a teenager in July 2016–the video found the actor semi-in character as House of Cards’ Frank Underwood, addressing his own predicament.

Here’s a key section of the bizarre video:

You wouldn’t believe the worst without evidence, would you? You wouldn’t rush to judgment without facts, would you? Did you? All this presumption made for such an unsatisfying ending, and to think it could have been such a memorable send-off. I can promise you this: If I didn’t pay the price for the things we both know I did, I’m certainly not going to pay the price for the things I didn’t do.

Okay! As if this impossible-to-swallow deflection weren’t bad enough, over the weekend the actor emerged to hand-deliver pizza to paparazzi waiting to photograph him pre-arraignment. He did so while wearing a hat that read “Retired Since 2017.”

For real.

As a joke, the hat is as unfunny as any of the above Louis CK material. Spacey didn’t “retire” in 2017; he was outed as a sexual predator with pedophilic tendencies. With his freedom hanging in jeopardy, Spacey is now projecting the unbothered smirk of someone who has either done nothing wrong or thinks he can buy his way out of trouble. (We suspect it’s the latter.)

What is clear in both cases is that these men see their current predicaments as something that happened to them, rather than something they inflicted on other people, for which they are now being held to account. It’s amazing to see Louis CK, who has survived only a traumatic experience of his own making, paint the Parkland survivors as mere spotlight-seekers. The old Louis CK  probably would have something to say about hypocrisy on that scale.

Since practically no one will miss 2018, New Year’s Eve celebrations are probably going to be extra spectacular this year. According to New York City officials, Times Square–the center of it all–could see almost 2 million visitors, while more conservative (read: realistic) estimates put the number at closer to 100,000.

Either way, a lot of people will be packed into Midtown Manhattan this evening to watch the star-studded musical performances and ceremonial dropping of the ball. Snoop Dogg, Sting, and Christina Aguilera are among those scheduled to perform. On a more serious note, this year’s countdown will be led by the Committee to Protect Journalists in a special tribute to press freedom.

You can find the full NYE lineup and schedule here.

Of course, if you actually live in New York City (or if you’re lucky enough to count a few cranky New Yorkers among your Instagram friends), you already know not to be anywhere near Times Square on New Year’s Eve. For most of us, seeing the ball drop on a screen from the comfort of our tiny apartments is exciting enough. For cord cutters, that means finding the proper TV streaming outlet.

First, the easy way to stream: The Times Square District Management Association is offering a live stream of the ball drop and performances directly on its website. The webcast begins this afternoon (Monday, December 31), at 5 p.m. ET. You can find the webcast here or via the embedded video below:

Additionally, NBC, ABC, Fox, CNN, and Fox News all plan to offer their own brand of fun New Year’s Eve coverage this evening. If you want to live stream some of that coverage on your phone, computer, or smart TV, you have plenty of options. Here’s the quick rundown of the scheduled programming via Billboard:

• ABC: Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest (8 p.m. to 2 a.m. ET).
• NBC: New Year’s Eve with Chrissy Teigen and Leslie Jones (starts at 10 p.m. ET)
• Fox: New Year’s Eve with Steve Harvey (starts at 10 p.m. ET)
• CNN: New Year’s Eve with Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen (starts at 8 p.m.)
• Fox News: All-American New Year with Lisa “Kennedy” Montgomery and Pete Hegseth

Websites and mobile apps: The easiest way to stream this coverage is to visit the networks’ websites or download their mobile apps, but typically you’ll need a login from a cable or satellite TV company to stream their coverage that way.

Live TV streaming services: If you don’t have access to pay-TV credentials, you can stream these networks through a standalone TV streaming service. The most popular ones are Sling TV, PlayStation Vue, Hulu with Live TV, FuboTV, and YouTube TV.

Not all the networks are offered on each of these services, so be sure to check first before signing up. The best part is, some of these services are offering a free trial for at least a week, which means you don’t have to pay until next year.

If you’re one of those people who believe that Netflix will swallow all of entertainment and traditional Hollywood is incapable of stopping it, the streaming giant gave you one helluva end-of-year present to show how you how right you are.

The last week of the year is traditionally among the sleepiest on television. There are no new shows, as the TV industry cedes space for moviegoing and sports programming. Perhaps that made sense for 70 years but no more.

Netflix has tried to alleviate the holiday doldrums for several years now, releasing new series and movies in late December. But never before with quite this much brio or apparent success.

Let’s start with The Christmas Chronicles, starring Kurt Russell as Santa, which came out all the way back on Thanksgiving Day. Christmas movies have become televised wallpaper, airing nonstop on places like the Hallmark Channel and generally adhering so closely to one of three holiday plots that they’re virtually indistinguishable.

Within that context, it’s impressive then that Christmas Chronicles has appeared to break through, whether through its stunt casting of Russell, who’s been on our screens for an astonishing 55 years, or in its slight subversion of Christmas tropes by casting them within a car-theft caper. (Some have speculated that the movie has succeeded because it also operates as MAGA Santa: Russell needs his magical red hat to create Christmas cheer and deliver all the presents.)

Netflix chief creative officer Ted Sarandos told investors that the movie garnered 20 million streams in its first week, making it the equivalent of a $200 million theatrical opening. More on this in a moment, but this is almost certainly a pile of horse apples. Or a case of comparing horse apples to holiday oranges. By contrast, The Grinch, the most successful holiday-themed movie since its live-action forerunner, 2000’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas, made $88 million in its first week in theaters.

Regardless, Christmas Chronicles continued to generate conversation into the holiday week (the only real nebulous anecdotal metric one can use to discern whether a Netflix show has made a dent) and for that it deserves kudos.

But that was merely an appetizer for the movie–and head-scratching stat–that should have shook Hollywood to its core and led them to hustle back from Aspen and St. Barts and get to work. We’re talking about Bird Box.

Took off my blindfold this morning to discover that 45,037,125 Netflix accounts have already watched Bird Box — best first 7 days ever for a Netflix film! pic.twitter.com/uorU3cSzHR

— Netflix Film (@NetflixFilm) December 28, 2018

At first blush, this statistic was confusing (and curiously timed given that it came at the end of a week of internet conversation about how many internet metrics are fake). Things have been so poisoned that we no longer can assume the meaning of the word “watch,” given that it’s been defined down to include one-second views.

Miraculously, Netflix responded to an inquiry about the speculation:

Netflix confirms @RichBTIG tweet with regards to Bird Box. Netflix is saying it counts a view as when an account consumes more than 70% of the movie. This is only for Bird Box not other content on site.

— Joe Flint (@JBFlint) December 30, 2018

Let’s leave aside for a moment that caveat that the 70% completion standard applies only to Bird Box, a thinking-face emoji if ever there was one. (So how long did those 20 million people stick with The Christmas Chronicles? We’ll likely never know!) Let’s also ignore some of the more ham-fisted attempts to compare Bird Box to movies in theaters. What matters is that no one in TV is sniffing anything remotely like 45 million viewers in 7 days for a single movie. Especially in the depths of December.

But there’s more! Netflix dropped Black Mirror: Bandersnatch on December 28, an interactive movie for adults that lets viewers choose their own adventure through the latest in the dystopian tech universe created by Charlie Brooker. According to Variety, the film, which has five possible endings but reputedly one trillion potential permutations, can be viewed in as little as 40 minutes but the average viewing time has been 90 minutes.

For kids and their parents, the New Year’s Eve Countdown Collection consists of 14 ways to ring in the new year with the help of Boss Baby or Fuller House or other Netflix kids shows. Families don’t have to wait until midnight to have a celebration or feel left out of Ryan Seacrest, Steve Harvey, or Anderson Cooper ushering in 2019.

I haven’t even mentioned the Taylor Swift concert film, which debuted on Netflix on New Year’s Eve, or any of the other Netflix shows, specials, and movies that have dropped recently and generated a fair amount of buzz, from Bruce Springsteen’s Broadway show to holiday versions of Nailed It and Great British Baking Show.

What’s remarkable is that this is the sixth year (!) Netflix has offered these on-demand New Year’s countdowns, and the company claims that its countdowns average 5 million views annually. It’s released event programming for holiday consumption for at least the last few years. By holiday 2018, this isn’t a stealth move, and this was the year that the rest of Hollywood and even its digital counterparts acknowledged Netflix as its rival to be vanquished.

Yet where are they?

Have the traditional networks done anything in the last week that counts as an event? How about the premium cable folks like HBO? Disney is worried about Mary Poppins Returns in theaters and WarnerMedia has Aquaman. WarnerMedia’s HBO is promoting True Detective season three, which comes out on January 13, and Game of Thrones, which returns in April! Amazon is pushing season two of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, which came out almost four weeks ago, and Hulu is leading with the ability to watch live TV to see college football bowl games. This is the old playbook.

This is not a good sign for the folks who have designs on thwarting Netflix in the years ahead. Because here’s the thing: The consensus seems to be that Bird Box is a not very good movie. Bandersnatch is more interesting as a gaming-style experiment than it is compelling entertainment. Imagine if this stuff was actually good! What kind of numbers would they draw then? How strong would the engagement be?

BTIG analyst Rich Greenfield pointed out that Netflix has topped the Apple App Store download lists this holiday season, a spot usually reserved for Instagram or Facebook.

Something fascinating is happening this weekend — post #xmas the #1 app in the US free iOS store is @netflix— not the apps you'd expect like @instagram or @YouTube ????

???? is it the impact of getting new connected TV, signing up for $NFLX and you download app to all devices? pic.twitter.com/MlnXCSwNYt

— Rich Greenfield (@RichBTIG) December 30, 2018

I would not be surprised to see Netflix beat subscriber growth estimates when it releases earnings on January 17 and for it to cite some or all of its holiday onslaught as a central element in its successful fourth quarter.

What if Netflix could keep up this brilliant counterprogramming and inventive experimentation not only for the holiday season but for every season? They could have a truly insurmountable lead before any of its would-be killers even launch.

Because if you’re playing on an empty field–as Netflix seems to be–it’s rather easy to score.

Years ago, Fast Company put together a statistical, 100% scientific analysis proving that January is in fact the weirdest month of the year for movies. This study coincided with the release of Mortdecai, a film about Johnny Depp’s bracingly eccentric mustache, but it was mainly focused on the regularity of new Underworld and Resident Evil offerings ringing in the new year, along with cinematic abominations like Kangaroo Jack. Well, this year things are different. No, that doesn’t mean a surplus of Oscar-y movies storming the box office in January, but there appears to be slightly less garbage. We’ve got the promising M. Night Shyamalan sequel, Glass, on the way, along with Taraji P. Henson’s gender-flipped take on What Women Want. (Whose title you can probably guess.) And nary a Resident Evil or Mortdecai-caliber dud in sight! Here’s what else you’ll be watching and listening to while keeping warm this winter.

MOVIES

• Escape Room, January 4
• A Dog’s Way Home, January 11
• The Upside, January 11
• What Men Want, January 11
• Wonders of the Sea 3D, January 17
• Glass, January 18
• Don’t Come Back From the Moon, January 18
• I Hate Kids, January 18
• The Nightingale, January 25
• Serenity, January 25

MOVIES AT HOME

• State Like Sleep, January 4
• When Heroes Fly, January 10 on Netflix
• The Last Laugh, January 11 on Netflix
• Revenger, January 15 on Netflix
• All These Small Moments, January 17
• FYRE: The Greatest Party That Never Happened, January 18 on Netflix
• Girl, January 18 on Netflix
• Grace and Frankie, January 18 on Netflix
• Brexit, January 19 on HBO
• Conversations With A Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes, January 24 on Netflix
• Roy Wood Jr.: No One Loves You, January 25 on Comedy Central
• Amanda Seales: I Be Knowin’, January 26 on HBO

MUSIC

• Aesop Rock and Tobacco – Malibu Ken, January 18
• Deerhunter – Why Hasn’t Everything Already Disappeared?, January 18
• Joe Jackson – Fool, January 18
• Juliana Hatfield – Weird, January 18
• Maggie Rogers – Heard It In A Past Life, January 18
• Pedro The Lion – Phoenix, January 18
• Sharon Van Etten – Remind Me Tomorrow, January 18
• The Twilight Sad – It Won/t Be Like This All the Time, January 18
• Toro y Moi – Outer Peace, January 18
• Backstreet Boys – DNA, January 25
• Bring Me the Horizon – amo, January 25
• DAWN – new breed, January 25
• FIDLAR – Almost Free, January 25
• Meghan Trainor – Treat Myself, January 25
• Michael Franti & Spearhead – Stay Human, Vol. II, January 25
• Say Anything – Oliver Appropriate, January 25
• Sneaks – Highway Hypnosis, January 25
• Swervedriver – Future Ruins, January 25
• The Dandy Warhols – Why You So Crazy, January 25
• ​Kid Koala – Music to Draw To: Io, January 25

TV

• Comedians of the World, January 1 on Netflix
• A Series of Unfortunate Events, January 1 on Netflix
• Tidying Up with Marie Kondo, January 1 on Netflix
• grown-ish, January 2 on Freeform
• Love & Hip Hop: Miami, January 2 on VH1
• MythBusters Jr., January 2 on Science
• Project Runway All Stars, January 2 on Lifetime
• Gotham, January 3 on Fox
• Surviving R. Kelly, January 3 on Lifetime
• The Titan Games, January 3 on NBC
• Travel Man, January 3 on Ovation
• Ron Funches: Giggle Fit, January 4 on Comedy Central
• Young Justice: Outsiders, January 4 on DC Universe
• 76th Annual Golden Globe Awards, January 6 on NBC
• Ellen’s Game of Games, January 8 on NBC
• Good Trouble, January 8 on Freeform
• Lindsay Lohan’s Beach Club, January 8 on MTV
• I’m Sorry, January 9 on truTV
• Jon Glaser Loves Gear, January 9 on truTV
• Schooled, January 9 on ABC
• You’re the Worst, January 9 on FXX
• Brooklyn Nine-Nine, January 10 on NBC
• Fam, January 10 on CBS
• Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, January 11 on CW
• Friends From College, January 11 on Netflix
• Future Man, January 11 on Hulu
• Sex Education, January 11 on Netflix
• True Detective, January 13 on HBO
• Valley of the Boom, January 13 on Nat Geo
• The Passage, January 14 on Fox
• Those Who Can’t, January 14 on truTV
• Corporate, January 15 on Comedy Central
• Drunk History, January 15 on Comedy Central
• Roswell, New Mexico, January 15 on CW
• Riverdale, January 16 on CW
• Schitt’s Creek, January 16 on Pop
• Carmen Sandiego, January 18 on Netflix
• Trigger Warning with Killer Mike, January 18 on Netflix
• Black Monday, January 20 on Showtime
• Crashing, January 20 on HBO
• High Maintenance, January 20 on HBO
• Shameless, January 20 on Showtime
• SMILF, January 20 on Showtime
• Supergirl, January 20 on CW
• Arrow, January 21 on CW
• Black Lightning, January 21 on CW
• Broad City, January 24 on Comedy Central
• The Other Two, January 24 on Comedy Central
• Kingdom, January 25 on Netflix
• Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, January 25 on Netflix
• Rent, January 27 on Fox
• I Am the Night, January 28 on TNT
• Will & Grace, January 31 on NBC

BOOKS

• Bad with Money: The Imperfect Art of Getting Your Financial Sh*t Together by Gaby Dunn, January 1
• Moscow by Boogie, January 8
• An Orchestra of Minorities by Chigozie Obioma, January 8
• This is Los Angeles by Estevan Oriol, January 8
• The Truths We Hold: An American Journey by Kamala Harris, January 8
• Pickup by Lee Friedlander, January 22
• Abandoned Moments by Ed Kashi, January 22
• End of the Caliphate by Ivor Prickett, January 22
• Golden Child by Claire Adam, January 29
• We Cast a Shadow by Maurice Carlos Ruffin, January 29
• The NASA Archives: 60 Years in Space, January 30

[Photo Illustration: Samir Abady; Girl: courtesy of Netflix; Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Eric Liebowitz/Netflix; Escape Room: David Bloomer/Sony Pictures Entertainment; The Upside: David Lee/STXfilms; True Detective: Warrick Page/HBO; Black Monday: Miller Mobley/Showtime; Sex Education: Jon Hall/Netflix; Kingdom: Juhan Noh/Netflix; The Titan Games: Vivian Zink/NBC; Carmen Sandiego: courtesy of Netflix; Amanda Seales: I Be Knowin’: Craig Blankenhorn/HBO; Roswell, New Mexico: Ursula Coyote/The CW; Future Man: Erin Simkin/Hulu; The Other Two: Jon Pack/Comedy Central; Brooklyn Nine-Nine: Vivian Zink/NBC]

If you only do one thing to better protect your online privacy in 2019, start using a VPN. A VPN, or virtual private network, is a decades-old technology that was once used mostly by big companies to give employees access to their private intranets. About a decade ago, VPN use grew as techies began embracing the technology for personal use–especially so they could get around geo-blocked services, such as streaming services that aren’t available everywhere. As privacy concerns have skyrocketed in the last few years, VPNs have begun to be adopted by everyday consumers.

As with most things relating to networking, the technical aspects behind how a virtual private network works are complex. In simple terms, a VPN encrypts the network data on your computer so others–such as your ISP or someone snooping on a public Wi-Fi network you’re using–can’t read it. The VPN then routes all your encrypted internet traffic through a secure server before sending it on to the website you want to access. By doing this, it ensures that websites and other online services won’t be able to see your true IP address or know where in the world your computer is actually located; they’ll only see the location of the VPN’s server. That means your true identity, location, and what you do online is–to a large extent–concealed from prying eyes.

The ability of VPNs to protect your privacy are all the more relevant considering that your ISP can now legally record your web activity and sell your history to advertisers and other organizations that want to know something about you. When you are already paying your ISP money to use their service, why also let them take your personal data and sell it? Using a VPN will prevent your ISP from knowing where you go online.

VPNs also make Wi-Fi networks–like the free public ones at coffee shops, for example–much more secure. Using a VPN makes it much harder for hackers, stalkers, and other bad actors to track you and your activity around the web. That’s why a VPN is a staple privacy tool in any journalist’s arsenal–especially journalists in countries that don’t allow an open and free press. VPNs are also used by citizens in countries that restrict access to the larger internet and censor online content, such as China.

VPNs have their limits

As VPNs have risen in popularity among typical web users, they’ve gained an almost mythical status. While VPNs do provide some degree of online anonymity, it’s important to stress that they aren’t magical invisibility cloaks ala Harry Potter. A VPN alone will not magically wipe your online activity from existence.

Even if you use a VPN, any websites that requires you to log in will still be able to track what you do. For example, it’s impossible to hide your browsing activity from Google if you are logged into your Google account–even over a VPN. The same goes for social media sites, shopping websites, and financial sites.

And even though using a VPN will mask your real IP address from websites you don’t log in to, the VPN provider itself must know your real IP address so that its servers know where to direct the data you are requesting. The VPN provider will also probably know your name and address based on your payment information; it could, in theory, identify your online activity if it wanted to–or if it was forced to by a government agency.

This is why any VPN provider worth considering will have a “no logs” policy. That means it will never store logs of your actual IP address or the websites your IP address visited through its servers. With this policy in place, a VPN provider would be unable to turn over your browsing records even if a court order mandated it to do so.

Yes, VPNs are worth paying for

There’s no shortage of “free” VPN services out there–but I would highly recommend avoiding them. Ultimately, VPNs are built on trust. For instance, you’ll never have any way of verifying that a VPN service is being honest when it says it has a no-logs policy–you’ll just need to trust it.

Free VPN providers don’t pay for servers and bandwidth out of the goodness of their heart. Case in point: Facebook offers a “free” VPN service called Onavo–but it’s not really free. You pay for it with your browsing history. People who use Onavo send all their web traffic through Facebook’s servers, which the company then mines for data.

Considering that anyone with a little networking knowledge can set up a VPN company and offer service for free, what’s to stop data thieves or hackers from doing just that? Not all free VPNs are nefarious–but if you really want increased privacy, it’s worth paying for a VPN service from a company with a good reputation.

Prices for paid VPNs vary widely depending on the plan you choose and the company you go with. They’re subscription-based services, so you’ll generally be paying a monthly fee, just like you do with Netflix. However, some VPN providers do sell annual installment plans that allow you to pay for a year’s worth of service up front–and usually save quite a bit over the standard monthly cost. In general, expect to pay anywhere from $3 to $10 a month for monthly service or between $30 and $80 a year if you go with an annual plan.

Which VPN service should you use?

I’ll recommend three VPN providers to give you a good place to start looking–but I would suggest you don’t sign up for any of them without researching them yourself and even contacting the companies to clarify their data-retention policies.

One VPN that ranks highly among privacy experts is Private Internet Access. That’s because its promise that it’s a true “no logs” VPN has been tested twice in court. In two separate investigations, one involving a hacking case and the other a hoax bomb threat, government agencies requested information about two of Private Internet Access’s customers. But as court records showed, the company was unable to provide any records. It just doesn’t retain data on user activity.

NordVPN is another highly regarded VPN service. Along with offering a strong no-logs policy, NordVPN allows customers to pay in cryptocurrencies so you can also avoid ever giving the company the standard payment-related details about yourself. Finally, StrongVPN is another highly regarded service, again thanks to a robust no-logs policy.

There are other VPN services that offer no-logs policies too, of course. I encourage you to research as many as you can before making a decision. But no matter what, as hacking and surveillance only become more commonplace, paying for a VPN is the best possible kind of New Year’s resolution.

In times of political inaction at the national level in the U.S., people anxious for positive news have been looking to businesses and the corporate sector to step up.

And, pleasantly, many have delivered.

First off, a lot of them said no thank to single-use plastic. This year, inspired by a push from a broad coalition of activist groups, Starbucks pledged to phase out single-use plastic straws by 2020. Other major players like American Airlines and McDonald’s are makings similar shifts. McDonald’s and Starbucks are also teaming up to develop a compostable coffee cup. Through a new pledge launched by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 250 organizations, including brands like H&M, PepsiCo, and Unilever, as well as the World Economic Forum and 40 academic institutions, will work together to develop a circular economy for plastic. The aim is to shift away from plastic when unnecessary, and ensure that all that is used is recycled. By 2025, they want all plastic packaging to be reusable, recyclable, or compostable–and not end up in the oceans or landfill, where it harms environments.

A handful of companies are already tackling the plastic recycling mandate in creative ways. A partnership launched by Dell and the Lonely Whale Foundation, NextWave, is encouraging companies to collect ocean-bound plastic and turn it into products. HP, for instance, is making ink cartridges from plastic collected in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and Ikea will also begin prototyping products made from ocean-bound plastic next year. Everlane has begun repurposing plastic into outerwear through its ReNew collection, and has pledged to eliminate new plastic from its entire supply chain by 2021. The North Face, too, is moving in that direction: In 2018, the outdoor gear retailer launched the Bottle Source Collection, featuring T-shirts and tote bags made from bottles collected at national parks, and converted its popular ThermoBall jackets to use recycled plastic bottles. Several companies, including Thread and Repreve, specifically manufacture threads and textiles from plastics and partner with clothing companies interested in integrating them into their wares.

Plastic, though, is just one aspect of environmental damage that companies are trying to mitigate. In parts of the developing world, deforestation and monoculture farming practices have wreaked havoc on local environments. Recognizing this, some companies are working to build back diverse ecosystems. The natural beauty company Lush, for instance, has launched a program in Guatemala to encourage the regrowth of native crops like vanilla and avocado, which it uses in its products. By funding farmers to reintroduce those crops, Lush wants to help reverse the damage of decades of forest clearing for palm oil plantations, which has drained the soil of nutrients. Annie’s, an organic food company, is sourcing wheat from a farm in Montana that uses regenerative farming practices–a method of planting and land use that both restores soil and sequesters carbon in the ground (this year, a coalition of brands including Dr. Bronner’s and Patagonia developed a regenerative agriculture certification). In perhaps the largest-scale environmental regeneration initiative this year, Apple is investing in a massive initiative in Colombia to restore and protect a 27,000-acre forest of mangroves–one of the most effective carbon-sucking species on the planet.

And speaking of carbon, some of the most high-profile sustainability initiatives from companies have involved trying to reduce their emissions. First, a number of delivery companies, including UPS and FedEx, have begun work on transitioning their fleets to electric vehicles (UPS is also testing deliveries by e-bike). Ikea is also shifting to zero-emissions delivery vehicles.

On a broader scale, Apple, by working with a number of utilities to ramp up solar and wind production, now runs on 100% green energy at its own facilities. It’s also convinced a number of companies it works with along its supply chain to begin converting to clean energy, and has set an important precedent as the tech industry grapples with the energy demands of its data centers and massive footprints. Levi’s also has bold plans: The company will be powered by 100% renewable energy at its own facilities by 2025, and will also cut emissions in those buildings by 90% from where they were in 2016. Levi’s also wants to cut emissions by 40% along its whole supply chain, which no other company has attempted to do. Doing so, however, could have global ramifications, and set an example that the whole manufacturing and apparel industry can mimic in cleaning up their own acts.

While we need national and systemic changes to stop climate change, these companies can also make a difference. This is by no means a complete picture of all the sustainability work happening in the private sector–and that is something that should be a cause for optimism.

Wellness is an ambiguous term that spans numerous categories–health, exercise and nutrition, but also cannabis, beauty, and heck, even crystals. One thing is certain, however: It’s all about feeling good. And what better way to usher in a new year than to keep your stress levels down? We rounded up 10 stylish and helpful products that cover a wide range of self-care needs. Consider it the physical equivalent of taking a long, deep breath.

Lord Jones High CBD All Natural Old Fashioned Gumdrops
CBD is inescapable these days: It’s in everything from beverages to chocolates, even gourmet food menus. But while quality varies, there’s one company you can count on to get it right–Lord Jones. The high-end CBD company offers a luxurious touch by way of small batch gumdrops naturally flavored with citrus fruit essences.
$45, lordjones.com

Seedlip
Want to cut down on your alcohol intake? Or, perhaps, imbibe some better-for-you cocktails? Seedlip has won over drinkers and teetotalers alike with its gin-like distilled spirit sans alcohol, sugar, or artificial ingredients. It comes in two flavors: the sultry Spice 94 (cardamom, oak, lemon, and grapefruit) and a refreshing Garden 108 (peas, hay, spearmint, rosemary, and thyme). Pour it straight over ice or mix it like traditional alcohol with tonic and ginger ale.
$37, amazon.com

Vie Healing Jade Face Roller
Jade got a bad rap in the last few years due to its association with controversial vaginal eggs. But don’t underestimate this precious stone: Jade is a valuable (and soothing) beauty tool. This crystal-imbued face roller is designed to help reduce puffiness, improve circulation, and relax facial tension. And it doesn’t hurt that it looks good on one’s vanity.
$28, neimanmarcus.com

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It’s time to slip into something more comfortable. The Washable Silk Pant Set, now available in Drift. #goodinbed

A post shared by Lunya (@lunya) on Jun 17, 2018 at 2:49pm PDT

Lunya Washable Silk Pant Set
No one does performance sleepwear more beautifully than Lunya. The female-founded company sells modern pajamas that are both functional and luxurious. Its washable silk PJs maintain a comfy body temperature and feature a no twist-waistband, as well as slits for better range of motion. Consider it the no bunching, twisting, or fidgeting sleepwear of your dreams.
$238, lunya.com

Yoga Design Lab Infinity Mat
No more downward dog slipping and sliding with Yoga Design Lab’s beloved 2-in-1 mat and towel. The colorful collection was perfected to handle sweat–that means a grippable, non-slip mat made from tree rubber and microfibers of recycled bottles. The best part? You can throw it in the washing machine.
$68, amazon.com

Aaptiv
Work out on your schedule with Aaptiv, “the Netflix of audio wellness.” The app offers thousands of guided classes–meditation, yoga, aerobics, and more–for various levels, workout durations, and taste in music. Running to hip-hop? Some calming yoga to electronic music? Aaptiv has it all from the comfort of your home.
$79.95 for a yearly membership, aaptiv.com

Aromatherapy Associates Ultimate Wellbeing Collection
Sample this cult favorite brand’s most potent essential oils with a limited edition set. Enjoy the blended plant extracts of peppermint, lavender, rosemary, black pepper, and more. These work in a bath or shower, on the skin, or in a diffuser.
$98, nordstrom.com

Native Deodorant Sampler Set
Haven’t you heard? Natural deodorant is the new avocado toast. The sector has come a long way since flaky baking soda alternatives.  Now a crop of new companies is giving chemical-free deodorant a much-needed makeover. Native’s upscale non-toxic deodorants come in fun flavors like lemon zest & pomegranate, cucumber & mint, and pumpkin spice latte. Over 7,500 happy customers will tell you: Not only does the deodorant smell good–it works.
$24, nativecos.com

Back To The Roots Organic Mushroom Kit
Adaptogens, i.e., healing plants, are the latest ingredient of choice. They’re now found in coffees, shakes, elixirs, and countless supplements. None of which replaces the good, old-fashioned way of ingesting them: eating them plain. Make it all the more enjoyable with this DIY indoor gardening kit that is as easy as they come. Just pour water and watch the ‘shrooms grow in a little over a week. It’s quite the show.
$21.71, amazon.com

Mirror
You can now get a fitness trainer whenever and wherever you want–at least virtually. Much like a Peloton, Mirror is a connected piece of equipment that offers streaming boutique fitness classes and one-on-one training when it’s turned on. When off, it resorts to being a functional piece of furniture: a full-length mirror that hangs on the wall. No need to compromise one’s living room with a bulky treadmill.
$1,495, mirror.co

As a nation, we’re obsessed with getting stuff done. There is an endless supply of advice from time management experts, productivity evangelists, and thought leaders who have managed to hack their way into the 24-hour day and wring out the maximum output into each waking moment. Productivity software alone accounts for an $82 billion market, according to IBISWorld research.

At Fast Company, our deep research regularly divulges the secrets of the most productive people both on a dedicated podcast and through our reporting. But as the new year dawns, we’ve put together a special collection of fresh new tips along with a selection of the most helpful advice we’ve gathered to help make 2019 your most productive year yet.

Keep it simple

Dr. Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, an international authority in leadership assessment, people analytics, and talent management, breaks down what appears to be a complex equation to its essence. “Productivity is doing more with less: output divided by input,” he advises. “If you want to be more productive without working more, then your only option is to work less.”  That means you need to eliminate wasted time by ditching trivial activities and focusing on what really matters. “Even if your output doesn’t go up,” he says, “you will at least have more free time to produce (or waste) in other areas of life.”

If you want to know how to achieve big goals (like saving money, getting a promotion, or running a marathon), Fast Company’s assistant editor Anisa Purbasari Horton has the formula. She hit the mark on all of these resolutions in one year by switching up the way she approached them. “They were things that I had control over–they were habit goals, which focused on the process, rather than achievement goals, which rests on the outcome,” she explains. “I knew exactly what I needed to do each week, and I simply made that a priority.”

Don’t pile on tasks

It may seem counterintuitive, but packing the calendar doesn’t ensure that you’ll get more accomplished in a day.

Time management coach Elizabeth Grace Saunders says you should start each week with being clear on your top two to three goals. You should then schedule in times for those first, and make everything else fit around those times.

Ximena Vengoechea, a design researcher, writer, and illustrator, starts this by looking at her schedule first thing Monday morning. She chooses no more than three goals or focus areas for the week. “Then, at the top of each morning, I prioritize activities that will help me make progress in those areas.” She does this by asking if these tasks are tied to her top three priorities for the week. “If not, they go “below the line,” meaning I’ll only take them on once I’ve hit my focus areas,” she says.

If you’re having trouble prioritizing, it may make sense to cut the workweek by a day. It’s a bold move, but one that’s been shown to boost productivity during the time you are actually working. In a previous report, Metis Communication director of marketing Rachel Sullivan told Fast Company that since shifting to a four-day workweek, she’s able to prioritize better and has also eliminated any distractions that could potentially prevent her from being able to enjoy her (well-earned) day off.

Schedule thinking time

Author, founder, and strategic advisor Reva Seth has been researching and writing about productivity and time management for the past decade. 2018 was the year that she tested all the tools, hacks, and ideas she’d ever come across. Seth moved with three boys under age 12 to a new country, supported her partner in his new public role as Canada’s Consul General to San Francisco, and continued to build her cannabis media company.

“Be honest about what you need time-wise to stay balanced, energized, and creative and then make it a priority,” she observes. “For me, this meant staying committed to my creative headspace time.” Long walks gave her time to think about the issues and ideas, and space to daydream.

Vengoechea schedules an hour of thinking time into her day. “Where I can think proactively about what I’m working on as opposed to reactively, where I’m likely to wind up working on someone else’s priorities,” she says.

To get that free hour, Saunders suggests shortening meeting times when possible, come in with an agenda for each one, and end meetings once the discussion is done. Time management expert Laura Vanderkam recently revealed 13 hidden pockets of free time you could find in any day if you need extra assistance finding time to think.

What managers can do to help their staff

Isaac Oates, CEO and founder of Justworks, believes that it’s not enough to foster work-life balance to make employees more engaged and productive. The office environment also needs to be balanced, and the open office, he says, can be counterproductive.

“Getting in the zone is important. If your workplace is one where the only way for employees to do this is by putting noise-canceling headphones on and listening to music, you’re going to undermine creativity,” Oates says, “Especially the critical kind of creativity that happens one-on-one or in smaller groups.” While he admits there is no one perfect way to lay out an office, being aware of the varied needs of a productive team is a good place to start. “Provide opportunities for people to focus alone or get creative in pairs,” he suggests, “Create spaces where smaller groups can come together to discuss goals, solicit feedback, or refine each other’s ideas.”

That said, headphones do have their place when it’s time to get into a groove to complete a project. Music can be a massive productivity booster. “Listening to music with headphones might help people keep focused and feeling like they have their own space in an open workplace,” Meg Piedmont, a project manager for CloudCover Music, recently told Fast Company. The most popular music for improving productivity, according to a study by CloudCover Music, is classic rock, followed by alternative and pop.

Laura Maness, CEO of Havas New York, thinks that creating meaningful work is another route to productivity and creativity. “It’s important to recognize that meaning comes from alignment of the head and heart–where true passions and interests can be integrated into the workplace,” Maness explains. As such, the company recently launched a personal and professional growth accelerator for employees to fuel their passions and offered a $500 yearly stipend to fund a course or activity of their choice. “This not only fosters diversified creativity but helps our employees discover new meaning and fulfillment in their work,” she says.

Taking this concept one step further, marketing strategist Ted Karczewski makes a business case for encouraging these interests during the workday. “By introducing passion projects to the daily workflow,” he writes, “managers are giving their team members the opportunity to explore new concepts, which can ultimately lead them to more creative business solutions down the line.”

As the sun rises on 2019, you might be reflecting on those resolutions that you set for yourself at the start of last year. Perhaps you stayed true to a few, but didn’t quite hit the target on some. Or maybe you’ve found yourself in the same, frustrated state every year. You had the intention to run five miles a day, but somewhere along the line, life got in the way and making headway on your New Year’s resolutions just seemed too difficult.

If this sounds like you, you’re not alone. As Stephanie Vozza previously reported for Fast Company, only 8% of Americans will be successful in meeting their new year’s resolutions. If you want to be among that group and don’t know where you’re going wrong, you might be making one of these common mistakes. Here are some possible reasons why you might be falling short on your New Year’s resolutions:

1. You want the change in outcome without the change in process

Many people set resolutions to achieve a particular outcome. Save money, get a new job, or lose 10 pounds by the end of the year. But not as many want to go through the process it takes to get there. As business psychology professor Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic previously wrote for Fast Company, “There is a big difference between wanting change and wanting to change. Even when people profess a clear desire to change, what that usually means is that they are interested in change as an outcome rather than change as a process. In other words, most people don’t really want to change, they want to have changed.”

Premuzic went on to say that if the thought of running every other day makes you want to break out in hives, then you probably don’t really want to run that half-marathon. If the thought of cutting back on expenses or starting a side hustle sounds unappealing, then saving a big amount might not be what you really want at this time. To achieve a change in outcome, you have to want the change in process. Otherwise, you’ll get bored of your resolutions very fast.

2. You expect to see big changes quickly

365 days is a long time. Yet in the new year, your sudden burst of motivation might make you more impatient to achieve that big goal. With big goals, progress is often slow. For example, say one of your resolutions is to adopt a healthier diet. Rather than cutting out all junk food altogether, you’ll be better off trying to introduce small changes to your diet over time–perhaps you can add leafy greens to your lunch and dinner one week, and the next week you can swap those midday candy bars for berries and yogurt or vegetables and hummus. As author Daryl Gioffre told Stephanie Vozza in a previous Fast Company article, if you want to be successful in meeting your resolutions, the key is to introduce small changes over time. “Start with one or two habits, then once those become natural and you don’t even have to think about them, consider adding on a few more.”

3. You didn’t plan for setbacks

Even if you’ve planned everything that it takes to achieve your resolutions to the hour, life will throw you curveballs. You might fall ill to the point where you’re unable to exercise, or you might have a necessary but unexpected financial expense that requires you to dip into your savings. Some setbacks are inevitable, and if you didn’t plan for how you’d deal with it, it’s easy to throw in the towel and give up altogether.

Tim Bono, lecturer in psychological and brain sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, previously told Fast Company’s Stephanie Vozza that people who meet their resolutions identify potential setbacks in advance and then create contingency plans should they occur.

4. You don’t break it down into manageable chunks

There’s nothing wrong with setting ambitious goals, but it’s easy to feel disillusioned when halfway through the year, you feel like you still have a long way to go. Say you want to start a side hustle and bring in a certain amount of money from that. You’d be better off making a series of small goals that you can achieve in, say three months, because you’re more likely to achieve that, and you’re less likely to feel defeated by your small progress.

Time management expert and Fast Company contributor Laura Vanderkam explained the benefits of this strategy when it comes to setting business goals. “You may have lots of goals, and that’s a good thing. Giving yourself 90 days means you can focus on a few at a time, knowing that there’s another 90-day period coming up soon. Maybe during the first quarter you focus on launching a new product. Then in the second quarter you focus on finding a new and bigger space. At the end of six months, you’ll have the new product and the bigger space, whereas if you aimed to do both at once, you might get overwhelmed and figure out neither.”

5. You didn’t ditch the goals that turned out to be unimportant

Sometimes, in the course of the year, you find that some of your new year’s resolutions no longer make sense. Perhaps you wanted a promotion, but a change in company structure made you question whether your current company is still the right place for you. Don’t stay married to your resolutions if it no longer makes sense for you.

Christina Nicholson wrote in a previous Fast Company article that it’s important to take an inventory of your resolutions throughout the year to determine which ones are worth keeping and which ones you should ditch. “So when you’re figuring out which resolutions you may have to dump, make a list of reasons (hell, call them excuses if you like!) for why you haven’t made as much progress as you’d hoped. Then determine which of those reasons are the most intractable. Which would take the greatest effort or might wreak the most havoc on your life or work duties to try and remove–and which wouldn’t be so hard to wipe out?”

Remember, your resolutions are there to serve you, not the other way around. Some goals are meant to be abandoned, and in doing so, you’re creating room to make more progress on the goals that actually improve your quality of life.

The streaming giant has removed the second episode of Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj from its service in Saudi Arabia after receiving a request from the country’s Communications and Information Technology Commission, reports the Financial Times.

The episode focused on America’s relationship with Saudi Arabia after the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi last year. In it, Minhaj said, “Now would be a good time to reassess our relationship with Saudi Arabia. And I mean that as a Muslim, and as an American” before going on to criticize Saudi Arabia’s role in the ongoing Yemeni civil war as well as criticizing Silicon Valley for “swimming in Saudi cash.” That last point refers to Saudi Arabia’s aggressive investment strategy in foreign technology companies like Uber, as well as its financial backing of Japan’s SoftBank Vision Fund, which invests billions in overseas companies–including those in the United States.

The reason the CITC gave Netflix when it ordered the removal of the episode from its Saudi service was that it violated Article 6 of the kingdom’s anti-cyber crime law. That article states that “production, preparation, transmission, or storage of material impinging on public order, religious values, public morals, and privacy, through the information network or computers” is a crime that is punishable by up to five years in prison. However, many civil liberties organizations have criticized the Saudi government for its use of the anti-cyber crime law, saying it’s nothing more than a tool used to suppress free speech.

As for Netflix, the company defended its decision to remove the episode, saying, “We strongly support artistic freedom worldwide and only removed this episode in Saudi Arabia after we had received a valid legal request–and to comply with local law.”

It’s unknown how many times before now Netflix has removed content from its service at the request of governments. Unlike other technology giants like Apple, Google, and Facebook, Netflix does not publish information about how many government takedown requests it receives.

If there is a silver lining to any of this it’s that people in Saudi Arabia can still watch the pulled episode of Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj. As of the time of this writing, it’s still available on YouTube in the country. And if it is pulled from there too, users may be able to use a VPN to view it.

As the home of Hollywood, Silicon Valley, and 13% of the national economy, California has good reason to take the lead on improving gender equity and reducing workplace sexual harassment in the era of #MeToo.

Last year, outgoing Governor Jerry Brown signed into law a number of workplace bills aimed at doing just that. Those laws, ranging from gender diversity rules for company boards to tougher restrictions on nondisclosure agreements, go into effect today. Here’s a rundown:

• Women board members: All publicly traded companies whose main executive office is in California will be required to have at least one woman director by the end 2019. By 2022, boards with six people or more will have to have at least three women. Bill Text
• Discrimination and harassment: One new law includes a number of provisions aimed at reducing workplace harassment, including sexual harassment. Bill Text
• Nondisclosure agreements: Provisions that prevent the disclosure of information related to civil or administrative complaints of sexual assault, sexual harassment, and workplace sexual discrimination are now banned. Bill Text
• Sexual harassment training: The number and type of employees required to take sexual harassment training has been expanded. Bill Text

[h/t San Francisco Chronicle]

There is a degree of magical thinking that takes place this time of year. After all, there is no logical reason why your motivations or willpower would be any different the first week in January versus, say, the third week in March. Yet, so many of us (close to half of all Americans) make New Year’s resolutions. The bad news is that just 8% of us will actually keep them all year. 

Which is why we set out to find out exactly how to stick to resolutions on the first episode of the second season of Secrets of the Most Productive People. We got expert advice from Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter and author Charles Duhigg, who told us that the secret to sticking to any goal is taking steps to turn it into a lasting habit. He also broke down exactly how to do that, and shared why even though it seems arbitrary, January 1st may be the best time to make a big change.

We also heard from some Fast Company staff about what their resolutions are for 2019 and how they have stuck to resolutions in the past.

And this season, we are introducing a new segment called “You Might Want to Write This Down,” where we’ll spell out a few quick tips from our research and past coverage that you can take away and hopefully put into action.

3 Quick Tips For Keeping Your New Year’s Resolutions

1. Find your motivation. List why you want to do this particular thing. Do you want to save money to buy a house? Do you want to get a promotion because you want to change the way the company does something in particular?

2. Make failure more painful. If you want to start exercising more, sign up for a race, if you want to save more money, set up a direct debit from your paycheck to a savings account.

3. Create a plan for dealing with setbacks. Setbacks will happen. When you face a setback you are likely to end up throwing in the towel completely. So if you make a plan in advance of how you’ll get back on track, you are more likely to succeed.

Have you made a New Year’s resolution for 2019? Did you keep your resolutions for 2018? Let us know using #FCMostProductive and be sure to subscribe to Secrets of the Most Productive People wherever you get your podcasts so you don’t miss an episode.

When you couple the fact that unemployment is at a low 3.7%, and the number of U.S. companies wanting to hire fresh talent is at a 12-year high, it’s a job seekers’ market.

ManpowerGroup’s Employment Outlook Survey found that more than 12,500 U.S. employers report double-digit job forecasts across and all 13 industry sectors including transportation, hospitality, retail, and business services forecast optimistic hiring plans.

However, thanks to the increasing use of automation, artificial intelligence, and a growing interest from companies to hire more diverse candidates, the way job seekers will find the best opportunities is shifting. We asked the experts to tell us how the way we will look for jobs will change in 2019. Here’s what they told us.

Where to look and what to expect

Tom Gimbel at LaSalle Network says that among 5,000 professionals the staffing firm surveyed, the top three ways they look for employment are online job boards, sites like LinkedIn, Indeed and Glassdoor, recruiters, and networking. “While we’ve seen various trends pop up in the job-search process,” he says, “these traditional methods continue to be most the popular and we plan to see it remain the same for years to come.”

However, at places like EY, which plans to hire approximately 15,700 workers in the U.S. in the coming year, some 1,300 bots focused on recruiting efforts are likely going to be part of the candidates’ interview experience.

Eyal Grayevsky, CEO and cofounder of Mya Systems says that in 2019 the divide between intelligent, conversational recruiting bots and basic chatbots that follow simple decision trees will become a chasm. “Job search candidates will gravitate toward conversational bots,” he explains, “because of their ability to respond more knowledgeably and naturally, to anticipate candidate needs, and to learn and adapt to candidate preferences over time.”

AI aside, more freelancers are finding jobs online and working remotely. Sixty-seven percent of freelancers report that the amount of work they’ve gotten online has increased in the last year, and 64% of freelancers found work online, up 22 points since 2014 according to the most recent Freelancing in America report. And a Flexjobs survey revealed that these jobs range from tech to accounting, HR to administrative work.

Ankit Somani, cofounder of AllyO, believes both active and passive candidates will see a marked difference in 2019. Passive candidates, those who are not putting themselves out there to look for jobs, can expect to experience personalized outreach, leading to mini-conversations which are empathetic and get to the core of what they might be interested in, Somani says. “Active candidates will see more channels of engagement (text, web chat, WhatsApp, Facebook, etc.),” Somani adds, “and there will be an increasing focus in helping candidates answer any of their questions upfront and help them find jobs based on their likes and dislikes.”

Skill shift

“The line between soft and hard skills is disappearing,” says Michelle Weise, chief innovation officer at Strada Institute for the Future of Work, “What matters is whether a skill is ‘human’ or can be performed by machines.” According to a new analysis of more than 100 million job postings, resumes, and social profiles by Strada Institute for the Future of Work and labor market analytics expert, Emsi, job seekers can future-proof their chances to be competitive by beefing up their soft skills.

The report finds that employers are hungry for skills like communication, critical thinking, ethics and problem-solving. “The most valuable workers now and in the future, will be those who can combine technical knowledge with human skills: programming and ethics, artificial intelligence and emotional intelligence, logic, and judgment,” says Weise.

That said, job seekers are turning to job boards to ferret out positions that can use very specific tech skills. New Indeed research reveals the fastest-growing skills in tech job searches and found that job seekers are most frequently looking for jobs that use cloud computing tools and e-commerce platforms. Job searches using Google’s Go programming language, called Golang, went up 81%. Facebook’s React framework, which was the fastest-growing tech skill last year, rose 61% this year.

Another in-demand skill that could be a game changer in the way we look for jobs in 2019 is cybersecurity. Tim Roddy, vice president of cybersecurity product strategy with Fidelis Cybersecurity says job seekers should be looking at which transferable skills they have to bring to the industry. “The beauty of cybersecurity is that it’s vast,” he says, “there are specialists for everything, whether you’re interested in law, forensic investigations, cryptography, ethical hacking, or data analytics–you can apply this interest to security.”

Whatever your skills, the best way to highlight them (and yourself) online is simple, according to Amy Guo, LinkedIn principal product manager. “The only thing you don’t want to do is treat your LinkedIn profile simply like a resume,” she says. “Instead, use it to share stories about your professional journey. This is your chance to showcase what skills you excel at, what opportunities you’re looking for or offering, and how you can help your community. You never know, this could be the reason a recruiter, future employer or a potential client finds you and sends you a message.”

In addition to making sure you list at least five skills, Guo suggests adding the field you work in since more than 300,000 people search by industry on LinkedIn each week. And don’t forget to update the city you work in since this can make you up to 23 times more likely to be found in search, according to LinkedIn’s data.

Looking for diversity and equity

Brenda Darden Wilkerson, president and CEO of AnitaB.org says that 2019 will see more job seekers prioritize diversity and equity when seeking new roles. “Much like how consumers are becoming increasingly more discerning around which companies they buy from, job seekers–especially women and underrepresented groups–will be increasingly discerning about the companies they apply to work for,” she believes. Darden Wilkerson says candidates will favor companies that prioritize diversity, inclusion, and equity and will expect to see data that proves the company is creating a supportive culture for people of all backgrounds. “Programs like mentorship and formal pay equity policies that provide concrete systems of support and inclusion for women to reach their fullest potential will set employers apart in the minds of conscious job seekers,” she explains.

More temp to hire

“A very important stat that job seekers should note is that the risk of new hires failing was 50% in 2017,” notes Elaine Varelas, managing partner at Keystone Partners, “and talent acquisition people have been challenged to fix this expensive margin of error.

While they solve for the cause, HR is working on minimizing risk and the cost associated with this failure, by moving from permanent hires to “temp to perm” roles throughout the organization, she says.

“Job seekers need to make sure they are comfortable with this kind of offer,” Varelas explains, because it often doesn’t include holidays, vacation time, and most other important full-time employee benefits. “Key to your success in these situations is getting answers regarding what factors are considered to make the switch to permanent,” she recommends. If it is based on the economy, there most likely won’t be severance if the role ends, she points out. If it’s entirely based on performance (and most likely it will be) what does the organization need to see from you in terms of contribution? “Ask, how will my success be defined? And, how often will feedback be provided?” Varelas suggests.

Opportunities with existing employers

“In 2019, I think more people will look for new jobs’ from where they are,” says Tom Puthiyamadam, Global Digital Services Leader at PwC. He expects to see more employees take an intrapreneurial attitude to their current roles to stretch them and shift to find ways to innovate and do more of what they love more efficiently.

Chris O’Neal, evangelist at Workfront, believes voluntary job boards will be big in the coming year. “The future enterprise will create internal job boards of important work that needs to be done, and ask interested individuals and self-organizing teams to volunteer to work on the jobs that are most exciting to them,” O’Neal explains. “Like a corporate backlog that is up for grabs.” He says this will allow more team members to do work that matters to them personally.

Ben Reuveni, CEO of InnerMobility, which is powered by Gloat‘s AI technology, says that apps InnerMobility draws on employees’ skills, past experiences, and future goals to match them with projects, job swaps, mentorships, as well as new positions that will add real value to their career ambitions. “Employees are able to simply swipe on opportunities of interest to achieve horizontal career growth as well as traditional vertical progression,” he says.

“Smart companies that truly value their talent and work in more digital ways, will embrace this and provide–or at least facilitate and encourage–such opportunities,” maintains Puthiyamadam. If they don’t, he cautions, the most valuable employees will be snapped up by companies that will.

The continued importance of networking

“The rise of automated job search services and matching engines means you must become a master networker in order to stand out from all the other resumes being reviewed by machines,” says Tracey Welson-Rossman CMO of Chariot Solutions and founder of TechGirlz. “Whether you are a college student landing your first job or currently employed and looking for a new position at a different company, using your contacts to attach a face to that piece of paper is one way to break out of the pack.”

Laura Cooper, senior vice president of people at Bluecore, agrees. “A personal referral by a current/previous employee of a job seeker’s target company or organization, or from a respected social connection, will be the best method for applying in 2019,” she says. “The link between the referrer and the candidate sends a message to a potential employer of, ‘You know me, I know you and this person, and I vouch that there is a match here.’ It’s an instant credibility-builder.”

As we did with nicotine, we may someday discover that there is no safe dose of Twitter. For now, you may be (or just feel) compelled to use the platform. But who says you have to inhale its tar-filled content-vapors unfiltered? What if, when you visited twitter.com (because if you haven’t already deleted the app from your phone, do that immediately), you saw something that was barely a social network at all–and something more like a harmless linkblog? Something like… this:

I put together a CSS theme that, when combined with this Chrome extension, makes my Twitter feed look just like that screenshot above, instead of the roaring garbage fire it actually is. You can install it in about two clicks by following these instructions, but that’s not the point.

The point is that I did this without being a designer or a coder. I’m just a regular person who realized that I didn’t have to be a designer or coder in order to exercise some personal agency over a social network. And you can, too.

Step two is a bit trickier: Decide what you don’t hate. After using a read-only version of Twitter, I quickly realized that I still wanted some social interactivity. At the very least, I wanted to post my own tweets. So, what I really wanted from Twitter was just two things: a naked, chronological feed, and a button to let me post. Everything else was noise.

I looked around for Chrome extensions or Twitter web apps that were already built to these specifications, but I didn’t find any. I did notice that a “write-only” version of Twitter came close, though: It uses custom CSS to chop out every part of Twitter except the tweet button. Even better, its code was editable.

Again: I can’t code. I’ve never written CSS. But Charles Eames says design is “a method of action,” so I looked at the CSS and discovered that it was less than a page long and surprisingly human-readable. There was a blob of code with “timeline” and “display:none” in it. If I wanted to put the timeline back in, but keep the rest of the Twitter experience brutally stripped down, maybe I could just delete that blob of code. I tried it. It worked.

That was the moment I felt empowered–like I could actually “design” Twitter to match my own needs, without asking anyone’s permission and regardless of my formal skill level. Actually, why put scare quotes around the word? If design is“a plan for arranging elements to accomplish a particular purpose” (Eames again), then I was the designer now.

My tools were nothing more than the CSS that someone else had already written (thank you, actual knowledgeable person!) and the cut-and-paste commands on my laptop keyboard. Pretty soon, I had carved Twitter down to exactly what I wanted and no more: a naked timeline and a tweet button. It was entirely nonaddictive and non-threatening. Almost…boring. Which was entirely the point.

This is the moral of the story: You can do likewise. In fact, I’ve written plain-English instructions into the CSS of my ultra-minimal version of Twitter that you can use–in the same cut-and-paste, no-coding-skills-necessary manner that I did–to restore any individual piece of the interface you want. Maybe you love Moments? I do not understand you, but de gustibus non est disputandum.

But even if you don’t care to do any of that, just know this: You don’t have to capitulate to social media’s hostile design choices. (I’m talking about the design choices that make apps act like slot machines engineered to addict you, not the awful behavior of some people on these platforms, which is whole different problem.) Let’s be real–Jack Dorsey isn’t reading any of the think pieces on how to “fix” Twitter. No one is going to fix it for you. Ever.

Except, maybe, you.

When someone leaves, it can take a long time to find a replacement. According to a recent CareerBuilder survey, 60% of employers across industries reported it took longer to fill positions thanks to a difficult hiring environment. When you’re a burgeoning company or a startup experiencing rapid-fire growth, having open slots could not only slow you down, but cause you to miss goals that were within reach. The same can even be true for companies that have been around the block a few times, as they struggle to reach younger generations through digital media.

Due to disorganization, lengthy stretches between interviews and plenty of other factors, employers may be missing out on top talent. In fact, the same study found 31% of applicants expect a personalized response, while 82% need a clear timeline to remain interested. For many who lead from the helm, streamlining the hiring process can make it a smoother process from posting a gig to taking someone out to lunch on their first day in the office.

As you head into the new year, consider these creative and effective strategies for hiring.

1. Consider an applicant tracking system

One no-brainer way to manage your resume pool is to allow the latest in technology do the hard work for you. Most Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) have levels to fit into budget constraints and fulfill your needs. An ATS can manage much of the behind-the-scenes for you–from distributing job leads to common career websites to contacting potential candidates from databases and more, according to career advancement coach, Lauren Milligan. Depending on what package you can afford, some might even fill the role of a contract recruiter, thanks to bells, whistles, and perhaps the whole quartet. Milligan explains some programs can sift through respondents for specific keywords or qualifications, eliminate nonqualified candidates based on your personal filters, and even keep track of role-specific interview questions, to name a few.

2. Cut back on hoops

Perhaps when your current company only had a handful of employees, going through various rounds, tests, and social interactions made sense to protect your brand’s growth. As you expand, it isn’t that hoops are not important, but that there are better–and hopefully swifter–ways to screen candidates that require less time and energy. For example, Sharon Richner, the HR director for FLIK Hospitality Group recommends implementing panel interviews instead of one-on-one interviews to help reduce redundant questions and answers, save time in the overall interview process, and can provide deeper insight into company culture for your prospective hires.

3. Define the skills, not the candidate

In an ideal situation, every applicant would fulfill every last hope and dream you have for the position. They would be self-guided with laser-sharp skills–not to mention a motivating method of mentoring. But all too often, employers have a rose-colored view of what an employee will be like, instead of homing in on the specific, tangible hard and soft skills required to make the position a success, according to career expert and CEO of Business Talent Group Jody Greenstone Miller. “Most job specs are too general and not realistic, listing a whole host of requirements that no human would be able to satisfy so you have to make tradeoffs,” she continues. “Creating a more prioritized list of qualities or skills candidates must possess early on in the process will help you hone in on the right candidates a lot faster.”

4. Omit any bottlenecks

Your chief marketing officer is the best in his or her field, and an expertise on everything digital and social–but when it comes to reviewing resumes? They tend to let it fall off their laundry list of to-dos. Richner explains even the highest performing employees (and executives) can become bottlenecks to bringing in new talent, ultimately preventing progress. One way to ensure it doesn’t get overlooked is to make it a measure of performance. Richner recommends revising your management team’s goals to prioritize recruitment and hiring. “Your senior leaders and managers really understand your company culture and who will be a quality candidate to fill the open roles within your organization,” she adds.

5. Make your application short and mobile-friendly

Quickly consider how applications are currently being accepted and fielded at your work: likely online–but what about mobile optimization? In an effort to weed out those who aren’t serious, do you make the process time-consuming or arduous? These could be mistakes that are causing you to lose intelligent and worthy of your attention. The CEO of CareerBuilder Irina Novoselsky shared they recently found that 1 in 5 employees give less than 10 minutes to a job inquiry, or two to three pages on a mobile device, before dropping off. “This means that employers with long applications may lose great talent very early on,” she explains.

6. Stay in touch

Ever have one of those too-good-to-be-true first dates, enticing your hopes to skyrocket–only to never hear from them again? This can cause dating burnout, and it is similar to how an applicant might feel after a stellar interview with little to no follow-up.

It’s important to remember your diligence doesn’t stop once you have received interest from a could-be-perfect professional either. “Even after the application is submitted, it is important for companies to maintain regular contact with job prospects during the screening and hiring process, which may sometimes take several weeks or months,” Novoselsky notes. “Companies should consider sending weekly or bi-weekly emails to candidates during the process to maintain their interest in the company.”

7. Don’t oversell the job

Miller says in her many years of hiring senior talent, she’s found that if someone doesn’t work out in a position, it wasn’t because they weren’t right for the gig or lacked the skills necessary, but rather, the cultural fit was off. While plenty of executives will attempt to convince someone to take a role–offering plenty of work/life balance and monetary incentives–Miller urges hiring committees to first and foremost, seek someone who wants the opportunity. “Instead of overselling the job, try to be very honest upfront in describing what the job is really like and what downsides are,” she explains. “Once you understand what makes people thrive and what gets under their skin, you can do a far better job of assessing whether or not they’ll work in your culture.”

Digital media company Roku is taking a cue from Amazon by selling streaming video subscriptions directly to customers.

Later this month, Roku users will be able to sign up for premium content from Showtime, Starz, Epix, and others through The Roku Channel, a free app that until now has only offered a selection of ad-supported movies and shows. The app will bill users’ existing Roku accounts for subscriptions, and will provide a single interface so users don’t have to jump between different apps for each channel.

A few years ago, Amazon launched a similar service called Amazon Channels, which lets Prime members tack on subscriptions to Showtime, Starz, and other premium channels. BMO Capital Markets estimates that Amazon generated $1.7 billion through Channels last year, and a report by TDG from May found that Amazon Channels accounted for more than half of direct-to-consumer subscriptions for premium TV channels.

Roku’s main differentiator is that it doesn’t require any base subscription like Amazon does with Prime. Still, The Roku Channel will lack some of the channels that Amazon offers, including HBO, PBS Kids, and CBS All Access. Amazon’s app also works on almost every major streaming platform, smart TV, game console, and mobile device, whereas The Roku Channel is limited to Roku players, Samsung TVs, mobile phones, and the web. Rob Holmes, Roku’s vice president of programming, says the company will add more channels and devices over time, but didn’t get into specifics. Roku said it is not yet announcing fees for the add-on content, noting that the pricing will vary by content provider.

Roku and Amazon may not be the only ones looking to sell premium video subscriptions to their customers. Apple is reportedly planning a similar strategy alongside its push into original video this year, which means the race to become your one-stop shop for video is now beginning in earnest.

January is a time of resolutions–and while most of them tend not to last, reading more is a resolution that pays dividends.

We asked a slew of design leaders for the best books they read in 2018, and why they’d recommend them. As you kick off the first week of a new year, consider putting some of these titles on your list.

Joyful by Ingrid Fetell Lee

Joyful gave me a new lens to apply to my design, both at work and at home. It shares 10 aesthetics of joy, describing them, providing examples, and a personal story of how Ingrid discovered that specific pattern. What I love about this book is how it gives designers permission to use joy as part of the design process, taking it from superfluous to an integrated part of an experience. It got me to think of my home and wardrobe as an environment to experiment with, to try different colors, arrangement, and styles. The stories of how Ingrid went searching for the sources of joy grounded the book and provided powerful firsthand accounts of experiencing joy. I loved how she brought me along on her journey, and I can’t wait to incorporate more of these aesthetics into my design work and life!— Kathryn McElroy, Creative Director, Argodesign

Broad Band by Claire L. Evans

Broad Band by Claire L. Evans was definitely one of the most inspiring book releases to me in 2018. Claire tells the (until now) untold history of the female visionaries who helped catalyze the (I would argue, still-ongoing) computer revolution. In particular, I loved the chapter on Hypertext, featuring Cathy Marshall and Wendy Hall, both computer scientists who worked on alternate versions of Hypertext. Evans expertly and patiently explains the concept of Hypertext and describes the delicate thinking that went in to its potential manifestations. The thought process that went on in the early days of Hypertext was so focused on enabling humans to be able to carve associative trails through a sea of information and share those trails with others. That thinking feels as relevant as ever, in our current information-rich and attention-poor environment that we find ourselves in today.– Charles Broskoski, cofounder, Are.na

Darwin Comes to Town by Menno Schilthuizen

A book on how urbanism is accelerating animal evolution, often in unpredictable ways–think of the mosquitoes living all year long in the London underground. A useful and highly original reminder of the fact that cities are inhabited not just by people, and that we need to find a new balance with our fellow living beings.– Carlo Ratti, Director, MIT SENSEable City Lab

The Man in the Glass House: Philip Johnson, Architect of the Modern Century

Mark Lamster’s dazzling portrait of Philip Johnson narrates the rise and fall of every architectural movement of the 20th century refracted through one man’s ambition, while providing an analysis, and an indictment, of how power in America is gained, wielded, and squandered. In The Man in the Glass House, Lamster takes a protagonist who is compromised in every possible way–morally, politically, and aesthetically–places him squarely at the intersection of American commerce and culture, and dares us to watch what happens.— Michael Bierut, Pentagram Partner

Housing as Intervention

My favorite was Karen Kubey’s issue on housing design, Housing as Intervention. It presents a great cross-section of people and organizations working around the world to use good design to address what is really a crisis in addressing the need for affordable and quality housing and increased urbanization. It also connects other important considerations like policy, funding, and social dynamics to how designers are able to advance new solutions.— Justin Garrett Moore, Executive Director, New York City Public Design Commission

Mismatch: How Inclusion Shapes Design by Kat Holmes

This book is one-of-a-kind as I feel that it’s one of the first books to really take inclusive design out of an academic setting and into the working world. Nobody really wants to exclude people from their designs and this book shows you how you can avoid doing that.— Christina Mallon, Founder, Open Style Lab

Exhibit A by Eeva-Liisa Pelkonen

How do you exhibit architecture in a gallery or a museum? This question perennial inspires architects and curators to think beyond the confines of traditional spaces and forms of representation. This book explores the impact and influence of the world’s most significant architectural exhibitions of the 20th century, which have helped define emerging styles, critical positions, and a broader understanding of architecture.— Ben Prosky, Executive Director, Center For Architecture, AIANY

On Beauty

My favorite design-related book is On Beauty: Douglas R. Tompkins–Aesthetics and Activism.  The book was released in 2017, but I read it during my recent trip to Chile, where Doug led highly impactful conservation projects. This book showcases how nature created an ultimate balance between functionality, sustainability, and beauty. The inspirational message is clear: We are responsible for protecting the planet through sustainable practices.— Tetsuya O’Hara, VP of Innovation, Gap Inc.

World Without Mind

I [liked] World Without Mind, by Franklin Foer. This books does a good job of digging into the control of knowledge by the large tech companies and what that might mean for individual freedom and thought. He’s basically saying we’re trading a lot of convenience for our privacy, control, and independence. It’s dark. I don’t think it will go that way in the long-term but it’s a useful warning about our immediate future. As a designer it’s a harsh wake-up to the world we contribute a lot of design towards.— Mark Rolston, founder, Argodesign