Who knew we’d be celebrating this year’s Independence Day by carefully tiptoeing back inside our local restaurants in face masks, absent of the holiday’s boisterous backdrop and scent and stickiness of cotton candy, turkey legs and funnel cakes?
On Monday, restaurants reached the final stage of a progression from takeout and delivery to outdoor dining and, as of this week, the opportunity to sit down and eat at tables set at a distance indoors. It presents trepidation for both diners and businesses as we experience a rising number of coronavirus cases in the county.
Don’t let caution fatigue get the best of you. Help keep the dining public eager to go out content and our challenged restaurants from getting slammed again by wearing a mask. It goes a long way. Check restaurant websites and Instagram for further information and follow the protocols outlined in marinrecovers.com/restaurants to help support a safe reopening.
If staying outside feels best, check the June 10, 17 and 24 Bread & Butter columns, as well as details on street closures covered on June 17. Most open restaurants continue to offer takeout and delivery.
Although it might seem like our national holiday festivities have been cancelled, and certainly public celebrations have been, there are plenty of local places for sweets and baked goods that are ready to provide consolation.
New bakery in Terra Linda
Maybe a jalapeno or herbs de provence biscuit or a chocolate crackle or orange mango bun? Terra Linda resident Lisa Block has uncovered her answer to high-caliber, organic baked goods free of nuts, gluten and dairy, and made with a conservative amount of added sugar at her new Biscuits & Buns.
Severe health issues necessitating a restrictive diet didn’t allay her desire for a fluffy, high-quality biscuit to “slather, smother, dunk or sandwich.” She’d always wanted to go to culinary school and has a knack for baking, so she toyed with developing her own gluten-free flour blend until she perfected the texture of her signature recipes.
Like many businesses operating in the unusual circumstances of a pandemic, her focus has had to shift from catering to a neighborhood retail outlet, where she also offers San Rafael’s Pink Owl Coffee.
Find the new bake shop at 641 Del Ganado Road. It’s open from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays, and 8 to 11 a.m. Sundays. Pre-order and check for updates at biscuitsandbuns.com or call 415-634-5560.
Ethel’s Bagels
If there was ever a time for a culinary professional to bring a food business to fruition, it’s while furloughed and staying at home during a pandemic.
For chef and former Marin resident Nicolas Abrams of the 12-week-old, delivery-based (at least for now) Ethel’s Bagels based in Petaluma, being home-bound has provided him time to focus on developing and finessing the perfect bagel and resurrect food memories of his childhood.
Inspiration came by way of his grandmother Ethel, who would gather her extended family at her West Los Angeles home to feast on the homey Jewish comfort foods from her past days in Brooklyn.
“It all just made sense and this situation gave us the opportunity to really do this,” says his wife, Clare, of the family-born business. She brings her background in retail, while the couple’s son developed the website.
Chef Abrams lends his 30-year career in restaurants. It began in San Francisco at LuLu and Rubicon before he spent time abroad working with esteemed chefs in Europe, followed by Marin’s Buckeye Roadhouse, Hilltop 1892 and Rustic Bakery. Most recently, he was head of the commissary kitchen for the Chalet Restaurant Group that includes Gravity Tavern in Mill Valley.
Courtesy of Ethel's Bagels
Ethel’s Bagels delivers its bagels, schmears and kits to Marin and beyond.
The old-fashioned, small-batch technique that started at home but has since moved to a commissary kitchen, combines sourdough starter and local organic flour. The dough is hand-rolled, fermented for 24 to 30 hours, boiled in Lagunitas beer and water, and then baked the morning of delivery.
Plain, salt, sesame, poppy seed, onion, everything, cinnamon raisin, pumpernickel and black pepper Parmesan bagels come by the half or baker’s dozen. Or opt for a kit with organic additions such as smoked salmon, capers, prosciutto, tomatoes, shaved red onion and micro pea tendrils. Organic schmears come in plain; chive; pickled shallot and herbs; black garlic and sherry; and wild smoked lox. Whole coffee beans are from Petaluma-based Kuksa Coffee Roasters.
Place orders on the website at ethelsbagels.com or call 707-364-9926 by 6 p.m. Mondays for home delivery ($8) on Thursdays in Marin. Check the website for additional locations and expanded delivery options that are in the works, as well as updates on plans to open a booth at the Marin Country Mart’s Saturday farmers market.
Pop-up bakery
While Ponsford’s Place Bakery in San Rafael has been around for some time, owner Craig Ponsford stepped away from his small shop at 117 Shaver St. three years ago and has since been operating on a limited pop-up basis, usually on Saturday mornings. For the Fourth of July weekend, that shifts to Friday. Hanana Bread is there from 9 a.m. to noon with cheesecake with plum swirl, chocolate chunk cookies with olive oil, chocolate cake with vanilla buttercream, burger buns, pecan granola, scones, bread and more. Place orders by 8 p.m. Wednesday at ponsfordsplace.shopsettings.com. Find out more about Hanana Bread at hananabread.com and the latest about what’s happening at the bakery by following Ponsford’s Place on Facebook or subscribing to the email list at eepurl.com/buBNJX.
Frozen confections
The following ice cream shops are now serving in accordance with proper protocols. Many also deliver.
Lapperts Ice Cream in downtown Sausalito is open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays and 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays at 689 Bridgeway. View the medley of flavors at lapperts.com.
Posie in Larkspur is serving its organic, inventive flavors, freshly pressed waffle cones and sweet pies at 250B Magnolia Ave. from 1 to 9 p.m. Fridays through Sundays. For more information, call 415-891-8395.
The line almost always goes out the door at 9-year-old Fairfax Scoop. With 6 feet between waiting customers, it may well wind around the corner for the organic, ultra-creamy scratch ice cream served in a house-made waffle cone or cup for which you’ll need to bring your own spoon. It’s open noon to 10 p.m. daily at 63 Broadway Blvd. For more information, call 415-453-3130.
Hand-churned frozen yogurt is made to order at Loving Cup at 298 Bon Air Center in Greenbrae from 1:30 to 6 pm. daily. Call 415-578-2541 or go to lovingcup.com.
Easy Breezy Town Center is open for organic, scratch-made frozen yogurt, custard and dairy-free soft serve and toppings at 119 Town Center Corte Madera. Hours are noon to 8 p.m. weekdays and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. weekends. Call 415-886-8925 or go to easy-breezy.com.
Double Rainbow in San Rafael has a full menu of savory sandwiches and coffee drinks in addition to its broad array of frozen desserts. It’s open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays and 11 a.m. to midnight on Friday and Saturdays at 860 Fourth St. in San Rafael. Call 415-457-0803 or go to doublerainbowcafe.com.
Old-fashioned, homemade Silbermann’s Ice Cream is open from 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays and 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays at 196 Northgate One in San Rafael. Call 415-479-1657 or go to silbermanns.com.
La Michoacana Natural Ice Cream in Novato uses home-style recipes from Mexico, including fruit paletas, and is open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Thursdays through Tuesdays and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesdays at 1219 Grant Ave. Find out more at shoplocalnovato.com/business/la-michoacana.
Tuttimelon at the Vintage Oaks Shopping Center in Novato has nonfat frozen yogurt and gourmet gelato and sorbets, and is open from 1 to 9 p.m. daily at 132 Vintage Way. Call 415-897-6900 or go to tuttimelonnovato.com.
The three-decades-old Gelato in San Anselmo is open from noon until sunset at 572 San Anselmo Ave. Call 415-455-8833 or go to sananselmogelato.com.
Froyo shop Swirl at Redhill Shopping Center is open from noon to 8 p.m. daily at 916 Sir Francis Drake Blvd. Call 415-457-7947 or go to swirlsa.com.
Leanne Battelle is a freelance food writer. Please email her at ij.lbattelle@gmail.com or follow the Marin dining scene at instagram.com/therealdealmarin.
LOS ANGELES (KUSI) – One day after Los Angeles County announced a Fourth of July weekend beach closure and cancellation of all fireworks shows, Gov. Gavin Newsom warned Tuesday that additional statewide coronavirus restrictions could be coming ahead of the holiday.
“Tomorrow we’ll be making some additional announcements on efforts to use that `dimmer switch’ that I’ve referred to and begin to toggle back on our stay at home order and tighten things up,” Newsom said. “The framework for us is this — if you’re not gonna stay home and you’re not gonna wear masks in public, we have to enforce, and we will and we’ll be making announcements on enforcement tomorrow.”
Newsom didn’t indicate what types of changes might be in store ahead of the holiday weekend, but said additional restrictions are being pondered in response to continued rises in coronavirus case numbers, hospitalizations and positivity rates.
According to Newsom, the number of people hospitalized across California due to the virus has risen 43% in the past two weeks, and the number of people in intensive care units jumped by 37%.
Perhaps more concerning is a continuing rise in positivity rates, or the percentage of people who are tested for the virus and turn out to be positive. Two weeks ago, the statewide average daily positivity rate over a 14- day period was 4.4%. That figure was 5.6% as of Tuesday. The current daily positivity rate over the past seven days is 5.9%, Newsom said.
“That’s a point of caution, a point of consideration and obviously a point of concern,” he said. “And it led to the decisions we made over the weekend as it relates to shutting down bars in those areas of the state where we’ve seen an increase in the total spread of the virus, particularly the community spread.”
Newsom ordered the closure of bars in Los Angeles and several other counties on Sunday, and recommended such closures in other areas. Thus far, Riverside and San Diego counties have both ordered bars closed.
But the governor said Tuesday the bigger concern over the upcoming holiday weekend is family gatherings.
“Not just bars, not just (people) out in the streets, where people are protesting and the like,” he said. “It’s specifically family gatherings, where family members or rather households … begin to mix and take down their guard. They walk into that barbecue with masks on and they put the cooler down and the mask comes off. You have a glass of water, and all of a sudden nieces and nephews start congregating around, jumping on top of Uncle Joe.
Newsom said family gatherings are consistently a top concern of health officials across the state, and California is “moving into a weekend when family gatherings are part of the tradition.” As a result, he said the state will be “a little more aggressive” over the holiday to ensure health measures are followed.
A national mask mandate could be more effective than lockdowns, and it could save the U.S. from a 5 percent hit to economic growth, according to a new report from the investment giant Goldman Sachs.
"Our baseline estimate is that a national mandate could raise the percentage of people who wear masks by 15 percentage points and cut the daily growth rate of confirmed cases by 1 percentage point," Jan Hatzius, Goldman's chief economist, wrote in the note to clients.
"These calculations imply that a face mask mandate could potentially substitute for lockdowns that would otherwise subtract nearly 5 percent from GDP," Hatzius said.
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COVID-19 cases are rising sharply in Sun Belt states, including those that pursued accelerated timelines for phased-in reopenings.
The researchers analyzed the impact the introduction of masks had on infections and deaths in the U.S. after state mandates went into effect, as well as across countries, comparing when mask mandates started and when masks began to be used. They found that mask usage was associated with better overall outcomes.
"A national mask mandate could increase US face mask usage by statistically significant and economically large amounts, especially in states such as Florida and Texas that currently don't have a comprehensive mandate and are seeing some of the worst outbreaks," Hatzius wrote.
The report cautioned that its findings are based on several combined statistics that have errors in measurements.
It also acknowledged that mask-wearing has become a political and cultural statement and that the reality of a national mask mandate is "uncertain."
"However, even in the absence of a national mandate, state and local authorities might well broaden mandates in ways that ultimately mimic the impact of a national mandate," the researchers wrote. "Either way, our analysis suggests that the economy could benefit significantly from such moves, especially when compared with the alternative of a return to broader lockdowns."
Ben Popken
Ben Popken is a senior business reporter for NBC News.
Even in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Gov. Charlie Baker hopes tourists can still enjoy their “favorite places” in Massachusetts this summer. And beginning on Wednesday, visitors from seven other northeastern states will no longer be asked to self-quarantine first.
Baker announced Tuesday that Massachusetts will exempt travelers — both arriving and returning — from Rhode Island, Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, New York, and New Jersey from the state’s 14-day self-quarantine advisory, due to declining coronavirus rates in those states.
“People in those places should be able to visit Massachusetts without living up to that 14-day quarantine,” Baker said during a press conference, noting that the change “reflects the facts on the ground.”
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The two-week quarantine advisory — which directs out-of state visitors to stay inside and avoid contact with people outside one’s household — remains in place for most visitors from other places, except for essential workers traveling to Massachusetts for work purposes.
Anyone with symptoms of COVID-19 is instructed not to travel, officials say.
“We’re home to many destinations that people usually travel to visit from all over the world, and there’s no doubt this season will be different and immensely difficult for visitors and businesses,” Baker said.
In his opening remarks, Baker alluded to the “sharp increase” in hospitalizations and infections across the South and West regions of the country, which he called “a very real reminder to all of us about just how contagious this virus can be.”
However, the Massachusetts governor said he had no plans to couple the state’s quarantine advisory with any enforcement measures, even for visitors from hotspot states.
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“There are real constitutional issues associated with limiting travel between states,” he said, when asked about threatening to fine visitors who don’t comply (severalstates with mandatory quarantine requirements are facing lawsuits).
Based on information from the local lodging community, Baker said the voluntary quarantine advisory in Massachusetts had thus far proven to be “a very effective tool to limit the number of people who come here,” whether it be to rent a home or book a hotel room.
“It definitely has had an impact,” he said.
And those who have visited Massachusetts have been “pretty good about complying with” the quarantine advisory, the governor said.
Baker said he expects people in Massachusetts to vacation for “a few days out of town at some point over the course of the summer,” but added “that probably means staying a little closer to home — somewhere around New England or the Northeast.”
“We’d like to see them go to the states that have the same kind of positive test trends that we have, which would be the ones that are generally around us,” he said.
For those planning to leave Massachusetts, Baker urged them to likewise follow local quarantine rules.
“COVID-19 will not be taking a summer vacation, and the way we deal with it should continue to factor that into our daily decisions,” he said.
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People sit in a terrace bar at the beach in Spain earlier this month, when many internal travel restrictions were lifted. The EU has decided on its first list of approved travel partners, as part of its reopening of external borders. Joan Mateu/APhide caption
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Joan Mateu/AP
People sit in a terrace bar at the beach in Spain earlier this month, when many internal travel restrictions were lifted. The EU has decided on its first list of approved travel partners, as part of its reopening of external borders.
Joan Mateu/AP
U.S. travelers won't be among those allowed to visit the European Union when the bloc begins opening its external borders on July 1. EU ambassadors endorsed a list of 15 travel partners on Tuesday, including South Korea, Japan and, with a caveat, China. Those countries were hit early by the pandemic but have been able to bring the coronavirus under control.
The EU list requires reciprocal easing of travel bans — and the U.S. currently bars most travelers from European countries. China's inclusion on the travel list is predicated on its removal of EU members from its own travel restrictions.
The U.S. was seen as a long shot to make the travel list, which requires that only those countries with epidemiological situations — taking into account both the infection rate and current trends — that are equal to or better than the EU's can send tourists and other nonessential visitors to the open-border region.
When the EU began discussing its travel list earlier this month, many U.S. states were seeing a worrying spike in cases — a trend that has only worsened.
As ambassadors at the European Council debated the final list, the U.S. shattered its record for daily new cases, reporting 39,972 new cases on June 26, compared with its previous mark of 36,291 cases, which was set on April 24.
They've done it! Border battle over.
Citizens from these countries can come to the EU tomorrow: Algeria, Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, Serbia, S Korea, Thailand, Tunisia, Uruguay & China when it drops restrictions on EU nationals.
It's up to each EU member state to decide how to implement the list — but the European Council says none of them should unilaterally lift travel restrictions on a "non-listed" country.
Now that the EU travel list has been released, the bloc plans to revise it on a regular basis, as frequently as every two weeks. For now, the U.S. is excluded along with other countries that are struggling to fight the coronavirus, such as Brazil and Russia.
The EU has roughly 116 million more people than the U.S. But the bloc is currently reporting roughly 1.5 million coronavirus cases — far less than the more than 2.6 million cases reported by the U.S.
And in a troubling sign of how deeply the coronavirus has taken root in the U.S., the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said that the official tally is vastly undercounted, with more than 20 million Americans possibly infected.
"Our best estimate right now is that for every case that was reported, there actually were 10 other infections," CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield said last week.
As it issued the travel list, the EU also provided more clarity about how it analyzes other countries' coronavirus status. In addition to looking at the number of new cases over the past 14 days, for instance, the European standard calls for a country's case rate per 100,000 inhabitants to be "close to or below the EU average."
When U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was asked about the possible exclusion of the U.S. last week, he said discussions are ongoing.
"I am confident that we will find a set of conditions that create sufficient health and safety protections" and still allow travel, Pompeo said at a press briefing.
If no U.S. tourists visit Europe in the coming months, it would deal another financial blow to an already ailing travel and hospitality industry. Last year, roughly 2 million or more Americans visited Europe in each month from May through September, according to the U.S. National Travel & Tourism Office.
The pandemic has turned travel into a fraught topic, over fears of the possible spread of the virus. It has also caused tension between the EU and the U.S., particularly after President Trump announced a travel ban on 26 European countries (exempting the United Kingdom) in mid-March. EU officials publicly registered their disapproval, saying they had not been warned about the ban. Days later, the EU began closing its own borders.
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced that eight additional states meet the metrics to qualify for the travel advisory requiring individuals who have traveled to New York from those states, all of which have significant community spread, to quarantine for 14 days. The newly-added states are California, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada and Tennessee. The quarantine applies to any person arriving from a state with a positive test rate higher than 10 per 100,000 residents over a 7-day rolling average or a state with a 10% or higher positivity rate over a 7-day rolling average.
The number of new cases, percentage of tests that were positive and many other helpful data points are always available at forward.ny.gov.
"As an increasing number of states around the country fight significant community spread, New York is taking action to maintain the precarious safety of its phased, data-driven reopening," Governor Cuomo said. "We've set metrics for community spread just as we've set metrics for everything the state does to fight COVID-19, and eight more states have reached the level of spread required to qualify for New York's travel advisory, meaning we will now require individuals traveling to New York from those states to quarantine for 14 days."
The full, updated list of states on the travel advisory is below:
Alabama
Arkansas
Arizona
California
Florida
Georgia
Iowa
Idaho
Louisiana
Mississippi
North Carolina
Nevada
South Carolina
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Today's data is summarized briefly below:
Patient Hospitalization - 891 (+38)
Patients Newly Admitted - 72 (+20)
Hospital Counties - 27
Number ICU - 217 (+1)
Number ICU that are intubated - 137 (+1)
Total Discharges - 70,487 (+52)
Deaths - 13
Total Deaths - 24,855
Of the 52,025 tests conducted in New York State yesterday, 524, or 1 percent, were positive. Each region's percentage of positive tests over the last three days is as follows:
REGION
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
MONDAY
New York City
1.10%
1.00%
1.00%
Capital Region
0.70%
0.50%
0.30%
Central New York
1.20%
0.50%
1.40%
Finger Lakes
0.70%
0.70%
1.00%
Long Island
0.80%
0.70%
1.10%
Hudson Valley
1.00%
0.60%
1.00%
Mohawk Valley
2.30%
2.20%
0.90%
North Country
0.30%
0.40%
0.00%
Southern Tier
0.30%
0.60%
0.40%
Western New York
0.80%
0.80%
1.30%
The Governor also confirmed 524 additional cases of novel coronavirus, bringing the statewide total to 393,454 confirmed cases in New York State. Of the 393,454 total individuals who tested positive for the virus, the geographic breakdown is as follows:
Interruptions are a fact of organizational life and endlessly fragment our time and thus our attention. Our brains find it difficult to switch attention between tasks; more often than not, part of our attention stays focused on the interrupted task and does not fully switch to the interrupting demand — a term coined attention residue. Consequently, we perform interrupting tasks with only part of our cognitive resources and risk performing them poorly. So what can we do about it? Research shows that a simple intervention known as a “Ready-to-Resume” plan can help. Next time someone interrupts you, take a few seconds to note where you are on the interrupted task and what you want to do and focus on upon return. This action provides your brain the cognitive closure it needs to reduce attention residue so you can be more present and perform at your best.
Biggie Productions/Getty Images
Interruptions have always been a reality of work, as meetings, text or chat messages, emails, and conversations with coworkers endlessly fragment our time and thus our attention. As the Covid-19 global pandemic forced many of us to work from home, the concurrent management of work/non-work responsibilities have added to this already fragmented time. In our recent survey of 202 working professionals, conducted prior to Covid-19, 40% of the respondents reported experiencing more than 10 interruptions per day, with 15% reporting more than 20 interruptions a day. Research across several othersurveys suggest that employees — from IT professionals to health care providers — are interrupted every six to 12 minutes. If interruptions are so frequent and seemingly unavoidable, how do they affect our work and what can we do about them?
Earlier researchby one of us (Sophie Leroy) has shown that our brains find it difficult to switch attention between tasks. More often than not, part of our attention stays focused on the interrupted task and does not fully switch to the interrupting demand — a term coined attention residue. This happens because we have a fundamental need for completion that makes switching our attention quite difficult for the brain to execute; we hold on to incomplete work instead of putting it aside even when a switch of focus is necessary. While we may think our attention has moved to the next thing, it hasn’t, at least not fully — a residue remains. Consequently, we perform interrupting tasks with only part of our cognitive resources and risk performing them poorly.
So, are we always at risk of experiencing attention residue when interrupted? Are there conditions that may heighten that risk? Is there something we can do to prevent attention residue and thus minimize the risk of low performance on interrupting tasks?
These are the questions we asked in our research, recently published in Organization Science. We used both survey data and laboratory experiments to dig deep into some of the specific mechanisms of work interruptions. Much of the research on interruptions has focused primarily on the task that gets interrupted. This is important, but only tells part of the story. Here we chose to focus on how the interrupting task is affected by contextual factors. We also provide a practical solution, a “Ready-to-Resume Plan,” that can overcome the negative effects of interruptions, and in particular helps prevent attention residue.
Specifically, our research shows that being interrupted is especially difficult when we anticipate facing time pressure upon resuming interrupted work. In our study, participants started working on a first task — let’s call it Task A. After 5 minutes, we interrupted them unannounced, asking them to stop their incomplete work in order to switch to another task — Task B, the interrupting task.
We split participants into two groups (or experimental conditions). One group was told they would have plenty of time to finish later, while the other group was told they wouldn’t have much time. Participants who thought they would experience time pressure when they returned to Task A showed both high levels of attention residue and significant performance decrements on Task B, the interrupting task: people did not process information carefully, did not notice errors, and when asked to make a decision based on recalled information, they were less likely to identify the optimal solution. In contrast, when participants anticipated that they would have plenty of time to complete the interrupted task, switching away from it was less difficult, such that they didn’t experience attention residue and performed at higher levels on the interrupting demand.
Although our results bring some hope that reduced time pressure can lessen the state of attention residue, we must temper this hope given today’s deadline-driven organizations replete with time pressure. Are we doomed to be in a constant state of attention residue or is there a way out?
We propose the “Ready-to-Resume Plan” as a way to manage interruptions, prevent attention residue, and perform at full capacity on interrupting tasks. The premise of the plan is that if we can put the brain at ease about our ability to complete the interrupted task upon return, we would be able to switch our attention more effectively.
To test this idea, we ran a series of lab experiments. Once again, participants started working on Task A and were interrupted to switch to another task, Task B. In one group, participants immediately switched to the interrupting task, Task B, following the interruption. In another group, we asked participants to take a few minutes before switching to create a “Ready-to-Resume” plan; essentially, to take a minute to note where they were on the interrupted task, Task A, and what they wanted to do and focus on upon return. Then they switched to Task B.
We found that those who engaged in the Ready-to-Resume plan experienced much less attention residue on the interrupting task and performed significantly better on Task B. Recall of information from the interrupting task was significantly improved, suggesting more careful attention to the task. People were also 79% more likely to choose an optimal candidate when Task B asked them to evaluate profiles for a job position, revealing better decision making when dealing with complex information.
The Ready-to-Resume plan took participants less than a minute and yet it yielded significant benefits. This simple and brief practice of taking stock of where one stands on an interrupted task and briefly planning one’s return helps the brain feel more at ease with putting it aside and switching attention to an interrupting demand.
Our work shows that we don’t have to passively succumb to the negative effects of inevitable interruptions. The Ready-to-Resume plan provides the brain the cognitive closure it needs to reduce attention residue so that we can be more present and perform at our full capacity.
Some may argue that the Ready-to-Resume Plan may be difficult to implement when interrupted by a superior or an important client, for example. But it is all in the framing; asking for permission to jot down notes on the interrupted task and thanking people for allowing us to be fully present and “all ears” is generally appreciated. And remember that when you interrupt others, you may also want to encourage them to make a Ready-to-Resume plan so that they can give you their full attention. As an added benefit, such interactions could cause interrupting coworkers to reflect on whether the issue was so pressing that it required an interruption and eventually may foster a higher threshold for interrupting. Yes, interruptions at work may be a fact of organizational life; but with the Ready-to-Resume Plan, we can mitigate their effects.
Editor's note:This is an excerpt of Planet Money's newsletter. You cansign up here.
A health worker sprays disinfectant inside government offices as a preventive measure against the COVID-19 coronavirus. ARUN SANKAR/AFP via Getty Imageshide caption
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ARUN SANKAR/AFP via Getty Images
A health worker sprays disinfectant inside government offices as a preventive measure against the COVID-19 coronavirus.
ARUN SANKAR/AFP via Getty Images
Last week, I went into Planet Money's vacant office in midtown Manhattan to pick up some stuff. It felt like visiting the ruins of a bygone age. It reminded me of a time when you could hop in a crowded subway car, stroll into work without a mask, and interact with your colleagues without having to stare at their disembodied heads through a computer screen.
Our building is still mostly abandoned, but our building's manager had already taken precautions for that elusive day when we might all return. There were stand-six-feet-apart circles in the lobby to encourage social distance. Our elevators could only fit four circles, and they didn't even seem like they were actually six feet apart. This being a skyscraper, it had always been a pain in the butt to wait for the elevator. The already-mobbed lines would be insane in a world where elevators could only fit four people at rush hour. Door handles, bathrooms, coffee machines, meeting rooms, and the office kitchen all seem like radioactive sites for the virus. And that doesn't even get into the HVAC system pushing bad air all around.
The experience really hammered home that the grand experiment of remote work will be here for a while. And it really is grand. A new study by Erik Brynjolfsson, at MIT, and five other economists, digs into the numbers on remote work. They conducted two major surveys in April and May, and they find that about half of the entire American workforce is now remote, which is higher than previous estimates. That bears repeating: half of the entire workforce is now working remote.
In a previous newsletter, we gave a bearish case for the future of remote work. We spoke with the Stanford psychologist Jeremy Bailenson, whose research shows how existing technologies like Zoom are a poor substitute for face-to-face interactions. A computer screen can't match the physical office when it comes to opportunities for social bonding, managerial oversight, mentorship and support, and random collisions between colleagues that lead to new ideas.
But there's also the bullish case for remote work. Brynjolfsson, who has spent years studying the intersection of technology and economics, points to its many advantages. Workers don't have to waste time or resources commuting. And they can live where they want. Companies can save money on commercial real estate, which is insanely expensive in places like Manhattan and Silicon Valley (side note: this also shifts the cost of real estate to workers, but that's another discussion). A virtual office offers a virtually unlimited labor pool for companies to recruit from. In econ jargon, there are better "matching" opportunities. "You get to tap into the best people wherever they are," Brynjolfsson says. Moreover, he argues, this shift is pushing companies to focus on performance and output as opposed to just "clocking hours."
A large number of blue-chip companies — including Twitter and Facebook — have said that they are freeing all or many of their employees to become roving nomads forever. Companies, Brynjolfsson believes, are now realizing remote work is less scary than they had imagined and that it's actually making them more efficient and productive. Brynjolfsson says "this portends a much bigger shift in the economy."
Yet, the technology we're all using to do remote work has been with us for decades now. And at the very same time this tech burst on the scene, companies — and especially high-tech companies — doubled down on having offices. Think Google's Googleplex and Apple's "Mothership," which opened only a few years ago. In 2013, the CEO of Yahoo, Marissa Mayer, even banned working from home.
"There's a lot of inertia in the way people work," Brynjolfsson says. "And it's actually quite hard to change the processes, the culture, the training, the types of work and tasks that people are doing. And so unless there's a shock, most people will tend to continue to do things the old way."
When it comes to the utilization of new technologies, Brynjolfsson sees a process he calls "the Productivity J-Curve." The J-curve refers to a pattern he sees in the data, showing that companies are slow to adopt new technologies, and when they do, productivity actually dips at first. They have to invest time and money adopting it, which slows them down. But, like any investment, it ends up paying off.
The core idea of the J-Curve, he says, is "when you have a powerful new technology like electricity or the Internet or the steam engine or artificial intelligence — work does not instantly change to take advantage of it." After electricity was invented, he says, it took over thirty years for factories to be retooled and for society to see big gains from it. "Likewise, with remote work, I don't think people really were forced to think through all the things that we could do and how well it could work," he says.
Brynjolfsson recognizes that the physical office offers some social and economic benefits. "It's probably a good idea for people to come in sometime," he says. But this grand experiment of remote work, he says, is forcing companies to rethink their operations, drop an outdated mindset, and discover more efficient ways of working. He believes many of these changes will stick once the pandemic ends.
After visiting the Planet Money office, I left wondering how long it'd be until we'd come back. And I hopped in my car to go home because there's no way I'm riding the subway these days.
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As parents begin the first of many back-to-school shopping trips this month, they may notice a remarkable new design on the shelf – a notebook bearing a colorful illustration by a Johnson County native.
Jalynn Heerdt, a 2016 graduate of Goreville High School, was a student at Murray State University in the Studio Art program studying graphic design when she came up with the drawing. The illustration, a bright and colorful Giraffe with thick, pink-rimmed glasses, is in the middle of blowing a large bubblegum bubble. The words, “Be your fabulous self” are emblazoned across the top in a stylized font. That image, which got its start as a digital drawing posted to Jalynn’s social media page, is now featured on a line of stylized notebooks at Targets across the country.
Jalynn drew the original design in 2018. “I use an iPad Pro with the app Procreate, and then transfer it to my computer and work in Adobe Illustrator,” she said, “I posted it to my art account on Instagram not thinking much of it. I was still new to hand lettering and design and didn’t expect anything to come from it.”
Some time after posting the drawing, a representative from Top Flight, Inc., a paper company out of Chattanooga, Tennessee, reached out through the app. The company is a large manufacturer of various school supplies, including the line of stylish notebooks Jalynn’s design was ultimately featured on.
“They were interested in purchasing [the design] for a notebook… I agreed and then we worked together for a few months and edits and adjustments.” Earlier this year, Jalynn received an email from Top Flight saying they had pitched the giraffe design to Target Corporation, and that Target had purchased it for their 2020 back-to-school line.
One of the things Jalynn learned from the experience is “post your work! Don’t be afraid to share because you never know what could come out of it!”
Jalynn has some advice for other aspiring artists or designers as well. “Always be in the process of making something new. The more you make, the better you will get and the faster you’ll learn what works. It’s a process of trial and error, so don’t be afraid to experiment and make mistakes.” She also encourages everyone to find other people and artists that inspire you and dig into what attracts you to their work.
Jalynn said it was always her dream to live in Nashville, Tennessee. After graduating from Murray State, Jalynn received a job offer from The Clever Factory in Nashville, and she is now doing just that. You can follow her journey on Instagram at @jalynncreates, or on jalynncreates.com.
The Texas Workforce Commission decided Tuesday to postpone reinstating a work-search requirement for out-of-work Texans receiving unemployment benefits.
The requirement that Texans be actively searching for a job in order to receive benefits was initially slated to go into effect Monday. But the TWC’s executive director cited rising numbers of coronavirus cases and hospitalizations across Texas — as well as Gov. Greg Abbott’s June 26 executive order scaling back the reopening of Texas businesses — in the commission’s decision to postpone the reinstatement, according to TWC spokesperson Cisco Gamez.
“Work search requirements have been paused,” Gamez wrote in an email. “We will continue to monitor the situation [and] come back to the commission in late July with recommendations regarding reinstatement.”
The requirement would have mandated that when requesting unemployment benefits, out-of-work Texans prove they engaged in at least three work-search activities. Self-employed workers would have had to prove they took at least three steps to reopen their businesses.
Gamez originally defended the July 6 reinstatement of the work-search requirement, noting that the searches can be performed remotely in order to avoid exposure to the coronavirus.
“Work search activities can be completed at home without potential exposure to COVID-19,” he wrote in a June 16 email to the Texas Tribune.
For most Floridians, going to the beach on July Fourth is about as American as apple pie.
However, record-breaking numbers of COVID-19 cases in the Sunshine State has put the brakes on that holiday tradition — in some Florida counties. Officials in South Florida announced beach closures in an effort to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus.
As of Monday, the state registered more than 146,000 cases and 3,447 deaths since the pandemic began.
Late last week, Florida announced record-number case jumps, with a surge of almost 43,000 people testing positive from June 24-29.
Data from the Florida Department of Health show the highest single-day total was on Saturday with more than 9,500 cases. On Monday, Florida reported 5,266 new cases.
Since the pandemic began, the total number of cases recorded in the state is 146,341, with 143,805 residents and 2,536 non-residents affected. Monday's percentage of people testing positive rose to 7.65%, a percentage that hasn't been this high since May 7, when it was 7.87% and the state had 38,828 cases.
The state's total number of cases has more than doubled from 61,488, when Gov. Ron DeSantis' issued Phase 2 of his reopening plan on June 5.
Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties still are in Phase 1 of DeSantis' reopening plan.
The following lists beaches by county and whether they will be opened or closed for July Fourth.
Florida beaches open AND closed for July 4
• Collier County, which includes Naples Beach and Marco Island. On Tuesday, Commissioners voted 3-2 to close beaches from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends, including Friday ahead of the Fourth of July holiday.
• Miami-Dade, which includes Miami, Miami Beach and Key Biscayne, will close its beaches from July 3-7.
• Broward County, which includes Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood Beach, Dania Beach, Las Olas Beach, Pompano Beach, Deerfield Beach, will be closed July 3-5. Restaurants and retail shops on the beaches, however, will still be open for business.
• Palm Beach County, which includes Palm Beach, West Palm Beach, Boca Raton and Delray Beach, announced beaches would be closed for July Fourth.
• Monroe County, which includes the Florida Keys, announced Monday beaches will be closed for the Independence Day holiday, beginning at 5 p.m. Thursday through dawn July 7.
• Escambia County, which includes Pensacola Beach, Perdido Key and Santa Rosa Island: In addition to Pensacola beaches remaining open, the Blue Angels will prepare for its 2020 Pensacola Beach Air Show the weekend after July Fourth. Running July 8-11, thousands from across the country are expected to attend. The Santa Rosa Island Authority announced last week the U.S. Navy Blue Angels will fly for 45 minutes each day — weather permitting — at 10 a.m. daily between Park East on Pensacola Beach and Orange Beach, Alabama. Visit blueangels.navy.mil.
• Santa Rosa County, which includes Navarre, Gulf Breeze and Santa Rosa Beach: Not only will the beaches be open, rain or shine, the Santa Rosa County Tourist Development Office will host an Independence Day fireworks show at 9 p.m. July 4 at the Navarre Beach Fishing Pier. Try to arrive early to find parking, practice social distancing and leave pets at home. Call 850-981-8900 or visit santarosa.fl.gov.
• Okaloosa County, which includes Fort Walton Beach and Destin beaches (Henderson Beach, James Lee Beach, Princess Beach, Matterhorn, White Point, and some Eglin Air Force off-base beaches): Beaches here are open from dawn to dusk, including public and private beaches; restrooms; and the Okaloosa Island Fishing Pier. Eglin Beach Park opens at 10 a.m., with $5 parking via credit card only. Visit destinfwb.com.
• Walton County on the Emerald Coast, which includes Rosemary Beach, Santa Rosa Beach and Miramar Beach
•Bay County, which includes beaches on the Gulf Coast in Northwest Florida, Mexico Beach and Panama City Beach
•Gulf County
• Franklin County, which includes St. George Island, Apalachicola, Carrabelle and Alligator Point
• Wakulla County, which includes Wakulla Beach
• Taylor County in the Big Bend of Florida, which includes Keaton Beach
•Dixie County, which includes Horseshoe Beach, in the Big Bend of Florida
• Hillsborough County, which includes Apollo Beach, St. Pete and Cleatwater
Southwest Florida
• Manatee County, which includes Anna Maria Island and Bradenton Beach
• Sarasota County, which includes Siesta Beach, Venice Beach, and Turtle Beach
•Charlotte County, which includes Englewood and Port Charlotte beaches in Punta Gorda
• Lee County, which includes Fort Myers Beach, Captiva and Sanibel Island: Captiva Erosion Prevention District said in a press release it would have an attendant at the Alison Hagerup Beach parking lot in Captiva Friday through Sunday. While the beach will be open, parking will cost you. Alison Hagerup Beach will be open from dawn to dusk with parking fees of $25 for two hours or $40 for the day. In addition, there is a $6 toll to get to Sanibel Island and Captiva.
• Nassau County, which includes Fernandina Beach, Long Beach, Lido Beach and Atlantic Beach
• Duval County in Northeast Florida, which includes beaches in Jacksonville — Jacksonville Beach, Neptune Beach and Atlantic Beach
• St. Johns County in the Northeastern Coast includes St. Augustine Beach, Ponte Vedra Beach and Crescent Beach
• Flagler County, which includes Flagler Beach, the Palm Coast and Beverly Beach
• Volusia County, which inludes Daytona Beach, New Smyrna and Ormond Beach
• Brevard County, which includes Melbourne Beach, Indialantic, Indian Harbour Beach, Satellite Beach, Patrick Air Force Base beaches, Second Light, Cocoa Beach, Cape Canaveral, Jetty Park at Port Canaveral and Canaveral National Seashore
• Indian River County, which includes Golden Sands, Wabasso Beach, Tracking Station Beach, Round Island Beach, the east end of Beachcomber Lane and Indian River Shores. Vero Beach city beaches will be restricted to city and Indian River county residents. The restrictions will be in effect from from 7 a.m. Friday to 10 p.m. Sunday.
• St. Lucie County, which includes Blind Creek Beach, Blue Heron Beach, Coconut Drive Beach, Dollman Park Beach, Gulfstream Beach, Herman's Bay Beach, and Jetty Park Beach
• Martin County, which includes Hobe Sound Beach near Palm Beach County and Jupiter Island
LEWISTOWN –The Lewistown Borough announced on Monday night that the Independence Day holiday will change its trash collection schedule this week.
The following changes are in effect: The Thursday, July 2 route will be picked up one day early on Wednesday, July 1. The Friday July 3 route will also be picked up one day earlier on Thursday, July 2.
There are no other changes to the trash schedule in the Borough.
Cape Cod’s beaches and towns may be quieter because of the coronavirus pandemic, but officials are reminding visitors ahead of the 4 July holiday that the famous Massachusetts destination remains a popular getaway for other summertime travellers: great white sharks.
Great whites have been coming to the Cape in greater numbers each summer to prey on the region’s large seal colonies. Most tend to favour the Atlantic ocean-facing beaches where seals tend to congregate, but researchers have found them off nearly every part of the Cape.
At a news conference, Leslie Reynolds, the chief ranger with Cape Cod National Seashore, warned the powerful predators were coming close enough to shore to be a concern for swimmers.
Officials in the town of Orleans have documented at least two shark attacks on seals in recent days, the Cape Cod Times reported.
Gregory Skomal, a prominent shark scientist with the state Division of Marine Fisheries, said he tagged three great whites circling a whale carcass earlier this month as his research team began its work for the season.
The peninsula south-east of Boston saw two shark attacks on humans in 2018, one of them fatal. Officials have recommended swimmers remain in waist-deep water where possible and avoid areas where sharks have been previously spotted while they weigh a range of responses to protect beachgoers and preserve the region’s tourist economy.
Local residents concerned about the booming shark population, meanwhile, say they’ll boost their efforts to help protect swimmers this summer.
More pilots have volunteered to radio in shark sightings as they fly over the peninsula, said Heather Doyle, co-founder of Cape Cod Ocean Community, a local group that advocates for white shark surveillance and detection measures.
The Atlantic White Shark Conservancy, a Chatham-based research group, is also offering its Sharktivity smartphone app, which allows users to report and track shark sightings.
Brands love reaching their most passionate customers. As a former retail CMO myself, I get it. When you reach early planners, you reach the CEOs of the household—an audience that buys and spends more. Reach them first and you have a shot at being their first choice when it’s time to shop.
And yet, for as long as marketers and advertisers have been prioritizing planners—the type-As—they’re making some seriously incorrect assumptions about this key audience right now. I heard from a CMO recently: “I’m holding all of my Halloween, Thanksgiving and holiday planning. Nobody is thinking that far in the future yet.”
Research suggests the opposite. People on Pinterest aren’t delaying—they’re starting earlier than ever this year. That’s saying something, because at Pinterest, we’re used to early. Searches from Halloween to the holidays start appearing on Pinterest months before other search platforms.
Our research also shows that Pinners are explicitly looking for help from brands this year in navigating the shifting holiday climate while still making their celebrations feel special.
This year, Pinners are starting to search for holiday ideas earlier than ever before. Historically, people on Pinterest start making holiday plans in September. This year, they started searching and saving for holidays in April. Holiday searches jumped 77% in April 2020 versus April 2019. That trend included a threefold increase in searches for “Christmas gift ideas”—eight months before December.
Why the shift?
First, there are the rational reasons. People are worried about the pandemic’s impact on preparations they used to take for granted. Pinners pointed to concerns like delayed shipping, a potential shortage of ingredients to make their favorite recipes and a need to work harder this year to create the same holiday experience in the face of a pandemic. As one Pinner put it, “I’ll be starting to look online much earlier than normal because shipping delays are quite likely at the moment. You don’t know exactly when you’re going to see the products.”
But there are also more emotional reasons. After a tough year, consumers are craving the comfort of the holidays. And the early planning that once felt like a chore now feels extra special and imbued with new meaning. One pinner says: “I really want it to be super Christmas-y and kind of over the top this year. … I’ll be going above and beyond with tons of decorations and a tree and activities.”
Hey, I get it. Last weekend, I helped my daughter research her costume for Halloween—a holiday she can’t stop talking about. In June.
Research also shows that Pinners are explicitly looking for help from brands this year in navigating the shifting holiday climate while still making their celebrations feel special. As you develop content, think about designing specifically to meet customers’ early planning needs. For example, Pinners who plan are also more likely to self-gift. This year, we predict they’re also more likely to host for the first time. Consider these different planner archetypes when crafting your content—from the self-gifter and the traditionalist to the shipping-first shopper and rookie host.
Don’t be late to the party. Be the brand they discover first. Show up on time for the earliest holiday planning season ever.
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The Link Lonk
