The Daily Valet. - 11/15/19, Friday

✔️ Let's Talk About Burnout

November 15, 2019

Friday, November 15th Edition

Cory Ohlendorf, Editor in Chief of Valet.

Who’s seeing “Ford v Ferrari” this weekend?

Cory Ohlendorf , Editor ⋯ @coryohlendorf

Today’s Big Story

Let’s Talk About Burnout

Don’t throw in the towel. Small changes can go a long way.

It's the end of the week ... how are you feeling? A little stressed? Worn-out? Overworked and under-slept? You're not alone. About half of all Americans say they're often or always exhausted due to work—up from nearly 33% in 2006—according to the General Social Survey, which has been monitoring trends in American behaviors and priorities since 1972.

Workplace burnout has gotten a lot of attention since this fall, when the World Health Organization expanded its definition, including it in the International Classification of Diseases. But burnout is listed as occupational phenomenon, not a medical condition.

This is not simply dreading going to work some days or feeling overwhelmed by the demands of your job. According to the ICD itself, burnout results from “chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed,” meaning it’s more than having a bad day or a complicated group project, and it can’t be relieved by just taking a few days off.

Of course, we workers do have some responsibility to guard against the conditions that can burn us out. Elizabeth Grace Saunders, a time management coach, says in order to reduce the energy depletion associated with burnout and facilitate restoration, we must prioritize three basic but universal core needs: sleeping, eating and moving.

Fast Company checked in with nine CEOs to see how they maintained motivation and stayed fresh on the job, despite overwhelming stress. The overarching theme of their advice? Prioritization. You pretty much know what you need. And often, we put our needs on the back burner thinking that we'll get to them only if we check off enough to-dos from the list. But deep down we know ... the more stuff you pile up in front of those needs, the less capable you are at doing your job well, or even at all.

↦ How to: Deal with and overcome your burnout, from the experts who deal with it professionally.

The School Shooting Took Just 16 Seconds

A 16-year-old shooter kills two and injuries three

A California high school junior walked onto the quad, took out a .45 caliber semiautomatic handgun from his backpack and shot five people before turning the gun on himself. He was later hospitalized for the gunshot wound and CNN reports that he's in grave condition.

The whole ordeal took just 16 seconds. A 16-year-old female student and 14-year-old male student died after being transported to a nearby hospital, the sheriff said. The three surviving victims were in stable condition.

The Saugus High School shooting was the 38th school shooting this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive, a nonprofit research group that counts gun deaths. Eleven have been killed and 50 injured in those attacks, according to their statistics.

Currently, there's no clear motive or troubled history at that address to indicate there were any issues at the home prior to the shooting. There's no way to put a positive spin on this, but I do think that we keep inching closer, as a society, to taking a definitive step at addressing these tragedies. In a Quinnipiac poll this summer, a whopping 73% of Americans said more needs to be done to address gun violence. This kind of support is what will inevitably push our elected representatives to make meaningful changes in gun legislation.

Trump Asks Supreme Court to Block Tax Return Release

The fight could yield a major decision on presidential power

President Trump petitioned the Supreme Court on Thursday to block a subpoena for his tax records issued by New York prosecutors investigating hush-money payments to two women who allege they had affairs with Trump, reports the Wall Street Journal.

The case marks the first time that lawyers for a president have gone to the Supreme Court arguing that the chief executive is immune from criminal proceedings while in office.

Last week, a unanimous three-judge panel of a federal appeals court in Manhattan ruled against Trump. The court said state prosecutors may require third parties to turn over a sitting president’s financial records for use in a grand jury investigation.

The president is putting up quite a fight though, considering that he has maintained all the way back to 2016 that he'd release his personal tax returns “once they're done being audited.” His lawyers haven’t provided any updates on his audit status for the last three years as president, and the existance of an IRS audit doesn’t preclude him from releasing his returns. The agency audits all presidents, and every elected president since Richard Nixon has released their returns before or during an audit.

The World’s Largest Starbucks Opens Today in Chicago

The five-story emporium serves Italian breakfast sandwiches, chocolates and barrel-aged coffee

When was the last time you walked into a Starbucks that felt particularly cool? I can't remember either. But, to be fair, I haven't been in one of the brand's Reserve Roastery locations—their high-end coffee bar/tasting room designed for true caffeine connoisseurs.

Their latest, in Chicago, opens today. Spread over five stories and clocking in at an astonishing 35,000 square-feet, it is the largest Starbucks in the world, just edging out the Roastery that opened in Tokyo this past spring.

The shop itself is a coffee junkie's fever dream. "At the store’s heart is a four-story, bronze-clad cask full of beans—think of it as a classy, caffeinated grain silo," writes Fast Company's Mark Wilson. "All of the beans are roasted on site, degassed, and fed through a curvy and convoluted network of air-powered tubes to coffee bars on each floor." As for what's on offer, Eater reports that the food selections rival that of Eataly, with edibles available on every floor, ranging from gelato and sweets to breakfast sandwiches and pizza.

↦ FYI: There are over 31,000 Starbucks locations, spread across 81 countries.

Other Things We’re Talking About Today

Underrated cuts of beef

The benefits of barefoot training

This ode to Apple CarPlay

Weekend Pairing

Neat: The Story of Bourbon + a Good Bourbon

The more you know about something, the better you can appreciate it, right? There's a lot of love for bourbon. And we're not alone in that sentiment—the whisky business is booming. In 2016, 556 million liters of whiskey were sold in the US. Now that's a lot of booze, but that number grew in just one year by almost 20 million liters to over 576 million. That's basically 9.78 billion 2 oz pours of whiskey sold in 2017, in the US alone.

So there's never been a better time for Neat: The Story of Bourbon to drop. Currently available to stream on Hulu, Amazon and iTunes, the feature-length documentary offers a deep dive into the storied world of America's only native spirit. Whiskey lovers will likely recognize all your favorite master distillers along with native Kentuckian Steve Zahn, who takes it upon himself to "educate" viewers throughout the film. With plenty of behind the scenes access elevated by syrupy cinematography, it's an enjoyable way to learn.

↦ Your Pairing:This is, without a doubt, a film that you need to watch with some bourbon in your glass. If you're looking for a suggestion, how about Weller Full Proof? It's a wheated bourbon (in the same class as the famed Pappy Van Winkle) with a nice long finish, recommended by the film's producer, AJ Hochhalter.

What We’re Buying

Banana Republic men's cashmere crew neck sweater

Whenever you can upgrade your closet staples to cashmere, take the opportunity. This silk-cotton-cashmere blend makes for an easy commitment to comfort for a Friendsgiving or as your newest winter office staple. The ultra soft sweater is breathable and lightweight enough to layer or wear on its own—all with a minimally graphic pattern. And the highly rated piece is an even easier buy now that's half off.

↦ Get It $79.50 / $47 at Banana Republic