Hi [%first_name | Quartz member%],
Each week, we’ve been looking at a company helping reshape the global economy, from the clean-energy outfit that unseated Exxon to the meditation app keeping everyone chill. Today we’re focusing closer to home: We asked a bunch of Quartz staffers to share the one book, show, podcast, habit, purchase, mantra, or other recommendation that made a difference for them in 2020. What follows are some of the highlights.
Your most-read story this year: A chart of the 1918 Spanish flu shows why social distancing works. Most relatable member goes to everyone who read the 20 questions to ask instead of “How are you doing right now?” Bookmark it; you’ll still need them in 2021.
Okay, now pull out your to-do list; we’re talking top tips.
Three things to try
🤸 Back exercises for just five minutes a day can make a big difference to your overall physical health. Your back does a ton of heavy lifting (🙄); this is the least we can do to support it (🙄🙄). Let the UK’s National Health Service show you how! Or try some basic yoga exercises that can help relieve lower back pain specifically. —Jackie Bischof, deputy membership editor
👪 Enjoy something with a friend. Committing to a book or TV show together will nudge you towards having balance in your life, and it gives you something to talk about other than “how are you” when you catch up. I’ve done this with Lisa Taddeo’s Three Women and Brit Bennett’s The Vanishing Half and would recommend both. —Alex Ossola, deputy membership editor
💡 Put a baking sheet in your refrigerator to hold jars. Now, instead of having to reach over all your condiments to take one out, you can just pull out this baking sheet like it’s a drawer. —David Yanofsky, editor of code, visuals, and data
Four things to enjoy
📺 The Good Lord Bird on Showtime, a miniseries about abolitionist John Brown played by Ethan Hawke in an insane performance (in a good way). It’s great for history buffs and dark comedy fans, and it’s only seven episodes. —Adam Epstein, entertainment reporter (and John Brown expert)
📚 The Poppy War trilogy by RF Kuang. This is a dark fantasy that draws heavily from 20th century Chinese history. Hold onto your socks—I actually screamed when I got to the end of both the second and third books. —Katherine Ellen Foley, health and science reporter
🎬 Pedro Almodovar’s Pain and Glory. Even longtime Almodovar fans missed this semi-autobiographical 2019 movie, but that’s okay—it’s perfect viewing for a melancholy holiday season. Most of the movie is spent in remembrances of boyhood, or in meditations about aging and past relationships. Though the plot is subtle, there is a gentle turn toward a more promising future in the final frame. —Lila MacLellan, senior reporter
🥤 A video game called Cuphead. You’re a cup, and you run around, and the devil wants your soul, so you’ve gotta get other people’s souls instead. The animation is amazing and the whole aesthetic is 1930s jazz. You can also have two players: introducing Mughead. I play on Playstation, but you can find it on lots of platforms. —Amanda Shendruk, Things reporter
One workout to get into
An under-desk bicycle (a mini-bike featuring just the pedals) can help you more easily incorporate exercise into your day. I pedal during calls and while watching TV, and hopping on for a few minutes also helps me feel more awake and energized throughout the day. I haven’t mastered the art of typing and biking just yet, but who knows what 2021 will bring! —Sarah Todd, senior reporter
Four mantras to keep repeating
🎈 Make space for boredom. We have a lot of demands on our attention, but one of the necessary conditions for being bored is not looking at a screen, or maybe even a book. Make space in your mind for very low-brainwave activities; when you’re there, you might have more creative thoughts. —Tim mcDonnell, climate and energy reporter
🎉 Surprise yourself. This year, I dared myself to try something I’ve never done before: Ride a bicycle. I’ve been taking lessons with New York City’s “Bike Whisperer,” a woman so sympathetic that she makes you believe in an innate ability to learn something new at any age. The key to balance, she said, is to raise your chin and always look forward. —Anne Quito, reporter
💪 Don’t be lazy. In, like, a safety way, but also in any way that will save you time later. Take the extra time and do something right so that you can be truly lazy at some point in the future. —Susan Howson, email editor
🙏 Ask for help. People get nervous about needing help, but the truth is most people want to help you. If you give them an opportunity to help you, they’re going to be excited about it, because helping feels good. When you don’t ask for help, you’re stuck in your crappy situation, the people who would have helped you don’t get to feel good, and the world doesn’t get to benefit from that improved outcome. So basically, you’re doing everyone a favor when you ask for help. —Phoebe Gavin, editorial audience director
Thanks for reading! And don’t hesitate to reach out with comments, questions, or your own top tips from 2020.
Best wishes for a collaborative end to your year,
All of us here at Quartz