Working

Leo Babauta reflects on his successes and failures over the past year, including completing his Zen Habits book and improving his Sea Change program. via Zen Habits

Top executives from the media and advertising industries share their holiday book recommendations, with genres ranging from historical fiction and philosophy to business and psychology. via Digiday.

This article outlines five New Year's resolutions designed to help brands avoid social media pitfalls in the coming year. The resolutions focus on using social media more responsibly, such as understanding hashtags and carefully planning user-generated content.

via Digiday.

The Port Authority temporarily banned a homeless outreach team from a PATH hub in Jersey City because the team outsourced its work to a nonprofit without a legal agreement. via nj.com

A Sprinklr study ranks brands’ social media performance in 2014, finding Fiat, Yamaha, and Burton among the top performers. via Digiday

Leo Babauta shares life-changing strategies for overcoming obstacles and finding motivation to make significant life changes. via Zen Habits

Trend reports and expert analyses are among the resources available at PSFK for those in marketing, innovation, and retail. via PSFK.

Voters in Washington state passed an initiative to reduce class sizes, but funding the estimated $5 billion cost is proving challenging, and research on the effectiveness of smaller classes is mixed. via FiveThirtyEight

The American Psychological Association (APA) condemned the CIA's use of "enhanced interrogation techniques," and is facing scrutiny for potentially enabling psychologists' involvement.

GQ offers an alternative method for cooking steak indoors, ideal for small kitchens. via GQ.

This article offers advice on how to identify core qualifications and transferable skills to highlight when applying for jobs where you don't meet all of the listed requirements. via Mashable.

Facebook is encouraging content creators to leverage their platform for video content discovery with autoplay features and algorithms, even without immediate monetization like YouTube currently offers.