"Set clear, measurable goals" for employees so they don't waste time doing things that don't contribute to desired outcomes, writes Kim Scott, co-founder of Radical Candor. Critical steps include listening, clarifying, allowing limited debate, deciding on which goals to pursue, connecting team and company goals and learning from the results, Scott writes.

The pandemic has given workers more power than their predecessors, and University of Michigan professor Erin Cech thinks they should be using that considerable negotiating power. Cech believes workers should ask for remote and flexible work-from-home options that would not have been available even a few years ago.

It likely won't surprise you to read that Fortune 500 companies are hemorrhaging millions of dollars on unused office space as many people continue the pandemic-induced trend of working from home. But a new study of 2,000 spaces over a period of 502,000 combined working hours suggests there is more than $25 million in annual spending on real estate that is sitting idle. Companies have been endlessly wringing their hands to find the best model for productivity, but the conversation may need to shift to financial viability.

National trends and the inflation rate factor in to the calculation of employee raises, research shows, but this year's median pay increase of 4% -- up from the typical 3% -- covers only about half the inflation rate. Employers should also consider industry- or location-specific influences and whether they want to focus on cost-of-living, merit or market adjustments.

For Tricia Hersey, napping is a sacred ritual that, if developed, can help people move out of the "grind culture," rethink their priorities and embark, well-rested, on new journeys. "It's about education: We need to understand what the systems are doing to us, so that we can resist in a way that is fruitful for us," says Hersey, who founded the Atlanta-based Nap Ministry and has named herself the "Nap Bishop."

A 52-story skyscraper under construction in midtown Manhattan features a drop ride attraction in the stem made of a reinforced concrete core that will take four passengers for a 90-second ride that includes a free fall. Be ready for a long wait if this interests you, though: The building isn't scheduled to be completed until 2027.