6. Getting to the finish line. Waiting for the perfect time can keep you from finishing what you started. That quest for control distracts us, but that’s not actually something that we can reach as humans. So, why do people find it difficult to finish tasks? Firstly, is starting the project with perfectionistic fantasies that makes it easier to begin something else when things get difficult. Secondly, is a sense of importance people feel when they have multiple projects running at the same time. To overcome this, acknowledge that this practice won’t serve you and the desire for perfection may keep you from the satisfaction of completion. Break down big tasks into small goals and approach each piece as its own complete thing. Editor
7. NHS App to host patients' records. Patients will have access to their full medical records through the NHS app, under proposals to change how the system handles data. The legal change would require doctors and hospitals to use a single administrative system. The app, which is usually used to book appointments, will house all of an individual's medical information in a "patient passport". In theory, it will allow doctors, other NHS staff, researchers and patients to easily access information across the system. The health secretary said it would save around 1.5m working hours a year. The move is part of a proposed package of reforms to the health service, including an increase of tests and treatments at GP clinics. Family doctors will be paid more if they can take more work from hospitals, under the plans. BBC
8. Aspirin cuts cancer risk. Taking aspirin appears to cut the risk of pancreatic cancer by up to 40% in people with diabetes, a new study has found. It may also cut the risk in the general population by 20%, but the former finding is particularly significant, as pancreatic cancer is ten times more common in people who are diagnosed with diabetes in their 50s or older (as is often the case with type 2). Overall, 11,000 people in the UK are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer each year and, in its most common form, it has the lowest five-year survival rate of any cancer. The NHS says that it is generally safe to take aspirin daily provided it is at a low dose, usually 75mg (a quarter of a normal pain relief tablet). The Independent
9. London Eye Spins Backwards. The London landmark usually runs clockwise, but for just the second time since the landmark was erected in 2000 it will run anticlockwise for around 30 minutes from 8.15am on Sunday, before it opens to the public. It will mark the switch from British Summer Time to Greenwich Mean Time and it is the first time the cantilevered observation wheel has run in reverse since 2019 – when it also marked the clocks going back. The London Eye was erected to celebrate the millennium, has 32 pods representing the London boroughs and is 135 metres tall. ITV
10. The bottom line. Around 158,000 children in England – 2.1% of the total – were “severely absent” from school in the autumn and spring terms of 2023/24, meaning they failed to show up for at least 50% of all classes. That is up from 1.9% (or 139,000 pupils) in the same periods the year before. Department for Education
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