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Even activities that are good for you can become counterproductive if you overload your schedule, leading to burnout. ABC News AU’s Emily McGrorey shared her experience of discussing a new meditation habit with her psychologist. Instead of encouraging her, the psychologist suggested she scrap the plan—along with several other routines she had already built. The reason? It was simply too much. The psychologist recommended a ‘to-don’t’ list.

Rachel Botsman, an Oxford University Trust Fellow, is credited with the concept of ‘to-don’t’ lists. Writing down goals or tasks often helps with mental clarity, which is why to-do lists are so popular. The same idea applies to removing non-essential tasks. McGrorey found that listing the unnecessary activities crowding her day revealed how many of them could be cut or postponed. Amantha Imber, an organizational psychologist and podcast host, highlighted that while time is finite, we often keep adding more tasks to our to-do lists, thinking it will help us get ahead. But sometimes, the opposite is true.

Imber noted that while some tasks, like parenting responsibilities, are unavoidable, many draining activities can either be stopped or delegated. This insight led McGrorey to add several familiar items to her ‘to-don’t’ list:

• No meetings between 8:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m.

• Skip ironing casual clothes—use a non-wrinkle tumble dry cycle instead.

• Do laundry and dishes every other day, rather than daily.

Public health advocates and the Nigerian government are working to provide malnourished households in the West African nation with a simple solution to boost their intake of essential vitamins and minerals. Soon, government regulators are launching a new set of standards for fortifying bouillon cubes with iron, zinc, folic acid, and vitamin B12, at minimum levels recommended by experts.

Although these standards are currently voluntary for manufacturers, their adoption could significantly advance efforts to combat diets deficient in vital micronutrients, commonly referred to as “hidden hunger” in nutrition and public health. According to a new report from the Gates Foundation, fortified bouillon cubes could potentially prevent up to 16.6 million cases of anemia and save up to 11,000 lives from neural tube defects in Nigeria.

Many households resort to smaller portions and less nutritious foods, with a recent government survey revealing that 79% of Nigerian households experience food insecurity. Due to numerous factors, this percentage has been increasing in the last couple of years. Bouillon cubes—small blocks of condensed meat or vegetable extracts used to flavor soups and stews—are ubiquitous in African diets, with nearly universal use in countries like Nigeria, Senegal, Ivory Coast, and Cameroon, a study by Helen Keller International found. Because the cubes are widely used across all income levels in Nigeria, this makes them an ideal, cost-effective vehicle for delivering essential vitamins and minerals to millions.

Deficiencies in iron, zinc, folic acid, and vitamin B12 have led to severe public health issues in Nigeria, including high rates of anemia among women of childbearing age, neural tube defects in newborns, and stunted growth in children, says Augustine Okoruwa, a regional program manager at Helen Keller International. The New York-based nonprofit, which addresses blindness and malnutrition, has partnered with the Gates Foundation and various organizations in Africa to promote food fortification.

Nigeria’s recent economic policies, such as the removal of gasoline subsidies, have worsened the cost-of-living crisis, particularly for low-income earners who make up the majority of the country’s workforce, exacerbating food insecurity.

The large-scale production of fortified foods offers a new approach to increasing micronutrient intake in the staples of low-income countries, providing resilience for vulnerable families, according to the Gates Foundation.

Currently, no Nigerian manufacturers include the four key micronutrients at the recommended levels, but there is growing industry interest. Sweet Nutrition, based in Ota near Lagos, began adding iron to some of its products in 2017 as a voluntary effort to support public health. Roop Kumar, the company’s marketing manager, said that they are conducting trials and considering further fortification in response to the new regulatory standards.

Researchers at the University of New South Wales have developed a heart simulator that accurately replicates the movements and functions of a real human heart, particularly focusing on the left ventricle (LV). This soft robotic LV simulator mimics the heart’s natural motions, which could reduce the need for animal models and enable more personalized patient care, according to Thanh Nho Do, a senior lecturer at the university.

The left ventricle is vital for pumping blood through the body, and when it fails, medical interventions are often needed. Current heart simulators struggle to replicate the full range of cardiac motions and pressure changes, limiting their use in testing heart conditions and devices. The new LV simulator addresses these limitations by recreating the left ventricle’s shape and function, using a simplified three-layer model of the heart’s muscle fibers. The outer layer (epicardium) consists of connective tissue and blood vessels, the middle layer (transmural) contains muscle cells responsible for pumping, and the inner layer (endocardium) lines the heart’s chambers and valves.

The simulator uses hydraulic artificial muscle fibers and can be customized by adjusting fiber density, angles, and ventricular shape. This design brings the device closer to mimicking real heart motion, offering improved biomimetic performance. The researchers tested the LV simulator in a mock circulatory loop to simulate blood flow and evaluate its effectiveness.

Over 450 guests have stayed at “the world’s only bookshop Airbnb,” where they not only spend the night but also run the store during the day.

Located in Wigtown, Scotland’s National Book Town, The Open Book offers guests a chance to manage their own seaside bookshop. Airbnb calls it “the first ever bookshop residency experience,” and it’s so popular that the waiting list stretches two years, with visitors coming from as far as Hawaii and Beijing. The shop, established by The Wigtown Festival Company, aims to promote books, support independent bookshops, and welcome people from around the world.

Since opening in August 2014, The Open Book Airbnb has become a hit, with guests enjoying the unique opportunity to run the shop. One guest from Austin, Texas, told the BBC, “There’s no better feeling than somebody buying a book you put on display.” Airbnb describes the property as “a holiday home with a difference,” offering visitors the chance to run a real bookshop in Wigtown. Guests stay in the apartment upstairs and run the shop downstairs, with full freedom to change displays, price books, and get creative with the space. Some prefer a quiet approach, while others come with bold plans and ideas.

A significant piece of U.S. history has been uncovered and is expected to fetch $20 million at auction. In preparation for the Constitutional Convention of 1787, 100 copies of the U.S. Constitution were printed, but only eight were signed by Charles Thomson, secretary of the Continental Congress. These signed copies were sent to each state for delegates to review.

One of these signed copies was recently discovered in a North Carolina home, making it the only privately owned signed copy in the country. It’s now up for auction at Brunk Auctioneers, where the opening bid of $1 million has already been met. The document was found by a family that had maintained the Hayes Plantation in Edenton, previously owned by Samuel Johnston, North Carolina’s governor from 1787 to 1789, and the person who ratified the Constitution for the state. The family had held the plantation for seven generations, but while preparing to transfer the property to the state as a historic site, a large-scale cleanout revealed the signed Constitution.

“We wouldn’t be surprised if it sells for $20 million, though it could go higher or lower. Another copy sold for $42.3 million at Sotheby’s,” said Andrew Brunk, CEO of the auction house, in an interview with CBS News. The document is preserved as two sheets containing eight pages, with the famous “We the People” in the top right. A resolution from the Confederation Congress is also attached, explaining the document’s purpose and what state officials should do with it.