 |
|
|
|||||
Working at the office all day was a struggle for Nicola Sura. Shed seen the toll that working a corporate job had taken on her moms physical and mental health, and she never wanted the same thing to happen to her. Around six months into Suras first full-time role in 2019, she started questioning her life choices, as well as those of everyone around her. I was, like, how are people doing this? Everyone seems completely fine. Everyone’s just going about their day, Sura, who works in corporate retail, tells Fast Company. It was killing me to just be there for eight hours at my desk. The move to working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic was when Sura learned a trick that would change everything: time theft. She started taking long lunches and watching TV while on the clock because nobody was monitoring her, and she finally found time to do her chores. I started feeling, like, okay, this is how I’m going to get through corporate America, Sura says. For me, it was always a means to survival. Time thievery is defined as stealing back moments in the workday to run errands, put on the laundry, take a nap, and do anything else that isnt in your job description, without taking official breaks. Sura now runs a TikTok account where she helps her 57,000 followers become better time thieves. Her number one rule: You have to be good at your job to get away with it. If you are very clearly a slacker or very clearly struggling, then it won’t work, she says. That is the foundation you have to start from, or else you will get fired. A productivity hack, or a risky coping mechanism? Time theft has become more common since the working-from-home era. One recent survey of over 5,000 people across Europe by the market research firm YouGov Switzerland found that 80% of work-from-homers admitted to doing nonwork tasks during paid hours. A 2025 study, published in the journal Behavioral Sciences, found that working conditions that have become more commonplace since COVIDsuch as a lack of supervision for those working from homecorrelated with employees taking extended personal breaks and sending personal messages during paid work time. Productivity experts and organizational psychologists have mixed views on time thievery. Some see it as risky, or as an unhealthy coping mechanism that masks deeper dissatisfaction. Others see it as a natural progression toward a more flexible way of working. Circa 2020 or earlier, some remote workers might have felt guilty tending to the laundry during a lull in the daybut given the nature of remote work, why feel guilty about juggling chores at all, so long as the work gets done? Selda Seyfi, a management consultant who writes about productivity on her Substack called “Maximize Your Minutes,” views time theft as energy management and an intentional integration of what you want to do versus what you have to do. The whole concept assumes we still work in a 1940s factory model where your employer owns your brain for eight hours, she says. Any deviation from that is seen as stealing, which feels outdated. Seyfi also argues that its unrealistic for workplaces not to expect employees to do necessary life admin, especially when banks and post offices are only open during work hours. Everyone talks about protecting weekends, but no one questions you when you’re checking emails at 9 p.m., she says. The boundary always seems to go one way. How reclaiming time changes workplace dynamics From an organizational perspective, when used occasionally, time theft can reduce absenteeism and presenteeism, says Amanda Tobe, an organizational psychologist who specializes in career progression. She says it can reduce anxiety and mental fatigue when used within reason, supporting emotional regulation and cognitive functioning, which may indirectly improve focus and work quality.” Anita Williams Woolley, associate professor of organizational behavior at Carnegie Mellon Universitys Tepper School of Business, notes that many jobs are lumpy: Some days are overloaded, others slower. People use lighter periods for errands, because work isnt perfectly matched to a 9-to-5 grid, she says. Employers who dont acknowledge that force workers to do this without being transparent. Williams Woolley adds that errands can offer stress relief and a sense of autonomy, especially when work feels inflexible or surveilled. But she warns that there may be costs: Secrecy can push people into a more transactional relationship with work, eroding trust and belonging, she says. Even if performance is strong, unreliability can stick. Theres also the risk of discipline for time thieves who push their luck. Employers who suspect workers of being absent for long swaths of the day may enforce policies such as monitoring laptop activity, or even dishing out punishments like fines. In 2023, for example, a remote accountant was dismissed and fined around $1,000 for time theft after tracking software was uploaded to her work laptop. Career happiness coach Jenny Holliday warns that even if you get away with it, time thievery may work in the short term but become costly over time. She says it can mask deeper feelings of resentment or disengagement, and even be a means of revenge. If you’ve been passed over for a promotion or a pay raise, why not spend half your day on other things? she says. Productivity doesnt look the same for everyone Sura isnt convinced by the criticisms, especially as more companies push employees back into the office full time. She doesnt see time theft as quiet quitting or coasting. While she may occasionally reframe the truthlike saying her internet is down so she can catch up on sleep or watch a movieshe says shes anything but unproductive. Sura has since moved on from the job where she learned that it pays to be a time thief, and has held a couple of corporate roles since. She now juggles contract work with being a full-time content creator. In her previous roles, she was consistently promoted and received positive feedback from managers and colleagues, so she knows firsthand that productivity doesnt look the same for everyone. Your work speaks for itself, she says. You can do good work without operating at a 100% capacity all the time. Slowing down and working at a sustainable pace matters. Another criticism Sura often hears is tht time thieves leave others to pick up the slack. She rejects that, too. Nobody is telling you to work harder, she says. Go ahead and also be a time thief. We should all be existing this way.
Category:
E-Commerce
On the heels of its intriguing Super Bowl ad, AI.com is garnering all sorts of interestso much, in fact, that the company’s website crashed as Super Bowl viewers scrambled to see what the company no one has heard of was all about. The new AI platform, founded by Crypto.com CEO and cofounder Kris Marszalek, reportedly spent a whopping $85 million on the Super Bowl spot, only to garner such a heavy volume of traffic that he had to post on X: “Insane traffic levels. We prepared for scale, but not for THIS,” followed by three fire emoji. That 30-second commercial, which ran during the coveted fourth-quarter ad slot, encouraged fans to go to the site and create an AI handle, lured by the promise it would “perform real-world tasks for the good of humanity.” What exactly does that mean? According to the company’s release: “With a few clicks, anyone can now generate a private, personal AI agent that doesnt just answer questions, but actually operates on the users behalforganizing work, sending messages, executing actions across apps, building projects, and more,” the company said. The company also asks people to “join now to claim your unique ai.com/username,” which requires entering credit card information to allegedly “verify that you’re a human” in order to secure a handle. Fast Company has reached out to AI.com for more details on why a credit card is required for verification. However, many who scrambled to the site were left with more questions than answers. One X user wrote: “I’m on the site but it’s not clear what http://ai.com offers!” On Meta’s Threads, user hridoyreh posted: “Why and for what exactly do I need to add a card for my AI.com username? Is this how they want to recover the $70 million they spent?” To which one user replied: “Ran into that this morning and was a big NOPE from me.” And another commented: “Literally no idea what that website / product does.” Marszalek reportedly bought the domain for $70 million, which is estimated to be “the single largest domain purchase in history,” according to the company, as reported by the Financial Times. According to AI.com’s release, the company’s “key differentiating feature is the agents ability to autonomously build out missing features and capabilities to complete real-world tasks. … Such improvements will subsequently be shared across millions of agents on the network, massively increasing the utility of each agent for ai.com users.” It also said users will soon be able to deploy their agent to do a range of actions, like trading stocks, automating workflows, organizing and executing daily tasks with their calendar, or even updating their online dating profileall while remaining private, permission-based, and fully under the users control.
Category:
E-Commerce
As backlash over Bad Bunnys Super Bowl LX halftime show rippled through conservative media, a notable group of right-leaning commentators broke with President Donald Trump to defend the performancein some cases walking back their own earlier criticism. Despite Bad Bunnys message of love and unity, the performance has been placed squarely at the center of the culture war in recent weeks. After initially calling for viewers to turn off the halftime show and labeling Bad Bunny a fake American citizen who publicly hates America, influencer and boxer Jake Paul, 29, has now claimed amnesia over his viral rant. Guys i love bad bunny idk what happened on my twitter last night ?? wtf, he posted on Monday morning. He also claimed his initial post was misinterpreted online, clarifying that it was Bad Bunnys values he was calling fake not his citizenship. Guys i love bad bunny idk what happened on my twitter last night ?? wtf— Jake Paul (@jakepaul) February 9, 2026 The overnight switch-up might be less a change of heart and more a reaction to the tide of public opinion turning against him. Even his brother and fellow influencer publicly disagreed with the take. Logan Paul replied to the post, writing: “I love my brother but I don’t agree with this Puerto Ricans are Americans & Im happy they were given the opportunity to showcase the talent that comes from the island.” A fake American citizen? Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez also responded on Monday on X. Didnt you MOVE to Puerto Rico to avoid paying your taxes while kids across America go hungry? A fake American citizen?Didnt you MOVE to Puerto Rico to avoid paying your taxes while kids across America go hungry?Meanwhile Benito actually funds low income kids access to arts and sports programs, while you defund them.Of course youre mad. He makes you look small. https://t.co/lLfY8pcBLn— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) February 9, 2026 Mike Nellis, former Senior Advisor to Vice President Kamala Harris, also chimed in to say: Future historians will mark Jake Pauls meltdown over Bad Bunny as the moment the left officially won the culture war. President Donald Trump was another vocal critic of Bad Bunnys halftime show, taking to Truth Social to call it “absolutely terrible, one of the worst, EVER,” in a social media post on Sunday. But by Monday, a number of conservative commentators and Trump allys had hit back at the President. Anti-woke broadcaster Piers Morgan, who has previously been friendly towards the president, responded on Monday: Couldnt disagree more, Mr President. I absolutely loved Bad Bunnys halftime show… Oh, and Spanish is 1st language for 50m+ Americans! Couldnt disagree more, Mr President. I absolutely loved Bad Bunnys halftime show. Amazing (best in Super Bowl history?) theatre/choreography, great energy, superbly confident performance, and a very welcome unifying message.Oh, and Spanish is 1st language for 50m+ Americans! pic.twitter.com/9rVUEmisRI— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) February 9, 2026 Im sorry but I just genuinely question your taste level if you didnt enjoy the Bad Bunny halftime show, Republican Meghan McCain also posted on X. And everything in life doesnt have to be ruined with politics. Im sorry but I just genuinely question your taste level if you didnt enjoy the Bad Bunny halftime show.And everything in life doesnt have to be ruined with politics.— Meghan McCain (@MeghanMcCain) February 9, 2026 Bad Bunny spotlighted Puerto Rican culture in a 13-minute spectacle at Levis Stadium in Santa Clara, California, reaching an estimated 135.4 million viewers. Over on YouTube, Turning Point USA streamed its own alternative concert featuring Kid Rock, Brantley Gilbert, and two other country artists, which peaked at about 6.1 million concurrent viewers.
Category:
E-Commerce
Investor and Shark Tank star Kevin O’Leary once declared that to succeed in business you must be willing to grind out 25 hour work days. He has since walked back on that idea, calling it, in his own words, sheer stupidity. In fact: The worst advice I hear young founders talk about all the time is that they want to work 18 hours a day. How stupid is that? OLeary said in a video posted on his Instagram page last week. The eat-sleep-work lifestylealso known as the 996 schedule first imported from China, which stands for 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., six days a weekhas since gained momentum among Silicon Valley tech companies. Despite his previous declarations, OLeary says it’s high time to put that idea to bed. Youve got to get some sleep, you have to eat well to stay focused, he says. Thats how youre successful. Being tired is practically a personality trait in corporate America. Harvard University research found 55% of CEOs get six hours of sleep a night or less. Yet, research consistently shows that productivity is closely tied to sleep. One 2019 study found that sleep-deprived entrepreneurs were more likely to favor weaker business ventures, failing to look past the surface-level features of new business ideas to understand their long-term potential. For the sleepless founder, making important decisions also becomes more difficult after a long day of work, as the effects of decision fatigue start to take hold. Theres lots of evidence that you should make the major decisions right after you wake up when you have the maximum energy and your mind is clear, OLeary says. Success should not come at the detriment of your health. This idea that you dont get any sleep, as if its good for investors, is sheer stupidity, he says. Eating well, getting sleep, and exercising are his actual secrets to optimization. O’Leary now sees those founders hustling 18 hours a day (or at least, those who look like theyve been) as poor bets. If you show up looking half-dead, Im not investing, OLeary wrote in the video caption. Youre not a hero, youre a liability.So, the next time you feel pressure to camp out in the office, take a page out of OLearys playbook and: Go home and get a good night’s rest. Show up to work looking and feeling fresh. Tackle your most important tasks first thing. In doing so, youll not only look better and feel better but maybe most importantly. . .work better.
Category:
E-Commerce
On Jan. 19, 2025, someone paid $75.35 to buy a Trump meme coin. Today, assuming that investor held the cryptocurrency, the investment has lost 96% of its value. The crypto market has been more volatile than usual in recent weeks. Last week alone saw daily swings of as much as $10,000 in Bitcoin, the leading digital currency, pushing it down to nearly $60,000, a level not seen since 2024. Bitcoin has since recovered somewhat, though it is still hovering near $70,000, well below its $122,000 high last October. But as mainstream cryptocurrencies continue to give investors whiplash, meme coin holders have fared even worse. The Trump coin, in mid-morning trading Monday, stood at $3.39, according to CoinMarketCap. The Melania coin, which once traded as high as $13.73, is down roughly 99%, changing hands for about 12 cents. The drop in the Trump coin comes roughly a year after it began to lose investor support following Trumps inauguration. Last February, the coins market capitalization stood at $3.5 billion, already well below its $14.5 billion peak on the eve of his second inauguration. Today, it has fallen to $1.78 billion. Non-political meme coins have also seen steep declines. Dogecoin, which once flirted with $1 per coin, is now trading just over 9 cents. That represents a 25% decline year to date and a 68% drop since last September. Shiba Inu now costs $0.000006060, meaning that buying 1,650 coins today would cost just under one centa 20% drop from its highs last October. Losses over the past week span the broader meme coin market: Pepe fell 13%. Bonk dropped 16%. Pudgy Penguins declined 20%. And pippin slid 35%. (No, we didnt make any of those names up, and no, its not surprising if you havent heard of several of them.) Cryptos turbulence comes amid broader market instability in 2026. Wall Street has experienced its own roller-coaster ride, and even precious metals have been volatile, with silver prices swinging between $71 and $115 since Jan. 1. What makes crypto’s ups and downs particularly noteworthy, though, is the financial stakes held by President Donald Trump’s two eldest sons. Eric Trump and Donald Trump, Jr co-founded American Bitcoin, a publicly-traded bitcoin mining and treasury management company in March of last year. (The stock has fallen from $7.40 per share when it began trading to $1.28 in midday trading Monday.) Eric Trump, Donald Trump Jr., and 19-year-old Baron Trump are also co-founders of World Liberty Financial, a crypto company that is now generating more revenue for the family than the Trump real estate business. The Wall Street Journal calculates that the company has brought in at least $1.4 billion for the Trump family since Trumps re-election. The sons of Trump special envoy Steve Witkoff and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick also operate businesses with crypto interests. A White House spokesperson told the Journal that there are no conflicts of interest, as the ventures are run independently by the politicians sons. Meme coins have always been risky investments. All too often, they’re rug pullsget-rich-quick schemes where one entity sees significant returns, but investors are left with useless holdings. And while they might be tied to a pop culture phenomenon or a person, there’s no guarantee there’s any formal relationship between the two. That could be the case with the Melania meme coin. Last October, a lawsuit was filed alleging that the coins backers orchestrated a large-scale pump-and-dump scheme involving at least 15 cryptocurrencies, including $MELANIA. The complaint alleged that First Lady Melania Trump was used as window dressing for a crime engineered by Meteora and Kelsier. “Neither Melania Trump nor her representatives knew the project was part of a systemic fraud, and they would not have agreed to any use of her name had they known the truth,” the suit read.
Category:
E-Commerce