Sunday Setup
A weekly newsletter to help get your mind set up for a positive workweek.
04.13.2025 — There's a Fungus Among Us
The Agony of De Feet
They say old habits die hard, but what if those habits could actually kill you before they die?
That's a question a Chinese man must now answer after checking himself into the hospital for a persistent cough and bloodshot eyes. A bit of Dr. House-like sleuthing, including a CT scan, an MRI, a Bronchoscopy, and a litany of questions, helped doctors determine that the patient had contracted an Aspergillus infection from repeatedly smelling his own dirty socks.
The unnamed, middle-aged man admitted that he would inhale the sweaty scent of his soiled socks every time he came home from work, just before placing them in the washing machine. I understand the concept of conducting a sniff test to see if I can get one more wear out of something, but socks are like Duke University freshman basketball phenom Cooper Flag — one and done. If my feet have been wrapped in warm, moist, cotton for 8+ hours, even a James Brown record couldn't match that funk.
I'm not one to pass judgement on another man's fetish, but I'll never understand how snorting fungi and bacteria can induce pleasure. This guy essentially transformed his lung into a petri dish by putting a dirty sock in it. If his health insurance denies his claim and makes him foot the entire hospital bill, that might be a step in the right direction.
I Love It When a Plan Comes Together
When I was a kid, my older sister had a habit of torturing me. She would often ask me to smell her feet, and naturally I would always say, "No!" Never one to give up, she would plead incessantly saying, "Come on, just for ten seconds," to which I would reluctantly comply. Don't ask me why.
The worst part about my playing Charlie Brown to her Lucy with the football is that every time, without fail, I would eventually notice her foot — no, her entire body — shaking uncontrollably as she laughed at the fact that she had counted up to 60 seconds and I hadn't noticed. Sadly, I experienced this trauma more times than I can count, but that's probably because I didn't count.
This true story reminds me of a phrase a former manager often used:
"Your poor planning is not my problem."
As harsh as that may sound, you really can't argue with it. I mean, if I had just planned to perform my own count instead of trusting my sister's, I wouldn't have been subjected to her funky feet for forty-five seconds. Better yet, if I had just planned not to comply, I wouldn’t still be in therapy. But I digress.
When it feels like you have a million and one simultaneous tasks at work, yet only a few grains of sand left in the hourglass, planning time to stop, breathe, and refocus before resuming your work may seem counterintuitive, but it might be exactly what you need.
I used to have a bad habit of "digging down deep" and pushing through fatigue to satisfy a looming deadline. Food, rest, and sanity be damned! I had to cross that finish line by any means necessary. In the end, I would pay the price of being mentally and physically gassed, requiring more time than available to recharge.
Unfortunately, this approach is often celebrated as a badge of honor, but it shouldn't be. Repeated excessive exertion without mindful breaks and extended time off can not only lead to myriad mistakes, it can also lead to burnout. According to Forbes, 66% of American workers have experienced burnout in 2025. And we’re only 13 days into Q2! What's worse, more than 60% of Americans left PTO on the table in 2024.
The layoff epidemic that has infected America exacerbates exhaustion and heightens anxiety amongst the "survivors" of the corporate version of The Hunger Games. But while many of us may still need to trade our time for an employer's money to make ends meet, our health — physical and mental — should not be on the trading block.
As the cliche goes, failing to plan is planning to fail. And if you don't plan to take care of yourself by setting — and enforcing — boundaries on your time and energy at the office, you will fail to increase the longevity of your “time trading” capabilities.
So, when you feel overloaded and out of time, break the bad habit of pushing through the fatigue to keep going. Take a break. Walk away from the computer and step outside to take a whiff of fresh air for a few minutes.
Just don't forget to keep your own count of those minutes.