If you're one of the many, many professionals who feel huge chunks of their life are being eaten up by email, there's no shortage of solutions on offer. From elaborate systems that turn yesterday's inbox into your to-do list, to pleas for radical mass deletions, and even programs to modify your own behavior and boost your email karma, experts and fellow entrepreneurs have suggested just about every fix you can think of. (Inc.)

The difference between productivity and procrastination is largely the psychology we apply to ourselves. Let’s face it: getting things done is hard. Even when you have a solid "to-do" list. (Fortune)

You know the vibe of a workplace in the holiday season. It's an empty vibe, in more ways than one. Colleagues are away. The fiscal year is all but over. Sales calls may as well wait till early January, when new budgets beg for bursting. At some point in mid-December, there's often a holiday party of some sort, a great excuse for a half-day of accomplishing next to nothing if ever there were. (Inc.)

Of all the industries MBAs could end up in, the largest single chunk of them flock to one: consulting. But Bloomberg data show that they're not likely to stick with it. Even though consulting is the most popular of the three industries that claimed the majority of business school graduates this spring (financial services and technology are the other two), it's also the one MBAs are most likely to move on from a few years later. (Bloomberg)

On LinkedIn, hundreds of thousands of users note on their profiles that they have taken online classes or earned certificates from coding boot camps. But when Richard Fye, the top recruiter at IT firm Fino Consulting, looks at candidates’ profiles, those credentials aren’t what helps them get hired – not yet, anyway. (The Wall Street Journal)

Ask anyone who travels for work: It’s not as glamorous as it looks. Yes, sometimes you get to explore new places, meet interesting people, and rack up frequent flyer miles for future vacations. But you’re also yanked out of your regular, comfortable routine, spend too much time standing in airport security lines, and you’re miles away from people who know you well. The excitement can wear off easily – and many business travelers are left feeling lonely. (Harvard Business Review)

Anyone who’s been following the news about the campus turmoil across the U.S. in recent weeks has probably heard of "microaggressions" – the casual, everyday slights and insults that make clear that racial bias and sex discrimination haven’t gone away, they’ve just gone underground. (Fortune)

The first wave of canceled reservations struck Le Bristol with crushing force after last weekend’s terrorist attacks, across town from the five-star hotel and its elite Right Bank neighborhood. Within 72 hours, the tally of lost bookings exceeded a half-million euros – more than $530,000.(The New York Times)

Tim Carr, an American working for a defense company based in the midwestern United States, was about to enter a sensitive bargaining session with a high-level Saudi Arabian customer, but he wasn’t particularly concerned. Carr was an experienced negotiator and was well-trained in basic principles: Separate the people from the problem. Define your BATNA (best alternative to a negotiated agreement) up front. Focus on interests, not positions. He’d been there, read that, and done the training. (Harvard Business Review)

Last year, I substituted a couple of times in a third-grade class that had two little black girls in it amid mostly Latino and a few white children. All the kids loved me for introducing them to the Roald Dahl book, The Witches, but afterwards I noticed something: While the other kids in the class eagerly waved at me while passing in the hallway, those two little black girls went out of their way to give me a hug every time they saw me. (Black Enterprise)

What if you could earn a technology-centric credential at a similar level to a postgraduate for less than $1,000? And what if earning that high-level credential took about six to nine months? What if, after earning this credential, you went into a job interview with solid evidence revealing your skills, backed by several relevant projects you created that very clearly disclosed your innovativeness and creativity, along with showing how advanced you were in relation to the latest developments in your field of study? (Fast Company)

Founded in 2015, the LOT® Endowment Fund is a $1,000,000 award campaign that aims to improve scholastic opportunities through funding for Black youth between the ages of 15-18, through charitable support from the NBMBAA’s members, along with its corporate partners, friends and advocates.

Help us to foster financial and educational assistance for Black students across the nation through undergraduate scholarships, with the goal of sending them to college at no or reduced cost.

Donate Today!

---

With more than 9,000 members, the NBMBAA is the largest non-profit organization advocating minority business professionals year-round. Our members are professionals from all over the world. Join our dynamic membership pool today to enhance your career and professional portfolio. Membership includes exclusive corporate partner discounts from Black Enterprise, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles US LLC, Dell, Ford and Nationwide.

Not a member? Join Today!

---

A 30-person startup in an artsy corner of this city’s gritty core is making it easier for millions of Africans to send and receive money across borders by using their phones. (The Wall Street Journal)

Good news can feel all too hard to come by lately. But this, at least, is something the US can be proud of: the digital divide in the country’s schools is rapidly closing. (Wired)

Wendell Pierce is best known for his roles on acclaimed HBO series The Wire and Treme, and countless other stage and screen acting roles. But his recent book The Wind In The Reeds tells a personal story of place, family, art, and commerce, culminating in his community redevelopment work in his native New Orleans. (Money)

Being a founder of a company is a tricky career path. Unlike the typical corporate-ladder structure, there is no roadmap telling you how to run a company. But as the founder of Leadnomics, digital-marketing agency, I have learned that when the path is unknown, it is important to listen to your instincts. (Entrepreneur)

Should black people go out of their way to patronize black-owned business? Maggie Anderson says they should. In 2008, with the economy in the middle of the worst downturn since the 1930s, Ms. Anderson enlisted her husband and two daughters in a yearlong plan to consume goods and services exclusively from black-owned businesses. (The New York Times)

Back in 1980, Americans didn’t pay much of a premium to live in the center of a city. Quite the contrary: Many gladly paid more to live farther away. The average price for a two- or three-bedroom home right in a central business district was about $100,000 (in 1980 dollars). (The Atlantic)

The terrorist attacks in Paris last week that killed 129 people and injured hundreds more instilled fear in millions of people who weren’t anywhere near the attacks. That, of course, is the point of terrorism. (The New York Times)

Putting out the traditional Thanksgiving spread will cost the host or hostess a little more this year, according to a new estimate from the Farm Bureau. This year’s average cost for a turkey dinner with all the trimmings plus dessert comes to $50.11, a 70¢ increase. (Money)

Eric Ries became a celebrity in the business world for his "Lean Startup" methodology, a set of principles that helps small companies move fast and stay nimble. Lately, he's been devoting much of his time to counseling big companies that want to do those same things. (Inc.)

Depending upon your outlook, Black Friday is either a time-honored US shopping holiday or the miserable nadir of American consumer culture. Whichever lens you choose to view it through, there’s no denying that Black Friday is huge. (Wired)

Much as war is too important to leave to the generals, love is too precious to entrust to the romantics. So don’t. Organizations looking for their people to love them better be pragmatic about their idealism. To do "what it really takes to become a company employees love" requires leaders to ask, "What kind of love do we really want from people?" (Harvard Business Review)

With millennials making their way through the leadership ranks, a growing number find themselves in the predicament of managing employees who have been in the field since they were in diapers. (Fast Company)