After years of procrastination, even the most trivial task felt like climbing a mountain. Then I discovered the pomodoro technique – and how much I could achieve in just 25 minutes

Long before I knew what a 9 to 5 was, I struggled to get things done. When I was a child, I avoided showers for as long as possible and put off brushing my waist-length hair. My mum ended up cutting it into a bob to help me manage it.

During my degree, this tendency to procrastinate meant I was regularly pulling all-nighters in the library, writing 3,000-word essays in single evenings, fuelled by energy drinks and snacks. I told myself that I worked better under pressure – and in a way I did, since it always got done. But the relief of submitting work was always overshadowed by the same question – why had I put myself through that again?

Rail minister Peter Hendy says fast rollout shows reforms are working as questions over reliability remain

South Western Railway’s newest train, wrapped in union jack-inspired Great British Railways livery, may divide opinion on aesthetics, but the interior is certainly an upgrade: air-conditioned carriages, more space and greater passenger capacity.

For ministers, the fact that it is the 45th Arterio model brought into service since the SWR network was nationalised is vindication of the GBR approach.

Experts say some social media advice could obscure underlying health problems or create risk of unintended pregnancies

A growing number of women are seeing misleading information about perimenopause on social media – prompting concerns that some could be led to false conclusions that obscure real underlying health difficulties or even create the risk of unintended pregnancies.

Here are some of the key facts behind the problem.

What should be a story of Reform incompetence instead speaks to the broader refusal of Westminster to adapt to multiparty democracy

If you want a window into how a fragmented nation and a splintered party system are reshaping British politics, look no further than the drama at Worcestershire county council. It shows the consequences of Britain governing like a two-party state, when it now votes like a multiparty democracy.

Last week, opposition councillors from the Conservatives, Greens, Liberal Democrats and a group of independents formed a rainbow coalition to remove Reform UK from power. Nigel Farage’s party had gained control of the council in last year’s local elections, winning a plurality of seats but not a majority. What has unfolded since then has been chaos.

Jason Okundaye is an assistant Opinion editor at the Guardian

Two deadly strikers, two creative forces and an all-but unbeatable goalkeeper make up our picks for the season

The adulation offers a fine indication of how good the Manchester United captain has been this season. At the start, he was dragging Ruben Amorim’s interpretation of a team through matches and spent the past five months leading Michael Carrick’s unified side. Awards and records keep coming his way; winning the Football Writers’ Association player of the season award was swiftly followed by picking up a record Premier League assist tally of 21 at Brighton on the final day of the season. Considering United were very open to selling Fernandes less than a year ago, one wonders what would have happened at Old Trafford without him. “At one point I was going to leave – I won’t say where – but I would have won many trophies that season. I decided to stay not only for family reasons but because I genuinely like the club,” Fernandes told Canal 11. “But from the club’s side, I felt a bit of: ‘If you go, it’s not really that bad for us.’ That hurts me a little. More than hurting, it makes me sad, because I’m a player they have nothing to criticise me for. I’m always available for every match, I always play, whether well or badly. I give my maximum.” Fernandes brings incredible intelligence and work rate on the pitch, supported by stunning technique that has put him above his United teammates, who all feed off him. It is hard to argue that any other Premier League captain is more influential than Fernandes and United have reaped the awards.

The great showman has spent the last 50 years on stage, followed by his adoring “fanilows” - but he’s not slowing down yet. Here, he talks about cancer, ridicule and roaring success

His name is Barry, he is a showman – as we all know. But late last year, after more than 50 years of constant performing, it began to look like the Manilow show was coming to an end. In December, the 82-year-old singer announced he was about to undergo surgery for lung cancer, and postponed his planned live shows. Thankfully, the cancer had not spread and the treatment was successful. But around the same time he released a new single, ominously titled Once Before I Go. The accompanying video showed him saying goodbye to his palatial quarters at the Las Vegas Westgate resort, where he has had a residency for the past eight years, and wistfully reminiscing over old costumes, intercut with footage of him in his 80s prime. It sure looked as if he was shutting up shop.

But no: “That was just an accident,” says Manilow of the video. Really? “Yeah, we didn’t do that on purpose.” The song was actually written in the early 80s by veteran songwriter Peter Allen, he explains, but he felt he was too young to sing it when he first heard it. “It’s a beautiful song and it’s got nothing to do with me. It’s saying goodbye to a romance, you know. But it just so happened that it sounds like I’m talking about myself.” Far from going anywhere, Manilow’s got a new album out next week, and a string of new tour dates lined up.

Scientists say record-breaking heat is a reminder of how climate crisis is affecting lives

The fierce heat sweeping Europe over the bank holiday weekend has beaten the UK’s all-time temperature record for May, with highs of up to 35C still to come on Monday afternoon.

A temperature of 33.5C was recorded at London’s Heathrow on Monday lunchtime, according to provisional data from the Met Offfice, beating the previous May record that was set in Camden Square in 1922 and reached again in Tunbridge Wells and Regent’s Park in 1944.

Former husband of Nicola Sturgeon admits reduced charges in court after deal with prosecutors

Peter Murrell, the former chief executive of the Scottish National party, has pleaded guilty to charges of embezzling more than £400,000 from the party after agreeing a deal with prosecutors.

He appeared in the high court in Edinburgh on Monday after being charged last year with stealing to fund an expensive lifestyle including a Jaguar car, a luxury motorhome, a luxury pen and women’s cosmetics.

Restore Britain, set up by the former Reform MP Rupert Lowe, appears to be taking some support from Nigel Farage

Andy Burnham is unlikely to be Elon Musk’s first pick to be prime minister of the UK. But an intervention by the US tech billionaire on behalf of a far-right offshoot of Reform UK is one of several signs that a divided right wing could deliver the Makerfield seat to the Manchester mayor.

On 18 June, Burnham will fight a byelection in Greater Manchester, and polls have him only slightly ahead of Reform’s candidate, Robert Kenyon, a plumber. But a far-right party set up by the former Reform MP Rupert Lowe looks as if it is taking some support from Reform.

Tehran says ‘contradictory statements’ from US and Israeli interference hindering negotiations

Iran has poured cold water on suggestions that a deal with the US is imminent, pointing to the confusion in US positions and Israeli interference as key factors in why a complete agreement is proving difficult to secure.

Speaking at the weekly foreign ministry press briefing, Esmail Baghaei, the spokesperson for Iran’s negotiating team, also said future management of the strait of Hormuz was a matter for Oman and Iran to reach agreement on, and that it was not tolls that were being proposed but “fees for navigational services”.