Good morning, happy new year, and welcome to Five Great Reads, a weekday summer story round-up selected by me – Alyx Gorman – lifestyle editor of Guardian Australia.

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NSW has come into 2022 swinging, with the highest positive Covid-test rate in the world (haha, I am terrified). What does “positive test rate” mean? Here’s a handy explainer from Michael McGowan. You can follow all the day’s Covid developments, along with other breaking news on our live blog.

And in world news, the chair of the US house intelligence committee is saying Russia is “very likely” to invade Ukraine, and proposing “enormous sanctions” to deter them.

Now, onto the reads, which to give you a nice break are resolution themed today.

1. If you resolved to read less Covid-content, but crave high stakes medical reporting

Read about the mysterious cluster of neurological illness affecting younger people in New Brunswick, Canada.

Notable quote: “I’m truly concerned about these cases because they seem to evolve so fast,” said the whistleblower, who revealed the cluster and is speaking under the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal. “I’m worried for them and we owe them some kind of explanation.”

How long will it take to read? About three minutes.

Bonus read: If that’s a bit grim for this morning, perhaps you’ll find Tory Shepherd on super poo, designer gut bacteria and the quest to develop a poo pellet you can swallow a bit more, ah, palatable?

2. If you resolved to improve your focus

Read Johann Hari on how your attention was stolen from you, and critically, how to get it back again.

Who stole it? Who else? Big tech. But there are other villains too.

Notable quote: Here’s James Williams, a Google engineer turned philosopher of attention, on why switching your phone off is “not the solution”: “For the same reason that wearing a gas mask for two days a week outside isn’t the answer to pollution.”

How long will it take to read? About eight minutes. Go on, you can do it!

3. If you resolved to make more money this year

Read what happens when you let out your house as a production set, from blood splatter that never fully fades, to “riches … for literally just being out of the house for a day” (it was $300, and the film was X-rated).

Have I seen any of the houses? If you’ve seen Animal Kingdom, Mr Inbetween or ABC’s Hardball, then yes.

Do you get to meet celebrities? Also yes! If you’re really lucky, Ben Mendelsohn will feed bacon to your dog.

4. If you’ve resolved to broaden your social horizons

Here’s Sophie Black on how the pandemic normalised friendship “pruning”: whether by accident or design, and whether connection can get back to normal.

Thought to ponder: “It helps to start by asking ourselves exactly what friends are for.”

How long will it take me to read? About five minutes, much quicker than the estimated 90 hours it takes to make a new close friend.

5. If resolutions are too bloody hard

How about an easy win instead? Like writing a not-to-do list.

Tell me more? No, you can read the whole story in under a minute, but I will tell you about two other easy wins: slightly extending your commute; and reaching out to an old friend.

Is this a thing now? Yes, Guardian Australia’s team will be writing about a new easy, achievable goal every day this January.

I just want to binge-read them: Well you can’t, but here’s a UK piece in a similar vein – 100 ways to slightly improve your life without really trying.