»tears« by anatol knotek
quinta-feira, janeiro 28, 2016
Medical Back Brace Turned into a Piece of Steampunk Armor (5 pics)
Maddie had to wear this back brace after her car accident. But then she and an idea to turn into something more fun. A friend helped her do it. Check out the result.
Canadian Hockey Team Made a Great Gift to an American City That Really Needed It (11 pics)
OHL team the Windsor Spitfires made a great surprise for the city of Flint, Michigan where they had a hockey match with the home team Flint Firebirds.
Since 2014, the city of Flint tried to reduce their water supply dependence and decided to build their own treatment plant and to take water from the Flint River instead of Lake Huron, which came via Detroit and was treated.
But the ph levels of the Flint River corroded the lead pipes and made the water toxic. As a consequence, a lot of people got sick.
So, the Windsor Spitfires team asked their own community to donate bottled water for the people of Flint.
After only 60 hours, the Spitfires had got over 65 thousand bottles of water. A lot of people and local businesses participated in this venture.
It pleases the eye to read such news. Kudos to the Spitfires guys and to all the people who made this happen!
15 Websites You Should Know To Make Your Life Easier
One thing that people don’t seem to talk about enough when it comes to the Internet is its daily utility. The whole thing with social media and whatever world-changing stuff it does is great, but the Internet as a tool for making one’s life easier doesn’t get as much mention as it truly deserves. Therefore, there should be some more focus put on that aspect of the Internet, which is definitely something that users do seem to take for granted.
Just think of it as your online tool kit of sorts. We all have tasks we have to complete that involve the Internet in some fashion, and there are various websites that cater to these needs. If you don’t have one yet or you already have some that you use, perhaps these fifteen websites can help make your life easier.
1. Calorie King
If you’re very concerned about how the food you’re eating is affecting your weight loss efforts, then you can visit this website and get the lowdown on how many calories that cookie or chocolate bar is. You can also plan your meals in advance by picking the most nutritious and low-calorie foods in order to help you lose weight as well.
Calorie King also has other tools for helping you control your weight and maintain a healthy lifestyle, as well as a blog that can regularly provide you with more helpful tips and information on your way to a healthier life.
2. Mint
Perhaps the most popular online personal finance management service that’s also free-to-use; Mint is a powerful tool for managing your expenses, creating budgets, and monitor your savings. You can sync your bank accounts to it and have a one place for planning your financial present and future. Having something like this is invaluable for those who really value their money, and it can help even the most confused of people become financially literate.
3. Website Setup
Designing websites usually consist of being knowledgeable about the fundamentals of visual design and being well-versed in HTML, CSS, and even Javascript. However, not everyone who needs to design a website are proficient in those things, and even fewer have the budget for hiring a professional web designer to do it for them.
Website Setup features a free and comprehensive guide to creating a website, from setting up a content management system like WordPress or Drupal, installing plugins, customizing themes, and so on. With Website Setup, you can become a web designer in your own right easily.
4. Codecademy
In this day and age, being fluent in a programming language is such a boost in one’s effectiveness in this world. For those who are looking to learn how to code, Codecademy is the number one online destination for instruction. You’ll get a rundown of the very basics of programming and learn just about any major programming language you wish. Whether it’s Javascript, Python, Ruby, C++, or so on, you can learn the ropes here.
5. Let Me Google That For You
This one is a rather amusing website, but it’s there for good reason. All of us have friends who like to ask the most seemingly basic questions, taking up your time and patience even when there’s the whole Internet right in front of them to give them the answers they seek. You can use this website to do two things—remind them that they can just search it in Google and to get out of your hair.
6. Polish My Writing
Writing can be a fulfilling vocation, whether you do it professionally or just like to write blogs and journals about your life and experiences. However, not everyone has the confidence to write due to worries about grammar and spelling, as well as not being well-versed enough in vocabulary and the art of putting one’s thoughts into words
This website can help you learn more about these things and become the writer you thought you’d never be. It has tools for checking grammar and spelling, as well as other resources for improving your writing.
7. Mathway
Most people have a lot of trouble with math, and it’s something that can’t be avoided in life even if we think that it barely gets used. Whether it’s doing one’s taxes or even just determining whether there’s enough money for groceries, math is something you wouldn’t want to be weak at. Whether you’re a student who needs help with an exam the next day or just someone who’s sick and tired of being weak at math, Mathway can help you become a lot less confused with numbers.
9. Wilderness Survival Skills
If you’re an avid outdoor enthusiast who is into camping, mountaineering, and so on, then you’d be aware that they call for a certain set of skills that need to be honed. To help you better prepare for these endeavors, you may need the right information on things like how to build a fire or what to do when you encounter a certain something in the wilderness. This website is perfect for those who need to learn more about what to pack, how to navigate, how to survive the outdoors, and so on.
9. Strip Creator
If you happen to be a more creatively driven person who likes to experiment with different things, or someone who’s gotten into making comics, then Strip Creator can make things easier and more interesting for you. If you want to make comic strips that show off your ability to create characters and convey your sense of humor, then this website should help you achieve that with relative ease.
10. DIY Courses
Want your child to have more focus on the creative side of things? DIY Courses has online courses for kids that are taught by the world’s most creative experts. With it, you can help unlock your child’s creative potential without having to go somewhere to attend. These courses can be taken wherever you want, as long as there’s Internet access. It costs $15 per month, but it is worth it.
11. The New York Times Cooking
Perhaps you’re looking for new recipes to try. There are plenty of culinary websites out there, but this one is a bit different. The New York Times happens to have a cooking section wherein they have some of the very best recipes you’ll ever find on the Internet, curated by some of the most well-known names in the culinary world, including the likes of Nigella Lawson and so on.
12. Have I Been Pwned?
Online security is always a concern, even if you’re just an average joe or jane who doesn’t care much for his/her email or social media account. But do know that it does matter since it’s your personal stuff being compromised when you get hacked, and some pretty dire consequences can come out of it. If you suspect that something you own just got hacked, you may go to this website and verify that, then know more about what you can do to address that problem and perhaps prevent it in the future.
13. The Lonely Planet Shop
Lonely Planet has been long known for being the biggest travel guide book publisher in the world, and they’ve been doing it online as well for a long time now. Their shop is full of stuff that you may want to take with you on your adventures, and the main site itself should be helpful for gathering information about your destination. Whether it’s learning about the best places to go or how to travel on a budget, that website is great for that.
14. Norton SafeWeb
Norton has been a well-known name in computer security for ages now, and it has its own online security arm that helps with preventing malicious attacks through the Internet. If you’re worried if there’s a virus, malware, trojan horse, or whatever in a suspicious-looking link, then go to this website, enter that URL, and check to see if it’s safe. You can also download an extension to your browser that can do that for you automatically.
15. Nolo
It’s law for all, as it says on the title banner. This website provides legal advice for the every-man who may be worried about getting on the short end of the legal straw. Through Nolo, you can find answers to your legal questions, research various legal topics, read blogs to learn a bit more about the legal world, FAQs for the most nagging of questions, and so on. You can do all of this even before hiring a lawyer, which is great if you want to have every bit of an edge you can get.
These are just some of the many websites that can make tasks more efficient and your life a whole lot easier. It’s a great time to be alive due to the Internet being there for everyone, and you may have your own set of websites that you make use of on a daily basis. If any of these fifteen gets added to your list, then that’s definitely a good thing.
Featured photo credit: Liquene via flickr.com
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A Day in the Life of an Apple Watch User
I am a mum who wears an Apple watch. I have two small children and I work from home. Here is how I combine the three!
The night before
I have to be up at 5:00am so that I can get 2 hours of work in before the kids wake up. I set the alarm on my Apple watch, make sure it’s charging and lay it on its side so that it automatically changes to nightstand mode; a digital display that illuminates every time you touch the screen.
Morning
My alarm goes off at 5am. I press the side button of the watch to silence it. The only way I can get out of bed on a dark winter morning is with music. What though? Well Iggy Pop Lust for Life followed by Taylor Swift, Shake it Off. Obvs. Oh and my wake up deal clincher, White Knuckle Ride, Jamiroquai. So I pop my watch on my wrist from its nightstand position. Click on the music app and play my ‘Wake up’ playlist.
When the music has done its job, I have a quick glance at my watch for my daily Bamboo Quote. Nothing like a nice inspirational quote to get you focused in the morning.
Quick check of the weather on the Weather Live app on my watch to see if it’s going to rain today. This, so I know what footwear and coats to choose for the kids. While the kettle’s boiling I have a quick look at the Google Tasks app on my watch to see what tasks I have to get done today for each client that I work for. I manage to get a nice couple hours of work in, before child 1 and 2 arise. Action stations. Let the waitress, referee, butler and master juggler services commence.
Shop
When child 1 and child 2 are settled into their school days I head to the supermarket. Since I had already made a meal plan on my iPhone with recipes from my Green Kitchen, Deliciously Ella and Cook with M&S apps, I already have my shopping list stored in my Meal Plan Meal and Grocery Planner app which is, ta daaaaa! all synced to my Apple watch. Now, here comes the bit that I find so useful. On the Meal Plan app, all the ingredients for all my meals are stored in sections according to where they sit in the supermarket and each time you put something in the trolley, you press the item and it gets crossed off the list. I LOVE this. This is good. If I haven’t planned my next few days meals and want to cook one of my saved favourites from the Cook with M&S iPhone app I can use the app on my watch to pick a recipe (as long as I have previously saved it to my phone), see the ingredients, turn them into a shopping list and tick them off as I go around the supermarket. Once you press each ingredient, a dash appears through it. It doesn’t disappear like in the Meal Plan app but it still works. I can also then see the recipe step by step on my watch and use the same timer functionality as Green Kitchen.
Work
Straight home to get another couple hours work at my desk whilst kids are at school. Working peacefully at my desk, which sits at the window overlooking the Hampshire countryside is just lovely.
Now for some exercise. I click on the running app on my watch, simply press ‘Outdoor Run’ and off I go. Whilst running I can swipe the screen to see calories burned, distance ran, or pace per mile. Again, this is ace as I don’t have to carry my phone whilst running.
When I have child 2 at home, I use the 7 app on my watch and child 2 tends to join in on my workout mat. The full body workout consists of 12 exercises for 30 seconds each with a voice over and an image telling me what’s coming next. So easy, I can do this anywhere. It also helps to fill my exercise rings (on the Apple watch) too, which can become an obsession.
School Pick Ups
I pick both kids up from school and then head to the park, whatever the weather, with an armful of treats. If I don’t practically stuff food in child 1’s mouth as soon as he leaves his classroom door he is in a livid mood for at least an hour.
I have a quick dentist appointment at a new dentist. I need to take the kids and keep them entertained. I’ve got this. Firstly though, I don’t know where this new place is. I use the GPS on my watch. I have already set my home address in Google Maps on my phone so if I’m ever stuck, I press the app on my watch and it gives me 2 simple options Home or Work. If you press firmly you get the travel options; walking, driving or transit directions. A quick tap and your recent places will show. Before setting off to my appointment, I entered the postcode into my iPhone and then opened up the app on my watch to follow the directions.
Once at my appointment, I have to keep the kids entertained for 15 minutes in the dentist room whilst I am lying on the chair. Since I am in no position to speak or even see the kids I need to keep them occupied. So child 2 gets the phone with the Peppa app. Child 1 gets the Apple watch with the Kids Learn Math app. I get to not feel bad because it’s educational.
Preparing Dinner
Home. Quiet playing time for the kids while I prepare dinner. Since, I have yet to have any time to myself by this point I would ordinarily pour a glass of wine ready to face the next part of the day. Cooking dinner, cleaning the kitchen, bathing the kids, reading stories and then bed. Now, however, since I am trying to keep myself on top form, I listen to my new favourite thing. I press the Headspace app on my watch and sneak upstairs. I press SOS and take 10 minutes to just sit and be mindful, listening to the soothing tones of Andy Puddicombe, meditation and mindfulness expert.
Head cleared, down the stairs I go, hit the music app on my watch find my latest ‘Cooking dinner’ playlist and I begin cooking.
Dinner is Beluga Lentil and Sweet Potato Stew from the Green Kitchen on my iPhone. Since I had already added this to my Meal Plan app on Sunday night and shopped earlier, I have all the ingredients ready, as I do for the next 3 days of meals. (I can only plan 3 or 4 days ahead, I’m not superwoman). As I’m using the step by step guide on my phone, I tick off each stage so that it becomes faded, with my next instruction clearer. When I get to something that needs timing, I press the Green Kitchen app on my watch. It knows what I’m cooking and what stage I am at and the timer is set instantly. When times is up, it gives me a little shake and a message to tell me ‘the green lentils should be tender by now.’ Why thank you Green Kitchen, indeed they are.
Dinner is served followed by some quiet time sitting with the kids and playing or doing puzzles. Bathtime, bedtime stories and another day down.
Now it’s my time. For an hour at least! I quickly catch up with the news on the BBC News app on my watch. It gives me top headlines and I click to read the articles that interest me. I check my Instagram. I can either look at my feed or click ‘Activity’ to see if anyone has mentioned me in a comment that I may need to respond to.
As I am finally lying in bed reading a book, an actual book, I realize I have left the heating on. But wait! There’s an app! But come on, there’s no way I have figured this out yet. So up I get and change the thing myself.
Featured photo credit: http://ift.tt/1vdxlXG via dollarphotoclub.com
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10 Habits To Make You Happy and Productive Every Day
What makes you different from other people are the habits you have and practice daily. What you do every day from the morning until the evening has such a significant influence on the way it will shape you as a person and help you live a happier life. By having a particular routine you write your own page for each day. If you want to feel more productive with the work you do and satisfied after each task done, you really need to think what you are doing in order to accomplish your daily goals. By including a few of these habits, you will feel more fulfilled because these habits work from me every day and keep me motivated to achieve even more!
1. Wake Up Early
If you want to have more time to achieve the things you set for the day, just wake up an hour earlier. You decide what to do with the extra minutes you have every morning – you can spend it to have a delicious breakfast, pick up your clothes, and get ready or dance on your favorite music. Whatever it is, just put some time aside to do the things you love before you kick off for the day!
2. List the things you are grateful for
Writing a few things you are thankful for in your journal will create a positive and fulfilling start of the day. It is so important from time to time to stop and really think and appreciate what you have in your life. Being grateful opens up your heart to be more grateful and attract even greater things in your world. Happiness is in the little things such as giving appreciation and showing gratefulness to yourself and the people you love.
3. Go through your goals for the day
If you really want to be productive each day, you must read or think through the main things you have to accomplish daily. Try to set a few main targets and really focus on achieving them instead of putting too many and having the trouble to go through all of them. Be really honest with yourself how much you can achieve for one day. Do feel fulfilled with yourself if you achieve even one main goal for the day! Start with something small and constantly add to the list and eventually you will manage to handle more things daily once you get more practice.
4. Pack a healthy snack for work or school
Healthy body = Healthy mind. In order to create more stuff every day, you need to have enough energy for that. And you can get that essential energy only if you eat something nutritional and healthy. Replace the chocolate with a banana if you want something sweeter and bring some salty nuts if you need to satisfy your cravings for salty food.
5. Switch off your wifi or your phone and be present
Going offline throughout the day is so important to be more productive and happy with yourself. Social media tends to get us distracted and we cannot really achieve the goals for the day if we are not truly present. Try to put your phone away for about 30 minutes and tell yourself that you will only focus on your work for that time. You can celebrate after that with a 5-10 min short break online and then – do the same for the next half an hour or more!
6. Take a short walk or exercise
If you tend to sit for most of the time while you are at school or work, taking a short walk during lunch break could be really beneficial for you! We spend so much time indoors that we forget the importance of doing any physical activity and having fresh air. Taking a walk can clear your mind, boost your energy and well-being and recharge your batteries for the rest of the tasks you need to accomplish!
7. Read a few pages from a book
It is so essential to spend time every day on self-growth and self-education. There are so many books out there on various topics such as health, happiness, successful relationships and personal development. For example by reading a spiritual book daily you will add up to your positive thinking and attitude towards yourself and the outside people or by reading a skill-orientated book you can learn or enhance an asset.
8. Write your goals for the next day
Before going to sleep write down your goals for the next day. This will really help you organize tasks for tomorrow and give you satisfaction that you have a well written plan for each day of the week.
9. Prepare your lunch for tomorrow
You would ask why this will make me happy and productive? It will make you so because packing your own food for school or work will help you create a useful habit for you to take better care of your body and health. Prepare some nutritional lunch that will give you the energy you need to create more and be more productive and satisfied with yourself. If you do prepare it the night before you will also have more time for yourself in the morning and you will not need to rush around your place to leave on time.
10. Go to sleep with positive thought
Think of a few amazing things that happened today. By doing this you will sleep with a positive mind and grateful heart and will be even more excited for the following day that will bring more and more exciting things. To help yourself to fall asleep with a positive thought you can listen to some meditation music, write down your thoughts in a journal or simply thank yourself for giving your best that day. Do not forget to appreciate yourself at the end of each day too, you are doing your best in order to be happy and productive every day!
Featured photo credit: Girl on a lawn/ Josef Seibel via flickr.com
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5 Divorce Screw-Ups to Avoid
Although feeling overwhelmed and confused during divorce is normal, remember to avoid the egregious divorce mistakes. It will save you time, money, and your sanity so that you can move on to the next chapter of your life better, not broken or bitter.
1. Not looking at the big picture
One of the reasons why divorce feels horrible is because you probably weren’t taught how to plan ahead in divorce. It’s funny, isn’t it? Guidance counselors and academic advisers in school harped on planning and envisioning our future, while financial advisors preach about planning for retirement. But why, during divorce, don’t you apply those same principles?
Instead of asking yourself, “What’s the game plan? Where do I want to be in a year with this divorce and how can I get there?” and then reverse-engineering. Most people just stumble through the days and months, allowing events to unfold and then reacting to them. It’s no wonder why you feel helpless and that your life have spun out of control.
Planning where you want to be with the divorce six months from now and a year from now, and then then putting the steps in to get there, has bigger dividends than struggling to make it through the day and merely reacting to events as they unfold. This method can also help plan for contingencies and worst-case scenarios so you don’t freak out if things get ugly.
2. Making decisions based on emotion rather than logic
When you strip away the grief, heartache, anxiety, and overwhelmed feeling, divorce is a business transaction: dividing assets and debts and then continuing your life as an individual. That’s not said to minimize the relationship you and your spouse had together, but it’s absolutely critical to shelf those thoughts and memories when dealing with the business transactions of divorce.
Your head understands, but the part of you that is heartbroken and angry may spend months fighting over things that have nothing to do with business. It’s understandable: we make decisions based on emotions because we are hurting. And the only way you know how to deal with those emotions is by projecting that pain onto our business decisions. We fight and emotionally overreact because we think we will “win,” the divorce. This tit-for-tat can go on for months and years, which only prolongs the stress and ensures a future of bitterness.
Nobody wins in divorce, and you must make your decisions from a clear-headed and rational place. Otherwise, you will find yourself robbed of time, money, and emotional energy—assets that are put to better use in your post-divorce life.
3. Letting other decide for you
When you’re going through a messy divorce that has a million moving parts to it, it can be easy to say, “You know what?!?! I’m just going to let my lawyer figure it out for me.” Or, if we have a particular problem, you may throw a question out on a group forum, and listen to the advice of other contributors, basing your decision on strangers.
There is nothing wrong with educating yourself or asking for advice. But remember that ultimately, this is your life and your future. It is your right and your responsibility to make divorce decisions for yourself. Sure, you can have people advise you—divorce professionals working for you is never a bad thing. But remember, at the end of the day it is you who has to live with the divorce decisions that are made—shouldn’t you be the one making them?
4. Not Educating Yourself
Do you remember those cheesy public service announcements on TV with the shooting star that said “The More You Know?” Or the posters in elementary school, that were like, “Knowledge is Power.” Well, teachers and librarians loved that stuff because it is true.
Divorce can feel overwhelming because you’re scared of the unknown. And the only way to ease that fear is to educate yourself about the process. Quality divorce resources online are plentiful, many divorce lawyers and divorce coaches offer free consultations, and there are support groups and community classes that will help you understand your rights, provide you to-do checklists, and offer assistance so you do not get run over in the process.
5. Latching onto someone else too soon
Once you and your spouse split, you are given this amazing opportunity to heal, rediscover yourself, and reclaim your independence—things that only you can do. So why on earth would you invest yourself emotionally right away with someone new, when you haven’t had any time to learn how to be on your own? And how much worse will you feel when that “new, promising” relationship doesn’t work out?
Sure, you’re human, and you want to be touched and loved. And it may have been months or years since you have felt wanted or passionate. Separation is a lonely place to be, but you know what’s even worse? Dependence—depending on another romantic relationship to make you feel loved and validated. Now is the time to break that cycle.
Desperately going on the rebound does a great disservice to you because it robs you of the opportunity to heal your heart and clear your head. When you look to that other person to fill that emptiness and to “save you,” you’re robbing them of the chance to have the healthy relationship that they deserve.
You don’t need anybody to save you or to heal you. You are strong and smart and you’ve got this. Lean on your friends, your family, a good therapist, divorce support groups, to listen and encourage when you feel hurt. Find the happiness you’ve been missing by discovering and enjoying your newly found freedom.
Featured photo credit: Help/Marina del Castell via flickr.com
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10 Things You Need to do to Successfully Work From Home
You’ve done it! Congratulations! You’ve finally escaped the clutches of everything you’ve been secretly plotting against for way too long. The grumpy boss. That sardine-like commute. The burning smell of the world’s worst instant coffee drifting from the kitchen. Office politics. Work that didn’t really matter to you.
But somehow it’s 6pm already. Another day has drifted past in a flash. Your feet are still bare because you didn’t feel the need to put socks on today. You’re in familiar surroundings and you don’t have to spend an hour getting home, but what have you really achieved?
Here are ten things you need to do in order to work from home like a boss.
1. Give yourself routine
If working from home is new to you this is going to take a little while to adapt, but the sooner you set parameters for the working day the better. Know where you’re going to work: this might change from morning to evening depending on how light shifts around your home office – let’s call it a hoffice. Make sure you’re at the desk by a set time and embrace getting up early, this is ok if you’re the one who decides you have to. Yep, you can play the snooze game, but boy it feels amazing to have nailed a ton of work before 10am.
Map your day according to how you think you’ll feel if you complete a certain set of challenges and let your measure of success revolve around tasks, not time.
2. Get up, shower, put clothes on
Don’t work from bed. Beds are for sleeping and other kinds of magic, let them be precious and special in their purpose. Wash the night away before doing anything. Getting straight to work because you can, doesn’t mean you’re on fire, because after a while you’re going to start itching. A sweaty homeworker is a silently disgruntled homeworker.
Blast your head with water, get fresh and don’t forget that you’re still a human even if you don’t have to spend your day with others. Now, put some clothes on. Yes, there’s a temptation to wander around in the nude and make phone calls, because you can. But don’t. Wear what you like as long as it’s not pyjamas, but wear something. Now, you’re ready to get started…
3. Focus: read, don’t type over meals
This is about honing your focus and ability to juggle different actions. If one of your hands is holding a spoon or a fork or a knife or a jar or a mug or a piece of fruit, you simply can’t type properly. Stop trying to do everything at once, we’re trying to make you into the most efficient working-from-home-beast possible. Open up a couple of blogs, articles or news pieces and read – this is stretching for your brain before you start doing cartwheels towards your own work.
4. Prioritise: Write a To Do list, yesterday…
Thinking ‘what do I do now?’ is the first step to potential boredom, and boredom kills dreams. Don’t be a dream killer.
To Do lists sound like they were invented by a cruel master, but they’re the key to self-motivation. This is your list and the summation of the day you’ve decided you’d like to have. Take ten minutes before you sleep every night to make the next day’s list – give yourself something to be excited about. Prioritise no more than three biggish tasks, and don’t be afraid to have a secondary list on a different page with things that need to be done, but not necessarily tomorrow
Know what you have to achieve and give yourself a timeframe to realistically do it well.
5. Set the musical mood
Your working environment is key. Be in a room with lots of light. Move your working space and direction around until you’re happy. Don’t have your back to the room, face it.
Working in silence is a distraction so get Spotify premium (other services are available) and find a Focus playlist. Vivaldi is scientifically proven to aid concentration but most classical music is perfect to start your working day (this isn’t about musical preference, it’s just clever ambience). If you’re writing don’t choose tunes with lyrics, you’ll only be tempted to sing along.
My personal favourite is Ludovico Einaudi – there’s something special about letting your mind switch off from everything other than what you’re focusing on – I’ve written three books to Einaudi, he never fails.
6. Destroy distraction
This is the difference between a good day and a bad day. Put your phone out of reach when you’re working or at the very least put it on Airplane Mode. A WhatsApp notification is distraction. So is a new match on Tinder. Or a new tweet or instagram or Facebook or advert or reminder. Stop it!
Save direct messages for break time and give your focus a chance to be relentless. Struggling not to automatically click onto Facebook to see how many likes that video of a kitesurfing squirrel has now? There are a couple of self-control apps that will physically stop pages like Facebook opening during the times you choose.
Basically, if anything during the day takes your eyes off the prize at any give moment make sure that you find a way to stop it happening in the future.
7. Work on, work off
If you’re running for a whole day with no stops to refuel, drink or rest, the person who chooses to run for only 45 minutes each hour will go further than you. Be a tortoise and rest your way to victory.
There are a bunch of ways to do this, but here’s a starter: at the beginning of each work session set your phone timer to go off in 50 minutes. As soon as it beeps, stop working for ten minutes. Stand up, move around, drink water, breathe. Try not to look at a screen but if you must, this is your window to check and reply to WhatsApp. Then after ten minutes set the timer, and get going again. Three or four hour-long sessions might feel productive, but you’ll do more if you have multiple rests in that period. Be smart, not relentless.
8. Be email clever…
For years I had a thing: my inbox is my To Do list – my work isn’t over unless it’s empty. At heart, this meant I got things done, but there was a downside because I never closed it. If you’re an inbox nazi just breathe. Every email you send out is potentially asking for another one back and if you’re in the swing of things you could spend all day on email without time for rest. A productive day is not a day spent online. An open email inbox is a destructive taunt and temptation, and the moment I tried a new technique I started getting more successful.
So now I only check email at certain times. The first window is 10-10:30am, which gives me two hours on a typical work day to write, create and not get waylaid. Half an hour is enough time to reply to urgent messages and to get a feel for other work or opportunities, but don’t get sucked in. If there are pressing issues another half hour of email in the early afternoon is ok, but I save the bulk of my email clearing until after the working day for most people who email me is over. This way they’re not going to be replying immediately, letting me get on with other stuff.
If you have a remote team and use whatsapp, slack or a similar app to communicate, try not to let it take over your life. Treat it like email, or only engage with it every hour.
9. Group similar activities
Group your skypes, conference calls and in-person coffee meetings. Block out a couple of mornings or afternoons each week for chats and leave the rest free for unbounded, undisturbed work.
10. Get Outside
Don’t forget to exercise. You don’t get it done on your bike commute any more and now that you’re in charge of your own destiny there might be a feeling that if you stop working you’re harming your chances of success. Here’s a newsflash: getting pale and porky in your home office is just going to make you tired and, in the long run, ill. Get some vitamin D, ride a bike, go read on a park bench, smell fresh air. Spend at least one day a week out and about. Go and see real people and get inspired by conversation.
For all the freedoms of working from home, if you don’t make it count that freedom might one day have to get shelved. It doesn’t have to be this way. Be good to yourself, work smart, learn as well as do and base it all on creating a habit to get things done. If you try and cook an elephant every meal, you’ll end up never eating* so break down the big stuff into smaller chunks and tick off hundreds of little tasks a day. Build momentum, be nothing but a doer and when you finally get to bed at the end of the day, make sure that you’ve made it count.
* Never, ever cook an elephant…
Featured photo credit: Neourban Hipster Office/Markus Spiske via flickr.com
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