How to Go From Sedentary to Running in Five Steps

zenhabits.com

As a runner, there is almost nothing in this world that can take me to the places that running does. I find solitude in my running, I find my thoughts and my peace, I find energy and motivation, I come up with my best ideas and solve my toughest problems. Running transforms me.

I try to encourage others to run, but even if they want to do it, they don’t know how.

Today, I’m going to give you my advice (as an intermediate runner, not an expert) on how to go from sitting on the couch to being a true runner. I won’t say that it’ll be easy, especially in the beginning. But I will say that it won’t kill you (assuming you don’t have major health problems) and that it will get easier and even fun in a few short weeks.

I will start with the standard disclaimer: Before starting this program, get checked out by a doctor, especially if you have any health risks, such as heart or lung problems, major diseases, pregnancy, or the like.

If you’re fit enough to walk for 20 or 30 minutes, you should be able to do this program.

The Benefits of Running

Why should you even consider doing this program (or running at all)? Lots of reasons. Just a few to start with:

1. You’ll get healthier. There are other ways to get healthy, of course, including dozens of other types of exercises. But running is one great way. If you stick to a moderate running program, I can almost guarantee that you’ll get slimmer and your heart will get stronger and your cholesterol will go down. Your diet is a big factor, of course, but more on that in the next benefit.
2. You’ll eat better. When you start running — and this can take a few weeks or more — you start to realize that what you eat is fuel. And you realize that burgers and fries and soda are not the best fuel. So you start to eat cleaner fuel, and it can start to be a lifetime habit. This doesn’t always happen, but I’ve seen it happen a lot. It may take awhile before you get a really clean diet, but the desire to change starts relatively soon.
3. You’ll want to quit smoking. It’s hard to keep smoking if you really get into running. Some people keep smoking while running, but I’ve seen tons of runners who quit smoking, because they know that smoking doesn’t jibe with their lifestyle. If you’re looking for a good way to quit, start with running.
4. You’ll find solitude. In the hectic bustle of everyday life, many people have trouble finding time for themselves, time to think and to find peace. Running will become your oasis of peace, a time you look forward to each day.
5. Races are super fun. Once you’ve been running for a month or two, you should sign up for a 5K. It’ll be a great time. The camaraderie among runners, slow and fast, young and old, is a wonderful thing. The feeling of accomplishment when you cross the finish line is unbeatable. And after awhile, you might try 10Ks, half marathons, maybe even a marathon. There’s nothing like doing road races.
6. You’ll lower your stress levels. It beats smoking, drinking, vegging out in front of the television, almost anything else I can think of, for getting rid of the stresses of your life.
7. You’ll think better. Running is the time when my mind is clearest. It’s hard to really think about things when you have the noise of the modern world around you, but when you’re alone on the road, you can’t help but think in silence.
8. You’ll find the warrior within you. There is something about running that transforms you. In the beginning, it can be very difficult, and there will be times when you feel like stopping, but if you can beat that little negative voice inside you that wants to stop, you will learn that you can beat anything. Running will teach you to overcome your doubts and negativity, and that’s a gift that will take you to new heights in anything you do.

The Rules

Before we start, I’d like to offer a few rules:

1. Start small. This is mandatory. Many people make the mistake of starting too hard, and they get burned out or injured or discouraged within a couple of weeks. This program is designed to get you running for life, so if you have lots of enthusiasm when you start, that’s great — but you MUST rein it in and start small. That enthusiasm that you have to hold back will keep you going for much longer if you don’t spend it all the first week.
2. Increase gradually. Another mandatory rule. If you don’t follow this rule, you shouldn’t follow the program. Trust me, I know how it feels like the rules of increasing gradually don’t apply to you … I made that mistake when I started out and got injured. Your mind (and even your heart and lungs) might be able to handle doing more, but your legs might not. It takes awhile for your muscles and tendons and ligaments and joints to adjust to the stress of running, and if you progress to rapidly, you’ll get injured. Increase but very gradually.
3. Enjoy yourself. Very mandatory. If you don’t enjoy yourself, you’ll never stick with it. So try to have as much fun as possible. Enjoy getting fit and healthy! Enjoy burning off your fat! Enjoy the sweat! Enjoy the relaxation of burning off stress! Running should be fun, not torture.
4. If you can, get a partner. This is not really a rule but a suggestion — if you can find a reliable partner, it makes it a bit easier. First, having someone to talk to while you walk (and later run) makes the time go by extremely quickly. Second, if you make an appointment to meet that person for your walk (or run), you’re more likely to stick to the appointment rather than wimp out.

The Five Steps

OK, here are the five steps to becoming a runner. There are some rough timeframes in each step, but the real rule is to increase only when you feel ready, and no sooner. If you need longer for a step, take longer. There’s no rush. But if you think you can do it sooner, I would suggest that you not.

Step 1: Start walking. Start out by walking just 3 times the first week, and four times the second. The first week, you only need to do 20-25 minutes. Increase to 25-30 minutes the second week. After this, you can graduate to the next step, or if you’d like to stay in this step for a week or two longer, that’s OK. If you stay longer, walk 4 times the third week, 30-35 minutes each time. The fourth week, stay at 4 times, but increase to 35-40 minutes.

Step 2: Start run/walking. Do this step very gradually, just a little more each time. For this step, you’ll continue to exercise 4 times a week. You want to warm up by walking for 10 minutes. Then do a very, very easy run/walk routine: jog lightly for 1 minute (or 30 seconds if that seems too hard), then walk for 2 minutes. Repeat these intervals for 10-15 minutes, then do a 10-minute walking cool down. Do this step for two weeks, or longer if you like.

Step 3: Lengthen the running. Once you’re comfortable running for a minute at a time, for several intervals each time you exercise, you’re ready to start running a little longer. Continue to exercise 4 times per week. Increase your running to 1 minute 30 seconds, with an equal walking (1:30 running, 1:30 walking) for 15 minutes. Do this a couple times or more, then increase running to two minutes, with walking for 1 minute. Do this a few times or more, then increase to running 2:30, walking 30 seconds to a minute. If any of these increases feels too hard, feel free to go back a step until you’re comfortable increasing. Don’t rush it. You should stay in this step for 2-3 weeks or more.

Step 4: Follow the Rule of 9. Once you start Step 3 above, you’re basically running with short walk breaks. This can seem difficult, but it’ll get easier. Commit to doing 9 running workouts in Step 3 … after that, it’ll get easier. The first 9 running workouts can be difficult, but after that, it almost always gets better and more enjoyable. Don’t quit before the 9 running workouts! After the 9, try running with only infrequent walk breaks.

Step 5: Take your running to new levels. First of all, celebrate! You’re now a runner. You might be walking a little during your runs, but there’s nothing wrong with that. In fact, feel free to keep doing walk breaks as you work on your running endurance. Some runners have been known to do a marathon with walk breaks, running 10 minutes and walking 1 minute. That’s completely fine. Eventually you probably won’t need the walk breaks, but no need to rush.

In this step, you want to continue taking your running to new levels. There are a number of ways to do this:

• Gradually increase your running until you can do 30-40 minutes of running at a time, 4 days a week. Do this increase gradually, as you should be mostly running for 15 minutes at a time by the end of Step 4 … just increase by 5 minutes each week.
• Sign up for a 5K. If you can run for 30-40 minutes, you can complete a 5K. Sign up for one (there are races almost every weekend in many places) and participate with the idea of just finishing. Have fun doing it!
• Once you have increased your running to 30-40 minutes at a time, designate one run a week as your “long run”. Try to increase this by 5 minutes each week, until you can do an hour or more. This is your endurance run, and it is a key to most running programs.
• Once you’ve got endurance, you can add some hills to your program. Add hills gradually, by finding a more hilly course, and eventually adding hill repeats — run (kind of) hard up the hill, then easy down the hill, and do 3-5 repeats.
• After hills, do a little speed workout once a week. Do intervals of a couple of minutes of medium-hard running, with a couple minutes of easy running. Make these speed workouts shorter than your normal runs — if you run for 40 minutes, do 25-30 minutes for your speed workouts. Be sure to warm up and cool down with easy running for 10 minutes.
• Tempo runs are good workouts when you’re ready. That means a 10 minute warmup, then 20 minutes or so of running somewhere between your 10K and half-marathon pace. That means going the pace you think you can race for an hour, but only doing it for 20-30 minutes.
• Run with a group, or run alone. Don’t always run alone or with a partner. Mix things up.
• Find new routes. Don’t always run the same routes. Try running on a track, in a different neighborhood, on a treadmill, on trails.
• After you’ve done a few 5Ks, sign up for a 10K. Then a half marathon. Then a marathon. But do one step at a time.

Most of all, enjoy your runs!

Geek to Live: The Usable Home

Lifehacker.com

by Gina Trapani

As a computer programmer in a new apartment, I've taken the same approach to setting up my home as I would developing a software application: with a focus on usability. Like any good software package, my home should be a tool that helps me get things done, a space that's a pleasure to be in and a launch pad for daily tasks as well as my life goals.

Whether the task at hand is to relax after work, phone a family member, or keep track of a dry cleaning receipt, there are lots of simple ways to create a living space that makes getting things done a breeze.

I'm no home organization expert, but here are a few tips I've gleaned over time that can help make your house a Usable Home.

Create space for incoming stuff

Every day you walk into the house with your hands full of mail, pockets full of change and a cell phone that needs recharging. Instead of dumping that pile of bills onto the coffee table, scattering a mess of pennies and dimes on your dresser and tossing the phone onto a table, create useful places to drop off stuff without having to think. Say, a large change jar that goes to Coinstar every few months, an indoor mailbox for you and your housemates, and a phone-charging center with an easily-accessible plug. Fact is, after a long day at work, you don't want to have to think where to put stuff when you walk in the door. So make it a no-brainer.

Put items you need to remember in your path

Make it hard to forget where you put your keys, your cell phone, that check you're supposed to mail or the dry cleaning receipt. Section off space near the door where you can easily pick up items on the way out. Hang a key rack. Place a snail mail outbox nearby for letters and bills that need to get dropped at the post office. The door of my old place was metal, so I kept a few magnets stuck to it to hold receipts, mail and notes I'd be sure to see on my way out the door.

Stow away stuff you don't use; put stuff you do within easy reach

Surround yourself with the things you use and either get rid of the things you don't, or stow 'em away. For instance, if you've ripped all your CDs to MP3 and only listen to them in that format, then why line your living room walls with CDs that never get touched? Box up your CD's and put 'em up on a high shelf in the closet and make room for the things in the living room that you do use often. Or, simply enjoy the extra space. In the kitchen, if you rarely make waffles but you're on a grilled cheese kick, put the waffle-maker on the top shelf and leave the Foreman grill at eye level for easy grabbing.

Strategically place items to make tasks easy

One of my favorite life hacks ever published on this site is the a sheet-folding hack: fold up the flat and fitted sheets in a set and place them inside one pillow case. The convenient packages preclude the need to rummage through the linen closet matching up sheet sets when the time comes to make the bed.

There are lots of ways to make tasks easier with strategic placement. Keep fresh bathroom towels in or just outside the bathroom so you don't have to dash across the apartment undressed and dripping wet to find something to dry yourself off. If your telephone directory is digital, print out a copy and leave it by the phone at home so you don't have to consult your cell phone or boot up the computer to find a number. Make recycling easy by placing the bin in the area where the most paper or glass is generated - say, the home office or kitchen. If you're bleary-eyed and fumbling for the TV remote each day to check the weather, give yourself a break. Invest in a cheap thermometer and place it in the bedroom window just by your closet, so you know what kind of outfit to choose without any hassle.

Make task-based centers

As per this previous post on Lifehacker, place all the items you need to complete a task in an area sectioned off for that activity - like a computer repair center, a bill-paying center, a gift-wrapping center. Having all the tools at hand in a certain space helps you get the job done without having to work any harder.

Leave writing material everywhere

Place pens and pads all over the house: by the phone, on the kitchen counter, on the night table, in the bathroom. You never know when a thought that needs to be recorded will strike. An idea, a forgotten to-do, the solution to a problem you were having at work, a dream you want to remember, an image or drawing, a phone number. Easily available capture tools help you get anxiety-inducing pop-up thoughts from cluttering your mind and help you focus.

Set up an inbox

Make a place to put real-life items that come streaming into your day so you can process them at times you determine instead of letting them interrupt you. Snail mail, receipts, business cards, random paperwork, notes you've scribbled to yourself should all get shuttled into your inbox for later sorting and processing. I picked up a cheap metal office inbox at Staples to use as mine; any kind of box or even designated desk space can work just fine. Bonus points if you get can get your housemate or partner to get an inbox too; that way you can leave things for him/her to see without an intrusive interruption.

Collaborate with housemates

Simple tools can make sharing household tasks easy. Place a magnetic dirty/clean flippy sign on the dishwasher so everyone knows when it has to be emptied and when it has to be loaded. Stick a magnetic whiteboard to the fridge with an ongoing shopping list. You can use it to leave notes, or to-do's, too - ie, Call back plumber about the toilet! 555-3456. A magnetic whiteboard calendar is also a handy way to keep track of household schedules, as detailed in this previous Lifehacker post.

We are what we buy?

"From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It'll teach you something, it'll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever."



... and George Carlin's brilliant insights. RIP.

Quote of the Week

“Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better.”
Samuel Beckett

Getting Unstuck: How to Jump Start a Listless Action List

from tools-for-thought.com

Making a list of next actions can be motivating, but then there’s the reality test. When it comes time to decide what to do next, every option on the list may look as unappealing as the others. While it’s unrealistic to assume that every task we need to do will be something we just can’t wait to do, it’s equally unrealistic that out of a dozen or more tasks, nothing on the list seems doable. There are a few systemic errors that people make that cause them to gradually become disengaged from their task management system.

The list isn’t reviewed regularly. In this case, it’s not the list that’s the problem, but the fact that the brain knows that the list won’t be examined on a just-in-time basis, forcing the brain to pick up the slack by holding onto the list in memory, defeating the purpose of writing the list down in the first place.

By regularly I mean whenever you’re in the physical context of the corresponding list — as opposed to reviewing the list mentally. When you’re at home, you don’t think about what to do next; you look at your @Home list. Looking at the appropriate list when it’s time to decide what to do next should be as automatic behavior as looking at a clock when wondering what time it is (notwithstanding those brave souls who’ve trained themselves to correctly guess the time).

The list isn’t sufficiently granular. This is where “next action” is actually a multiaction task, like “Purge book collection” instead of “Tag unneeded books.” Without first separating the books to purge from the books to keep, the tendency is to look at the book collection as a whole and resist following through on the purge. It would be more effective to put “Purge book collection” on project list — the list of successful outcomes — and track the more precise next action separately.

Defining next actions is an art, not a science. Some people would consider “Write article” a next action. I would never use “write” as a next action, since it congeals a number of preliminary tasks: reading a manual, calling someone for an interview, outlining the article, or drafting it. On the other hand, “Boot laptop” would be ridiculously minute. We’re looking for next actions that are sufficiently, not absolutely, granular. If you find that the project is still on your mind after defining a next action, reexamine the next action as you’ve defined it and see if it has an unidentified dependency.

The list contains legacy issues. One reason a next action might have been sitting on a list for weeks is that the reason for doing it no longer applies, or the context has changed. Circumstances can evolve so subtly that it can take an act of will to notice the drift. Maybe an increase in gas prices has made that road trip less appealing than it seemed a month ago. Maybe its becoming clearer that upgrading a piece of software that works perfectly fine is just creating activity for its own sake.

Once it becomes evident that the project or action is past its timing, don’t let it sit on your list. Save your project and action lists for genuine commitments that you’ll respect and honor. Just because you commit to something now doesn’t mean you’ll have reason to stay the course five minutes from now, especially given the rapid flow of information in most office environments.

The list contains considerations, not just commitments. If an action list contains things you’re still thinking about doing, you’ll start viewing the whole list as a menu of deliberations. The reason an action list contains more than one action is that it’s impossible to do more than one at the same time. But this list is for tasks you actually intend to do as soon as possible. Some people force this intentionality by limiting their list to two or three “most important” tasks, but this can lead to tracking “less important” tasks mentally. The best practice is to use your list to track everything, but to focus on the one thing you’ve picked from it at that moment.

There’s nothing wrong with deferring things or continuing to evaluate them, but designate their status appropriately so that the trusted system that you keep outside of your head is actually trustworthy. That might entail putting the item up for reexamination five weeks from now on your calendar or in your tickler file. Or it might mean putting it on a list called “Someday/Maybe,” “Incubate,” or “Pending” that you review weekly.

The list is overpopulated. Having 30 items on a list makes it difficult to conveniently scan through the entire list with complete attention. See if you can sense an upper limit of how many tasks you can look at without glazing over. If you find that you’re only looking at the first half of your list, then functionally that first half really is the list. This may involve deferring actions, delegating them, or reevaluating whether or not they need to be done at all. To have a an agile system, you need to be able to take things off of a list as rapidly as you put them on.

The written list competes with a mental list. For me, this was probably the most insidious bug in my list management. Even though my next actions were accurate and written down, my lifetime habit of thinking about what I need to “get done” each day instead of what I needed to do at that moment meant that I when I read the next action (the “do”), I was still thinking on a project level (”get done”). Since it’s only possible to do an action, not a project, I wasn’t taking the action list seriously.

Referring to “virtual” lists in your head is something you have to catch yourself in the act of doing, since our sense of what we need to get done each day is like a second skin. We need to make the choice to either operate from mental RAM or a trusted system, which means shedding that second skin. To keep a clear head, it’s better to err on the side of obsession at first and review you action list whenever you start to doubt that what you’re doing at the moment is the right choice. But this only works if your list is complete, not prioritized, in order to reaffirm that the actions you’re not doing are the ones you shouldn’t be doing.

NRN = No Response Needed in Email

from Productivity Cafe by Susan Sabo

Another quick email tip today – for your subject line… NRN – No Response Needed.

We all agree that a good subject line is the best way to start an effective email. Sometime a subject line is all you need (use EOM then).

When you're informing someone of some facts or updating a situation's progress your can add NRN to the end of the subject line. When used regularly, meaning you've trained your recipients that this is what NRN means, NRN informs the reader that this is an update and they can delete or file after glancing at it. NRN is not as popular as EOM. A NRN Google search turns up some interesting links. An EOM Google search goes right to it's definition. This is useful for emails you send to those people that seem to write "Thank You" to you for all your correspondence to them, too. It's a polite way to break them of the habit, hopefully. Sure, thank you is the traditional way – and it wastes time in a time-strapped schedule. I've even heard about a "You're Welcome" response to Thank You.

Here's an example of an email subject line with No Response Needed incorporated:

SUBJECT: Contract with Austin Supplier will Close on Friday the 13^th – NRN

To refresh you on EOM – End Of Message. Your subject line can sometime be the entire message. So, use it in your messages and those you regularly correspond with will appreciate you helping them breeze through (yet another) email.

Here's an example:

SUBJECT: Tonight's dinner reservation is for 7pm – EOM

Why some people almost always are successful

Published by Henrik Edberg March 21st, 2007 in Health, Wealth & Money, Productivity, Personal Development and People Skills.

Like everyone else I´ve spent some time thinking about why some people are so successful in life. And what factors in success that are under more personal control than others.

Successful people might be intelligent. Or have had a socially well connected upbringings. Or be naturally energetic and open and positive.

But a lot of the factors that make some people more successful at almost anything in life are very much under their control. And much can be improved in anyone’s life by learning from the people that have gone before us.

Here are some of the thoughts on success that I´ve come up with from reading/watching documentaries throughout the years about people such as Michael Jordan, Thomas Edison, Eleanor Roosevelt and Henry Ford. The following factors of success are just a few and I´m quite sure there are a lot more.

They make decisions and take action
Right or wrong action, they take it. Either way it’s always better than making no decisions and taking no action at all. As Franklin Roosevelt said:

“It is common sense to take a method and try it. If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something.”

They do things even when they don´t feel like it
I think this is a pretty huge factor. A lot of us back down when we don´t want to do something, even though it may eventually bring us to a wonderful experience or goal. Successful people may not always like doing some of the things they have to do. But they do them anyway. And in the longer run that makes all the difference.

They do the most productive thing right now
Instead of trapping themselves in doing productive but not so important tasks or projects they realise what’s most important and do that. And after they´re done with that they do what´s most important again. Instead of just doing a lot of things, they think and plan before they act and try to focus as much as possible of their thoughts and actions on those few very important things.

They do one thing at a time
Many of them don´t seem to multi-task. Some reasons for avoiding that may be that it creates internal confusion, wastes time and spreads the multi-tasker too thinly. Instead, they do one thing and focus on that until it is done. Then they do the next thing until it is done. Focusing 100% on one task at a time will get it done quicker and better.

They have a positive attitude
A negative attitude can be very damaging and limiting to one´s life. A positive one can open new doors every day. It can open your mind to new ideas and input and create or sustain great relationships. It helps you through the hard times as a successful person often sees an opportunity within what others would merely see as a problem.

Have a look at Take The Postivity Challenge for more thoughts and practical tips for creating a more positive attitude.

They have redefined failure
While a lot of people see failure as a way to rationalizing the feeling of wanting to giving up or as a sign that it´s actually time to do something else successful people tend to see it more as useful feedback. They may not like to fail, but they don´t fear it – or at least they have little fear of it - and they know that if they fail they´ve been there before and they can start over again and succeed. This is of course a very useful belief and keeps successful people going while the rest have already given up.

They don´t let fear hold them back
They overcome fear and slay that dragon whenever they face it. Or they may have defined or redefined reality so that fear is substantially decreased or even gone in some areas of their life.

Doing this enables you to take action on your thoughts. This pulls down the barriers in the mind and create new roads and opens up to whole new possibilities. Have a look at 5 Life-Changing Keys to Overcoming Your Fear for more on both slaying your dragons and redefining your reality to contain less fear.

They have found a purpose in life
They are internally driven rather than externally driven. They do what they have a burning desire to do rather than conforming to what others think they should do. Even if what the others think may be positive and successful stuff.

The Michael Jordans, the Edisons and the Stephen Kings have figured out what they want to do in life and are doing it (or did it).

The purpose, I think, is largely why they can keep on going and be motivated while others may tire or just go and do something else that they find more purposeful. The successes love their purpose and when they aligned with it then it seems to push them forward with enthusiasm and energy through life.

They don´t get distracted
When others get too caught up in everyday life to do what they really want to do the successes don´t. They can really focus on actually doing what´s important and what needs to be done. Again, this seems to go back to having a purpose and more clear sense of direction in life.

They value their time highly and plan it out well
A lot of people don´t value their time that much. Successful people have a purpose in life and therefore they do. They have so much they want and an inner urge to do it and therefore need to plan well to use their days effectively.

They´ve got awesome communication-skills
So very much of what we do in life has to do with other people. So it seems quite obvious that to be successful you´ll probably have to have good or great communication-skills (or hire someone that has such skills).

People skills is fortunately something anyone can improve and develop. Have a look at Do You Do these 10 Mistakes in a Conversation and How to Make a Great First Impression for some useful tips.

They have an open mind and are willing to learn
Successful people take the time to study and learn – and often seem to really like doing it - what is necessary to improve their skills. They are open to thoughts, suggestions, solutions, new information and change rather than thinking they already know everything, that there is not much more to learn and that everything should be as it has always been.

What to focus on?
Now, what factors are the most important ones, where should one focus the energy? I am currently focusing on improving my ability to take action, doing what I may not feel like doing and doing the most productive thing right now. To me it seems like these three factors are very important and since they are pretty interconnected they are easy to combine.

I think what you should focus on varies a lot. And it’s up to everyone to figure that out for themselves. But if you´re anything like me you probably already know what areas you need to work on.

Six Great Ways to Ruin a Brainstorm

May 1st, 2008 in Management

The brainstorm is the most popular group creativity exercise. It is quick, easy and it works. But many organizations have become frustrated with brainstorms and have stopped using them. They say brainstorms are old-fashioned and no longer effective. But the real reason for the frustrations is that the brainstorms are not facilitated properly. A well-run brainstorm is fun and energetic. It will generate plenty of good ideas. But a poor brainstorm can be frustrating and demotivational. Let’s look at some simple ways to ruin your next brainstorm meeting.

1. Having no clear objectives

A brainstorm with a vague or unclear purpose will wander and lose its way. So set a clear objective. The purpose of the brainstorm is to generate many creative ideas to answer a specific goal. It is best to express the goal as a question. A wooly objective is not helpful. ‘How can we do better?’ is not as good as ‘How can we double sales in the next 12 months?’ However, the parameters of the questions should not be too detailed or it can close out lateral possibilities. ‘How can we double sales, through existing channels and with the current product set?’ is probably too constrained. Once the question has been agreed it is written up clearly for all to see.

It is worth setting objectives for the number of ideas to be generated and the time to be spent. ‘We are looking to generate 60 ideas in the next 20 minutes. Then we will whittle them down to 4 or 5 really good ones.’

2. Too homogenous a group

If everyone is from the same department then creativity can be inhibited and you may get ‘group think’. Choose the group carefully. The best size is somewhere between six and twelve. Too few people and there are not enough diverse inputs. Too many people and it is hard to control and retain everyone’s commitment. Sprinkle the group with a few outsiders from other areas or even from outside the business - people who can bring some different perspectives and wacky ideas. A good mix of people works best - varied ages, men and women, experienced and fresh in, etc.

3. Letting the boss act as facilitator

Beware of having an autocratic boss with his or her team. They can inhibit or shape the discussion. If the boss is present then it is better to have a good independent facilitator - someone who can encourage input from everyone and stop one person from dominating. The worst formula for a brainstorm is generally the department manager leading the meeting and acting as scribe and censor at the same time.

4. Allowing early criticism

The most important rule of brainstorming is - suspend judgment. In order to encourage a wealth of wacky ideas it is essential that no one is critical, negative or judgmental about an idea. Any idea that is uttered - no matter how stupid - must be written down. The rule about suspending judgement during the idea generation phase is so important that it is worth enforcing rigorously. A good technique is to issue water pistols; anyone who is critical gets squirted.

5. Settling for a few ideas.

Don’t get a handful of ideas and then start analyzing. Quantity is great. The more ideas the better. Brainstorming is one the few activities in life where quantity improves quality. Think of it as a Darwinian process. The more separate ideas that are generated the greater the chance that some will be fit enough to survive. You need stacks of energy and buzz driving lots of wacky ideas. Crazy thoughts that are completely unworkable are often the springboards for other ideas that can be adapted into great new solutions. So keep the crazy ideas coming - you have to kiss a lot of frogs to find one prince!

6. No closure or follow through.

Don’t stop the meeting after generating lots of ideas with a vague promise to follow up. If people see no real outcomes they will become frustrated with the process and lose faith. You should quickly analyze the ideas at the meeting. One of the best ways is to divide the proposals into three categories - promising, interesting or reject. If any of the promising ideas are real no-brainers - so good that they should be implemented straight away then give them to someone as an action item immediately.

You should categorize and collect the ideas. On a separate flipchart write all the promising and interesting ideas which are marketing ideas say and on another chart all the sales ideas etc. This process of rearranging the ideas can help you see new combinations and possibilities. Some people use post it notes at this stage so that they can easily move ideas around.

If you are pressed for time then an alternative method of selecting the best ideas is to give everyone five points. They can allocate points to their favorite ideas in any way that they want. They can give one point to five separate ideas or all five to one idea. Then you total the points and select the best for further action.

Close the meeting by thanking everyone for their input. Mention again one of two of the best, most inventive or funniest ideas. Then see which ideas you can implement - even if they are small things.
People enjoy short, high-energy brainstorms that lead to actions. These meetings can motivate people, improve efficiency and drive innovation.

Negotiating for a House? Start With ‘Dear Seller’

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May 31, 2008

Your Money

By RON LIEBER

A few years ago, when multiple bidders would show up at a real estate open house, the truly desperate resorted to writing love letters to the sellers.

Their plaintive scribblings painted a picture of first-time buyers chasing the American dream or growing families hungry for more space. The letters dripped with compliments for the property and ended with a plea for mercy (and a signed contract).

Today’s real estate market, however, calls for a different kind of letter, less a fuzzy valentine and more like a cold splash of water. It’s what you write to accompany a bid that is so far below the listing price that it cries out for explanation.

Inspired by the success of a friend who used this tactic, I drafted a sample letter that buyers who fear overpaying might send to homeowners. Then, I crafted a reply that confident sellers could fire back.

No seller would be happy to get a letter like this. The most powerful missives stoke doubt and create fear. Sellers who get them may be tempted to write off the bidders as lowballers. But it makes little sense not to at least reply, given the number of competing properties in most places and the difficulty lately in getting mortgages.

The sample letters on Page B6, which I wrote after conversations with representatives of the National Association of Realtors and the National Association of Exclusive Buyer Agents, don’t mention local economic conditions, comparable sales or other such data. You’ll want to fill in those details yourself. But the templates below should work as a starting point.

One caveat is that you’ll generally be relying on real estate agents to deliver your letter. Ask them point blank whether they intend to do so.

Dear Seller:

I’m writing to let you know that I would like to make a bid on your property. I love the area and am committed to buying a house nearby. And your home fits my needs.

But given that my offer is well below your asking price, I also feel I owe you an explanation.

First, consider the big picture. Nationwide, home prices in the first quarter of 2008 fell 14.1 percent compared with the same period a year earlier, according to the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index.

That’s the biggest decline in the 20-year history of the data. And just in case you’re wondering, during the housing downturn of the early 1990s, the decline was never worse than 2.8 percent.

Not only that, earlier this month, the National Association of Realtors pointed to the huge number of existing homes on the market. As of the end of April, the total number was 4.55 million. At the rate people are buying right now, that represents an 11.2-month supply.

So buyers have options right now. A lot of them. I’m no different. Your home is great, but it isn’t unique. Few homes are. I know this may be hard to hear, since you’ve spent years creating memories here. But you may be waiting a long time if you hope to find a buyer with the same emotional connection that you have.

My mindset is hardly unique. We’ve all been reading the headlines. The accompanying articles appear prominently in major newspapers and sit on the Web pages where people check their e-mail every day. Everyone sees them, and the psychological impact is real.

Has your real estate agent laid any of this out for you? Maybe so, and you didn’t want to believe it. But it’s also possible that your agent, afraid of offending you and losing the listing, simply doesn’t want to initiate that sort of discussion. It may be worth sitting down for a candid reassessment.

It will be tempting to view my low bid as an insult. Please don’t make that mistake. Your home is genuinely appealing, and I wouldn’t have written this note unless I was serious about buying it. Getting a firm offer in this market is an accomplishment. So congratulations!

Oh, and one more thing. You presumably need someplace to move. My guess is that you’ll find these same points compelling when it’s your turn to buy. You just might succeed in buying for a better price, too.

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Yours Truly,

The Realist

Dear Bidder:

Thanks so much for your note. I’m truly glad that you like our home as much as we do. You’re right that my family and I have many great memories of this place, and we hope someday you will, too.

And I just want you to know that I’m not insulted in any way by your offer. The fact is, none of us are very good at buying and selling homes. We don’t do it often, and as much as we know we’re not supposed to let emotions get in the way, it’s hard not to. After all, few people buy or sell anything else as expensive as a home in their lifetimes.

That said, your offer disappointed me. You seem to believe that I’m not aware of how bad things are out there or that I’m in denial. But I do read the headlines, and I priced the house accordingly. I knew I might have to wait awhile to sell it.

I should point out that your data draws on what has already happened in the housing market. Instead, I’d ask you to consider what’s about to happen.

One big reason for the falling prices is that it’s harder to get mortgages. Lenders went from giving money to anyone with a pulse to demanding higher credit scores and larger down payments. All sorts of buyers simply couldn’t make the numbers work anymore.

That may now change. Starting June 1, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which buy mortgages from lenders and help make it possible for them to lend more money, are loosening restrictions on the sorts of loans they’ll buy in many markets. That is supposed to make it easier for people to buy a home with a down payment of 5 percent, or even less. Many more qualified buyers should mean more bids, and I’m willing to wait to see if it turns out that way.

I know you talked about having choices, but presumably we wouldn’t be engaging in this correspondence unless you liked my home best. Given that, I’d ask you to think about something: How often do you find a place that you can actually imagine living in? Sure, there are a lot of other properties out there. But an increasing number are in foreclosure and probably have problems lurking within the walls. So don’t let fear of a falling market keep you out of a home that you truly want.

It’s probably obvious by now that I’m not going to counter with a particular number. This doesn’t mean that I do not want to negotiate. I’d just like you to consider what I’ve said and see if you find it convincing. In the meantime, other shoppers who are interested in my home now have a price to beat. So thanks for helping me out with that.

Just one more thing. Please take another look at whatever mortgage calculator you’re using and see how your monthly payment will change if you brought your price up a bit. It almost certainly is not going to be enough to break you. But it may be enough to get us to a deal.

I look forward to your reply.

Yours,

The Undaunted

quote of the week

"Beware the lollipop of mediocrity: lick once and you'll suck forever. "

The Not-To-Do List: 9 Habits to Stop Now

Written by Tim Ferriss

“Not-to-do” lists are often more effective than to-do lists for upgrading performance.

The reason is simple: what you don’t do determines what you can do.

Here are nine stressful and common habits that entrepreneurs and office workers should strive to eliminate. The bullets are followed by more detailed descriptions. Focus on one or two at a time, just as you would with high-priority to-do items. I’ve worded them in no-to-do action form:

1. Do not answer calls from unrecognized phone numbers
Feel free to surprise others, but don’t be surprised. It just results in unwanted interruption and poor negotiating position. Let it go to voicemail, and consider using a service like GrandCentral (you can listen to people leaving voicemail) or Simulscribe (receive voicemails as e-mail).

2. Do not e-mail first thing in the morning or last thing at night
The former scrambles your priorities and plans for the day, and the latter just gives you insomnia. E-mail can wait until 10am, after you’ve completed at least one of your critical to-do items…

3. Do not agree to meetings or calls with no clear agenda or end time
If the desired outcome is defined clearly with a stated objective and agenda listing topics/questions to cover, no meeting or call should last more than 30 minutes. Request them in advance so you “can best prepare and make good use of the time together.”

4. Do not let people ramble
Forget “how’s it going?” when someone calls you. Stick with “what’s up?” or “I’m in the middle of getting something out, but what’s going on?” A big part of GTD is GTP — Getting To the Point.

5. Do not check e-mail constantly — “batch” and check at set times only
I belabor this point enough. Get off the cocaine pellet dispenser and focus on execution of your top to-do’s instead of responding to manufactured emergencies. Set up a strategic autoresponder and check twice or thrice daily.

6. Do not over-communicate with low-profit, high-maintenance customers
There is no sure path to success, but the surest path to failure is trying to please everyone. Do an 80/20 analysis of your customer base in two ways—which 20% are producing 80%+ of my profit, and which 20% are consuming 80%+ of my time? Then put the loudest and least productive on autopilot by citing a change in company policies. Send them an e-mail with new rules as bullet points: number of permissible phone calls, e-mail response time, minimum orders, etc. Offer to point them to another provider if they can’t conform to the new policies.

7. Do not work more to fix overwhelm — prioritize
If you don’t prioritize, everything seems urgent and important. If you define the single most important task for each day, almost nothing seems urgent or important. Oftentimes, it’s just a matter of letting little bad things happen (return a phone call late and apologize, pay a small late fee, lose an unreasonable customer, etc.) to get the big important things done. The answer to overwhelm is not spinning more plates — or doing more — it’s defining the few things that can really fundamentally change your business and life.

8. Do not carry a cellphone or Crackberry 24/7
Take at least one day off of digital leashes per week. Turn them off or, better still, leave them in the garage or in the car. I do this on at least Saturday, and I recommend you leave the phone at home if you go out for dinner. So what if you return a phone call an hour later or the next morning? As one reader put it to a miffed co-worker who worked 24/7 and expected the same: “I’m not the president of the US. No one should need me at 8pm at night. OK, you didn’t get a hold of me. But what bad happened?” The answer? Nothing.

9. Do not expect work to fill a void that non-work relationships and activities should
Work is not all of life. Your co-workers shouldn’t be your only friends. Schedule life and defend it just as you would an important business meeting. Never tell yourself “I’ll just get it done this weekend.” Review Parkinson’s Law in 4HWW and force yourself to cram within tight hours so your per-hour productivity doesn’t fall through the floor. Focus, get the critical few done, and get out. E-mailing all weekend is no way to spend the little time you have on this planet.
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It’s hip to focus on getting things done, but it’s only possible once we remove the constant static and distraction. If you have trouble deciding what to do, just focus on not doing. Different means, same end.

5 Tips Every Traveler Should Know About Internet Security

31 Mar 2008 in Travel Tips, Travel Tools by David DeFranza

Internet cafes can be dangerous places. Here’s how to keep your information safe.

Photo by Mark Shandro

Whether sending email, uploading photos, booking flights and hotels, paying the bills back home, and checking the status of a bank account, travelers use the internet for a huge variety of tasks.

The ubiquity of internet cafes around the world has made this convenience possible.

Sitting down at an internet cafe has become so common in the life of travelers that few stop to consider the security of these very public computers.

But if we do stop to think about it, internet cafe computers (and any information you send or access from them) are clearly vulnerable. Fortunately, protecting yourself is not very difficult.

Here are some things you can do to keep your data safe:

1. Get Portable Firefox

The first step to securing your internet connection, is securing your browser. The best way to do this is to install Portable Firefox on a USB thumb drive.

When you sit down at the computer, plug in the thumb drive and start your own version of Firefox from there. As you will see, this small piece of gear is really a necessity for any traveler planning to use public computers.

2. Connect Securely

To ensure your online safety, it is imperative that you use a secure connection when accessing sensitive sites.

Once you have your own version of Firefox up and running on the cafe’s computer, it is time to connect to the internet. To ensure your online safety, it is imperative that you use a secure connection when accessing sensitive sites.

In most cases, when Firefox makes a secure connection a closed padlock appears in the right hand side of the address bar.

If you don’t see this icon, try retyping the address using “https” instead of “http.” In this case “s” means that you are using a special, secure, encrypted connection to the site.

If you always forget to include the “s” try bookmarking the secure site and using that link instead of typing in an address. If you are using a USB drive with your own Firefox browser, these bookmarks will be available anywhere you go.

Alternately, try using this special script with Firefox, which automatically inserts the “s” into preselected site addresses.

3. Confuse the Keyloggers

Once you have established a secure connection, it is time to log in. Thanks to the use of “https” it is significantly more difficult, if not impossible, for people ‘looking in’ on the connection from other computers to steal your data.

Photo by KingJeng.net

That said, the secure connection does not prevent a program on the computer you are using from recording everything you type. These programs, called “keyloggers” are especially dangerous when typing things like login names, passwords, and passport and credit card numbers.

Fortunately, there are a few things you can do.

First, by using bookmarks saved in your portable Firefox browser to connect to sensitive sites, instead of manually typing in the addresses, you eliminate the common method keyloggers use to index data. This makes it much more difficult to assign, for example, a password with a specific email site.

A simple trick that will fool most keyloggers is to disguise your password in a sea of “dummy characters.”

To do this click the password box and type the first character of your password. Next click anywhere else on the page to deselect the password box, and type some random characters before reselecting the password box and entering the second character.

Repeat this process for each character of your password.

This works because most keylogging programs cannot distinguish random typing from typing in a specific field on a web page. For a more complete explanation of this technique, read the short PDF report of a study testing it conducted by Microsoft, and this discussion that followed.

If you frequent some really questionable internet cafes and you want the best defense against keyloggers, than PasswordMaker is the answer. This program produces passwords that are very difficult to crack and is available as a add-on for your Firefox browser.

4. Use Encryption

No matter how well you have planned your trip, sometimes there is business that cannot be done remotely. When this happens, travelers are often forced to send sensitive private information to a trusted friend or family member.

No matter how well you have planned your trip, sometimes there is business that cannot be done remotely.

If you are in a situation where you must email credit card, pin, social security, or passport numbers, using encrypted email is a very good idea.

Email encryption codes your message so that it is indecipherable. A special key is created that can be used to unlock the coded message. The easiest way to send encrypted email is via Gmail Encryption a script that is, obviously, specific to Google’s free email service.

If you don’t like Gmail, the Encrypt This! add-on for Firefox will easily encrypt any text in your browser.

5. Don’t Get Caught by a Phisher

Phishing scams involve decoy websites or emails that mimic an official one. When you enter your information into the fraudulent site, it is sent to a third party. Carefully checking the address of websites you visit is the best defense against these scams.

Firefox also comes with some built in protection. To enable it, go to the Tools menu and select Options. Under the Security tab, check the box next to “Tell me if the site I’m visiting is a suspected forgery” and select the option to “ask Google.”

For a little extra protection, there are several add-ons for Firefox that will make you even safer against phishers.

The Internet, especially when accessed from a public computer or internet cafe, is a dangerous place for your private data.

Fortunately, with a little preparation and care we can surf along without a problem. With precautions in place, you can worry less about your time online, and focus on enjoying your travels.

A Tiny Fruit That Tricks the Tongue

Joe Fornabaio for The New York Times

RADISH, WHERE IS THY STING? At flavor-tripping parties, guests find that miracle fruit makes everything sweet.

From The New York Times

By PATRICK FARRELL and KASSIE BRACKEN

Published: May 28, 2008

CARRIE DASHOW dropped a large dollop of lemon sorbet into a glass of Guinness, stirred, drank and proclaimed that it tasted like a “chocolate shake.”

Nearby, Yuka Yoneda tilted her head back as her boyfriend, Albert Yuen, drizzled Tabasco sauce onto her tongue. She swallowed and considered the flavor: “Doughnut glaze, hot doughnut glaze!”

They were among 40 or so people who were tasting under the influence of a small red berry called miracle fruit at a rooftop party in Long Island City, Queens, last Friday night. The berry rewires the way the palate perceives sour flavors for an hour or so, rendering lemons as sweet as candy.

The host was Franz Aliquo, 32, a lawyer who styles himself Supreme Commander (Supreme for short) when he’s presiding over what he calls “flavor tripping parties.” Mr. Aliquo greeted new arrivals and took their $15 entrance fees. In return, he handed each one a single berry from his jacket pocket.

“You pop it in your mouth and scrape the pulp off the seed, swirl it around and hold it in your mouth for about a minute,” he said. “Then you’re ready to go.” He ushered his guests to a table piled with citrus wedges, cheeses, Brussels sprouts, mustard, vinegars, pickles, dark beers, strawberries and cheap tequila, which Mr. Aliquo promised would now taste like top-shelf Patrón.

The miracle fruit, Synsepalum dulcificum, is native to West Africa and has been known to Westerners since the 18th century. The cause of the reaction is a protein called miraculin, which binds with the taste buds and acts as a sweetness inducer when it comes in contact with acids, according to a scientist who has studied the fruit, Linda Bartoshuk at the University of Florida’s Center for Smell and Taste. Dr. Bartoshuk said she did not know of any dangers associated with eating miracle fruit.

During the 1970s, a ruling by the Food and Drug Administration dashed hopes that an extract of miraculin could be sold as a sugar substitute. In the absence of any plausible commercial application, the miracle fruit has acquired a bit of a cult following.

Sina Najafi, editor in chief of the art magazine Cabinet, has featured miracle fruits at some of the publication’s events. At a party in London last October, the fruit, he said, “had people testifying like some baptismal thing.”

The berries were passed out last week at a reading of “The Fruit Hunters,” a new book by Adam Leith Gollner with a chapter about miracle fruit.

Bartenders have been experimenting with the fruit as well. Don Lee, a beverage director at the East Village bar Please Don’t Tell, has been making miracle fruit cocktails on his own time, but the bar probably won’t offer them anytime soon. The fruit is highly perishable and expensive — a single berry goes for $2 or more.

Lance J. Mayhew developed a series of drink recipes with miracle fruit foams and extracts for a recent issue of the cocktail magazine Imbibe and may create others for Beaker & Flask, a restaurant opening later this year in Portland, Ore.

He cautioned that not everyone enjoys the berry’s long-lasting effects. Despite warnings, he said, one woman became irate after drinking one of his cocktails. He said, “She was, like, ‘What did you do to my mouth?’ ”

Mr. Aliquo issues his own warnings. “It will make all wine taste like Manischewitz,” he said. And already sweet foods like candy can become cloying.

He said that he had learned about miracle fruit while searching ethnobotany Web sites for foods he could make for a diabetic friend.

The party last week was his sixth “flavor tripping” event. He hopes to put on a much larger, more expensive affair in June. Although he does sell the berries on his blog, www.flavortripping.wordpress.com, Mr. Aliquo maintains that he isn’t in it for the money. (He said he made about $100 on Friday.) Rather, he said, he does it to “turn on a bunch of people’s taste buds.”

He believes that the best way to encounter the fruit is in a group. “You need other people to benchmark the experience,” he said. At his first party, a small gathering at his apartment in January, guests murmured with delight as they tasted citrus wedges and goat cheese. Then things got trippy.

“You kept hearing ‘oh, oh, oh,’ ” he said, and then the guests became “literally like wild animals, tearing apart everything on the table.”

“It was like no holds barred in terms of what people would try to eat, so they opened my fridge and started downing Tabasco and maple syrup,” he said.

Many of the guests last week found the party through a posting at www.tThrillist.com. Mr. Aliquo sent invitations to a list of contacts he has been gathering since he and a friend began organizing StreetWars, a popular urban assassination game using water guns.

One woman wanted to see Mr. Aliquo eat a berry before she tried one. “What, you don’t trust me?” he said.

She replied, “Well, I just met you.”

Another guest said, “But you met him on the Internet, so it’s safe.”

The fruits are available by special order from specialty suppliers in New York, including Baldor Specialty Foods and S. Katzman Produce. Katzman sells the berries for about $2.50 a piece, and has been offering them to chefs.

Mr. Aliquo gets his miracle fruit from Curtis Mozie, 64, a Florida grower who sells thousands of the berries each year through his Web site, www.miraclefruitman.com. (A freezer pack of 30 berries costs about $90 with overnight shipping.) Mr. Mozie, who was in New York for Mr. Gollner’s reading, stopped by the flavor-tripping party.

Mr. Mozie listed his favorite miracle fruit pairings, which included green mangoes and raw aloe. “I like oysters with some lemon juice,” he said. “Usually you just swallow them, but I just chew like it was chewing gum.”

A large group of guests reached its own consensus: limes were candied, vinegar resembled apple juice, goat cheese tasted like cheesecake on the tongue and goat cheese on the throat. Bananas were just bananas.

For all the excitement it inspires, the miracle fruit does not make much of an impression on its own. It has a mildly sweet tang, with firm pulp surrounding an edible, but bitter, seed. Mr. Aliquo said it reminded him of a less flavorful cranberry. “It’s not something I’d just want to eat,” he said.

Why You Should Write Things Down

From positivityblog.com

Published by Henrik Edberg September 12th, 2007 in Health, Wealth & Money, Productivity and Personal Development.

This is a reminder.

You probably already know all - or most - of this. But reminders can be useful.

If your memory is anything like mine it’s like a leaking bucket.

Since I’ve started to write things down more often I have also noticed – when reviewing old notes – how much my memory can leak.

The memory isn’t very reliable. Every time we remember something we recreate what happened rather than just replay a film from our mental archives. The recreation is directed by a number of things such our beliefs, our emotional state at the time and our self-image.

What you remember about an event may differ quite a bit from what someone else remembers. There is a wide variety of interpretations of reality and truth. And then when you try to remember that interpretation of an event later on it can change even more.

So we need external systems. And there are a lot of them to experiment with.

Until recently I have preferred to mostly keep it simple with paper and a pen. I feel that overcomplicated programs seems to encourage being busy rather than being effective. Getting a dozen things done quickly isn’t that helpful if what you are getting done isn’t that important.

I also use this blog not only to share useful tips and information but also to keep a record for myself of thoughts on different areas of self improvement. This has been helpful to remind myself of various ideas and techniques that can help me improve my life and of mistakes that are so easy to make.

Journaling

A few months ago I made an addition to the blog and the paper notebooks where I wrote my to-do lists, short notes and goals. I started journaling using my computer. This allowed me record a fuller picture of events, thoughts and emotions. Instead of being confined to small notebooks I could get it all down. This was a relief and allowed me to capture a whole lot more nuance and think things through more easily. I wish I had started earlier.

At the moment I use less paper. Instead I record thoughts, goals, ideas and then work on them using The Journal by David RM. From what I have seen so far, I haven’t used it long, it seems to be an excellent piece of software with a 45 day free trial. And I’m sure there are also a number of good and free alternatives out there too.

I still use small notebooks to write down my to-do lists and shopping lists for the day. But since my thoughts and ideas have grown to a quite a large number it’s easier to keep them in a one piece of software rather than a few notebooks. This also makes it easier to be more creative and find connections and combinations between different ideas. And since I have just started journaling I guess there are more insights to come.

So, I have already mentioned a few ideas on why you should write things down. Below are few more.

9 more reasons to write things down

• Written goals are important. One thing a lot of very successful self improvement writers – Anthony Robbins, Brian Tracy, Zig Ziglar and so on - go on and on about is the importance of having written goals. A written goal brings clarity and focus. It gives you a direction. And by rewriting your goals you not only reaffirm what your goals are. You may also have found new insights that bring more clarity and focus to your goal and life. A written goal is also a powerful reminder that you can use to keep yourself on track.
• To remind yourself to focus. You can use paper or your screensaver or another program to give yourself reminders. Often we get caught up in our everyday business and lose track of what is most important. To keep yourself on track - instead of just keeping yourself busy with low-priority tasks - simply write down a reminder that can stop your thoughts when you see it and guide you back on track again. I like the reminder: is this useful? Then put that reminder where you can´t avoid seeing throughout your day.
• Unloading your mental RAM. When you don´t occupy your mind with having to remember every little thing – like how much milk to get – you become less stressed and it becomes easier to think clearly. This is, in my opinion, one of the most important reasons to write things down. Feeling more calm and relaxed does not only improves your health but also makes life easier.
• Clearer thinking. You can’t hold that many thoughts in your head at once. If you want to solve a problem it can be helpful to write down you thoughts, facts and feelings about it. Then you don’t have to worry your mind about remembering, you can instead use it to think more clearly. Having it all written down gives you an overview and makes it easier to find new connections that can help you solve the problem.
• A record of what you were thinking. I have already noticed how interesting it is to just go back a month to see what I was thinking then. I believe that when you have kept a record of your thoughts for quite a while you’ll have some fascinating reading on your hands. It can also show you how you have changed and improved.
• A record of your positive qualities. When I read what have written it is sometimes fuzzy and unfocused. But other times I’m kinda surprised at how clever I was. Keeping a written record could be a good way to remind yourself of your positive qualities.
• Improve long-term focus on what’s important. Reminders that I described above can be useful to keep you on track in your normal day. But you can also use a journal as a way to keep an overview of your thinking over a longer timespan and to recognize both positives and negatives in your thinking. You may, for example, think of yourself as a healthy person but realise when you read through your journal that you have only been out running four times this month. This can help to spot trouble and keep you on track within a larger timeframe.
• Become better acquainted with yourself. You may, for instance, have an image of your life where you are a positive person but discover when reading through your notes for the last month that you are negative about your job or a relationship in almost every entry. This might tell you something that you haven’t really paid much attention to about yourself and/or something about that job or relationship. This can bring clarity to your life.
• Track your achievements. If you are working out or investing in stocks it can be useful to keep written record of your results and thoughts over a longer timespan. It can not only motivate you when you are feeling down about your perceived lack of positive results and let you see how far you have really come. It can also help you use problems and solutions from the past to find solutions to new problems (or readjustments to prevent problems before they even appear).

Punctuality Counts

May 14th, 2008 in Featured, Productivity

from lifehack.org

For years, I could be counted on to be late. Got a lunch meeting at 11:30 am? Dustin will be there at 11:40. Got a class at 9:00am? Dustin will be there at 9:20. Is there a meeting at 6:00 pm? Dustin’s there by 6:30. Work hours are 8:30 am to 5 pm? I’m in by 9:00.

People joked about it. It was my “thing” — I was on “Dustin time”. It was all very funny — until I realized that the same people that joked about it showed, time and again, that they didn’t trust me to get things done — that, indeed, they saw me as an incompetent person who couldn’t even get it together enough to be on time.

Being punctual matters, at least in today’s Western societies. Being on time, every time, conveys far more than just a good sense of timing. It tells people that you’re on top of things, that you’re organized, that you can be counted on, that you value them, and, ultimately, that you value yourself.

Punctuality shows mastery

Being on time consistently shows everyone around you that you are the master of your life. It demonstrates foresight — the ability to predict possible hang-ups — and adaptability — the ability to change your plans to accommodate those hang-ups.

On the other hand, being late all the time shows that you are a victim of the winds of fate, that you’re incapable of anticipating possible problems and either dealing with them or altering your course to avoid them. It sends the message that you’re harassed by time, not in control of it.

Punctuality shows competence

Someone who shows, over and over, that they are the master of their time is someone who will be taken seriously in areas far removed from time management. That foresight and adaptability that gets you where you need to be, when you need to be there, tells the people around you that you can handle whatever is thrown at you.

Conversely, people assume that if the chronically late person can’t even consider the possibility of a little extra traffic, s/he won’t be able to consider other obstacles that might stand in the way of getting a project or task done.

Punctuality shows integrity

Punctuality is also a trust issue. When you make an appointment, you are making a commitment to be where you said you’d be when you said you’d be there. The only way you build up other people’s trust in you is by consistently meeting your commitments — and that starts with being punctual. The person who is always on time is someone others can trust to be as good as their word.

In contrast, the person who is perpetually late is, plain and simple, someone who lies to you repeatedly. You said you’d be here at 9 o’clock, but you’re not here; if your word isn’t good enough about something as trivial as showing up on time, how can your word be any good about anything more important?

Punctuality shows you value people

People are busy — too busy to be waiting on you while their other work goes unfinished. Being punctual shows, clearly and truly, that you value their time and, by extension, that you value them as a person. It says, “Let’s make this time we’ve arranged as productive as possible so we can both get on with all our other important stuff.”

Compare that with the attitude of the chronically late person who, when confronted, says, “But I’m always on time for the things that are important.” The message this sends is that, when I’m late, it’s because I really don’t feel that whatever I’m late for is all that important — if it were a date with a cute woman or man I met at the Starbucks, I’d have been on time; if it were a Moby concert, I’d have been on time; but since it’s just a meeting about the status of the big project I’m working on, I feel I can be late.

There’s another kind of always-late person: the person who makes a “big entrance”, using their lack of punctuality to show their status. Let’s face it — showing off your importance by having other people sit and wait on you clearly says “you’re not important to me.” And everyone knows the solution — don’t show up, or wait until the moment’s just right, and stab that high-and-mighty loser in the back. If you like to make the grand entrance, don’t worry — someday soon you’ll make a grand entrance to an empty room.

Punctuality shows you value yourself

Finally, being on time shows you value your time — and yourself. First of all, being repeatedly late is a self-destructive behavior — why else would you risk not landing the big client, losing your job, or insulting those around you? And everyone knows that most self-destructive behavior follows from low self-esteem. Even if it’s not true, that’s the perception you’re allowing others.

Second of all, punctuality shows that your time is too valuable to waste stuck in traffic, on the phone dealing with trivial matters, or otherwise occupied in anything other than the business at hand. Being late demonstrates, plainly and clearly, that you’re interruptible, that your work is never as high a priority as whatever trivial thing comes along, and that you’re unwilling to set priorities in your own life. If that’s the case, why should anyone else care about your time? Why shouldn’t they interrupt you whenever they feel like it, dump meaningless busy-work on you, or dismiss you entirely?

It took me a while to figure all this out (late to the party, as usual) but once I did, I made a concerted effort to be on time — or, usually, early — for every appointment. With few exceptions, I am on time, too — and every exception is an opportunity for me to learn how better to manage the same circumstances next time.

If you’re perpetually late, it’s time to stop — right now, not 10 minutes from now. Consider the message you’re sending to those around you, and consider the message you’d like to be sending, and act immediately to match those two up.

Classic

http://www.craigslist.org/about/best/sfo/40691636.html

To the MAN who DID his hoochie on my hood!! \@@/ (PIC) - w4m

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Date: 2004-08-27, 11:58AM PDT


Okay, so I live near the beach....

All the dust, the drunks, the tourists exhaust, the noise, you name it! But hey I wouldn't live anywhere else!!!

SO yeah my car is dirty all the time and I hear it from my friends, my BF and everyone all the time...

"why don't you wash it", blah blah blah!! And sure everyones seen the "wash me" signs that people devilishly write on cars from time to time..

But really?? THIS WAS NO WAY, NO HOW! A COOL WAY TO FORCE ME TO WASH MY CAR and make me late for WORK!!!!! WITH MY BF LAUGHING - HAR HAR WHY WASH IT! IT'S PRICELESS

WAS THIS REALLY NECESSARY you cocky sons of bitches???

THIS IS MY CAR, NOT YOUR BED!!!!! RRRRRRRRRR!!!!!


I got your prints from my hood, thank you very much!!! I will find your lame asses!!! OH! and Thank you hooch for scratching my paint with your nipple piercings and dime store MR T rings!!!