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Life Design and Sustainability

LJ — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 03:00:00 PDT

Fridays are tip days at SimpleProductivity blog.

It’s become a buzzword: sustainability.

Mostly it applies to living life in a way that doesn’t overuse resources. Don’t use trees faster than they can grow. Don’t use more water than is available. The list goes on and on; but it all comes down to the concept of don’t deplete your resources to dangerous levels.

Sustainability In Life

Sustainability practices need to be applied to what we do in life. As I indicated earlier in the week, regular breaks are necessary to sustain productivity. Here are three ways to make sure your life is sustainable:

Rest

We all need rest, yet few of us actually get what we need. Take some time not only to get enough sleep, but also to have some down time each day.

Re-creation

The word recreation can be broken into the two parts Re- and -creation. This is to remind us that we need to take time to recreate ourselves. Take time to play, be creative, sing, dance, or whatever moves you.

Balance

The key to ongoing sustainability is to balance what we are putting out with what we are taking in. I’m not talking about the elusive concept of work-life balance here, but rather making sure that we don’t deplete ourselves too far.

What are your thoughts on sustainability? Share them below.

Photo by paul (dex)

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Prevent Backsliding By Finding Your Killer Instinct

GuestPost — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 03:00:45 PDT

This is a guest post by Sam Spurlin, of The Simpler Life. If you want to guest post on this blog, check out the guidelines here.

A lot of personal development advice seems to revolve around the concept of improving areas of your life that are completely messed up. If you are incredibly disorganized, stressed out, and unhealthy then it makes sense to try to improve these areas.

However, focusing solely on those trouble spots ignores what I think has the greatest potential for amazing progress.

When you’ve started improving those trouble spots in your life, how do you act? If you’re anything like me, chances are you begin to backslide.

I’m in the middle of a training program in preparation for a half-marathon race. I’ve been sticking to the program very well for the past couple weeks and everything is progressing nicely. Instead of redoubling my efforts and staying focused, I realized that I’m letting a very dangerous mindset take over.

Where’s That Killer Instinct?

Let me know if this sounds familiar, “I’ve been running a lot this week so it doesn’t really matter if I eat ice cream for the third day in a row.” Or this: “I’ve been so productive at work recently it doesn’t matter if I let my organizational system fall apart.”

I’m sure you have an area in your own life where you’ve made impressive improvement and, as a consequence, have let something else slide.

My own realization came as I tried to run a 5K training run this morning. This is one of the shortest runs I do and it shouldn’t pose too much of a problem. My running has been going well so I decided to run this distance much faster than I have in the past. That all makes sense, except for the fact that I drank a Coke and ate two doughnuts for breakfast while not drinking any water. In my mind, I figured that since the distance was short and I had been doing so well with longer runs, it didn’t matter that I hadn’t taken care of myself properly.

I was wrong.

The Difference Between Pretty Good and World Class

What sets world-class athletes, CEO’s of huge companies, the best teacher in your school or the most productive person apart from us “mere mortals” is how they approach success. Success is not something they attain once and then lock up in a closet. Success is a never-ending journey that is constantly evolving and growing as they evolve and grow.

If you’ve found yourself stuck on one speed or even regressing in some aspect of your life that is important to you, try one of these tips:

Change something, anything, up: Maybe you are beginning to slack because you are bored. You’ve mastered the basics and now it’s time to try something new. Learn some new techniques, change up your training schedule, or find something new and exciting to explore. Much of the time changing things up is exactly what you need to continue your forward progress.
Revisit your goals: If your reasons for doing something have become hazy it’s easy to lose the focus you need to do it well. Clarify, in writing, why you are trying to improve some area of your life. Seeing it in front of you in physical form challenges you to take it seriously. Maybe your motivation has changed since starting your endeavor and the real reason you’re stuck in neutral is because it no longer resonates with you. Either way, you have to figure out why you’re doing what you’re doing.
30 Day Challenge yourself where you are slacking: As I’ve improved my running I’ve let my nutrition slack off. It has been easy to justify eating whatever I want when I’m burning so many calories. However, that is not the mindset I want to have if I’m trying to become a much more fit person. Doing a 30 Day Challenge of not eating fast food or eating as cleanly as possible will be a good way to realign my actions with my motivation.

When everything is going well is the time to redouble your efforts and truly do something awesome. Most people settle for average, for mediocrity. You’ve already got the momentum behind you, why not keep it going and really challenge yourself to do more, be more, and live more?

Sam Spurlin writes about simplicity, living consciously, and personal development at The Simpler Life. Come join him on his journey to live as meaningfully as possible!

Photo by AdamSelwood

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Simplifying Vacation Preparation Using Remember The Milk

LJ — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 03:00:00 PDT

Wednesdays are simplicity days at SimpleProductivity blog.

I recently went on vacation. Vacation for an extended period, for me, means that I have to do prep work to ready the house and animals for the absence. I know I’ve written before how I cannot rely on my memory for any accuracy with a list of things, so I have to have a checklist.

I’ve been using a written checklist for years. I have a printed piece of paper in a sheet protector, and I would check things off using a dry-erase marker. When I needed to add things to the list, I’d write them in on the protector, or I’d draw a line on the plastic to eliminate things. But a paper list is hard to transport and prone to smudges. This makes it difficult to use, particularly if I want to take care of things on my lunch hour

The latest version of the checklist is actually in Remember The Milk. I thought I would share how I use (and re-use) this.

Make a List

The first version of the list started with my paper list. I put down everything that needed to be done before a trip, removing and adding items as necessary.

Add Deadlines

Since the actions have to happen before the trip, I put down for each task when it needed to be done, relative to departure. Things to be done the day of departure got a (0d), things the day before got a (-1d), and so on.

Enter in RTM

I set up a permanent list for my trip items, named (not very creatively TRIP) and entered the items. I typed in the name of the item, the time frame, and in the notes put any other information (like kennel phone number).

My list looks like this: (this is a partial sample)

Take out garbage (0d)
Empty compost (0d)
Lock garage (0d)
Adjust heat/air (0d)
Set up timers (-1d)
Empty fridge (-1d)
Ask M to water outside plants (-2d)
Water plants (-1d)
Hold mail (-7d)
Hold newspaper (-7d)
Set up kennel (-21d)
Set up cat sitter (-21d)

Using The List

About a month before the trip is scheduled to occur, I go into RTM and set the due dates on everything based on the trip departure and the lead time I have noted. The items then show up on the appropriate day along with my regular to-do items.

This little method has really saved me a lot of frustration in the past two trips. I have not forgotten to do anything, and it has lifted the strain of getting ready quite a bit.

How do you make sure you get everything done for trips? Let us know below.

Photo by goosmurf

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Open Loops 7/27/2010: Articles I Think Worth Passing Along

LJ — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 03:00:33 PDT

Tuesdays are open loop at SimpleProductivity blog.

18 ways to work smarter…my favorites are “go for the high impact”, “cut the fluff” and “stop when you’re tired.” From Dumb Little Man’s “Working Hard Is not Enough” .

It is very easy to make excuses for not doing something. Small Notebook’s “How to Make Things Harder and Do Nothing” article goes into it.

I stopped taking the latest and greatest of software some time ago. Web Worker Daily has an article, “When the Latest Isn’t the Greatest” about when you should, and shouldn’t, upgrade.

Life can get overwhelming. Stepcase Lifehack gives the 6 steps on how to get through it without completely losing control at “How To Stay Organized When Life Throws You a Curveball”.

The Other 8 Hours has a great point:“The difference between an aspiring artist and an artist comes down to one thing . . . an artist creates”. An aspiring whatever is waiting, for whatever reason. It’s a great thought. From “The Secret to Success for Artists and Creatives”.

Photo by romana klee

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Taking Breaks for Productivity

LJ — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 03:00:00 PDT

Mondays are productivity days at SimpleProductivity blog.

This wasn’t the article I had planned for today.

The fact is, I’ve been struggling for the last few weeks, trying hard to fill out the editorial calendar. But the words wouldn’t come.

It wasn’t until I was in the middle of my yearly retreat, sitting under a tree during unscheduled time, that the truth hit me: I needed a break. Looking back on the years I have been blogging, I have only taken two breaks. That’s too few.

I gave myself the rest of the week off last week, telling myself that I would be better for it. And the truth is, the words are coming easier today.

It isn’t good to keep working at something all the time. We all need time to sit back, regenerate ourselves, and regroup. It doesn’t just apply to work, or everyday life, but to the things we love to do.

It came back to me for the umpteenth time as I sat listening to an acapella vocalist: the music is as much about the spaces as it is about the notes. There’s a reason, I believe, the planned lack of sound in a musical piece is called a rest.

Photo by e-magic

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Composting Made Easy

LJ — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 03:00:34 PDT

When I was growing up, one of our neighbors composted. The overripe smell of the piles remains with me, but also the memory of the beautiful fruits and vegetables she grew. When it was suggested to me as a means of enriching our terrible soil, I decided to give it a try.

I went into composting without any preconceptions, and I found it very easy.

Why Compost?

Composting is good on two fronts: it reuses food scraps that would otherwise end up not decomposing in our anaerobic landfills, and it provides soil with nutrients in a similar fashion to what it would receive “in the wild”. So it basically gives you great flowers, grass, and edibles while reducing your garbage load. Both reasons will save you money!

Composting Methods: Pile vs. Worm

There are two basic methods of composting: pile and worm. Worm composting uses worms to turn garbage into usable stuff very quickly. Pile composting relies on heat and water to decompose organic material.

Both methods will give you the same end product, but worms work faster. However, many people can’t get past the “ick” factor on worms and use the pile method. (I personally use the pile method, but that is simply because I didn’t know about the worms when I started this enterprise)

How Composting Works

A more detailed article on aerobic composting can be found over at HowStuffWorks, but it basically boils down to having organic waste interact with water and air to interact with microorganisms from the soil. The compost produces heat and the finished compost is a thick and rich humus, similar to what you would see on a forest floor.

Worm composting uses worms to eat the organic waste, which is then turned into worm ~~poop~~ castings.

Easy Methods to Compost

No matter what method you choose, there are easily obtainable gadgets to help you make compost.

3 Compost Bin Method

This method, has three areas outside in various stages of composting. The idea is that you fill one up, then let it “cook” (decompose) while using the next, and so on. These bins are easily constructable out of chicken wire and wood, and can also be bought ( EZCB E-Z Compost Bin). The difficulty with this method is that it is exposed to the elements and critters, and must be monitored to maintain good composting conditions. These bins will generally require manual turning with either a garden fork or a Compost Aerator.

Pyramid Composter

A pyramid composter is a black bin that does vertical composting (like the Home and Garden Innovations CMP02 Pyramid Composter). You continue to add material to the top of the bin, and pull out the finished product from the bottom via a door. The pyramid composter does not require turning, and solves the problem of heat, moisture and critters.

Turning Composting Devices

These composting bins, like the Tumbleweed Compost Tumbler Bin, take all the work out of turning. You rotate the entire compost bin to stir it up. It produces finished product much quicker than the standard bin method.

Worm Bin

A worm bin is generally smaller than a compost pile. It is a container full of worms has multiple layers that the worms work their way through ( 4 Tray Green Gusanito Worm Factory). The compost “tea” that gets produced is very good for houseplants as well.

Photo by Mickki

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Modern Women Find Fitness

GuestPost — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 03:00:00 PDT

This is a guest post by Danielle Bullen, of Medical Coding Certification. If you want to guest post on this blog, check out the guidelines here.

We all know how important it is to get our 30 minutes of exercise a day. Besides the obvious physical perks, more and more research is pointing to the mental benefits of physical activity. And a happy mind is a more productive mind.

Mental Benefits

A California State University at Long Beach study shows, the more steps a person takes in a day, the better their mood is. All the more reason to invest in a pedometer.

The Franklin Institute reports that regular exercisers show improvement in their abilities to plan, organize, and juggle multiple tasks at the same time, versus non-exercisers. Better multi-tasking? Sign me up.

The institute also reports that running has been shown to actually grow new brain cells!

But, knowing and doing are two different things, especially for busy, modern women. However, there are some easy ways to squeeze physical activity into your daily routine.

At the Office

Use your lunch break to take a walk. Find a buddy, change your shoes, and head outside. Even a quick 15-minute jaunt through the neighborhood does wonders for both body and mind. It’s easy to get stir-crazy cramped in a cubicle all day. Fresh air and a change of scenery will make your afternoon much more productive. And when you return, take the stairs, not the elevator!

Running Errands

Park as far away as possible. The walk through the parking lot is good for your heart.

And test your muscles with how heavy you can pack those grocery bags (without tearing them of course). Give your arms a workout!

At Home

Make your chores work for you. Cleaning may be a drag, but at least there are some cardio benefits. According to the American Cancer Society, a 150-lb person burns 150 calories per hour vacuuming. Some other stats to motivate you to break out the dust rag:

Gardening burns 324 calories per hour
Light cleaning burns 240 calories per hour

On the Weekends

Running around after kids is hard work! Playing actively is good for both them and your heart. No kids of your own? Baby-sit your friends’ children or nieces and nephews.

Grab your significant other or some of your best girlfriends and go dancing. You’ll be having so much fun you won’t realize that you’re burning calories.

So what are you waiting for? A lower risk of cancer and heart disease, a better figure, improved mental capabilities, a chance to bond with friends and loved ones, can all be yours. All you have to do are activities that are already a part of your daily routine.

Danielle Bullen is a content writer for Online Nursing Schools who gives advice on the pursuit of education and living a healthy life. In her free time she enjoys yoga, Zumba, reading, and baseball.

Photo by Kamal H.

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How To Simplify (And Organize) A Pantry

LJ — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 03:00:50 PDT

Wednesdays are simplicity days at SimpleProductivity blog.

I took some time this past week to tackle my pantry. Over the past months it has grown to be a mass of cluttered foodstuffs, making it almost impossible for me to find anything or even know what is in there. While I thought it would be a huge job, it turned out only take about two hours, and now I can find everything I have in the closet.

Reorganizing a pantry can seem like a daunting job, but with a few simple steps, it will go very easily.

Getting Set Up

To clean the pantry, I pulled out the trash can and put in a new bag. I also put the compost bucket nearby, and a pan of soapy water. I also had a bin to put recycleable items.

The trash can is to hold things that need to be thrown away. The compost bucket will hold vegetables that need to go, and the soapy water is to swish out the recycleable containers before I put the containers in the recycling bin.

Approach methodically

One of the worst ways to approach what is essentially decluttering is to start pulling things out willy-nilly. By breaking the pantry down into small sections, cleaning and reorganizing will seem less overwhelming.

I work from the top down, for the simple reason that as I clean, dust will fall to the lower areas via gravity. That means I am not re-dirtying things I have already cleaned.

Clean out expired, weird ingredients

I often buy ingredients I wouldn’t normally use because they are called for in a recipe. And either I don’t make the recipe, or I decide to skip the ingredients because I realize I have no chance of sneaking them by my family.

Other times food will expire. I found this to be particularly true of my “emergency” shelf, because I had not rotated the food into common usage on time.

For these two situations, I pull the food out. If the food is expired, I will toss it in the trash (or compost heap if it is veggies) and swish and recycle the container. If the food is not expired, I put it aside for the food pantry.

Sort

I like to keep my pantry sorted by like items. For instance, the short arm of the L of my pantry, top shelf, is where I keep the disposables. Paper plates, paper napkins, paper towels and disposable silverware. The next shelf down holds the condiments: wines, vinegars, oils and the backup items for ketchup, mustard and relish.

Some groupings from my pantry:

Rices
Pasta and sauces
Baking mixes and baking ingredients (nuts, chips, etc)
Cereals
Spices and seasonings
Dressings and mixes
Breads
Snacks
Canned goods
PB & J , nut butters, jams and preserves
Sundae bar (for make-your-own sundaes)

Replace Like Items Together As They Make Sense

Since my pantry is pretty much set up as groups and I was only doing a cleaning/purge, I put misplaced items with their fellows as I went.

However, if this is the first time you are doing your pantry, you might want to group like items together outside of the area before putting them back in.

Use Helpers

I’m not talking about Hamburger Helper here. I’m talking about things that make it easier to group like items together.

My canned goods are stored on a large turntable that makes an inaccessible corner accessible. My spices are stored on a double-level turntable to make it easy to access all the bottles. I use old shoe boxes and dollar store baskets to hold like items, like chips and snacks.

With a bit of sorting, tossing, and cleaning dust bunnies, I was able to simplify the pantry and get it into shape so I can find everything very quickly and easily.

Photo by lu_lu

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Open Loops 7/20/2010: Articles I Think Worth Passing Along

LJ — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 03:00:57 PDT

Tuesdays are open loop at SimpleProductivity blog.

A very detailed exercise on getting back in balance can be found at Balance In Me’s “How to Find the Missing Component of Your Life Balance”. It is extremely detailed, and well worth the read through a long article.

Lately I have been conscious of a feeling of stagnation, of blockage. I don’t know if it’s because I’m still recovering from the situation at work, or if I’m burnt crispy, but I am blocked. I need to spend some time getting rid of it. Stepcase Lifehack has “5 Steps To Move Out Of Stagnancy In Life”.

My penchant for saying yes often lands me in places I don’t want to be, having a task list the size of Mt. Everest. Untutterer has “Seven tips for managing the overwhelming to-do list”.

According to the points in Martha Beck’s “Is It Time For You to Take Some Minimum Days?” I am suffering from burnout. So on my vacation this month, I will be doing as little as possible. Remember, “These days, life is like a treadmill that’s lost its regulator and just speeds up, minute by minute. When things get too crazy, just jump off.”

This description of Phoenix had me laughing. Hard. From Martha Beck: “Wonder of Wonders, Miracle of Miracles”

Photo by ChicagoGeek

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Boiling Water, Or Being Aware of Stress

LJ — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 03:00:20 PDT

There’s an old wives’ tale that if you drop a frog in a pot of boiling water he will jump out, but if you put a frog in a pot of cool water and slowly raise it to boiling the frog will allow himself to be boiled to death.

The “temperature” of our lives is our stress level, and we react the same way.

If we have a sudden onslaught of stress, where everything goes to heck in a handbasket all at once, we know we’re under stress. Our bodies react to it, and we manifest all sorts of physical and mental symptoms that we are aware of because of their suddenness.

Yet if the stress level gradually increases, we get used to it, and don’t realize how much stress we’re under until we have a breakdown of some sort. We get used to the tension in our backs, not sleeping well, or any of the other manifestations.

The moral of the story is that stress, like heat, can build gradually, and can get to alarming points without our really being aware of it. Be aware of your temperature, and take steps to lower it if it is getting to warm!

Photo by indi.ca

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