Productivity tricks and daily habits of celebrities

Famous dreamers often develop a reputation as a few eccentricities. However, for many people, these small eccentricities are part of a larger group of daily rituals that help them in their most productive and prolific. Although not all of these tips, tricks and rituals will work for you, they help shed light on some of our most beloved cultural icons and historical figures, are prepared to do to stay on top of their demanding workload.

Writers

1. addicted to Notecards: Vladimir Nabokov is 5-8-inch index cards to compose and arrange the scene in his novels. This allowed him to experiment with the order of the head and transcribing the final manuscript.

2. slow and steady: Stephen King explained that he always writes 10 pages a day, every day of the year (including holidays). His slow and steady approach to project management ensures that he has a steady stream of new works, entering the market and it is one of the most prolific contemporary authors working in America today.

to obtain early: writers like Sylvia Plath and Mary Higgins Clark began to write at 5 am and 4 am every day, respectively. The two women were little children, and those early points on the same day was the only time they were to continue their writing careers. Luc Denison writer forced himself to write only 500 words a day before his day job and eventually sold three of the novel.

4. Get centered with a favorite book passage: some authors have to go through the ritual of touching base with favorite literary Totem. For example Somerset Maugham Voltaire's "Candide would read" before you begin, while Villa Cather's reading the Bible.

Businessmen and entrepreneurs

: 5. Be impulsive in business, if you have a good idea, you need to move fast to go ahead of your competitors. According to Bill Gates, "when you find a good idea to act on it right now."

6. get ahead, making it personal: "big companies will always try to crush small upstarts. To beat the big business, use the strengths of small. Large impersonal corporations; workers may not have good. In a small company you can be sure your employees are proud to work for you, and then they will work to achieve success. And small companies are more nimble. -Sir Richard Branson

7 hours work long before now, reap the benefits: Ben Franklin knew the benefits of working long hours, as well as famous among their peers, as someone who worked long hours. This work ethic was essential for the growth of its printing business. He also had a regular ask questions during the day. Ben Franklin asked myself each morning (5 am), "what should I do today?"; every night before bed (about 10 pm), "what good I made a-day?"

Thinkers and implementers

8. Get extreme: architect Bernard Tschumi avoid procrastination, working in one of two extremes. "I work best under pressure or emptying my brain over the weekend, he explains. "This empty state is useful. It's like an athlete to competition ".

9. force myself to stay focused: Greek orator, Demosthenes would force myself to stay focused on the speeches, shave off half of his hair, that makes it look so ridiculous that it is not a temptation to procrastinate, leaving his home. Victor Hugo would do something similar, forcing himself to meet his daily writing goals, with his Valet hide your clothes. Yup that guy who wrote "les Miserables" liked to work in the Nude.

10. never take your eyes off your competition: playwright Henrik Ibsen will work on a table decorated with a portrait of Arch rival playwright August Strindberg. Try keeping a picture of your competitors a person or a company logo on your desktop to entice you to new heights.

use of caffeine (but Don't abuse it): mathematician Paul Erd?s is used over the past 25 years of his life devoted to 19 hours a day to reach higher math. To stay alert, he's amped up up from 10 to 20 milligrams of Benzedrine or Ritalin (along with a strong espresso and caffeine tablets.) "Mathematics", he said, "is a machine for turning coffee into theorems".

12. Blow off some steam: King Otto the great, King of Bavaria from 1886 to 1913, shot a farmer every morning to start your day. Fortunately, his two advisers were generous: one gave King, rifle, fill in the gaps, and the other dressed as a farmer, acting out death agony when he was "killed". While shooting people is not completely normal, never underestimate the stress relief, you can get from a few rounds of Call of Duty.

Conclusion

These examples from the everyday and productivity tips spokespeople may not be ideal for your busy lifestyle, but they are certainly worth bearing in mind the next time you're stuck and need assistance, nutrition through. And seriously, not "King Otto". This would not be cool.

Resources and links

http://notorc.blogspot.com/2006/05/Work-Habits-of-Highly-successful_23.HTML

http://writetodone.com/2008/09/04/Learn-from-the-Greats-7-Writing-Habits-of-Amazing-Writers/

http://www.fastupfront.com/blog/Business-tips/35-Business-tips-from-Famous-entrepreneurs/

http://dailyroutines.Typepad.com/

http://www.Trivia-Library.com/c/Weird-Behavior-of-Famous-People-Part-1.htm

http://wehrintheworld.blogspot.com/2010/04/Day-Jobs-and-working-methods-of-Famous.HTML

Tucker is a writer and social media professional living in New England. When not staring into a tiny electric field, it is engaged in wanton acts of stupidity at BadBoozeReview.com and at MargeryJones.com posts daily

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Unsettling side effects of common herbal supplements

There is a booming market for herbal and dietary supplements in the United States. We will try any pills or herbs that make up our minds or our stress levels below. All it's worth experimenting with once, if it can enhance our productivity.

Although most over-the-counter herbal supplements are totally safe, some of the tablets, you can take can be harmful to your health. If you consume any herbal supplements to improve the number of productive hours, every day, take a look at some of the possible side effects below.

Disclaimer: this article is not intended to treat, prevent or cure any ailment. Always consult your physician before beginning herbal supplement scheme, to make sure that there are no complications, your health or any other medication that you can currently take.

1. Caffeine

Okay caffeine doesn't count really nutrition supplement ... but, so many of us consume it daily in such large quantities that it's worth to discuss its implications.

As a drug caffeine can increase the level of energy is one of our old pick-me-ups. However, too much caffeine causes stomach problems, jitters, sleeplessness and dehydration. Avoid energy drinks, and espresso drinks and overcrowding a small cup of coffee at a time.

2. Ginkgo.

Ginkgo Biloba herbal supplements are people looking to improve their memory or concentration, making them a popular choice as students and those who are older than 50 years. There is also some evidence suggest Ginko supplements can help prevent the further loss of memory for dementia and Alzheimer's patients, although more research is needed.

However, if you take a ginkgo with ibuprofen or blood thinners (such as Coumadin or aspirin), this can increase the anticoagulant properties of these drugs. This can cause excessive bleeding or increased chances of bruising.

3. St. John's wort

Beware the Pale skinned depression ladies! There is a herbal supplement, you might want to avoid. St. John's wort is an herb that can reduce feelings of depression and raise your mood.

However, if you have it every day, you need to start amping up your SPF RECORD, as this herb due to serious sun reactions.

More disturbing, St. John's wort may increase the speed at which the body's estrogen is broken … and for the ladies on the birth control pill that could mean an increased risk of unintended pregnancy.

4. Kawa

Kava is used to calm the anxiety, stress and anxiety and insomnia treatment. However, this may aggravate the symptoms of depression and can also cause liver damage. If you already suffer from liver disease, or taking MEDS that increase the sensitivity of your liver, talk with your doctor, you advance treatment Cava.

5. Yohimbe

Yohimbe bark has numerous species, including treatment for sexual dysfunction for both men and women, increasing power to athletes and aiding in weight loss. However, yohimbe, seems to cause more trouble than it's probably worth it.

Minor side effects include take yohimbe bark, upset stomach, vomiting, irregular sleep, high blood pressure, headaches, irritability, rashes, and rapid heartbeat.

If you overindulge in this supplement, you may also face diminished respiratory fever, kidney problems and symptoms of lupus.

6. Echinacea

Echinacea is a common choice for those who want to gain a common cold. It is worth noting that Echinacea should not be used to prevent cold, but rather simply to reduce the duration of cold symptoms.

However, people who are allergic to ragweed pollen or Daisy may be similar to an allergic reaction to echinacea. This herbal supplement can also cause caffeine for more slowly, prolonging the caffeine jitters.

People suffering from diseases like lupus, MS, or rheumatoid arthritis should also avoid echinacea because doing so may interfere adversely with the processes of the immune system in some cases.

Conclusion

If you want to learn more about side effects of herbal supplements, such as those listed above, the National Institute of health Medline Plus website is an invaluable resource.

Although herbal supplements are usually safe for most people, many additives not approved by FDA and women, pregnant or nursing should be very careful before addition mode. Herbal supplements can be a great way to increase performance, but only if you can handle the side effects.

When shopping for herbal supplements, be sure to buy from reputable dealers. According to one doctor interview PBS some herbal supplements contain filler like grass or Chamomile, and up to 30% of some herbal supplement pills on the market do not contain main ingredient declared on the label.

Tucker is a writer and social media professional living in New England. When not staring into a tiny electric field, it is engaged in wanton acts of stupidity at BadBoozeReview.com and at MargeryJones.com posts daily

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Simple steps to deal with spring cleaning, room by room

After a long winter the first signs of spring – new flowers popping in the garden, buds on trees and warm temperature may inspired you to clean your House and yard from top to bottom, sparkly and new perspective again. But sometimes it seems impossible spring cleaning, leaving you know what to do and where to start. ?In breaking down a large project into smaller pieces, you're likely to find success. ?We'll break your spring cleaning plans, and then challenge Hall. ?You'll feel more accomplished by looking at the finished room partially cleaned House.

Go through your clothes. ?On the change of seasons, many people just pack them warmer in winter wear and put them in a large plastic container for storing until cold weather rolls around again. ?It's all well and good, but if your goal is to cleanup and Organization, you want to take it a step further. ?Once you've gathered all your winter clothes up, go through them and ask yourself whether your worn by each element of this winter. ?If you don't wear it, you could consider donating it. ?Don't hang onto it for another year. If you don't wear it this year, you will not likely next year. ?If you have clothes to wash, laying around, don't leave them, lay or wait to wash them until next year, do it right now. ?Collect all that dry cleaning and leave those at home to erase any other elements that may be contaminated. ?If something is broken, as missing buttons, fix it now, otherwise it may end up in your pile of unworn clothing next winter. ?If you have kids, spouse/partner or other living with you, to try to force them to do the same and go through their clothes.Enhance your bed. Things are starting to warm up, so now is the time to trade the cozy, but heavy Flannel sheets, clothes are lighter, airier. ?You might also consider placing a blanket or two. ?First you wash it, and then pack it away. ?If it is in disrepair, consider getting rid of it entirely, if there is a chance that you don't want to use it again when cold sets next fall or winter. ?Before you put on new sheets and blankets, flip your mattress. ?That is, of course, if you have a traditional mattress. It will last a long time and better be reflected if regularly. ?Want to treat yourself? ?Get new, fluffy pillow.Get rid of any obsolete products. Go through cupboards, fridge and freezer. Looking for old and past Date food or containers that look like they can grow mold (ew!). ?Toss them. ?While you're at it, Wipe down shelves in the refrigerator.& MOP floors, Sweep to wipe counters. Nothing makes cuisine shine through freshly mopped floors. Sweep with a broom or vacuum for hard floors first to pick up any crumbs. I hope you Wipe down your counters on a regular basis, but if you do, do it now too.Clean & Polish cabinets. Cabinets under your sink or the nearest shop is most probably dirtied, spills and drips, splashes of various foods and drinks. ?A rag and some wood clean all that you need, and it shouldn't take too much effort to erase things and get them in excellent shape again.Clear plate. Stove is another key area for dirt. ?Get yourself a multi-surface kitchen, cleaning spray and get to the clean-up. ?If you have an electric stove, you need to pick up the special cleaner to wipe on and erase.Dust. Retract all your countertop and dust them well. Pull out your vacuum hose and expansion and his brush and vacuum up dust on your lampshades.Update your decor. Instead of completely redesigning your interior design, you can instead change from little things like putting new photos in your frames.Vacuum and get your carpet cleaned. Vacuum your carpets very well and use the crevice tool to get the corners well. ?As you probably are tracked in a lot of snow and mud in the winter months, now it's a great time to get your carpets professionally cleaned. ?Getting your furniture, cleaning up after the year it is also a good idea to keep it fresh and long-lasting. Be on the look out for Spring discount!Replace your welcome mats. If they just have a few leaves stuck in them a good shake would be sufficient, but if they are dirty and worn out, it's time for new ones.Clean out orchards. Rake dead leaves from the garden. ?You can compost them or sack them up and toss them in the trash.Get rid of clutter. There are toys, laying around your children no longer play with? ?Provides a space for them. ?All that you haven't used recently may be considered for deletion. ?And the best thing to do with things you no longer need to pass their faith or another charity (if in good condition), or to make a few extra bucks, holding their own sale.Wipe down the walls and the connection. Get yourself a good bucket full of soapy water and a sponge. ?You will receive a fingerprints and other few impurities from the walls, and they will look new again.Clear windows. Windex and some rags would suffice, but if you want to go at all, you can use the squeegee.

Certainly a million other things that you might have things to do to get your House clean and excellent shape, but this list is a good start. ?And as I said, when you're running room by room, it feels like you've accomplished a lot more than just a lot of projects scattered around the House, and it would not be as overwhelming.

Julie McCormick as, a freelance writer and co-owner of the Cleveland leader, visit the Technorati Top 100. She is married and mother of two small children. You'll often find her playing around with the latest tech gadgets, messing around with the code or writing storm. She has a Bachelor's degree in Visual Communications and spent nearly a decade working in one of the largest public libraries in the United States before calling it quits, embarking on a new path.

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Continue reading New York Times Online for free

I get that printed newspapers and the whole industry is going through a tough time with advertisers, to the left and right and their subscriber base shrinks, but I'm still not sold on the idea of charging a fee for access to news online as a way to keep the news industry. ?Nevertheless, the New York Times made a decision to start charging for access to their online news and features, and which entered into force on Monday afternoon. ?You'll still be able to read up to 20 articles per month for free, if you arrived at the New York Times Web site through a search engine such as Google, but if you're remote website directly you won't have that option. Has always been my motto, "Where there's a will, there's a way", and in this case, if you're willing to do some finagling, you can still read most of the contents of the New York Times Online for free. ?If you are lazy and extra cash to justify a subscription, then by all means, get a subscription. ?But if you're like me, a casual reader of the New York Times, which probably has more than 20 articles per month, but not enough to justify paying $ 35 every four weeks, then you want to check out some of these work-arounds to help you reach your destination reading New York Times Online for free:

New York Times loves social media and allows you to effectively use it, with more than 250 Twitter account, which covers almost every topic and blog and every writer. If you haven't signed up to Twitter, now is probably a good time to do so. ?Clicking the Twitter link will take you to the full article, without disturbing you pay. ?But it's not only the New York Times official channels, which will let you full access to the article by clicking any links on this site will put you. ?The same trick will work on Facebook. ?New York Times doesn't want to stop people from large or an interesting story to share with their friends and acquaintances through paywall, so now it's an easy way to get around it.

Another way to beat the system involves using the NYTClean tool. ?Of course this would require extra click for each article, but you will achieve the ultimate goal of reading the New York Times for free online. ?To get started, point your browser to this page on the blog Euri .ca, and then click and hold on the link NYTClean, located in the middle of the page and drag it to your bookmarks toolbar. ?Each time you click page on the Web site of the New York Times, ask you to cough up some cash to continue reading, just got the NYTClean a bookmark in your toolbar. Magically it works, and you will be directed to the free version of this article.

If the bookmarklet above sounds too difficult or too time consuming (not really), or you simply wish to automate the process of obtaining the free version of the article, the New York Times, each time you hit the page we ask you to stop, Subscribe user scenario isthe doctor ordered. ?Install the user script in the New York Times Paywall from UserScripts.org. ?Firefox users, you must first install Greasemonkey and then click the install button on the script page. ?Chrome users just need to click the install button, while Safari users can specify user scripts for Greasekit. ?For Internet Explorer add-in should Trixie help you manage user scripts.

Chrome users have another option to automate their free access to the New York Times online content. Introducing Smasher Paywall the New York Times a browser extension. ?Just follow this link if you use chrome, and then click "Install" and "ll be good to go.

New York Times checks your IP address to find out, how often do you visit their website and read their articles. ?So you can use different computers at different locations to read their article, but it's probably quite a hassle. ?Instead of physically moving yourself, simply route your Web requests through a proxy server. ?There are a number of free proxy sites on the Internet, such as HideMyAss.com, which mask your real IP and make it appear that access the site from other countries.

This method still limits you to a few, but you'll get much more free content than you would if you just went straight to the New York Times website.

If you stumbled upon any other ways to circumvent the restrictions of the New York Times on free access, please share in comments.

Julie McCormick as, a freelance writer and co-owner of the Cleveland leader, visit the Technorati Top 100. She is married and mother of two small children. You'll often find her playing around with the latest tech gadgets, messing around with the code or writing storm. She has a Bachelor's degree in Visual Communications and spent nearly a decade working in one of the largest public libraries in the United States before calling it quits, embarking on a new path.

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Minimum and maximum productivity tools

If you are new to productivity blogs, Web productivity tools and other things that are productive spin or "GTD" in them, you've surely heard about the concept of "minimalist". Idea uses the absolute minimum amount of material in order to get something done or live a life. Mostly all the additional things that "don't need" just clogging up your productive and should be deleted.

But, what if you want all the bells and whistles productivity tools and minimalist feels somewhat limited? This occurs when the idea of "maximum" productivity tools come in; Tools, provide the user with a ton of features and options to customize the tool in the manner they see fit.

One of the biggest complaints about sophisticated productivity tools is that they tend to get in your way, and won't help you get things done. This is certainly the case with some tools that throw in every function that comes to mind and do not have a clear way for you to just go in and start using the tool.

For example the Toodledo Web application is an extremely powerful task management application (not to mention one of my favorites), but can be quite difficult to look at and use in the first place. This is from Toodledo to mass user settings, filters, searching, etc. compare this with "easier" tool like remember the milk. Obviously, how to add tasks to RTM and user interface is clean and easy on the eyes. This does not mean that RTM is not powerful, it definitely adds smart lists and duty stations; He said that sometimes when user too many options can be mixed and divert them from actually using the tool to get things done.

The minimum productivity tools were extremely popular in recent years due to the needs of users something simple that gets out of the way. Some of the tools that come to mind Simplenote, Ta-da list, SimpleGTD, pen and paper and remember the milk.

On the opposite side of the coin is the biggest complaint about simple and minimal productivity tools that they are not customizable and they lacked the necessary functions such as marking, saved searches, different stylesheets, cross platform support, etc, some users believe that without these more functionalitythat productivity tools are not good enough.

When Mr. Allen, GTD guy himself, said systems and productivity tools, he stole a good quote from Albert Einstein:

"Do everything as simple as possible but not simpler."

This course, you can back up the idea of minimalist tools, but this makes me think that it takes a few complex tools to work with and help manage complex things like project planning, email address, etc. As mentioned above, Toodledo is a pretty application management tasks, and it has a ton of functionality that you can never use. However, the idea of providing the user with additional features, is appealing that you can "grow up" tool.

For example I am currently using OmniFocus (even if it's expensive as hell) and has a sweet feature that allows you to associate a location with the context. When you're out and about and check out your iPhone for you can do this, you can check the list of Location and OmniFocus uses GPS to give you the actions that can be completed in your area. At first I thought this feature was excellent, but sort of overkill that until I discovered that I quite a bit of travel per day and can use my location to find tasks that can be completed around me. Try doing that with Ta-da list.

Some of the most popular peak performance tools include OmniFocus, Evernote, Toodledo Outlook and OneNote.

The last thing I want to do is to use one or the other when it comes to rich tools against simple tools. What can I do, however, do some recommendation for those out there, don't know exactly what the camp, to settle in the minimum or maximum?

1. the best advice I ever can give is to love the tools you use. that it matters if there are a million or 10 parameters, if you don't love a tool that you use?

2. Not tools will make you more productive. just because you can make a list of actions and link them to your project and tell you what your next steps system does not mean that you will actually. Tools don't make you productive; You make you productive.

3. This is not ideal. believe me, I've been down the road, and it is a long and difficult. There is no perfect GTD tool; never will be. So now stop searching in Google.

4. to make a list of functions you need and a list of functions that you want in the performance tool. When you're looking for a new or better tool, compare your list of functionality of the tool. If it's close, then you can't totally hate it.

5. once you find a tool that works, stick with it. If your tools hitting the sweet spot and help you become more productive, to consider adopting them on Wikipedia, so don't fall into the trap of changing task managers, every timeWhen you hear the shiny new.

Which side of the camp you choose when it comes to productivity tools? You want to keep things simple and provide a powerful set of features that are in your possession?

Chris is a developer, writer, tech enthusiasts and husband. He is studying, MIS and computer science from Penn State Behrendt. Chris was also interested in personal productivity and creativity and how to use technology to get more things done. Check out his technique of writing at androinica.com where he writes about Android.

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10 hacks for Spicing up your tired clothes (without breaking the Bank)

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average American family spends over $ 1600 per year for new clothes, more money for women's clothes than on clothes for men or children. It's a ton of money, especially in tough economic times.

If you want to look better without spending a lot of money, there are a few tricks, tips, and tactics that can help you spice up your tired clothes.

1. check the Fit

Learn about every single piece of clothing you own (even your underwear and swimsuit!) and make sure it fits properly. Other times you model each outfit, if you need a second opinion on how to install your clothes.

Bet that not working at all and adapted others. If you can't afford to sewing, creative with the rest of your inappropriate clothing: use great belt to cinch oversized shirts and dresses, or sew side panels in your favorite jeans to add room for legs and color for your ensemble.

2. Stay organized

It's time to go shopping in your closet. But just like in any shop, you need to carefully organize all products. Pull everything out, and you will certainly find all outfits, you forget all about where you put everything back in the closet, highlight what's off-season and others, on occasion, and then by color. This will make getting dressed in a much more sensible thing in the morning.

3. Get crafty

Modest t-shirt might make up a large percentage of your wardrobe. To inject a breath of fresh air in your tired stable t-shirts, all you need is a pair of scissors (or maybe a needle and thread.) If you're feeling adventurous, use scissors to cut more, boatneck style, on top of the shirt to show off the shoulder or clavicleor shred sleeves and back to vintage biker look. If you're handy with a needle and thread, cut in front of the shirts from the Middle, remove the old buttons and button down collar shirt and sew the two together to create a button down shirt.

4. get a haircut

So that your hair is with sprucing up your wardrobe? Quite a lot actually. Imagine women dressed in tight black jeans and a black coat. Now imagine the same outfit, but with long curly hair. Now with a blue Mohawk. Now with dreadlocks.

It looked completely different, right?

Your hair is completely changing perception of your entire outfit. Spend $ 40 on a haircut, or spend $ 400 on a new wardrobe? The results will probably be the same.

5. SWAP 'til you drop

Get together with your friends and swap clothes and accessories. Also keep an eye out for upcoming events in your page, which are usually free or ask for a donation to benefit local charities.

6. make new accessories

There is a box with shirts that are missing buttons or skirts with tears that you have been meaning to fix? Convert your Inbox of unwanted clothing into fresh new accessories. Length of fabric with a skirt can be used as a scarf, or plaited together to create woven belts. Take the remaining buttons and use them to create earrings and necklaces and clear any beads or decorative items for use on future projects.

7. think long-term

Long-term storage, IE. Here's the thing. Things you need now is 5-10 years old but not yet old enough to be cool and harvest. Keep these items for another decade or two and you'll have vintage wardrobe, which would be the envy of all to 2031.

8. Button

Change of the channel buttons on your shirt with fun and funky buttons from your local craft store. This small change, which takes only a small amount of time and money, but can completely overhaul the look of the main parts in your closet.

9. Deep-clean

You can make objects look tired brand new, taking adequate care of them. Brighten whites with bleach or Oxi-Clean and detergents to protect colors. Always separate your white flowers and wash clothes in cold water to prevent the loss of color over time.

10. the plague for success

Rub jeans and t-shirts with 100-grit sandpaper to give them distressed look. Why pay a hundred bucks for ragged jeans when you could just make them yourself?

Conclusion

Boost wardrobe planning is soft and can take a bit of elbow grease, but your wallet will thank you for this on the cheap.

Do you have any tips to improve your wardrobe on a shoestring budget? Share them with us in the comments below!

Tucker is a writer and social media professional living in New England. When not staring into a tiny electric field, it is engaged in wanton acts of stupidity at BadBoozeReview.com and at MargeryJones.com posts daily

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App review: Wunderlist is a cross platform, the only task manager

If I learned anything in his bid to become a productive person years using these two points.

1. love means.

If you find something wrong with your productivity tool for the first 5 minutes of using it, it won't stick. There are a ton of listing of decisions and action tracking applications out there. Find one that has the features you want and it's fun to use.

2. your tools need to be wherever you are.

GTD guru, Mr. Allen talks about making sure that you have a "ubiquitous capture tool" wherever you go. I tend to think that one step further: you need to have a ubiquitous toolset, wherever you go. This is especially true with as many mobile computing exploded in use and popularity over the past few years. We are all primarily through our smartphones, laptops, tablets, etc.; We must have our performance with the ours.

As I said earlier, there are a ton of "GTD" apps that promise you how productive you are and how easy they are to be used. While there is no "best GTD application out there for everyone, there are some close and can be highly recommended. The new kid on the block-Wunderlist (6Wunderkinder), cross platform "task manager has an easy-to-use", is available for Windows, OS X, iOS (iPad and iPhone), Android and Web browser, which enables synchronization over the air in all applications. It sounds pretty awesome, eh?

Today we'll look at how stacks up to Wunderlist as a tool for performance.

What I like most about Wunderlist is that it is dead simple. There are some management tasks app out there which folders, contexts, priority seats, subtasks, tags, etc. Wunderlist not like that; This allows the user to generate a bunch of list of groups (think contexts in GTD) and within each group the task list. Looks like you can have as many contexts as you want and as many tasks in each context as you want.

Your tasks can be time, reminders, notes, or star. They can also be dragged to any list, the group that you want (Windows, OS X and Web versions) or the list can be changed in detail task (DoD, Android). There is also a set of filters at the bottom of the desktop and Web applications, where you can see all the tasks in the film, completed tasks, today, tomorrow, next 7 days later and undated. One thing that bothers me about these filters, when you click any option you blob without identifying which task list group, they are in.

You can also create an account Wunderlist and all your data sync with Wunderlist cloud that allows you to store all of your devices sync up. In General, it works well and faster than any sync, I have experience in the desktop task management app (I'm looking at you, OmniFocus). I have installed on any platform that is available and synchronization seems pretty reliable. What I mean is that sometimes when you delete a task or marking it complete, mobile version for Android and iOS have a problem updating the counter list. This can be remedied by exiting and restarting the application, but it often did not happen.

Other features include the ability to print your current lists of tasks from desktop and Web versions, publish your list of "cloud" where you are given the URL "secret" share with friends or colleagues or by e-mail to your tasks. And, of course, that Wunderlist would be without his wonderful selection of background images? As far as I can tell, you can't add any background or own without doing some JavaScript preferences, which brings me to the latest killer features; Wunderlist is an open-source and therefore simply begging is added to. It consists of HTML, JavaScript and CSS and can be accessed via github have your geeky way.

One of the best things about this application is that it really is cross platform and for someone like me who uses Android, iOS, OS X, Windows and Linux is one of the main elements. All versions of applications, features and look and feel, and I must say that 6Wunderkinder did a good job of porting this app for all platforms are completely changing the user experience. Mobile apps are great, but there is still some room for improvement in the user interface and may use location, providing location based on context or objectives. However, for the first launch, which was available only for a couple of months Wunderlist hits the basic functions needed for a good GTD applications on all platforms.

To wrap up, let's take a look at the advantages and disadvantages of Wunderlist:

Cross platform support: Windows, OS X, web, Android, iOSFast "cloud sync? open sourceBeautiful backgroundsEasy management tasks including due dates and reminders, Star and list of groups (contexts) SearchEmail, printing, and sharing options" cloud "for the taskbar listsFree! synchronization can be unreliable on mobile devices at timesNo options for subtasks or start date subcontextsNo or repeat options, for use on tasksNo mobile applications

Chris is a developer, writer, tech enthusiasts and husband. He is studying, MIS and computer science from Penn State Behrendt. Chris was also interested in personal productivity and creativity and how to use technology to get more things done. Check out his technique of writing at androinica.com where he writes about Android.

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Productivity paradox: what is it and how can we move beyond it?

This depressing saying we've all heard time and again: "an increase in technology doesn't necessarily translate to increased productivity." in other words, Robert Solow, Nobel Laureate in economics, "you can see the computer age everywhere but in the productivity statistics."

In other words just because our computers are getting faster, it doesn't mean that we are going to equivalent jump in performance. In fact the opposite may be true! New York Times writer Matt Richel wrote in an article for the paper back in 2008, stated that "aggregate and individual evidence mounts that the same tools technology that led to improvements in productivity can be counterproductive if overused.

There is a strange paradox when it comes to performance. Instead of an exponential curve performance eventually reaches a plateau, even with advances in technology. So what does this mean for our personal productivity levels? And what does this mean for our economy as a whole? Here's what you should know about productivity paradox, its causes and possible solutions may have to fight it.

What is irony?

There is a mismatch between investments in growth and at the national level, productivity and productive output. The term "paradox" was popularized after the performance used in the title 1993 MIT Professor Erik Brynjolfsson, from MIT Sloan School of management and Director of the Center for digital business at MIT.

In his paper, Brynjolfsson stated that, despite the fact that there does not seem to be direct, measurable correlation between the increase and improvement in the output, this can be a reflection of how productive production is measured and monitored.

The intangible assets, such as to respond better to customers and improved coordination with suppliers not always increase the amount or even internal quality but helps to make sure it arrived at the right time in the right place, with the right attributes for each client.

Just as leaders look beyond performance for some of the benefits from it, so should be ready to take the researchers beyond conventional performance measurement methods, "he wrote in the conclusion.

How do we measure the performance of, anyway?

And this brings up a good point. Exactly how this is measured by performance?

The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics performance is measured as the change in share of gross domestic product per hour of work.

However, other publications, such as the us today, argue that it's not the best way to monitor performance and instead use what is called the total productivity factor (TFP). According to us today, "considers the income of an employee of the TFG, after deduction of productivity, which resulted in an increase in capital stock, with the expectation that investment in modern manufacturing plants, equipment and technology automatically improves performance.

In other words, this method changes the performance weight, how much improvement since last time performance statistics were collected.

But if we can't even agree on the best way to track performance, how do we know for certain if we introduced the performance paradox?

Possible causes the performance paradox

Brynjolfsson stated that there are four possible causes for the paradox.

? Mismeasurement: successes are real, but our present measures allow them;
? Redistribution: does private benefits, but they come at the expense of other companies and individuals, leaving little net gain;
? delay: successes take long to show up; and
? Management: there are no benefits due to unusual difficulties in the management or the information itself.

Seems to be some evidence to support theories mismeasurement as shown above. Another promising candidate is time supported Paul David, an economist at Oxford University. According to the article in the Economist's study showed that productivity did not accelerate until 40 years after the introduction of electric energy in early 1880. This was partly because it takes up to 1920, at least half of the American industrial equipment to be powered by electricity ".

Thus, he argues, we are not going to see major leaps in performance to both United States and major global powers reached a rate of at least 50% penetration for computer usage. United States only hit Mark, ten years ago and in many other countries are far behind the level of growth.

Paradox and recession

Productivity paradox still affects the recessionary economy. According to Neil Irwin "sky-high productivity mean that almost no business production decreased, making it less necessary to hire back laid-off workers … businesses was published by produce only 3% less goods and services than they were at the end of 2007 godano Americans work almost 10 percent fewer hours of mix of layoffs and cuts in the week."

This means that more and more companies are trying to do less is more and that means squeezing two or three people in the value of the work of one person in some cases. According to Irwin, workers, job security, scaring squeezed more performance from every hour [2010]. "

Looking forward

In a recent article on Slate puts it in perspective with a brief comment: "the Internet is not just as revolutionary as we think it is. Of course, people may get an infinite pleasure it is indisputably the trend towards improving people's quality of life. And of course, it could revolutionize how we find, buy and sell goods and services. "But that's not meant as a transformation of the economy, such as the railways were".

Nevertheless, Brynjolfsson argues that performance really can distort the mismeasurement results people, examining the paradox, perhaps more than any other factor.

"Because you and I stopped buying CDs, in the music industry has declined, according to income and GDP. But we are not listening to less music. "There is more music consumed sooner," he explains.On paper, the GDP is calculated, disappears in the music industry, but in reality it does not disappear. He disappears as income. He persists in terms of what you should care about, which is music. "

Perhaps the paradox is not a death sentence for our performance after all. Only time will tell (and possibly improving the methods of measurement).

Tucker is a writer and social media professional living in New England. When not staring into a tiny electric field, it is engaged in wanton acts of stupidity at BadBoozeReview.com and at MargeryJones.com posts daily

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Assisting Japan: how to make sure that your money goes to the right place

The events that unfolded in Japan last week's horrific, sad and devastating. ?The country was facing death and destruction at the hands of the massive 9.0-magnitude quake and subsequent tidal waves. Now they are also on the brink of nuclear catastrophe. ?Many countries and organizations pledging volunteers, supplies and money to help. ?But what about you, the average Joe citizen, how can you help? ?How can you be sure that your hard-earned money is actually going to go to the people who need it? ?How can you be sure that it will get there as quickly as possible, rather than months later? ?How can you be sure that half of what you give is not going to "administrative fees"? ?If you are inclined to donate, please keep in mind, I created a guide before you write that check to deposit that cash or press the Send button.

Find a reputable charity

A great resource to look up a charity to donate — CharityNavigator.com. ?By using this website, you can search their database of charities and find what you are looking for. ?Every charity has assessment, as well as complete and detailed profile. ?Includes information such as the effectiveness of the Organization, how much goes to administrative costs and so on. ?There are also links that will take you to a charity site, where you can fill in your donation.

See where your money goes

Beware, an organization that guarantees you that 100% of your donation goes to help the victims or particular efforts. ?They probably isn't reliable. ?Every organization even non-profit charities, there is some overhead. ? To make sure that you get the most bang for your buck, you want to make sure that you avoid middlemen. ?Some groups may simply collect money and then transfer it to more practical charitable organizations. ?Avoid dispersal of United States by giving directly to groups that are already on the ground and assist victims in Japan.

Be skeptical of offers that promise to donate the money on things you buy

Lady Gaga's heart may be in the right place with the new bracelet she began, all profits going to help the victims in Japan, but you don't really helps as you could. ?If your goal is to help and not score some cool gear you better provision directly to charity. ?The value of that $ 5 is not going to Japan, are only a profit, and that the company might consider "profit" can be kind of sketchy. ?Of the five dollars, subtract the cost of the new item, etc. ?If you're going to spend anyway though, by all means, spend at least part will go to the rescue.

Remember to put together a package of services

Although it may be tempting to put together a "care" package for needy families in Japan, this is probably not the best idea. ?Right now, infrastructure badly damaged in some areas, making things like delivering packages. ?It is also a logistical nightmare. ?You better give a group with people on the ground and the plan of action.

Revise Texting your donation

Make a donation via simple text message became popular during the 2010 earthquake in Haiti ′s. ?But one thing, it seems that many people are unaware that there is a delay between when you send money. ?Charities don't get it at least 30 days later. ?Although Japan is likely to need help for many months and years, if you want your money to help immediately, it is better to send them a check or money order by mail. ?They'll get it much faster this way. ?Even using your debit card or Paypal balance is much faster. ?Just keep in mind that when you donate digital, there will be hidden fees from your total donations, so it will be diluted slightly.

Avoid newly formed charities

A new charity from Earth is difficult in itself. ? In the midst of the catastrophe was almost impossible to succeed. ?You don't trust your life savings from the financial firm, has not only opened and whose employees have zero experience, so why would you donate a new charitable organization? ?Find a charity with a proven history of success, and, ideally, one is already on the ground in Japan. Research before you write that check.

Beware of scams

As a result of natural disasters, it seems that whilst there are many people willing to help, there are also many types of unsavory characters looking to cash in on your goodwill for their own devious means. ?Are you better at your money address formal organization than passing person comes around collecting donations. Although they can actually do quite well, chances are they just want to run off with your money.

Some carefully verified charities that I recommend

Doctors without borders USAAmerican CrossSave ChildrenRelief InternationalFood red for HungryDirect assistance InternationalAmeriCaresAction against HungerCatholic medical mission BoardWorld HopeOxfam GivingInternational medical CorpsConvoy VisionGlobal America

All of these organizations are have high rankings on CharityNavigator.com, and people are already in Japan, the distribution of aid. ?You can find additional lists of reputable organizations to allow your donation on their site as well. ?If you don't see charity lists or my list here or on the list that this does not mean that it's a scam, but you want to make sure that you first do your research.

Julie McCormick as, a freelance writer and co-owner of the Cleveland leader, visit the Technorati Top 100. She is married and mother of two small children. You'll often find her playing around with the latest tech gadgets, messing around with the code or writing storm. She has a Bachelor's degree in Visual Communications and spent nearly a decade working in one of the largest public libraries in the United States before calling it quits, embarking on a new path.

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Cut stress by shredding food: cooking for stress relief

I love cooking. I'm kind of people who read the entire cookbook from cover to cover in one day, just for fun. I am addicted to top chef Anthony Bourdain fan, and I spend more money on Cookware than makeup.

All that being said, there are days when I can't bear the thought of having to plan a meal, not to mention Cook. Sometimes when I do, I stressed that I just can't muster up the energy for cooking, even though I love it. I just think, "Oh God. Another thing I have to deal with today. "

But if I can just push through that initial reluctance, I'm back in my element. Kitchen is my domain, and the control of one aspect of my life helps me feel like maybe, just maybe, I can regain control of the rest of my life.

Cooking is not all, but there is plenty of evidence that I am not alone in my feelings that time in the kitchen, you may cause serious stress relief. Not convinced? Check below the breakdown.

1 Effect "Voodoo"

Sometimes busting through your stress is a simple confirmation dominance at the top of the food chain. Maybe it's a bit dark but chopping vegetables and butchering CHICKENS can really take the edge off even the most stressful days. There's a big fight with your boss? Pretend that carrot his car and go to town on it.

Using your ingredients as Voodoo dolls, you'll find that cutting a couple of pounds of food you really calmed down.

2. Aromatherapy

Cooking with some herbs, spices and aromatic substances can have a beneficial effect on your mood, as I mentioned in a recent post.

Here's a quick breakdown of some common household, flavors and cooking ingredients, along with how they might change your opinion mood with to life:

Tonic/Orange, invigorating: rosemary, Lemon.
Stress relief: Lavender, Sage.
Sleep AIDS: Lavender, Chamomile.
Mood Elevators: Peppermint, Basil.

Get some of these ingredients, simmering in pot with your dinner, and the smell of cooking a meal helps release tension from your body.

3. Products that reduce stress and anxiety

After a busy day at the Office, it may be tempting to accept the order. You've been a long day, and most likely you want to have a hot lunch now rather than wait for something to cook. But actually, cooking your own gives you more control over what you are putting in your body ... and this is a link between the products you put into your body and how well you cope with stress.

For example, trans fat, just as bad for your body because they are your coping mechanisms. Trans fat block specific chemical receptors in the body, which in turn may limit the ability to deal with stressful situations.

According to a study published in Journal of agricultural and food chemistrycan lead to significant reductions in the number of stress hormones in your body, eat dark chocolate. The study showed that people who are identified as high and ate several pieces of dark chocolate on a daily basis for two weeks reduced stress levels.

Other products associated with stress relief include Turkey, walnuts, almonds, sweet potatoes, spinach and salmon.

4. get control of one area of your life

One of the reasons I love cooking is, because it gives me back some small degree of control over my life. According to Julie Powell in the film "Julie and Julia", "chocolate cream pie! You know what I like about cooking? I love that after a day where nothing is, of course, and when I say that nothing I mean anything you can come home and absolutely know that if you add the egg yolks and sugar and chocolate milk, then it will get thick. "It's such a comfort."

We get stressed out when our lives spin out of control. Taking over a small area in your life can help more than you might realize.

5 Zen cookery

Once you start cooking, you can sometimes achieve this state of meditation. You are in the area of cutting, grinding and sauteing. All that matters is food, and it's nice to throw in day care and just focus on one small tasks at a time.

Food Network Alton Brown says that making "very calming ritual. This is another form of stress relief, than I get to do anything else ...[W] e find the kind of physical comfort, doing things with our hands, more and more in the kitchen. Sounds, smells and feels that room, consolation for me. "

Conclusion

When the next time you have a terrible day, pick up a Saute Pan. Cooking is a hobby that relaxes you and has the added bonus of feeds, too. Skip Spa and get relaxed the old fashioned way: in front of the plate.

Tucker is a writer and social media professional living in New England. When not staring into a tiny electric field, it is engaged in wanton acts of stupidity at BadBoozeReview.com and at MargeryJones.com posts daily

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After months of preparation: productivity hack or Overrated time suck?

According to the United States Bureau of labor statistics like the average American spends 49 hours per year, only shopping for food and another 288 hours per year, that food.

Not surprisingly, once a month cooking (OAMC) is becoming an increasingly popular way to save time and money. The basic premise is simple: to devote one day a month cooking in bulk using your freezer to extend shelf life of your prepared food.

But not cooking live, OAMC advertising? Does it really save you a considerable amount of time each month? And it's really cheaper than the train several times a day? Here are the advantages and disadvantages of this method of cooking.

What is the deal?

After supposedly month kitchen offers several advantages. Aside from the obvious convenience with Freezer, fully populated with all your favorite products have something to say about making commitments for cooking, multiples, as it makes you more likely to purchase goods in bulk. Because buying in bulk is almost always cheaper to plan meals on a large scale can actually work to be a little cheaper than doing more much less food.

If you have a very small family (read: you are one with two cats), it's very difficult to get the whole thing cooking in one day, so many OAMC cooks view one weekend as cooking date them once a month. And no matter how you cut the numbers, only having produced twice a month is pretty awesome. Dry food is definitely simpler than compiling a full meal and cooking from scratch.

Profi

Once a month cooking (OAMC) has many benefits for large families and working singles. Shopping and cooking in the House, you can check out several awards.

1. Shop only once a month

Hourly breakdown at the beginning of this article, we spend almost the entire work week every year, just to shop for food. Although this figure is lower for men than for women, the fact remains that shopping is a major time suck. Making one big trip instead of dozens of short, you save a lot of time. And gas.

2. perfect for busy families

Maybe you have a commute, one hour, limiting available cooking time dramatically by the time you actually walk through the door. Maybe you have a family, rarely eats together through work, sports or other extracurricular activities. No matter what stocks finished in one portion of food is a great way to accommodate busy schedules.

3. you lengthen the shelf life of fresh meats, seafood and products

If you freeze, all your food and ingredients, which means that you can extend the life of perishable goods that might otherwise slow decline in the back of your refrigerator.

4 a great way to spend time with family

Cooking is a great way to bond and build relationships with your family, and there will be a lot more hands in the kitchen when you are cooking enough food to last 30 days.

5. Surprisingly easy for new parents

OAMC actually is great for new moms: super easy to make baby food in bulk quantities. Tricia's blog "once a month MOM says, she got her start in change" OAMC bed with my first pregnancy.During her menstruation circle ...With technical assistance from my husband, I was invited to my once a month, cooking skills and apply them to your blog. It seemed like a great way to share my menu created with others ... I have this love in the Kingdom kids and began training after months baby food menu. (I) …AM so blessed to be able to stay home with my little to know how to save money, trying to make the most out of life, and makes a "duty" once a month, so I can enjoy more time with my family! "

Cons.

Not everyone is a fan of OAMC, and many believe that the advantages are overrated when you view the shortcomings in this style of cooking.

1. your refrigerator are probably too small

Here's the deal on freezing foods. Yes your home refrigerator has a decent amount of space ... but, once you start using it to freeze, rather than keep frozen foods, you will find that it takes plenty of time to chill down. Typically, you must limit the number of new food you put in the freezer at one time with 2 pounds per cubic foot, which means run out quickly. If you have a stand, or only chest freezer can pony up the dough to invest in one, this is a big problem. Even if you have enough food, where you put it?

2. Organization of this pain

You need to identify and clearly label all food products, as well as the date to ensure an orderly rotation of membership prior to their expiration date. And your shopping and cooking schedule can be just as tedious. You've only got so many burners and oven space therefore requires maximum your preparation and cooking time of forethought.

3. hidden costs

Cleaning is a breeze with OAMC, how many products can be warmed up in their storage containers. However, you can spend more money on disposable pots, films, butcher paper, etc. you may face additional energy costs because of the electricity needed to run a rather large refrigerator for frozen dinners.

4. OAMC limits for people with adventurous palate

Not all ingredients, freeze, limiting you to both types and styles of cuisine you can enjoy during stick OAMC.

Conclusion

OAMC is ideal for certain families and despised by others. Experiment with it on a trial basis to see if it's right for you. Maybe just maybe, will save time, hack, you're looking for.

Resources and further reading

http://onceamonthmom.com/

http://onceamonthcook.com/

http://www.livingonadime.com/once-a-month-Cooking/

http://magnoliasouthc.blogspot.com/2011/01/solving-few-once-month-Cooking-oamc-or.HTML

http://fortheloveofmom.WordPress.com/2011/02/22/WHO-would-like-to-Cook-once-a-month/

http://www.frugalmom.NET/blog/2010/05/7-Steps-to-once-a-month-Cooking/

Tucker is a writer and social media professional living in New England. When not staring into a tiny electric field, it is engaged in wanton acts of stupidity at BadBoozeReview.com and at MargeryJones.com posts daily

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Everything you know about losing weight is wrong

Over the weekend I watched "Fathead", documentary by Morgan Spurlock's in response to "super size me". The documentary completely call everything I know about weight loss and heart disease and also incredibly informative and entertaining.

Comedian Tom Naughton, and computer programmer, set out to prove Morgan Spurlock's wrong. Fast food can be part of a healthy diet. Tom decided that he will eat fast food three times a day for a month, but he was Spurlock's ... lose weight, don't get it.

According to "Fathead" official website of the creators describe the film as "delicious parody of super size me. ..Naughton serves up juicy Bologna facts to be stun most viewers such as: Obesity "epidemic" wildly exaggerated, CDC. People Government classifies as "excess" have more time than people are classified as "normal weight" Low Cholesterol is unhealthy. Lowfat slow diets can lead to depression and diabetes type II. Saturated fat does not cause heart disease, but sugar, starch and vegetable oil refining. "

Naughton's plan was simple: save energy 2000 calories a day during the meal only fast food (and a few "Carb options" snack bars) but you can't just cut calories to lose weight. You need to have the correct types of food and the right proportion. And it was also necessary to take into account your hormones, particularly insulin. When insulin levels up, you are more likely to store fat rather than burning calories from food. And that increases the level of insulin? Consumption of carbohydrates and sugar. Therefore, Naughton decided that it would reduce the calories and carbohydrates, ingesting 100 grams of carbohydrates per day.

While Morgan Spurlock's got 25 pounds in his diet fast food for 30 days, Tom Naughton had lost 12 pounds in just 28 days. His BMI, dropped from 31.2 to 28.2 and cholesterol have also improved. And that number is even more impressive when you hear, what percentage of calories from saturated fat: a whopping 54%.

But not as bad as we prepared to believe saturated fat. Mother nature is not stupid. We prefer fatty foods, because our bodies crave these foods because we have evolved into eating animal fat over millions of years. Diets of our ancestors were mainly based on meat, with some fruit and vegetables, and very few carbs ... and they didn't have a lot of heart disease. It wasn't until the advent of agriculture, wheat and corn became a big part of our diet, and it wasn't until a few decades ago (when we started eating processed vegetable oils) increased rates of heart disease.

According to the lipid hypothesis "saturated fat increases cholesterol and cholesterol cause heart disease." But this hypothesis was based on a skewed, outdated research. According to doctors, interviewed for "Fathead" lipid hypothesis "bogus". Medical studies have shown that diets high in fat causes heart disease. In fact, several major medical studies have proven that high-fat diets do not have the rates of heart attack.

Eat a diet rich in saturated fats have been shown to reduce blood cholesterol. And it's no cholesterol which causes Szabo in your heart valves. Inflammation does. The inflammation of the heart can be accumulated cholesterol as part of the healing process, but the root of heart disease, inflammation. And if you want to increase your HDL (good cholesterol), you need to eat more saturated fat. Bad cholesterol (small LDL) increases by sugar and carbohydrates.

Stress, high levels of insulin and smoking causes heart disease. They also cause elevated levels of cholesterol, which is why people thought to have cholesterol cause heart disease, when in fact it is just a SYMPTOM of heart disease.

Processed vegetable oils and transfats are rich in omega-6 fatty acids. And while your body needs a bit of these fatty acids, too much tighter cellular membranes and cause inflammation. You better eat potatoes in beef fat or duck fat than French fries in vegetable oil.

So in summation, this is Tom's tips for weight loss and your heart healthy:

1. Restrict your calories that fit your size and activity level.
2. Only a natural fats, transfats or processed vegetable oils (Cook food in oil or coconut oil)
3. limit your carb intake to 100 grams a day (not 300 grams per day, proposed by the FDA)
4. get about 50% of your calories from saturated fat
5. avoid products with a high glycemic index (note that most unsweetened cereals still glycemic index rating higher than granulated sugar)

Follow these tips and you are likely to see the same success as that.

Tucker is a writer and social media professional living in New England. When not staring into a tiny electric field, it is engaged in wanton acts of stupidity at BadBoozeReview.com and at MargeryJones.com posts daily

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The best productivity applications for your shiny new iPad

Last week we tried to help anwser the question, if you need to buy Apple's latest creation in the iPad 2. Even though I'm a tad bit skeptical iPad 2, that such a big upgrade from the first-generation model, I can in no way to say that this is not the best tablet on the market at this very moment, especially for the price. And with long strings and sell outs of iPad 2 on Friday, it seems that many users think is the best too.

We also discussed a few weeks ago how pill can actually be a decent device performance, even with the absence of rapid typing full physical keyboard. I used my iPad 1 since its release and have to admit that it's my turn to drive to store My action lists, browse, and add the my calendar and review documents and records.

Thus a new iPad in hand, let's find some of the best productivity apps for the iPad and iPad 2, to get you started.

Toodledo iPad literally feels like extending a Web application that many fans regarded as a center of GTD systems. Sync fast and ways that you can manipulate lists is top notch.

Universal application: $ 99 2.

Things

Considered one of the best GTD apps many Mac-heads, things are smooth and easy to use actions and projects application for iPad, iPhone and Mac. It is situated on the side of the road, but many people say it's absolutely worth for your workflow.

Not a generic application: $ 19.99

The Mac is the best GTD application manager for Apple to iOS and Mac OS x. Omnifocus got some David Allen Beck and, of course, the premium application for iOS, you can tell by the price. One of the best features that I found this location-aware contexts. On a side note if you want full desktop sync on OS X, you're going to have to pay another $ 79.99.

Not a generic application: $ 99

TODO list is a great application that syncs with Todo Web application or with the Toodledo Internet. TODO does a good job of using the iPad screen real estate, giving the user a sense of using a paper planner. You can also change the appearance themes your planner that gives this app is a nice touch.

Not a generic application: $ 4.99

Pocket informant has been around for awhile, since its inception, with Windows Mobile. PI has done a good job, allowing you to hash your action lists and calendars in any way that you like. PI also syncs with Toodledo or even with Outlook loading desktop applications.

Not a generic application: $ 14.99

Notes and creating documents

We couldn't forget the iWork suite, Apple created for iPad launch last year. I must say that the page numbers, and keynote for the iPad to show me that developers can actually do when their tablet device. If you have to create or edit documents containing tables, formulas etc. iWork suite for iPad is the best.

Not a generic application: $ 9.99, each page number and main

Evernote is the most common tool for digital note-taking. Period. I'm not quite sure how any of my projects will have to do without this awesome tool.

Universal application: free

Simplenote is easy; an easy way to take notes. Simplenote allows you as much plain text notes as you want and then you can sync them to the cloud through their Web application. If you are one of those types of minimalist performance, Simplenote take note on your iPad.

Universal application: free

Catch notes (notes to 3Banana) of reminds one of Simplenote some additional features such as tagging and "hash references" notes together. I used to catch notes a lot back to Android, but decided to merge all into Evernote for simplification.

Universal application: free

If you do not want to give all of your money to Apple's iWork suite, buying them, but still need a way to edit Office documents, the following documents to go better. Documents to go has been around for a while now and has decent productivity suite on iOS at a decent price.

Universal App: documents to go $ 9.99 | Documents to go premium (includes Dropbox-synchronize, Google sync, email attachments, etc) $ 14.99

Miscellaneous

I have yet to find a better contact and calendar management than stock applications provided by Apple. In addition they are deeply embedded in iOS. This means that other applications will use this to add items to your calendar or use the contact information. Apple has done a great job using the iPad screen size to give you more information and better navigation when browsing.

Free comes with your iPad!

I and many others see Dropbox to completely change the way you keep your files, especially if you work cross platform. Dropbox uses iPad screen and also gives you previews of your documents, photos and media. You can open your documents in any application that you installed that supports this type of media.

Universal application: free

If you're like me, you think in ink. If so, the best software for mindmapping for OIOS is Mindnode. There's something visceral about creating handwriting on a large touch screen device; He feels much more natural than point and click, often leads to a more dynamic and loose brainstorm sessions.

Universal application: $ 5.99

This is the first app that I purchased for my iPad to read and studying documents and PDF files and can't say that I spent more than five bucks in my life. Goodreader is synchronized with just about any document based cloud service you can think of (Dropbox, Sugarsync, Box.net, Google Docs, etc).

Not a generic application: $ 4.99

Chris is a developer, writer, tech enthusiasts and husband. He is studying, MIS and computer science from Penn State Behrendt. Chris was also interested in personal productivity and creativity and how to use technology to get more things done. Check out his technique of writing at androinica.com where he writes about Android.

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8 ways to get smarter every week

We've all heard the statistics: 1 in 4 Americans don't read books during an average year. It seems that for many Americans, learning stops after formal education. Once we are done with high school or College, we forget everything we learned in school and just focus on the development of our career.

However, studies have shown time and again that the more your brain stays during your life, the less likely you will be to develop Alzheimer's disease and dementia later in life. But keeping your brain healthy and growing your intellect takes more than attend more classes in your application. If you're serious about getting smarter every week, there are a few simple tips to keep in mind.

1. make learning daily tasks

Whether you want to learn new words, new English monarch or a small bit of trivia, Subscribe to the daily language of art or history trivia newsletter or RSS feed is a great way to learn small bits of information on a daily basis.

But it's not just enough to read this information. If you want to save it, you need to put it to use. Try to set a personal goal of your daily tidbit, possibly through the word of the day, three times with three different people during the day.

2. keep your mind Sharp

Solution to a puzzle can help your brain to remain flexible, and sharp mind better to preserve information. Solve crossword Sudoku Sunday, take up, or at least try to hand the children's Word jumble in the local paper. Even based puzzle games can help you stay sharp.

3. focus on total training

Do you remember that testing was like in high school? Most likely you crammed all week on a big exams, and second, you turned in your document, all this knowledge went straight out of your head. Did you know that you're not going to be tested on it later this year, so it was wrong?

To avoid something like this happens on your quest to get smarter every week, make sure that you're learning this week builds upon knowledge gained in previous weeks. A good example of this language. Every bit of vocab and grammar is dependent on what you already know, so your mind is much less likely to be reset.

4. take up a new hobby

Getting smarter is partly about learning new facts and partially using part of your mind that are not commonly used. New hobby will make your brain in new directions. If you tend to be more analytical and technical in your endeavours, try branching out into painting. If you are generally creative people, hobby restoration of old cars.

5. Eat right

Take supplements like Ginko biloba for memory and make sure you eat enough fat. Your brain doesn't really work, if you're on a diet of hunger, your brains need cholesterol and fats in order to work properly. Other products, such as broccoli, spinach, tomatoes, berries and fish can also help with memory and brain properly.

6. think positive

Stepcase Lifehack Leon Ho as explained in previous post, thinking that you can get smarter makes you actually get smarter.

"Students who were members of vulnerable groups (such as those previously believed that intelligence could not change, those who previously had low math achievement and female) have higher levels of mathematics after intelligence is malleable interference, whereas the classes of similar students in the control group. In fact girls who got interference fit and even slightly surpassed boys in math classes, while girls in group management is significantly lower than boys.

7. Stay Active

"Exercise and be active can help protect your brain against dementia in later life," said Dr. Anne Corbett. "It also helps keep your weight down, which is important because obesity increases the risk of developing dementia later in life. Be careful, sport, which may cause head injuries because players and boxers are better Alzheimer's ".

8. quit smoking

In a study published in archives of internal medicine after 21.123 California smokers between 1978 and 2008. The study showed that those who were heavy smokers double their risk of memory loss later in life. If you are trying to raise your intelligence, smoking is a habit that will serve you well.

Conclusion

Getting smarter includes a combination of learning new information, save this information, and maintaing health of your brain. If you manage to do all three, you will be able to raise your intelligence by leaps and bounds.

Tucker is a writer and social media professional living in New England. When not staring into a tiny electric field, it is engaged in wanton acts of stupidity at BadBoozeReview.com and at MargeryJones.com posts daily

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How to Declutter your life and reduce stress

Excessive clutter is often a symptom and a cause of stress and can affect every facet of your life, from the time it takes you to do things to your finances and your overall enjoyment of life. ?Clutter can distract you, weigh you down, and in general it invites chaos into your life. ?Often times, however, tackling the clutter can seem an insurmountable task if you don’t know where or how to start. ?By devoting a little of your time to getting rid of the clutter in your life and maintaining things relatively clutter-free , you’ll reap the rewards of pleasing living areas, reduced stress, and a more organized and productive existence.

The best way to tackle the decluttering of your home, your work space, and your life is to take things ?one small step at a time. ?Combined, small steps will lead to big improvements that will be easier to maintain over the long-run. ?Here is a blueprint of how to start tackling that clutter and enjoying a less stressful life:

If you want to be more productive and focused in your work, getting the clutter out of your work area is essential.

Start with your desk. Clear everything off the top of it and take everything out of the drawers. ?Assemble the items in piles on the floor. ?Clean and wipe down your desk, and marvel at how pretty and clean it looks. ?Sort through all of the “stuff” that was both in and on your desk. ?Toss out as much as possible a relatively small amount. ?Once you’ve weeded things out, it’s time to sort through the remains. ?Set up a basic alphabetical filing system with a folder for each project or client. ?Keep your office supplies and other items in designated drawers. ?If you need to, label things, but the main thing you should do is designate a spot for every item you decided to keep and make sure that it stays there, or goes back there when you’re done using it. Keep flat surfaces clear, and have an inbox for all incoming papers. ?When the papers ?come in, sort them each day – toss, delegate, do immediately, or file simply file all documents, but whatever you do, DO NOT KEEP THEM ON TOP OF YOUR DESK. ?All you want on the surface of your desk is your phone, computer, inbox, and maybe a special photo in addition to the documents you are working with at the moment.Declutter your computer. Get rid of files and programs on your computer that you don’t need. ?Get rid of most or all of the icons on your desktop. ?They not only slow down your computer, but they also create visual clutter. ?There are better ways of accessing your information. ?Regularly purge old, unused files. ?If organization is not your thing, utilize a program such as Google Desktop to search for your files when you need them.Then move on to information. In the digital world of today, there are so many different ways that information creeps into our lives. ?Information in itself can become overwhelming when you have too much of it, and this is called information clutter. Instead of letting information take over your life, set limits. ?Reduce the number of things that you read each day and get rid of things from your RSS feed. ?Chuck those magazine subscriptions, and reduce your consumption of news and television. I’m not suggesting that you cut yourself off from the world, just that setting some boundaries will help. ?Instead of letting information, even the kind that friends share on Facebook, take over your life, control how and when you receive it by limiting what you read.r

Outside of work, home is where many of a bulk of our time. ?So it’s no wonder that a messy house can add to daily stress.

Simply your rooms. If your rooms are too cluttered, you’ll want to simplify them. ?Start by clearing off anything that is on the floors. ?Throw out or donate unused things. ?After clearing the floor, move to flat surfaces such as countertops, shelves, tops of dressers, etc. ?Clear them as much as possible, and then move onto furniture. ?Consider if you need everything . ?Sort things in piles – toss, donate, or keep. Organize everything that you’ve decided to keep into drawers, cabinets, and closets, keeping them out of sight, but still neatly organized and uncluttered. Do this one room at a time.Tackle the closets. Closets are a great place to store things that you don’t want out in the open, and can easily become a place where you shove things just to keep them out of view. ?Go through your closets – take everything out, clean it, and toss , ?donate as much as you can. ?Decided a specific place to store anything you decide to keep. ?Keep only the things that you love and use frequently. ?As for your clothes, get rid of anything that you haven’t worn in six months.Clean out your drawers. Drawers are prime place for things to get shoved into. ?Empty out your drawers, and sorting them by whether you’re keeping, tossing, or donating them.

Decluttering your work area and your home are great ways to start reducing the clutter and stress in your life, but there’s still more than you can do.

Reduce your commitments. Often times, our lives are too clutterd with all of the things that we need to do at home, work, school, in our religious or civic lives, with friends and family, with hobbies, and so on. ?Take a look at each area of your life and write down all of your commitments. ?Seeing it all written down can be quite an eye-opening experience, as well as overwhelming. ?From here, look at each one and decide whether it really brings you joy and value, and if it is worth the amount of time that you invest in it. ?Another way to reduce your commitments is to identify a few that you truly love, and get rid of the rest. ?Learn how to say no and decline offers. If you eliminate the things that don’t bring you joy or value, you’ll have more time for the things that you love.Reconsider your routines. Many of us do not have any set routines in our daily lives, and simply tackle our obligations, chores, and daily tasks haphazardly. ?Without structure, it can lead to chaotic days and a drop in productivity. ?Instead, batch tasks together. ?Instead of doing your laundry several times throughout the week, do it all on one day. ?It’s helpful to write down all of your weekly and daily obligations, chores, and tasks, and then plan out daily and weekly routines. ?Hang it up where you can see it and try to follow it. ?You might find that having a routine brings a new sense of calm and order to your life.

Once you’ve successfully decluttered, whether it be one area or all the areas mentioned above, clutter will inevitably begin to creep back into your life. You must be vigilant in weeding it out on a regular basis, or it will just take over your life again.

Set up a system to keep clutter in check. Examine the way that you do things and how things make their way into your life, and consider whether you can put together a simple system for everything, from your laundry to work projects and email. ?Write down your systems step-by-step and try to follow them as best as you can. ?Follow your systems and you’ll keep the clutter minimized.Don’t slack off. ?It’s easy to put things off for another day, but it’ll save you headaches in the long-run if you deal with things immediately. Throw it out, donate it, or keep it and put it in a designated area.

Julie McCormick is a freelance writer, and co-owner of The Cleveland Leader, a Technorati Top 100 site. She married and is the mother of two young children. You will often find her playing around with the latest tech gadgets, messing around with code, or writing up a storm. She holds a Bachelor's degree in visual communications, and spent nearly a decade working in one of the largest public libraries in the U.S. before calling it quits to embark on a new path.

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How to diagnose the issue "Phantom cursor" on your Mac

I converted to the cult of Mac about 3 years ago. I've used Macs a little elementary school, and then again in College in our school computer lab, but it wasn't until after I graduated, I bought my first MacBook. 3 + years later and he is still going strong; I've never had one issue with it.

Well, okay, just one question. While a few months ago, my Mac has had.

So, not as a "ghost" has had, but something strange was definitely happening. I would just like typing and all of a sudden, the cursor will jump to a random location on the page and all my text will move in that part of the document. Sections of my text documents will be identified and then get completely erased next time when I did hit. It was awful. My productivity dropped, because I couldn't write even half the blog without it all going to pieces.

My subsequent struggle with my Mac to solve the mystery of ghost cursor takes about weeks searching forums, inventive problems for Mac users and ask my friends who use Macs, if they ever come across something like that.

If you've got the dreaded "Phantom cursor" is your Mac (and you are running a version of OSX 10), here's a rundown of the main causes of the problem, to help you determine the cause of your failure.

Common reason # 1: you need to reconfigure your trackpad

For some Mac trackpad problem. To find out if your cursor issues caused by your settings, go to system settings. Click trackpad and then clear the check box next to the trackpad Gestures and check the "ignore accidental trackpad input". Making the trackpad effectively less sensitive to your contribution, can resolve the cause of your problems.

Another possible way to address the problem of Phantom cursor on Mac laptop must attach a USB mouse and trackpad to use instead. If the faulty trackpad is causing the cursor bouncing around the screen using the mouse instead, can circumvent the error. Just make sure to go into system preferences after you connect the mouse and select "Ignore trackpad when mouse is present" trackpad settings section.

Common reason # 2: you need to reset your PRAM

Parameter RAM (PRAM) is where Mac stores basic information (such as time), so you don't have to re-enter it each time you start your computer. Resetting PRAM is sort of like a smarter way to try to correct the problem, tech, turning your computer off and on again. Not particularly elegant, but it often can get the job done.

First shut down the computer. Then turn it off, remove the battery and then hold down the power button on the number ten. Replace the battery of the power cord. Turn on your computer and immediately press the following keys: command, option, P, r.

Keeping keep these keys and you'll hear gentle chime. Hold down the four keys to your computer Chime for the second time, and then release them. Reset then completed, and you're ready to try writing again and see if phantom cursor program continues.

Common reason # 3: you've got malware

If you have malware, viruses or spyware, infecting your computer, they can sometimes lead to failure. As we all know, Macs are generally less likely to get this kind of problems than PCs, but it still can happen. To examine the hard disk for anything nasty use free trial programs like MacScan. If the program detects something, can isolate and safely remove it.

Cause # 4: the trackpad damage/offset

In my case it was the source of all my woes Phantom cursor. Over time, (and partly because the game too many video games, which forced me to do Active clicking) my trackpad got a bit of depression by sending it out of alignment and causing my computer to read it as ever clicked on.

In connection with my MacBook, my neighbors Mac savvy save the day. He removed the battery of my laptop and use a mild pressure with his fingers to move chassis batteries only very slightly below the trackpad. This slight pressure was enough to just pop a few millimeters in the trackpad is the correct position.

How about you guys? Have you ever had a problem "Phantom cursor"? And if so, how do you solve this? Tell us in the comments below!

Tucker is a writer and social media professional living in New England. When not staring into a tiny electric field, it is engaged in wanton acts of stupidity at BadBoozeReview.com and at MargeryJones.com posts daily

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Great ideas for lunch under 10 minutes

As I said in a recent post here at Lifehack, data from the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that the average American spends as 49 hours per year, only shopping for food. In addition we also have another 288 hours per year, preparation of all foods that we acquired.

And all this preparation in a limited time window. Maybe you have a commute, one hour, which would limit the cooking time dramatically by the time you actually go through the door. Or maybe you have a family, rarely eats together through work, sports or other extracurricular activities that dispel your lunch all over the Board.

So if you are looking to reduce prep food until a reasonable amount of time, there are a bunch of great resources you can use. Without further ADO here are some great online resources for planning meals that can be ready in 10 minutes or less, along with some of their best ideas available so far.

1. Dinner in ten minutes

I recently opened a blog dinner at ten minutes, which lists tons of great ideas for meals, fast, light, fresh, and still take less time than wait in line on the fast-food burger joint.

Pet project Jan Littlehales, lunch in ten minutes is a great repository of fast, easy and healthy recipes. Littlehales explains her cooking philosophy as follows: "having spent thousands of hours in the kitchen cooking for my family, I am sure there are many options out there for lunch in ten minutes.? And that's what this website is all about.? To obtain a delicious dish on the table, night after night and still be sane by the end of the week ".

Top recipe picks

1. Combine ground Lamb Burgers: lamb, egg, breadcrumbs, garlic, mint and Dijon mustard. Form in small mini burgers and work on small buns with cheese, vegetables or caramelized onions.

2. Beef Stroganoff: it takes 6 hours to Cook a slow cooker, but actually only about ten minutes to prepare ingredients and plates.

3. Baked Fish: fish fillets in Oven thin furnaces, cheat with San Marzano tomatoes, herbs and lemon juice.

2. women's day

Give practical advice to women and their families from the late 1920s, women's day is a treasure trove of ideas, fast food. With a circulation of nearly 4 million is a lot of great home economics and nutrition tips for readers to enjoy. Here are some of their most recent recipes.

Top recipe picks

1. pork chops with Season ground ginger, salt and pepper. Panfry until just cooked through; Remove. Add drained canned peaches chopped mango and Chutney; stir until hot. Spoon over cutlets.

2. Sauté scallops in hot oil in a skillet until cooked through; Remove. Sauteed sliced shiitake Mushrooms and minced garlic in skillet until tender; Stir in Szechuan sauce dish. Spoon over scallops; Sprinkle with chopped scallions,.

3. Heat the broiler. Outdoor hero rolls and place on foil-lined baking sheet. In the meantime, heat ready Turkey Meatballs with marinara heat equal parts and taco sauce with some ground cumin. Spoon Meatball mix into rolls, top with shredded chipotle Cheddar and broil ' to melt cheese.

3. in the New York Times

Mark Bittman States, New York Times put together a list of "101 > recipes easy 10 minutes or less (give or take) a while back. Bittman said he devoted time to this project, because "the fun of cooking is sometimes hidden in the summer haze and heat, which can lead to a lot of us instead to refer to bad and worse takeout restaurants ...With a little imagination and some quick moves — and possibly salad and a loaf of bread — you can turn any dish on this list in a meal that will not only better than the existing, but not warm you from home. "

Top recipe picks

1. Make Pesto: put several cups basil leaves, cloves of garlic, salt, pepper and olive oil, if necessary in a blender (walnuts and Parmesan are optional). Serve over pasta (diluted in oil or water if necessary) or fried fish, or meat.

2. Gazpacho: Combine one pound of tomatoes cut into chunks, cucumber peeled and cut into pieces, two or three pieces of stale bread, torn to pieces, a quarter Cup of olive oil, 2 tablespoons Sherry vinegar and clove garlic in a blender with one cup of water and a couple of ice cubes. Process until smooth, adding water if necessary. Season with salt and pepper, then serving or refrigerate, garnished with anchovies, if you like and a bit of olive oil.

3. call it grilled cheese Panini: from Prosciutto, tomato, thyme or basil leaves.

What are your favorite quick meal ideas? Tell us in the comments below!

Tucker is a writer and social media professional living in New England. When not staring into a tiny electric field, it is engaged in wanton acts of stupidity at BadBoozeReview.com and at MargeryJones.com posts daily

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