Chill

7 ways from the DLM Blog:

Seven Ways to De-Stress Instantly

Posted: 31 May 2009 08:47 AM PDT

Imagine it’s Monday morning. Over the weekend, you had a major argument with your partner (and you’re both still sulking), your alarm clock fails to go off, you try to get your usual breakfast only to find that the cereal box is empty and the milk’s gone sour, and then the car won’t start. By the time you get to work, you’re already feeling frazzled – and then your boss dumps an “urgent” project on your desk. You know you’ve got a backlog of emails to deal with from last week and you can feel your stress levels and blood pressure going through the roof.

Now, it’d be nice if you could de-stress by following some of the great advice you’ve no doubt already heard. You know, take a long bath, have an afternoon off, enjoy a long weekend’s vacation, go for an hour-long jog, etc. Unfortunately, you can only afford five minutes. Can you de-stress in five minutes? Yes, you can; just try one of these.

1. Go For A Quick Walk
   Even if you can only spare five minutes, go for a walk (it might just be to the water cooler and back). The aim here is to get yourself away from the immediate source of stress and to calm down. A few minutes to gather your thoughts is all you need to get some perspective.


2. Read Some Fiction
   If I’m seriously worked up, upset or stressed, one of the best things I can do is to grab a book. Fiction is ideal (especially anything funny or uplifting). Reading fiction takes you out of the here-and-now and into a different world. You can forget everything that’s troubling you, for just ten minutes, as you concentrate on the story.


3. Meditate or Pray
   Often, the best thing we can do to instantly de-stress is to simply stop. Many life coaches and stress advisors recommend meditation: there’s no mystery to it, just sit and try to clear your mind of thoughts (perhaps concentrating on a calming image or a word or phrase, if that helps you). I also like to pray – if this suits your religious/spiritual persuasions, it can be a very powerful way to get outside of your own head and call on a higher power for some much-needed help!


4. Watch A Funny Video
   I don’t know about you, but I just can’t stay stressed out when I’m laughing. (It’s like trying to pat my head and rub my tummy at the same time...) If you have a favorite YouTube clip, or if LolCats make you giggle, then give yourself five minutes to indulge. You’ll find that you return to your work – or whatever the source of the stress is – feeling much better equipped to handle it.


5. Make A Herbal Tea
   If you’re feeling uber-stressed, caffeine isn’t going to help. A warm, soothing mug of herbal tea might, though. The act of making yourself a drink can be calming: it gets you away from your desk, and it gives you a chance to concentrate on something physical. You’ll probably also feel a psychological boost from doing something positive and nurturing for yourself.


6. Punch A Pillow
   Depending on where you are when you’re feeling stressed, and on your personality, throwing a few punches at a pillow might help. Think of the stress leaving you through your fist with every punch. (If you’re in the office, please don’t be tempted to use a co-worker as a substitute pillow ... even if said co-worker has caused your stress.)


7. Take Slow, Deep Breaths
   When we get stressed, we tend to breath more quickly, taking shallow breaths. Concentrate on your breathing (you might want to do this in conjunction with meditation or prayer). Imagine breathing from your stomach, not your chest. Take slow, deep, fulfilling breaths. Calming your body down physically in this way is likely to have a knock-on effect on your frazzled mental state.

Do you find yourself getting overly worked up on a regular basis? What are your instant fixes for when you’re feeling stressed?

Written on 5/31/2009 by Ali Hale. Ali is a professional writer and blogger, and a part-time postgraduate student of creative writing. If you need a hand with any sort of written project, drop her a line (ali@aliventures.com) or check out her website at Aliventures.

Photo Credit: stuartpilbrow

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Saturday Night Classic Music Video

This week we kick off the C's:

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Becoming a better You

Posting some goodies from last years DLM Blog:

Five Ways to Boost Your Work Performance - Outside the Office

Posted: 17 Jun 2009 05:25 AM PDT

Unless you’re just counting down the days till you can quit, chances are, you want to do well in your job. Perhaps you’re making an effort to manage your time well in the office, to network with colleagues, and to bring energy and enthusiasm to your projects. If you’re self-employed, you might be working long hours, pushing yourself to get the boring tasks done and figuring out where your next motivation will come from.

You’re doing all the right things during the workday. But, are there actions you could be taking outside work in order to boost your performance? No, I’m not talking about checking your Blackberry every few minutes and responding to emails within seconds, I am talking about taking some time to improve you.

Here are five things you might like to consider. Admittedly, you will have to find some time in your schedule to work on these, but many times, the payoff for accomplishing just a few of these is greater than the payoff you'll receive for having a tidy desk or being an email guru.

1. Take a Public Speaking Course
   It’s not exactly a secret that most people hate public speaking. Whether it’s delivering a presentation to a roomful of clients, or simply speaking up in a meeting, being confident and competent at public speaking really will get you noticed at work.
   
   People often think that public speaking is either something you’ve “got” or you haven’t – but it’s just a skill, like any other. You can be taught public speaking skills and you’ll also find it becomes much easier as you practice.
   
   Look for an evening class or course in your area that relates to public speaking, or find a local Toastmasters group (these can take you from absolute beginner to expert paid public speaker).
   


2. Attend Meetings of a Professional Organization
   Whatever your field, there’s a good chance that there’s some sort of organization related to it that meets regularly. Look for opportunities in your area. In many cases, you will need to pay a membership or attendance fee.
   
   The advantages to getting together with other professionals include increased knowledge and building up contacts. If you’re self-employed, this can be particularly valuable, as you may feel that you miss out on the “buzz” that comes from being around like-minded colleagues.
   
   It’s worth asking your line manager whether you can claim back any meeting costs on expenses.
   


3. Spend Time Improving Your Skills
   Most of us find that there are one or two areas of our job where we don’t feel very confident. Perhaps you’ve never really got to grips with a particular software package. Maybe you’re perfectly happy writing emails and reports, but the thought of writing a press release is enough to make you want to hide under your desk.
   
   Whatever your particular weak area, it’s worth considering how you might be able to spend some time improving it outside the office. The typical workday, whether as an employee or a freelancer, doesn’t allow much room for reading, training or learning.
   
   There are books available on any topic you can imagine (and you can often get DVDs on subjects which are best shown visually). Check out what’s around, find something that comes with good recommendations or reviews, and give it a go.
   


4. Get Enough Sleep – and Watch the Caffeine
   How often have you struggled through the day at work, feeling like a zombie, because you’ve not had enough sleep? If you’re working a typical 8-4 or 9-5 job, you can’t stay up till 2am partying or playing computer games like you did in college and not suffer for it.
   
   Getting into a good sleep schedule can make a big difference to your motivation and productivity levels at work. Turning up tired and cranky isn’t doing you or your colleagues any favors. Try forsaking your weekend lie-in, and get up at a similar time as you normally do for work. This ensures that you’re not struggling to reset your body clock on Monday.
   
   Don’t use coffee as a replacement for sleep, either! You might get a brief jolt, but it’s likely to be followed by a deep slump in productivity. Try cutting down on the amount of coffee you drink, and see if you feel a more sustained energy at work.
   


5. Take a Look at Your Appearance
   Have a look in the mirror. If you were a client or manager, would you be impressed with what you see? What messages does your appearance send?
   
   Think about your clothes – depending on your industry, it might be appropriate to wear a smart suit, or you might find that a suit says “stuffy” and “too formal” for your particular field. Aim for a “smart” look rather than “sexy”: no-one wants to have colleagues who seem to have dressed for a night out on the town. (This goes for both men and women.) If you’re self-employed, you may need to dress up a bit when meeting clients.
   
   If you’re seriously overweight, you might want to take action too. I’d urge this purely for your health’s sake, but there’s also the unfortunate fact that overweight individuals are often discriminated against in the work place:
   
   

   Workers who are heavier are paid an average of $1.25 less per hour, and overweight women make about 24 percent less than their thinner counterparts. - (Fat chance: Obesity in the workplace, Colorado Springs Business Journal)

   
   Other aspects of your appearance to consider are personal hygiene: this is one where asking a close and honest friend might help!

What kind of things have you done outside your 9-5 job that has impacted how you perform on the job? Have you used those experiences to your advantage? Are they on your resume?

Written on 6/17/2009 by Ali Hale. Ali is a professional writer and blogger, and a part-time postgraduate student of creative writing. If you need a hand with any sort of written project, drop her a line (ali@aliventures.com) or check out her website at Aliventures.

Photo Credit: goldman-x

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Knowledge

from DLM:

10 Awesome Tools To Get More Out of Wikipedia

Posted: 16 Jun 2009 05:11 AM PDT

Wikipedia is an ocean of information. While you may still want to seek secondary information sources before trusting it entirely, you cannot argue that the site contains a plethora of useful information.

That said, it's tough to navigate through so much data. You can get much more out of it in less time if you decide to ditch the conventional way of using the built-in Wikipedia search for scouring through the information. The following ten tools will help you search and use Wikipedia like never before. I am sure you'll love using some of them.

Navify
Navify is an excellent web service which shows a lot of additional information related to a Wikipedia article like related images, videos and articles.

So if you are searching for Barack Obama, you can see the Wikipedia article on him, his photos, and the Youtube videos of his speeches, all on one page. Hence it can be used as a good research tool.

Powerset
Powerset is a Wikipedia search engine which certainly produces much better results than Wikipedia's in-built search. It finds keywords related to your search term and also displays various articles and categories which could be relevant to your query.

AgainButSlower
AgainButSlower is an innovative tool which modifies Wikipedia articles to make them simpler and easier to understand. So if you are looking to gain some knowledge about "Quantum Mechanics " and the Wikipedia article looks intimidating with all the heavy scientific terms, then AgainButSlower can help you. In fact just try that term. You'll find it to be really cool.

VisWiki
VisWiki (formerly Visual Wikipedia) is one of my personal favorites. It is an incredible tool which can take your online research to new levels. Not only it pulls up extensive information about your query but also produces interactive maps showing connection between articles and terms which is really awesome.

Lexisum
Need a quick and uncluttered print out of a Wikipedia article ? Lexisum will help you do that. It displays print-friendly Wikipedia summaries which can be easily formatted and adjusted according to your printer settings.

PedioPhon
Another innovative and useful site. PedioPhon converts Wikipedia articles to mp3 recordings. So next time you feel like listening to something from Wikipedia while jogging then you know what to do.

Snapask
Snapask delivers Wikipedia articles to your cellphone via email. Just send an email to ask@snapask.com with the corresponding command in the subject line and you'll receive the information in 30 seconds.

Similpedia
Similpedia provides a new way to search Wikipedia. Instead of typing search terms, it asks you enter a url or a paragraph of text of at least 100 words and then it displays relevant Wikipedia articles related to that text.

Wikirank
Would you like to know which are the most read articles on Wikipedia and the trending articles in last 30 days ? Wikirank will show you. As I write this, the Beatles seem to dominate the scene. :)

DeletionPedia
And finally, if the current article database in Wikipedia can't satiate your hunger for information then you can browse through DeletionPedia, an archive for deleted Wikipedia articles. You might come across some interesting articles there.

Hope you like the tools. If you know of some other such cool Wikipedia tools then lets hear about them in the comments.

Cheers,

Abhijeet

Written on 6/16/2009 by Abhijeet Mukherjee. Abhijeet is an internet entrepreneur who loves writing about tech, productivity, blogging & making money online. Catch him at Jeet Blog and also subscribe to his weekly newsletter.

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

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Video Time: Kitchen History

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Kim Komando featured this recently.

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Kick it into Gear

As we have sub-freezing temperatures outside for another day, my mind wandered to spring.

Especially when I see my bike in the garage, every time I hop in my car.

Bike Riding.

Going anywhere requires some effort. Ride on a flat street and you pedal to move forward. Go up a hill and it really takes some effort and endurance. The only time you can coast is when you are going downhill.

Going up hill sometimes requires us to shift into a lower gear and keep pedaling which means you travel at a slower pace with more effort. But have you ever tried to coast uphill? Doesn't work.

Coasting downhill can be fun. It feels good to take a break and feel the wind as you relax. Until you have to start applying the breaks because you are going downhill too fast.



Apply this to life in general with some help from Seth Godin:

Random rules for ideas worth spreading

If you've got an idea worth spreading, I hope you'll consider this random assortment of rules. Like all rules, some are made to be broken, but still...

• You can name your idea anything you like, but a google-friendly name is always better than one that isn't.
• Don't plan on appearing on a reality show as the best way to launch your idea.
• Waiting for inspiration is another way of saying that you're stalling. You don't wait for inspiration, you command it to appear.
• Don't poll your friends. It's your art, not an election.
• Never pay a non-lawyer who promises to get you a patent.
• Avoid powerful people. Great ideas aren't anointed, they spread through a groundswell of support.
• Spamming strangers doesn't work. Spamming friends doesn't work so well either, but it's certainly better than spamming strangers.
• The hard part is finishing, so enjoy the starting part.
• Powerful organizations adore the status quo, so expect no help from them if your idea challenges the very thing they adore.
• Figure out how long your idea will take to spread, and multiply by 4.
• Be prepared for the Dip.
• Seek out apostles, not partners. People who benefit from spreading your idea, not people who need to own it.
• Keep your overhead low and don't quit your day job until your idea can absorb your time.
• Think big. Bigger than that.
• Are you a serial idea-starting person? If so, what can you change to end that cycle? The goal is to be an idea-shipping person.
• Try not to confuse confidence with delusion.
• Prefer dry, useful but dull ideas to consumer-friendly 'I would buy that' sort of things. A lot less competition and a lot more upside in the long run.
• Pick a budget. Pick a ship date. Honor both. Don't ignore either. No slippage, no overruns.
• Surround yourself with encouraging voices and incisive critics. It's okay if they're not the same people. Ignore both camps on occasion.
• Be grateful.
• Rise up to the opportunity, and do the idea justice.

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Black History Month

from the AOM blog:

Motivational Posters: Black History Month Edition

Posted: 31 Jan 2010 08:19 PM PST

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Here in the States, February is Black History Month. So we decided to commemorate the month with a special edition of our motivational posters series, featuring some of history’s most influential African-Americans and their powerful words of wisdom. An excellent way to start off your week! Enjoy.

DownloadThe Art of Manliness Free Man Cookbook
DownloadThe Art of Manliness Guide to Being a Gentleman

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