In gtd, health and fitness, lifehacks, productivity on December 4, 2008 by Ubertech
I don’t know what some of these tips have to do with exercising the old noodle but I have never been one to let reality deter me from doing sometime.
Here are Dorothea Brande’s twelve mental exercises. Note: she wrote these in 1936, so you need to adapt of few of them.
1. Spend an hour each day without saying anything except in answer to direct questions, in the midst of the usual group, without creating the impression that you’re sulking or ill. Be as ordinary as possible. But do not volunteer remarks or try to draw out information.
2. Think for 30 minutes a day about one subject exclusively. Start with five minutes.
3. Write a letter without using the words I, me, mine, my.
4. Talk for 15 minutes a day without using I, me, my, mine.
5. Write a letter in a “successful” or placid tone. No misstatements, no lying. Look for aspects or activities that can be honestly reported that way.
6. Pause on the threshold of any crowded room and size it up.
7. Keep a new acquaintance talking about himself or herself without allowing him to become conscious of it. Turn back any courteous reciprocal questions in a way that your auditor doesn’t feel rebuffed.
8. Talk exclusively about yourself and your interests without complaining, boasting, or boring your companions.
9. Cut “I mean” or “As a matter of fact” or any other verbal mannerism out of your conversation.
10. Plan two hours of a day and stick to the plan.
11. Set yourself twelve tasks at random: e.g., go twenty miles from home using ordinary conveyance; go 12 hours without food; go eat a meal in the unlikeliest place you can find; say nothing all day except in answer to questions; stay up all night and work.
12. From time to time, give yourself a day when you answer “yes” to any reasonable request.
(via huffington post)
In clutter, health and fitness, lifehacks, productivity, the black hole of cyberspace, twitter on November 7, 2008 by Ubertech
photo by bensonkua
Taking a vacation from the interweb and all of its frivolity to focus on that which is necessary…see ya in a couple of weeks.
In gtd, health and fitness, info worker, iphone, lifehacks, mac, mobile tech on August 18, 2008 by Ubertech
Need some help keeping focus on a mac…Check out Isolator. The clever Mac app dims background application windows to keep you focused on the current application. Couple it with Menu Eclipse to dim your menubar, and you’ve got a distraction-fighting dynamic duo.
(via lifeclever)
Never forget anything every again! In order to capture every single little idea that we have, we’ll need to take a multi-pronged approach to capturing the little bits of genius that we have throughout our day. Here’s a list of tools that can help you capture your ideas no matter what the activity.
(via lifedev)
For the water heads in the house…Ideally, the best way to drink water on the go would be an aluminum or stainless steel water bottle, as they seem to exhibit the least amount of health concerns out of all the choices. Add in the fact that they can be used over and over again with no degradation and do not need to be recycled each time you use one, they really are the “green” choice. And since upwards of 40% of bottled water is actually just tap water in disguise, buying it seems like not only a health risk due to the plastic leaching possibilities, but also a wallet risk due to wasting money on something you already have at home!
(via the good human)
How to back up your lame non-iPhone…Those of us who have forgone a fancy BlackBerry, Treo, or iPhone know a standard cell phone is probably the most non-interactive, un-tweakable device in the gadget stable. But for many phones, there’s a way around overpriced cables, intentionally weak Bluetooth software, and lack of good syncing software. The multi-tool of phone data, BitPim, is a free, open-source, cross-platform solution that can back up all or most of your phone’s data, put your home-baked ringtones on your phone for free, and sync calendars and contacts between your apps and your vanilla phone
(via lifehacker)
3G iPhone has problems, really? Earlier this week, an analyst with Nomura Securities issued a research note claiming that the iPhone 3G connectivity and HSDPA issues being experienced by many users are likely thanks to faulty 3G chip by Infineon. According to Windsor, the chip problems likely aren’t firmware upgradeable, meaning Apple would need to replace the chips. Now another researcher, citing tests of the 3G iPhone, claims that the device’s problems began in the manufacturing stage. From the Assocated Press:
(via dsl reports)
Sleep in late and be more productive? There is a super-replicating false belief in our society that sleeping in is lazy. Sleeping in is not lazy- many individuals would actually be more productive if they slept in versus waking up early. But as a whole, promoting the belief that sleeping in is lazy serves the needs of a stable society, in which individuals are all on similar schedules.
(via life evolver)
That Red Bull in your hot little hand may be killing you slowly…A study of 30 university students aged between 20 and 24 years old found that drinking just one 250ml sugar-free can of the caffeinated energy drink increased the “stickiness” of the blood and raised the risk of blood clots forming. Using tests to measure blood pressure and the state of blood vessels around the body, the Australian researchers said that after drinking one can participants had shown a cardiovascular profile similar to that of someone with heart disease.
(via times online)
In health and fitness, info worker, lifehacks, the black hole of cyberspace on July 7, 2008 by Ubertech
No internet, email or a thought about work for a whole week has done this soul much good. Now I’m back baby!
In health and fitness on June 20, 2008 by Ubertech
Are you just one power nap away from success?
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In health and fitness, info worker, lifehacks on June 12, 2008 by Ubertech
Sounds like a good concept, but lets see if our evil over-lords buy it…
You probably know how it goes. You’ve just had lunch and you’re back at your desk. 3pm rolls around and home time is still some way off. Then the yawns start and all you can think about is curling up under your desk for a sleep. It’s a fairly normal response, and the subject of an abstract at Sleep 2008, the 22nd Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies. A group of scientists from Loughborough University in the UK presented their work on daytime sleepiness, and whether the best way to combat it was to get up later in the morning, caffeine, or a 20-minute afternoon nap. (via arstechnica)
read the rest here
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In clutter, gtd, health and fitness, pen and paper on June 10, 2008 by Ubertech
- To lazy to read your email? You’ve always been able to email yourself with a phone call through voice-to-text service Jott, but with the introduction of Jott Feeds, Gmail (and Google Apps) users can now have a summary of their messages read to them by phone. The secret sauce lies in Gmail’s RSS feeds and a go-between web site that handles password requirements. I’ll show you how to listen hands-free to your unread mail, or any other messages, after the jump. (via lifehacker)
- The Daily Saint gives us a inside look at his projects list…In this episode I take you behind the scenes to my weekly project list. This will help you see what an average week throws at me and two simple ways to stay on top of it. (via the daily saint)
- I’m a Mac fanboy and even I pay wouldn’t 99 bucks for this…With a MobileMe email account, all folders, messages and status indicators look identical whether checking email on iPhone, iPod touch, a Mac or a PC. New email messages are pushed instantly to iPhone over the cellular network or Wi-Fi, removing the need to manually check email and wait for downloads. Push also keeps contacts and calendars continuously up-to-date so changes made on one device are automatically pushed up to the cloud and down to other devices. (via appleinsider)
- 2008 is the clutter free year baby! When my better half and I decided to turn our spare bedroom into a home office, we started by gutting out the room in preparation for new paint. When moving stuff back in, we decided to only keep items that were absolutely necessary for the office to function. The end result was a pile of old gadgets and useless clutter that had no place in our office or home for that matter. If you’re not keen on gutting out your home office, you can simply start with discrete areas like your desk and bookshelves… (via the closet entrepreneur)
- The iPhone 3G is the answer to all of life’s problems… (via engadget)
- Dude, you really need to get some more sleep…But lack of sleep affects a person in one of two ways, Belenky said. First, sleeplessness influences the day-to-day performance of tasks. "The performance effects are seen immediately," he said. "You short-change yourself of sleep, and you see the effects immediately. You can make a bad decision. You can miss something. Have a moment’s inattention, and you’re off the road." The longer-term effects of sleep deprivation involve a person’s health. Doctors have linked lack of sleep to weight gain, diabetes, high blood pressure, heart problems, depression and substance abuse. (via yahoo health)
- Nick Carr reviews the Ciak notebook…Since I started this blog nearly a year ago, I’ve been getting emails about the Ciak line of notebooks. At prices ranging from $15 to $25, the Ciak isn’t exactly a cheap purchase, and a lot of people have wanted to know – is it worth the price? Is the notebook used by V, of V for Vendetta fame, a worthy Moleskine alternative? (via blackcover)
