NLP is a personal development system based on an understanding of how the mind works – how people use thoughts, feelings, words and actions – and using this understanding to enhance our potential. Life’s everyday challenges can often produce stress, anxiety or anger if we are unable to find the right strategies to deal with them, so this is where NLP can come in handy.

photo credit: aithom2

Here are some things NLP can help with:

• Releasing negative emotions such as anger, depression, anxiety, sadness, fear, hurt and guilt.
• Helping people who feel stuck in their careers or relationships, or those who are looking to change direction in their life.
• Boosting confidence and self belief in all areas of life.
• Demonstrating how to focus on what you want and feeling good, rather than on what you don’t want and feeling bad.
• Providing effective listening and communication skills to improve relationships with colleagues, family, partners, and most of all yourself.

Here are some techniques you might want to try out yourself:

The ‘swish’ technique
This technique is used to replace any negative thoughts surrounding a past experience with positive ones. For example, you might have been asked to give a presentation at work and it went badly, so now you’re dreading the next time you have to give one. Here’s how to dissolve those fears.

Begin by closing your eyes and imagining yourself in that uncomfortable situation, giving the presentation. Make the picture as vivid and realistic as possible. Visualise the audience and see yourself standing there, looking uncomfortable. We are going to call this your ‘anxious moment’.

Next, visualise yourself having successfully given the presentation. Like before, visualise everything in vivid detail. See the audience looking impressed and visualise yourself looking relaxed and confident. Allow yourself to feel those positive, happy, confident feelings. This is your ‘successful moment’. Then, turn the image to black and white, and shrink it until it’s just a tiny dot.

Next, fill your mind with your ‘anxious moment’ again. Make sure it fills the whole of your vision – then, imagine in the bottom left hand corner, a tiny black and white image of your ‘successful moment’. When you’ve got this firmly in your mind, say “SWISH” and switch the two images, so that the successful moment is filling your mind’s eye in full colour and your anxious moment is a small black and white image in the bottom left corner.

It might sound tricky, but keep practising this technique several times each day. Do it until it becomes second nature and you can easily switch the ‘anxious’ moment to the ‘successful’ one.

photo credit: eljoja

Anchoring
A technique known as ‘collapsing anchors’ can also help change negative feelings into more powerful, positive thoughts. Here’s how to do it:

Let’s say that the situation which is causing you negative feelings, and which you want to turn around in your mind, is an upcoming driving test. Start off by bringing to mind a situation in which you felt positive, happy and confident. For example you might think of your wedding day or a social occasion where you felt really good.

Relive that moment in your mind and, as you experience it, apply a stimulus, known as an ‘anchor’. One suggestion is to press your index finger down on the first knuckle of your hand. Do this several times until simply touching the knuckle creates the positive state.

Then, in your imagination bring to mind an image that triggers negative thoughts for you (for example the upcoming driving test) and anchor this once by pressing down on the next knuckle of the same hand. Then, with your index finger and middle finger, press both these anchors at the same time and feel the negative anchor dissolving into the positive.

Release the negative anchor knuckle and hold the positive anchor for a further five seconds. As a test ask yourself how you feel about your driving test now?

photo credit: pedrosimoes7

Setting intentions
For this technique, let’s say that your mother-in-law is coming over to visit and you’re absolutely dreading it as you don’t tend to get on that well. By setting in place some positive intentions you should be able to reverse your negative view of the situation into a more positive one. For example:

• Say to yourself that you are responsible for how you feel. You choose how you feel in response to your mother-in-law – you are in control of your thoughts so choose to feel confident and adequate rather than angry and insecure, for example.
• Before the visit, decide that you will notice at least one thing that you admire or are grateful about your mother-in-law by the time she leaves your house.
• Decide that you will take note of at least one positive thing that you have never before noticed in your mother-in-law.
• Then before she arrives, visualise the successful outcome of the visit. Think about what that means to you. For example everyone feeling happy, having had a good weekend, and you feeling closer to your mother-in-law.

photo credit: JoelMontes

The detached observer
This great thing about this technique is that it helps you to put yourself in someone else’s shoes and gain a new perspective on a previously negative situation. Let’s say, for example, that you’ve had an argument with your partner because he or she hasn’t done the housework and you feel that they’re not pulling their weight around the home.

Instead of nagging or starting an argument, instead try writing down how you view the situation and list all your feelings surrounding it. Then go away and do something else for an hour or so to clear your mind of your thoughts.

Next, put yourself in your partner’s shoes and imagine how they might see the situation – write down all their possible thoughts and feelings. For example, they might work long hours and want to do their share around the home, but want the time to relax first.

Again, go away and do something different for a while to clear your mind. Lastly, read through both accounts as an objective observer and try to come up with some ways to resolve the situation for both sides. Try to be as objective as possible.

There are many NLP techniques around, but these are some of my favourites and ones that I use myself. I hope you find them useful too!

About the author: Liz Parry is a writer specialising in holistic health and wellbeing, personal development and spirituality.

Similar Posts

• The Excuses Culture: Why We Protect Ourselves With Excuses
• How to streamline your life
• How to use the power of positive affirmations
• Is there a link between our emotions and physical pain?

If you are a regular traveler, you must actually make a standard list of things to do and if you travel occasionally this piece of writing will help you a lot to make your trip interesting and convenient. Below are a few things that you need to do before going on a travel.

1. Passport, visas and tickets

No matter you are traveling by a train, plane or ship, the most important thing you need for traveling is the ticket. Make sure that you keep them safe in your bag. If you are aware of your upcoming trip book your tickets in 2-3 months advance to avail a great discount on flight fares. In the case of railway reservations also you need to book your tickets in advance.

2. Pay your bills

Make sure that no bill is pending before you leave from home it may create a trouble for you when you are back to home. For example, if you forget paying your electricity bills, you may experience a d power cut when you are back from your vacation or a business strip.

3. Get all the requisite Vaccinations

There are some specific vaccinations necessary to enter in some countries. If you are traveling to another country check about the necessary vaccinations and get it done. Do not forget to take the reports with you.

4. Arrange a mail recipient

For this you can take the help of your neighbors or also get it done in your local post office. You can ask the local post office to hole your mail deliveries till the time you are back in town or also can ask a neighbor to collect all your mails.

5.Tell your bank about the credit card use

If you are visiting overseas; make sure to inform your bank about it. Some banks have policy to cancel the cards if they are used overseas without any prior information. Thus it is very important to inform your bank before leaving for overseas.

6. Color Copies of all necessary credentials

You might need many documents and credentials to travel out of your country. Don’t forget to carry all the necessary credentials and documents with you before you pack your bags. It is also very important to keep one copy of the credentials with your friend or neighbor, as you may need them if you lose your own copies of documents.

7. Leave your contact Information

As you are leaving your home, it is necessary to make some important arrangements for your house too. Leave your contact information with some reliable neighbor or a friend so that they may contact you if needed. You can leave your business card having all your contact numbers or you can also give the promotional items of your company, which contain all your official number.

8. For your pet

If you have a pet at home and not taking them away with you, contact some kennel in your vicinity to keep your pet till you are back in town.

9. Manage the cash

It is very important aspect as you cannot do anything without cash when you are not in town. If you are moving to another country the best thing is to get the local currency from the local ATM as soon as you reach there.

Random Posts

• What Tibet’s Greatest Ever Yogi Can Teach Us About Living Life
• 17 Ways to Wake Up Feeling Fresh in the Morning
• Using Panic Attacks as Meditation
• Heart Disease Hope: 13 Ways to Live, Eat and Work for a Healthy Heart

photo credit: Loving Earth

Television has become like sleep; you just can’t do without it. Every day hundreds of millions of people around the world sit down and spend time watching their favorite shows. In fact, people love TV so much they might even spend a few hours watching programs that they don’t even like! No where else does this happen. No body goes to a baseball game if they hate baseball. But people will watch bad TV just because they love TV.

In this post I want to show you why TV is your worst habit. I want to talk about why I think millions of us will regret the day we ever turned that thing on. Hopefully someone out there learns to say “no” to television.

How much TV do you watch?

Before I get into the meat of this post I want to ask you all how much TV you watch. Now be honest. Take a good look at your week and think about how many hours you have spent laying on the couch just watching whatever is on. Did you catch the news at six? Did you make it up til Letterman? Did you catch Lost or Scrubs or any of those prime time shows? Perhaps you got them all?

Once you have figure out how much TV you watched last week I want you to leave a comment and tell us. Be brutally honest. How many hours of TV do reader of The Daily Mind watch per week?

Why TV is your worst habit

photo credit: tim caynes

Now that you have established how many hours you are watching I would like to give you a few reasons why I think TV is a bad habit. If you agree with me or disagree with me please share your thoughts.

1. You can’t get that time back
Life is short. It is fleeting. You have no idea when you are going to die and with that uncertainty comes a real sense of urgency. You will never get that time back. All those days you decided to just watch a few more programs are gone forever. Those hours of your life are gone.

2. It takes away from important tasks
All throughout my childhood my father watched a lot of TV. I remember getting up every morning and getting ready for school while he sat and read the paper and watched the finance news. Then he would come home around 6pm and turn on the new again. We’d eat dinner and I’d go to bed. The whole day I would spend no more than 20 minutes with my father.

And then I moved out. Now I never see him. Maybe twice a month in a good month. And I know he regrets it. He has actually told me that he wished he turned the TV off and just want to a game with me or played some chess. Now we never see each other and he regrets it. You will too.

3. It is never ending
Television is very addictive. You get to sit on a comfortable couch with a nice drink and some snacks and do exactly nothing while the networks get better and better at keeping you there. During the good TV shows like Scrubs and 30 Rock you get commercials for the crap that is going to be on afterward and so you sit there instead of going to bed. And then you are too tired to get up in the morning and do something useful.

But it doesn’t end there. Television stations suck you in for new TV programs that are about to be launched. So instead of being satisfied by a good TV show you are now thirsty for the next thing that is going to be on. TV watching is never ending. You are never satisfied.

4. It makes you numb
Television makes you numb. And it makes you numb because you have spent years now watching everything that has ever been invented. You watch comedy, drama, movies, reality TV, documentaries, porn… everything. Any human experience that you can think of you have already seen it on the TV. And now you are numb. Things don’t excite you as much. Life doesn’t give you the same innocent buzz that it used to. The media has killed that buzz and replaced it with an urge to sit and do nothing.

Your brain is less active when you watch TV than when you sleep. It is numbing. It is relaxing. But you never really get more relaxed. You just want more.

5. It makes you lazy
Television, more than anything else, makes you a lazy person. Going to the gym seems like climbing Mount Everest because you have spent so much time sitting there with a numb mind doing nothing. And when you finally realize that you are out of shape and quit unhealthy you are too lazy to do anything about it. Sad.

I believe there is a direct relationship between how much TV you watch and how much you accomplish in life. The more TV you watch the less you will achieve. Whether it is a happy family, a good career, a fit and healthy body or a loving marital sex life – TV compromises all of those things. And it is not just because it takes up all of your time, it is because all of that stuff seems far too hard.

6. It changes your personality
How many times today have you quoted Bart Simpson or said something from your favorite TV show? My best friend and I are constantly quoting Scrubs lines. When something good happens we say, “Eagle!” like Turk and JD and when I answer the phone he calls me Vanilla Bear. I often wonder what we would talk like if we had never watched Scrubs.

Television changes your personality. You absorb so much of the characters on the screen that you forget to think for yourself. You just mirror what they do. You might be cynical like House or funny like Liz Lemon or witty like David Letterman. But where are YOU in all of that? Where have your own original thoughts gone? What about your political opinions? Are they are own or are you just mimicking Bill O’Reilly or some other talk show host? TV changes your personality to the point that you forget to think for yourself. And that is scary.

Say “No” to television for one week

I am proposing a radical plan. Turn off the TV for one week. Just for seven short days. See how much more you get done. See how much more exercise and sleep you get. Feel how much happier and healthier you feel. Discover how much more you can do with your time on Earth. At first you will feel the separation anxiety. The TV will call you. Resist it and find out how strong you really are.

Will you do it?

Random Posts

• Don’t You Wish Work Was a Little More Like 30 Rock? [VIDEO]
• Love Loss: Why We Have Forgotten About Love and Why We Desperately Need it Back
• Ethical Dilemma #6: Should President Obama Meet the Dalai Lama?
• Win a Free iPod Shuffle – Email Subscriber Contest

photo credit: UBC Library Graphics

“The only difference between Buddhas and ordinary beings is discipline.” – Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche (1920 – 1996) a great Buddhist meditation master.

When you hear the word “discipline” do you think of Samurais, Shaolin Warriors and Buddhist Monks? Do you think about professional football players or perhaps members of the armed forces? Do you feel like it is something that is reserved only for a few dedicated and extremely tough individuals? Well it isn’t.

This post is the complete guide to developing self-discipline that lasts. Not self-discipline that lasts one or two weeks. Discipline that lasts your entire life. Once you have developed this, anything is possible. The guide is based on lessons and tips I have learned from many successful people who have mastered self discipline. I, however, have a long way to go.

Why we lack self-discipline in the first place

photo credit: lintmachine

What is the one thing a person needs to attain their goals and dreams? Self-discipline. Sure there might be a place for influential contacts, money and natural ability but in the end it comes down to discipline. It is the one part of the “success equation” that you cannot do without. Every great person has possessed it. So why are we lacking in self-discipline?

Well, the answer is actually pretty simple. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to work it out.

We are all spoiled.

That’s right. Spoiled. Now don’t go an get all offended on me. I am not personally attacking anyone. I am saying that in general, as a culture, we are a pretty spoiled bunch. We have televisions to occupy us, internet social sites to keep us connected, alcohol to numb our depression and a fair amount of money to spend on short term entertainment. We are pretty spoiled. It is called instant gratification.

I am not saying that everyone here has it easy. You don’t. Many of you (I know because you email me) have mortgages the size of Everest and children to feed. This is not an easy life. Far from it. In fact, you might already have more discipline than you think!

The reason I say that we are spoiled is not to make you feel guilty or ashamed. It is to highlight the fact that, other than the things like work and family, we have it pretty easy. When we want to be entertained we just flick a button. When we want some food we just go to the supermarket. When we want to be satisfied we just… well… you know…

We have grown accustomed to getting things quickly. And when our dreams, goals and ambitions don’t come as quick as everything else we lose motivation. We lose self-discipline. After all, why would we work on something that is arduous and difficult when we could be watching TV? Instant is so much quicker.

Why we need self-discipline to be successful and happy

Okay, I’ll admit it. Instant gratification is pretty good. I like a good drive-through meal as much as the next person. But is it truly satisfying? Does it forever quench your desire leaving you in a permanent state of bliss?

Not really…

AIGD
In fact, instant gratification makes you more unhappy. Sooner or later that instant gratification will not satisfy you and you will need something bigger and better to make you feel good right away. And when that loses its appeal you are going to need something bigger again. Finally, as often happens to many wealthy adults, you have a midlife crisis because your life is so god damned hollow. The new sports car is probably the ultimate symbol of AIGD (advanced instant gratification disorder) – it’s quick attempt to recapture one’s youth, a time in your life when gratification was so much simpler.

Enter self-discipline.

How would our life be if we had more self-discipline and were able to work towards and achieve things that really meant something to us? Would we be happier if we chose hard work over instant gratification? I am betting so.

Sunday School and self-discipline
Before I go on I need to clear something up. When I say self-discipline I am not talking about the kind that your Sunday School teacher taught you when you were 12. I am not saying that you need to control your impulses because pleasure and gratification and the Devil’s tools. Self-discipline is not about guilt or shame or religion. Sure, the Sunday School teacher might have been preaching about AIGD but that is another story entirely.

The self-discipline I am talking about is the kind where you use your internal will power to choose something better for yourself. It is where you cognitively decide that you are going to work towards a goal and achieve that goal without being sidetracked by “instant” distractions. The self-discipline I am speaking of is all about developing a mentality where you can fix your mind on something and achieve it.

Why we need it
The reason we need self-discipline is simple. Everything that is worthwhile achieving takes discipline to achieve. Think about the most common goals that people have:

• Fat loss and dieting
• Better fitness
• Enlightenment
• College degrees and other qualifications
• Meditation
• Helping people
• Etc.

All of these pursuits take self-discipline. It is impossible to lose weight with out self-discipline. It is impossible to get a college education without self-discipline. Anything that you can think of that you would like to achieve or work towards will take a large amount of self-discipline to pull off. And that is why we need to develop more of it.

How to develop self-discipline that lasts

photo credit: P!ndaro

Now that I have talked about why we are lacking in self-discipline and why we need self-discipline I want to get on to the core of the guide and talk about how we can go about developing it. Remember, self-discipline is not something that you can whip up out of thin air. It takes a long time and a lot of courage to develop. But the results are well worth the effort.

1. Find short term and long term motivation and work on it
Motivation is essential if you want to develop self-discipline. If you look at someone like Barack Obama who has been on the Presidential campaign trail for months now, you will see that a good motivation is something you cannot do without. Senator Obama would have fizzled out and quit by now if he did not have an excellent motivation. The same is true of anyone who has been working towards something for an extended amount of time.

Short term motivation is something basic like having enough money to feed your family or doing something because it is going to help someone right away. These motivations are easy to come by but they have a problem – they don’t last. If you want to develop self-discipline you need a motivation in the long term as well.

In the Buddhist tradition the monks and yogis are able to be so disciplined because they have something called Bodhicitta. This is roughly translated as the mind of enlightenment and is the motivation to use every thought, word and action to benefit other beings. It was this motivation that allowed so many Tibetan monks to endure the worst torture under the Chinese genocide in the 50′s and 60′s without fighting back. It is this motivation that allows them to stay in solitary retreat for 20 years. A motivation such as this one can get you through a lot of tough times.

Once you have found that motivation it is then important to cultivate it. If you decide you want to work for the benefit of others don’t just think about it once and then forget it. Remind yourself of it all the time. When things get tough try to remember why you are doing it. If you do this you can strengthen your mind and your resolve and stay focused on your task.

2. Find some inspirational figures to imitate
Sometimes we lose control. Sometimes the world breaks us down and we feel like we can’t go on. It is all too hard. It is times like these that we need someone to look up to. It is times like these we need to ask, “What would Buffy do?”

Okay, so maybe Buffy the Vampire Slayer is not the best inspiration figure to pick, but, each to their own! If you are an aspiring Vampire Slayer than Buffy is an extremely good figure. It is a good idea to find an inspiration figure in the field that you are working in. Some examples might be (please excuse the excessive use of pop-culture heros):

• Ethics: Dalai Lama, Gandhi, Mother Teresa
• Martial Arts: Bruce Lee, Jet Li, Bodhidharma, Ghost Dog
• Wealth: Warren Buffet, Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey, MC Hammer
• Politics: Abraham Lincoln, Barack Obama, Sarah Palin
• Sport: Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Michael Johnson

Okay so not all of them are good examples either. But you get the idea. When you feel down in the dumps it is fantastic to think “what would [insert hero] do” and then rely on that judgment. Sometimes two heads are better than one.

3. Make reverse escalation work for you
Remember earlier on in this guide when I talked about how instant gratification doesn’t satisfy you but instead causes you to be more and more insatiable forcing you to look for bigger and better “hits”? Well it is called escalation and it is a common problem among addicts (coffee, alcohol, drugs). However, escalation can work for you instead of against you if you know how to do it.

It’s called reverse escalation and it is a lot like how meditation works. The principle is simple: if instant gratification makes you more likely to need some bigger form of gratification, then you can apply that theory in reverse.

Next time you are working on your primary goal and you feel like giving up and going to watch television, try holding out for five minutes longer where you would have normally just got up and crashed on the couch. If you can do that, then next time go for six minutes. Try this with every distraction that comes up.

What you will be doing is essentially escalating your good qualities instead of your bad ones. You are escalating the self-discipline. Soon “five minutes more” won’t seem that hard and you will be well on your way to developing a self-discipline that lasts.

4. Create a routine and stick to it
Routine is a powerful word. One of the best ways you can develop self-discipline that lasts is by giving yourself a routine.

I remember hearing a story from a meditation practitioner who was having trouble getting past the basic preliminarily stages. Finally he went to his Tibetan meditation teacher in sheer despair and asked him for some advice. His teacher thought for a moment and then replied, “Rou-teeeen”.

“What’s that?” he clarified with the master thinking he was about to be told the esoteric secret to meditation.

“Rou-teeeen… you know… morning and night,” the teacher said in broken English.

“Oh. Right. Gotcha. Routine.”

Routine isn’t that esoteric but it is the secret to meditation. It is the secret to just about everything. If you can get yourself in a routine that facilitates and encourages your self-discipline then you will be well on your way to victory.

Again, this is not rocket science but a simple fact that has worked for many great people. Athletes have routine training times, yogis and monks have a daily practice routine, etc. Find a routine that works for you and then stick to it until your self-discipline is strong enough that you can break it from time to time without losing track.

5. Don’t overdo it
One of the big mistakes that I think people make is to do too much too soon. It is very important not to overdo it at any stage of the game.

Take the example of my final year in high school. Our school had midyear exams in third term because they thought it prepared us better for the finals (the one’s that count) because we had studied three terms worth of material instead of two. The problem? I burnt out after the midyears. I was so exhausted after the midyear exams that I said “F$%K it!” and gave up. I did too much too soon and there was no way of sustaining it until the end of finals.

Lucky for me I did well in the finals despite not doing a day of study. Literally. Ask my friend Alex who reads this blog and he will tell you I was down at his house playing basketball everyday. Looking back I don’t know how I even passed. But there is a lesson here for anyone who tries to do too much too soon. You run the risk of burning out. It is a much more intelligent idea to go slow and steady when it comes to long term self-discipline. It is a marathon, not a sprint race.

6. Use rewards (and maybe punishment)
Let me tell you a story. My first management lecture in business college. I sat down in the dark hall with 600 other nervous kids and the lecturer booms out over the mic, “How do you get workers to work harder?”

Silence.

“Come one. How do you get employees in a firm to work harder?” he repeated.

“Give them more money!” one brave kid answered.

“Brilliant!” the lecturer replied. “And soon you won’t have a firm left.”

The teacher went on to explain that there are two loose schools of thought on the matter and it depends heavily on whether you are American or not. Studies have shown that Americans are so used to being told they “worthy”, “good” and “capable of anything” that they work harder when they are given positive reinforcement. Almost every other country, on the other hand, works harder when you tell them they aren’t capable!

“If your firm is in America,” the lecturer continued, “tell them you can do it! If your firm is anywhere else, tell them they can’t.”

While I have doubts about the practical application of this theory in a business setting (I’m not sure about telling a room full of workers they suck!) it is a really good lesson for developing self-discipline. Are you the type of person who responds to punishment or rewards? I’ll give you an example. Would you be more likely to work for one hour on your personal goal if I gave you a $50 note or if I threatened to take away your car for a week?

Think about which one you are and then put a system in place to help you develop the behavior that you want. Self-discipline, in my opinion, happens quite easily when there is a nice carrot at the end of the stick.

Conclusion

Developing self-discipline is one of the most rewarding undertakings you will ever embark on. It is only through self-discipline that your dreams and goals can be attained and as such you should give as much attention to it as possible. Use the tips I have outlined in this guide but make sure you only apply what works for you. Routine, rewards, etc. are all simple and effective ways to help you develop self-discipline that lasts a life time. Good luck!

Random Posts

• 6 Ways to Make True Friends in Your Workplace
• Sound Sleep: How to Get to Sleep Easier
• Five Compelling Reasons Obama Should NOT Be President
• Katherine Tate the Language Translator

photo credit: Shutterhack

As my long time readers will know I travel to India every year for a holiday. Over time I have picked up some excellent travel tips which have allowed me to make the most of my overseas adventures. As the holiday season is looming I thought it would be a good idea to share some of these tips to help you have a holiday that is truly amazing.

18 travel tips to make your holiday truly amazing

1. Prepare (REALLY) early
Something I always intend to do but never end up doing is early preparation. I leave Visas and immunizations to the very last minute even to the point where I jeopardize not being able to travel. Take this year for example. I knew I needed an Indian Visa but I still left it to one day before the cut off deadline. This meant I had to race around and beg the Embassy to be kind to me. I got the visa but it caused me a lot of stress.

If you want to make sure your holiday is stress free and enjoyable it is a good idea to prepare a few month in advance. Yep, that’s right. Months in advance. Go to the doctor and get immunizations. Go to the Embassy and find out when to get Visas. Make photo copies of your credit cards, passports, plane tickets and book your accommodation as early as possible. Many a holiday has been ruined due to late preparation. You always forget something.

2. Tie up loose ends at home
Something that I always do now is make sure I prepare my home as much as I do my holiday. You really do not want to be worrying about your dog or your birds or your gardener or your letterbox while you are supposed to be relaxing in the sun.

The first few days of my most recent trip overseas were marred by the fact that I had arranged a business meeting with an important client while I was supposed to be on an international flight. He rocked up to the cafe and I never showed up. I felt terrible. Make sure you tie up all loose ends at home before getting on that plane.

3. Keep your mind open
One of the worst things you can do to yourself and the people you are traveling with is keep your mind closed. Closed minded people are the WORST to travel with because everything bothers them and nothing is good enough. This is especially true if you go to an Asian country where hygiene might not be up to your standards, customs are completely different and the food might make you sick.

I have traveled around India with a few closed minded people. They hated all the con artists and the food was never as good as it should have been. The homeless beggars annoyed them. They spent their whole trip fighting everything that happened.

On the other side of the coin I have traveled with people who are incredibly open minded. They enjoy their trip 100 times more because everything is an adventure or an experience and as such their holiday is a truly magical event full of treasured memories.

My advice: if you want everything on your holiday to be exactly as it is at home then save some money and just stay at home.

4. Don’t sleep in
Okay so you have four weeks off work and you are in a country that you have always wanted to visit. You have no work to go to, no deadlines to meet and no traffic to beat. Why not sleep in? Because there is a lot to see.

I used to sleep in on my holidays because I thought I needed the rest. “That’s what holidays are for” I would tell myself. But as I got more experienced I realized I was wasting a lot of time. You don’t get to go overseas everyday and it would be a good idea to get out and experience the place. You will find your holiday is much more eventful if you don’t sleep in.

5. Be careful who you travel with
Four weeks alone with someone can kill a relationship. If you go with a friend who mildly annoys you when you are in your home situation you will hate them after a few days of traveling. Traveling brings out the most annoying in people. Their neurosis’ come out for everyone to see. Tiredness, fear, fatigue and over stimulation. All of these things lead to a cranky travel companion.

On the other hand, traveling can really strengthen a relationship. I have been to India with my girlfriend and my best mate and it didn’t cause any problems at all. We respected each others needs and desires and as such created a lot of experiences that we are now really fond of. Pick your traveling companion wisely.

6. Underpack
There is a rule in traveling – pack the bare minimum and then half it. I tend to agree.

One of the worst things about traveling is the luggage. Waiting for it in airports, checking it hasn’t been stolen, lugging it from place to place. It is the pits. I much prefer to pack lightly and buy anything I need when I am over there. Of course this strategy doesn’t apply to everyone. I go to Asia where everything is cheap. If you are traveling to Europe you might want to avoid buying things you can bring from home as you will soon be wishing you brought more money.

7. Pick your season

photo credit: wsdot

This year I went to India in July. Monsoon time. 85% of the trip was spent indoors because it was raining far too much to go outside. The year before that I went in January. Winter time. 70% of the trip was spent indoors because it was snowing outside.

There are certain times of the year where it is markedly better to travel. These times depend on where you are going. For example, you want to avoid monsoon season in Asia, summer in the Middle East and Africa and so on.

And I am not just talking about the weather. In Borneo there is a place called Turtle Island where you can watch turtle eggs hatch on the beach. The problem? We went in the non-hatching season. Make sure you check with your travel agent as to whether you are going at the right time.

8. Get a (REALLY) good travel agent
My travel agent is ‘da bomb’. He is the kind of guy who would go above and beyond to look after you when you are traveling.

Let me illustrate with an example. One year in India I got quite sick after being there for only a few days. I cracked and spat the dummy and decided that I wanted to come home. I’d had enough! I got on the email to my travel agent and told him that I wanted to come home and even though my tickets were non-negotiable I wanted him to find me some earlier ones. Within five minutes he had written back saying he had rung the airline and got me an illness exemption and I could leave tomorrow, the next day or the day after that. I didn’t end up going home but I learned what kind of travel agent he was.

Shop around when you are looking for a travel agent. Make sure he/she is going to get you the cheapest flights and continue their service to you while you are on holiday. Many agencies ‘set and forget’ – if you need something changed while you are abroad it is your own bad luck.

But my travel agent is busy… sorry.

9. Make sure your bank card has a four digit pin
Many people choose a lengthy bank card pin number because they think it will be safer. This is probably a good idea but when you are traveling you need a four digit pin number otherwise your card won’t work in the overseas ATMs.

Go in to your bank a few weeks before you leave and tell them where you intend on traveling to. They will tell you whether your card will work in all the machines and how much it will cost to make withdraws. Quite often it is very expensive.

10. Check Smart Traveler
The Australian Government publishes an extremely well managed website called Smart Traveler. This website is run by the Government Foreign Affairs Department and gives daily updates on the situation in every country around the world.

For example, if you are in a country where there is a high chance of a terrorist attack you can check the website and it will tell you if there is any credible information that points to an imminent attack. They also tell you about other dangers such as natural disasters, diseases and so on.

Of course, the Australian Government won’t get it right all the time. They don’t have a crystal ball that automatically uploads any dangers to the website. But, it is a good way to check out the general climate in your destination and make an informed decision about whether it is a place you really want to go to.

11. Get a mosquito repellent with DEET
In Australia we have the biggest mozzies in the world. Our mosquitoes are often as big as small birds. Only joking. In all honesty though, the mosquito repellent industry is quite advanced in Australia due to the fact that we do have a lot of big mozzies. And what we have found is that the best repellents are the ones that have DEET in them.

DEET is short for N,N-diethyl-meta-toluamide and it is the active ingredient in a few really powerful insect repellents. In my experience in India it is only the products with DEET in them that do any good. Without DEET you will still get bitten. If you are going to a tropical destination do your research and find a repellent that includes this substance.

Warning – prolonged use of DEET is not healthy. Make sure you read the instructions carefully.

12. Don’t visit too many places
Okay so you are on holiday and you have a few weeks to visit as many places as possible. You rush around, see everything but then on your way home realize that you haven’t really taken any of it in.

As I get older I see more value in spending longer in fewer places as opposed to rushing around and seeing as much as possible. I like to experience the culture, meet the people and really get a feel for the place. I am a little bit over sightseeing. One of my biggest pieces of advice for you is to take your time and really absorb each place that you visit before moving on. Don’t feel like you have to see everything.

13. Watch out for sun burn
Imagine spending thousands of dollars on your dream holiday to a tropical beach only to get burned on the first day and spend the next week in bed in agony. It is not very nice.

Many people from colder climates head to a tropical destination with the aim of getting a bit of sun and relaxing by the beach. You have to remember that the sun is bloody powerful and your skin will burn easily. I new a girl in high school who was hospitalized because she spent a few hours asleep on the beach. Sun burn is a good way to ruin your holiday. Slip, slop, slap.

14. Learn a bit of the language
Most places speak English but quite often you find yourself in a scenario where you need to know a little bit of the local language. It might be a market place where you are trying to barter with the shop owner or it might be trying to tell a taxi driver he is going the wrong way. Get a small phrase book and try to use it as often as possible.

I have actually made a lot of friends overseas whilst trying to speak their language. It normally ends up with everyone having a good old laugh at the terrible accent but it is worth a try! You will be surprised how handy a few words can be.

15. Don’t be afraid to rough it

photo credit: carolyn.will

It is amazing how much you learn about yourself when you are forced to rough it in a foreign country.

When I was 17 I was in the middle of the Indian state of Bihar which has one of the world’s highest crime rates. I was alone and had to catch a midnight train despite everyone’s repeated warnings that I might get mugged or kidnapped and never seen again. But I had to go otherwise I would miss my flight home. So I booked a taxi to the train station with a driver I knew and asked if he would come in and wait for the train with me. He agreed but then at the last minute chickened out! So there I was – alone by myself in the middle of the night in one of the shadiest places in Asia.

Needless to say I made it home and the experience taught me a lot about what I am capable of dealing with if I need to. If you are forced to rough it in a foreign country do not be afraid. Don’t fight it. Just do your best and enjoy the experience.

16. Get a Lonely Planet
The Lonely Planet series of travel books are amazing. I always shrugged off suggestions that I needed one for India. “I’ve been there heaps of times,” I would say. “Why do I need a guide?”. I was wrong.

Last year I was given a guide as a gift and it proved to be really helpful. I found places I had never heard of in towns I had visited five or six times before and learned a lot about my home away from home. Lonely Planet is more than just a travel guide with street maps and sightseeing destinations – it is a travelers companion. They really do some excellent work on digging out the hidden gems in thousands of places around the world.

17. Put your most important gear in your carry-on
Always put your valuables and your most important items in your carry-on bag. Don’t check them in with your luggage because luggage gets lost. And it gets lost for good.

There is nothing worse than rocking up at your destination to find that your bags have been lost and you are without a toothbrush, change of clothes, credit card, etc. Make sure you carry all of that stuff with you so you can get by in the event that your bags go bye bye.

18. Relax!
Don’t take yourself too seriously on the trip. Relax and have a good time. Don’t let worry and stress creep in to your mind. Just let go and relax. After all you are on vacation!

Anyone have any other tips? I’d love to hear them!

Random Posts

• 11 Ways to Make Someone Smile and Brighten Their Whole Day
• 100th Post on The Daily Mind!
• Why (Almost) Every House Should Have a Pet
• 10 of the Best Things to Do on the Bus When Going to Work

“There is something to be learned from a rainstorm. When meeting with a sudden shower, you try not to get wet and run quickly along the road. But doing such things as passing under the eaves of houses, you still get wet. When you are resolved from the beginning, you will not be perplexed, though you still get the same soaking.” – from the Hagakure, a famous Samurai manual.

I love Samurai. Ever since I was little I have been fascinated with their way of life and how they mixed the Zen Buddhist teachings with the ice-cold warrior mentality. Let’s face it – Samurai are extremely cool! In this series I want to introduce you to a few of the core Samurai principles and how you can apply them to your modern way of life.

Discipline is essential in all situations

“If you walk, just walk. If you sit, just sit. But whatever you do, don’t wobble.” – Master Ummon

A Samurai will always act with poise and discipline. It would be a rare event to see a Samurai lose his cool and lash out with emotion and passion. Regardless of whether he was under enemy attack, training with his partner or spending time with his master the warrior would always be disciplined.

Nothing has changed since the time of the Samurai – discipline is still essential. Whether you are looking to climb the corporate ladder, improve your family life or develop more wisdom it is essential that you have discipline. When you lose that you lose your focus.

Always carry a backup weapon

“You win battles by knowing the enemy’s timing, and using a timing which the enemy does not expect.” – Miyamoto Musashi.

The Samurai’s main weapon was the Katana (long sword). This weapon was so important to the Samurai that they would often give it a name and talk to it like a living creature. The Katana was known as the soul of the Samurai. However, when the had to check their Katana at the door they carried their smaller Wakizashi by their side. This smaller blade never left the Samurai’s grip, not even when he slept. Sometimes when the warrior lost his primary weapon in a fight he would call upon his Wakizashi to finish the job. As such he was never without a weapon.

This is an extremely important lesson for modern life. I am not saying that everyone should carry around two whopping great big swords in their daily activities. That would be madness! What I am saying is that it is important to have a backup plan for that rainy day that is sure to happen. Diversifying your investments is a good idea in case your main revenue stream dries up. Make sure you are never left without a weapon.

Honor is of utmost importance

“One should not be envious of someone who has prospered by unjust deeds. Nor should he disdain someone who has fallen while adhering to the path of righteousness.” – Imagawa Sadayo

For a Samurai there is nothing more important than honor. They lived their lives in a very honorable way. Many scholars will argue, however, that the Samurai’s honor was somewhat perverted and often mistaken for an inflated sense of ego. For the most part though these warriors were a very honorable bunch.

This is very important in today’s modern world. So many people are trying to lie, steal and cheat. A Samurai would never do this for fear of losing their honor and shaming their family and master. I think this is an important personality trait that we need to see more of in business, commerce and 21st century life. We need more people who see honor and ethics as being more important than money and status.

Study and training are a lifetime commitment

“Study strategy over the years and achieve the spirit of the warrior. Today is victory over yourself of yesterday; tomorrow is your victory over lesser men.” – Miyamoto Musashi.

The Samurai were always studying, practicing and training. He would never let a day pass without spending several hours practicing his martial arts, studying the Sutras of Zen Buddhism and doing a zazen meditation. The Samurai understood that in order to be perfect (and they were perfectionists!) one needed to devote constant attention to studying and training in one’s art without ever giving up or losing enthusiasm.

This devotion to study and practice is something that is lacking in many people’s lives. We really want to achieve certain goals but we really don’t want to put in the study and effort that is going to get us there. Furthermore, once we attain certain goals (like a good job) we stop studying and just meander in our comfortable equanimity. The Samurai way is to keep studying and keep practicing and keep getting better. I would like to be like that.

Make sure you subscribe to our feed to catch Part Two in our Samurai Lessons series.

Random Posts

• Download Your FREE Copy of My New 22 Page eBook – Enlightening Stress Relief
• The Daily Minder in India!
• Writer’s Block: How to Solve Writer’s Block at Work
• The Dirtiest Thing in the Office is Not the Toilet

photo credit: f_mafra

I use a computer to make my living. Many people do. Over the years I have found some pretty cool tips and tricks that make me a lot faster on the old PC or Mac. In this post I’ll show you how to save an hour a day by utilizing some tight computer hacks that will speed up the way you do things.

Note - These are simple hacks that anyone can use regardless of their level of computer knowledge.

Why use these hacks?

The purpose of giving you these time savings computer hacks is two fold:

i. To help you accomplish more work
Obviously, if you are faster at using the computer you will be able to get more work done. This could mean more money or perhaps even a promotion depending on how effective you are able to become.

ii. To give you more time for you
What is more important is that you will have more time for you. This means hobbies, family, meditation or whatever it is you need to accomplish but aren’t due to having too much work.

9 tight computer hacks to save you an hour a day

1. Use Firefox instead of Internet Explorer
Mozilla Firefox has revolutionized internet browsing – if you aren’t already using it you are way behind. Forget the default Internet Explorer; Firefox is safer, more efficient and much more intuitive.

There are a myriad of reasons as to why Firefox is better than the old IE. Here are just a few of them:

• Its safer:
  Firefox does a much better job at blocking spyware from jumping on to your computer through your browser window.
• Block pop ups:
  Know those little pop ups that come along every time you visit a cheap site? Firefox, for the most part, kills these bad boys before they arise.
• Remembers passwords:
  And not in the way IE “does” it. It really remembers them. Very handy.
• Extensions:
  The major advantage of Firefox is all the wonderful plugins and extensions that you can use. These extensions are written by coders for specific reasons and often save you a lot of time. For example, I have an extension that allows me to edit a websites coding and see the changes in real time. Great for a web designer! Have a look at some of the extensions here.
• Very intuitive:
  Firefox seems natural. That was one of the first things that struck me about it. It is easy to use and feels like “home” in no time at all.

Download firefox from the link above and give it a test run. You can keep both IE and FF on your computer at the same time so if you don’t like it just uninstall it – no dramas.

2. Use the tab button
Instead of using the mouse to move the cursor to the next online box use the tab button.

For example, when you write your username and password details to access your email you can press tab to move down from the username bar to the password bar. This is a very basic tip that will save you a lot of time over the span of the day.

You can use this for more than use email boxes as well. The tab button will help you when filling out online forms, signing up for new accounts or entering in your internet banking information.

3. Learn all the hotkeys
A hotkey is a keyboard version of performing a task that you would normally do with a mouse. It is a shortcut. For example, if you are writing a document in Microsoft Word and you want to save it you can just press CTRL and ‘S’ instead of taking you hand off of the keyboard and on to the mouse and going File and then Save.

Both PCs and Macs have hundreds of different hot keys. Not only that, each program you use has a different set. Photoshop has a different set to Microsoft Word, Excel has a different set to Flash and so on. At first it might seem daunting to learn all of these hot keys. Its a lot to memorize. But the result is well worth it, you computer use speed will increase and increase.

So how do you learn these hot keys? Well the easiest way is to look in all the menus on your computer. For example, if you go to Microsoft Word and then run your mouse over the File, Edit, View, etc. menus you will see that next to each command there is a keyboard equivalent. Try to remember the common ones like save, copy, paste, etc. and gradually learn a few more everyday.

There is a great list of hotkey shortcuts here.

4. Use a free feed reader to read your favorite blogs and sites
Do you spend the first hour of your day visiting all you favorite websites and blogs to see if they have updated? If you do you are wasting time. A lot of time.

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication and it is a super efficient way to read all of your favorite sites. Why? You don’t actually have to visit the site to read the updates.

RSS (or feed) works like this. Sign up for a free feed reader such as Bloglines or Google Reader and simply use the ‘Add Sites’ button to add all of your most loved websites. The feed reader will then check periodically whether or not those sites have updated and inform you when they do. You can then read that update in the feed reader window without ever having to visit the site.

This is a fantastic way to stay up to date. Imagine how much time you will save not having to go to 10 or 15 different websites everyday. And what’s more is you can use this technology on forums threads, blogs, facebook, etc. To find out more about how to read The Daily Mind in a feed reader check this out.

5. Get a good antivirus / spyware program
Every time you go online your computer comes under attack from a variety of different places. The two big ones are viruses and spyware. Once your computer is infected with this little bastards it will start to slow down. Gradually files will be corrupted, systems will begin to break and with in no time at all your computer will be sluggish and slow.

A good virus protector will keep your computer fast and healthy. Do not underestimate how much a virus will slow down your computer. You need to nip them in the bud before they strip hours off of your day while you wait for things to load, close and change windows. Frustrating!

Some virus programs are quite expensive. Norton is one of them. However, if you head over to download.com you can get quite a few different programs for free or at least on the cheap. I am currently using Spyware Doctor and Spybot Seach and Destroy which I think costs me about $30 a year.

6. Turn up your mouse speed

photo credit: deadeyebart a.k.a Brett

A simple but highly effective tip is to turn up your mouse speed so that you can navigate from function to function a lot faster. To boost up your mouse speed simply go:

Start > Control Panel > Mouse > Pointer Options > Speed

You might think that the micro seconds that you save by moving your mouse faster doesn’t amount to much but let me tell you – it does. If you save a micro second or two every minute by the end of the day you would have saved a few minutes.

Perhaps a coffee break?

7. Organize files in to folders
Another thing that saves me a lot of time is when I am vigilant with my folder organization. I have thousands of files on my computers – photos, documents, pdfs, etc. – and if I just stick them in any old place I wind up spending a lot of time each day searching for things.

Folders are great but putting folders within folders is even better. Have a folder for everything and make sure you always use it.

For example, if you have a “work” folder at home you should add a few more folders inside it to make things even more specific. My “work” folder has a folder for each client inside it and then one for images, one for tax invoices and one for miscellaneous. This saves me a lot of navigation time.

8. Reduce number of programs in the toolbar
Every time your computer starts up it has to load a bunch of programs. The less programs it has to load the less time it will take to start up.

Now take a look in the bottom right hand corner of your PC window. How many little icons are there? Four? Five? Ten? It is time to get rid of some of them because each one of them represents a program that has to load when the computer starts up.

Be careful what you get rid of, however, as some of them are essential. You don’t want to turn off your virus protection or anything like that but a lot of the general ones can go. Remember, getting rid of them from the toolbar doesn’t mean you are deleting them for good. They will still be on your drive and probably easily found in your Programs list in the start menu.

9. Clean your computer’s fan
Every computer has a fan. This fan cools down the device as it heats up while you use it. If the computer gets too hot it will slow down or stop working.

I can prove this fact with a funny example. My brother and I used to play a lot of online computer video games. Counter Strike was one of them. In this game you need a fast computer otherwise your opponent will see you and kill you before they even show up on your screen. My brothers laptop wasn’t quite working right and he was getting killed really easily. It was driving him crazy! Finally we thought that the computer might be too hot so we put an ice pack out of the freezer underneath the base. Almost immediately the game sped up and he was back to normal!

Sometimes your fan gets clogged up with dust and fluff. This is especially true if you have it sitting on a carpet or in an unventilated corner. Turn your PC off and reach down to give it a clean. Even a simple dust can sometimes speed things up.

Conclusion

These are some really really simple things that you can do. I’m sure many of my more tech-saavy readers will feel upset that this post did not have some more advanced tips. However, I am always on the look out for some advanced tips so if you have any or would like to share more basic ones please drop us a comment. It might save someone a lot of time.

Random Posts

• How to Become the MVP at Your Work
• The Excuses Culture: Why We Protect Ourselves With Excuses
• Is there a link between our emotions and physical pain?
• What Has Michael Jackson’s Death Taught You?

photo credit: Symic

Nothing is so fatiguing as the eternal hanging on of an uncompleted task. – William James

It’s midyear exam time for students around the world. I thought I’d do a post on procrastinating to hopefully help some of them out. If you know someone studying at the moment why not email them this article as a friendly reminder to work harder!

Procrastination is the art of putting things off until later. Many people are notorious procrastinators; their entire life is wasted putting off projects until a later time. The thing about procrastination is that is causes stress and anxiety. When we don’t get things done right away we think about it over and over again. In this post I am going to talk about how to beat procrastination and get things done now.

Why do we procrastinate?

Before you can solve any problem you need to know the cause of the problem. It is like treating a disease. If you do not know what causes the disease there is no way to find a cure. Procrastination is the same. We need to know what causes people to behave like this. Once we know that we can attack the cause instead of running around trying to deal with every symptom that procrastination causes.

Many psychologists belive that people procrastinate as a way to cope with the stress that is associated with beginning a new task. This makes good sense. If you have a major thesis due it is much easier to find excuses as to why not to start writing than it is to make a plan, do research, write a draft, etc.

I have noticed that I do this many times during a day. For example, if I have just had a half an hour off work to have lunch I will put off going back to work for as long as I can. If I really think about this behavior it is probably because I am avoiding the stress of starting work again.

Psychologists cite a whole host of others reason as to why we procrastinate. Some say it is a fear of big tasks while other say it is about not wanting to interrupt the natural flow of life with “less meaningful” tasks. Others say it is a form of laziness. Still others say it is about impulsiveness meaning that the person gives in to every little impulse thus never getting around to starting those big important ones.

However, I believe there is one bigger cause.

I am convinced that people who procrastinate a lot are under the sway of a strong ego that is largely perfectionist. For example, there are many people who deliberately underachieve in life because they are afraid of failing and afraid of how their peers will view them. You see this a lot in high school and college. You have smart kids who procrastinate because they want an excuse if they fail. They are also stressed about starting the task because this means they will have to put in effort and, in some respects, be judged for that effort. If their work is not going to be perfect they would rather put it off. I think a lot of us would rather be known as procrastinators than attempt to be achievers and not quite make it. But I could be wrong.

What problems does procrastination cause?

Now that we know some of the causes of procrastination it is good to look at some of the problems that excessive procrastinating can cause. It is good to have a little bit of fear. To use another example, knowing the problems associated with procrastination is like knowing the problems associated with smoking. It is good to delve into the negative sometimes if it helps you avoid going down the wrong path.

1. Procrastinating causes you to lose energy
When you put things off all the time you no longer have the drive and energy to approach tasks that require a fair bit of work. The longer you leave things the harder they are to complete.

This is taught by the buddhist meditation masters all the time. They say that as soon as you learn the meditation you must start right away otherwise it will get harder and harder to start.

2. Procrastination causes stress and anxiety
The main problem with procrastinating is that it causes you to become stressed and anxious. The reason for this is that when the task drags on and on we think about it in our head and we stress about when it is going to get finished. This is quite ironic because it is we who are causing it to take a long time!

3. Procrastination stops you from achieving things in life
One of the really sad things about this thing called procrastination is that it stop you from achieving your goals and dreams in life. I know people who have dreamed of being a doctor all their life who probably won’t get the entry score because the procrastinate with their studies. This is such a shame.

When we look back at our life as old folks it is important to have no regrets. One thing that we will surely regret is wasting our fantastic opportunities because we we procrastinating. This is like a begger having a lump of gold his whole life and not spending it to change his crappy situation.

How to stop procrastinating and get things done now

Now I want to look at some tools that can be really valuable for beating procrastination. Learning to overcome procrastination is one of the best gifts you can give yourself. You will be a happier person with less stress, you will achieve more and you will not look back on your life with regrets.

1. Just do it
One of the best slogans ever created was by Nike when they told the world’s aspiring athletes and sportspeople to “just do it”. Of course they meant “just do it while wearing our gear” but the essence is still helpful.

Getting in to the habit of just doing it is a very helpful thing to do. As soon as you get a task you should start on it. It might be about losing weight, starting a new assignment, changing jobs, moving house, etc. The best thing you can do is start and finish it as soon as possible. Forget all the mental chatter that is going on in your head and just do it!

2. Realize that you are procrastinating
If you do not acknowledge that you are a procrastinator you will not be able overcome this problem. One of the most powerful things you can do when thoughts of putting it off arise in your mind is to look straight at those thoughts and realize that you are about to procrastinate.

If you catch your mind at this early stage it is a lot easier to overcome the power of procrastination. It is when you entertain those thoughts and acknowledge them as important that it becomes a problem that is difficult to control. For example, I know a lot of people are addicted to Facebook at the moment. During the work day they will procrastinate by saying, “I’ll just spend five minutes look at Facebook and then I will do some work”. This has already gone past the awareness stage and you have now conceptually justified your actions.

If you look closely at your mind you will see a tiny conversation going on – your procrastinator mind is trying to get you to put it off and is thinking of a 1000 reasons why you shouldn’t start work yet. However, if you can see that mind for what it truly is you will be able to beat the urge to put it off.

3. Remember your motivations
If you have been putting off an action or an event like losing weight, going to the dentist, finishing an essay, etc. then it it sometimes helpful to remember why you are doing that thing in the first place. If we can remind ourselves of our initial motivations we will be less likely to stay off task.

For example, if your are having trouble starting with your weight loss diet it is a good idea to remind yourself of all the reasons why you must lose weight. You could write down a list of these reason – it is unhealthy to be overweight, bad diet causes heart problems, I want to be alive for my kid’s weddings, etc. These motivations will help us stay disciplined when the procrastinator bug bites.

4. Write down a timeline for every goal
Another way you can kick yourself up the rear and and get in to gear is by writing down exactly what you want to achieve and by what date. For example, if you have a big assignment due at the end of July you might write down three or four dates in July when you need to have things done by – July 3rd; finalize draft, July 10th; complete research, July 12th; begin introduction, etc.

When you write down goals and give them a date you make it much more accessible. You take it out of your head and put it down on to paper where you can continue to remind yourself without going crazy with thoughts and concepts. You stop procrastination because you now have certain deadlines that you have to work with in some way, shape or form.

5. Take away distractions
Something that a lot of people (myself included!) need to do is take away distractions. When I was studying at university I could never do it at home. If I was home I would soon close the books and go workout, watch TV, play video games or do anything to put the study off. So I would go in to university with a coffee and some food and find a lonley little desk in the back archives of the library. Here I was better able to beat procrastination because I had no distractions immediately on hand.

This isn’t a failsafe method though because there are always going to be distractions. You could be in jail cell and find distractions if you tried. A fly on the wall suddenly becomes extremely interesting to a student who has been studying accounting for the past six hours!

The real key with this one is to have some sense of inner discipline. You will want to find distractions but it is up to you to keep yourself on target. Otherwise it doesn’t matter how many distractions you take away, you will still find an excuse to procrastinate.

Conclusion

At the start of this post I suggested that you email this article to people who are studying or having problems with procrastinating. It just occurred to me, however, that reading this article would just be a further procrastination for them! So perhaps think twice before sending it.

Nothing useful ever comes from procrastinating. It creates more stress in our life and stop us from getting the things that we really want. It is important to actively work to beat procrastination as it is not a problem that will go away by itself. Take some of the strategies in this article and apply them to your situation. Keep experimenting until you find something that works for you.

If you do manange to stop putting things off you will find your life is much more meaningful and you will have more time and energy to do the things you really love. This is possibly the best reason to stop procrastinating.

Random Posts

• 5 Funny Workplace Related Videos for a Quick Laugh
• How to Stand Up to Your Boss (Without Losing Your Job)
• How to be More Creative at Work the Homer Simpson Way
• Dealing With Panic: How to Calm Down During a Panic Attack

Yesterday I spent $80 on a new Debden Executive diary (pictured above). Mrs. Daily Minder wasn’t very happy.

I went down to my favorite office supplies warehouse called Officeworks thinking that I could pick up a diary on the cheap. I was wrong. All they had were fancy covers that cost $50+ and then you had to buy the pages seperately. It turned out to be quite an expensive exercise. However, I am hoping that the diary will make me more productive, less stressed and a heck of a lot more organized.

It got me thinking about how other people stary organized. There are so many different options out there these days that I am wondering if there is a better way to do it than a traditional diary. I am a visual person and like to see things laid out in front of me so it seems like a diary is the best option. However, I would love to hear from our readers and see what else works.

Please leave a comment telling us how you stay organized, what resources you use and whether or not it works.

Random Posts

• Ethical Dilemma #4 – Would You Take the Heat?
• 5 Simple Ways to Relax At Work When Stress Strikes
• How to fight fatigue naturally
• The Benefits of Having an Inspiring Image at Work

Facebook, YouTube, Wikipedia, Twitter, Myspace… the list is endless. Millions of us are addicted. The Government tells us that our time wasting internet addictions are costing the country billions of dollars every year. Our productivity at work is dismal because we spend most of the day reading our Fun Wall or checking out our favorite blogs. Can this additive behavior be beaten?

The answer is yes.

In this article I want to give you some simple and concrete ways to beat your time wasting internet addiction.

Facebook Syndrome: How to tell if you are an internet addict

Before we start you need to find out if you are an addict. Once you have admitted to yourself that you are addicted to your favorite website we can go about giving you some solutions for that problem. Here are some surefire signs that you are addicted:

1. You are late for meetings because you are on Facebook
If you ever late for a meeting or an appointment because you were checking your updates on Facebook or watching a related video on Youtube then you know you are addicted. This is classic addict behavior. It is time to get help.

2. You think about it when you are offline
I have several friends who struggle to get to sleep because they are thinking about the latest game or wondering how their website statistics are looking. If you do this then it could be a sign that you are heading towards a problem.

3. Your friends and family comment on your excessive internet use
When other people around you start to notice that you have a problem it is generally a pretty accurate indicator that you are losing it. If your mates, coworkers or family members have made comments about how much you use the net then you need to read the rest of this post.

4. You check your accounts from your Blackberry
A Blackberry is designed as a business tool. It is supposed to allow you to check your important emails and work materials without having to be in the office. It is not for checking Facebook or Myspace updates while you are having dinner with me. That is just not on. If you use your Blackberry for monitoring your social media accounts then you need help.

5. You get stressed when a Facebook “friend” doesn’t add you
Have you ever noticed yourself getting stressed over something that has happened on Facebook or Myspace? Do you ever feel like your online life is more real than your offline life? If you have been stressed about what rapper you turned out as or what magic egg someone sent you then it is time to open your eyes.

How to easily beat time wasting internet addictions

photo credit: Fuschia Foot

Now that you have established that you have a problem you need to get yourself some recovery tools. The strategies and tools that are presented here are some simple ways you can beat the Facebook Syndrome.

1. Admit that you have a problem
I want you to take a deep breath and then repeat after me. Seriously, repeat this out a loud – even if you are in your office or an internet cafe.

“I have an internet addiction problem.”

Good. Now that you have acknowledged your problem we can proceed. There is no point in trying to beat an addiction if you do not seriously believe that you have one. This is important.

2. Write down exactly how much time you spend on each site

photo credit: ●Tokil●

This task is more difficult than you might think. Usually we have a work window open, a Facebook window open and then maybe some windows with our favorite blogs waiting for them to update. What you need to do is close the windows and only open them once you have written down the time. Then when you close the window you need to write the time down again. At the end of the day add up how much time you have been on your chosen site and record it in a little book.

The reason it is important to know how long you have been on the sites is because it gives you a solid measure of how bad your addiction is. Recovering gamblers do the same thing. They write down how much money they spend in a day. We need to write down our Facebook hours!

After a few days, weeks and months this number should decrease.

3. Give yourself a set time of the day to visit
We need to realize that spending time on these sites is not a bad thing. Done in the right amounts it can be a lot of fun and even quite healthy. However, if you start to notice that your law school assignment is still not done because you have been watching Tom Cruise’s Scientology rant on Youtube all night then it has gone beyond a joke.

Instead of banning the site altogether why not give yourself a set period of time to visit? For example, you might give yourself the first 20 minutes of the work day you check all your updates and then not log on for the rest of the day. Or you might decide that the last 30 minutes of work is Myspace time as a reward for a long day of super productive work.

Banning your addiction outright often leads to a Facebook relapse. We don’t want this. Give yourself some set times to visit and don’t break the limits.

4. Turn off email notifications
Email notifications are like little red devils coming to sit on your shoulder and begging you to come back and visit Facebook. Turn them off. You don’t need to be notified every time someone sends you a message. If it was that important they should email you or, God forbid, use the telephone. You also don’t need to be notified every time someone rates your sexiness, adds a fish to your aquarium or sends you a new bumper sticker!

Turn off email reminders so you can get on with your work.

5. Meditate as soon as the thought arises
One of the most powerful ways to beat Facebook Syndrome is to look directly at the tempting thought as soon as it arises in your mind. You do not need to judge it or try to push it out – just look at it. The thought might arise as a worrying thought that begs you to check your updates so you don’t offend anyone. Or it might appear as a carefree thought saying that one quick look won’t hurt. Whatever it arises as the meditation is to just look at it. When you can do that the power of the thought will be drained well and truly.

6. Get off the computer
Really… do you need to spend that much time on the computer? Honestly ask yourself that. Instead of getting home, pouring a beer and sitting in front of the computer to check your updates you could go for a walk, hit the gym or go and see a movie. There is so much more to do in life than watch your hatching egg grow. Really there is.

7. Write down what you used to do before Facebook
Something that can be really useful to do is write down a list of things that you used to do before you got addicted to Facebook or Myspace. For example, some people might write, “I used to meet girls”.

Try and reconnect with what you used to do before these sites became such a big part of your life. Some of you will be quite surprised at how much you now do not do because you are spending so much time on the internet. You may also notice that around the same time your waistline suddenly got bigger…

8. Block the sites the REAL way
Your computer allows you to block certain sites. Sure, you can unblock them straight away if you wanted to but the more barriers you put in your way the better. However, if you want to seriously block these sites from your computer you can do it the REAL way:

Click START and then select RUN. In that box type notepad c:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc\hosts. A neat little Notepad will appear with a bunch of computer jargon on it. Scroll down to the last line of that code and type 127.0.0.1 facebook.com. After that Facebook will never show up on your PC again. You can substitute the domain for any other domain that you do not want to view.

Conclusion on beating Facebook Syndrome

This article is intended as a bit of a joke because I noticed that I was spending a ridiculous amount of time on these sites. The above techniques are techniques I have used to cut back on the time I was wasting. I am sure they will work for you but if you know of any other then please let us know.

top image: photo credit: bryanearl

Random Posts

• How to Become More Patient With Friends, Enemies & Circumstances
• 13 Meditation Articles That Could Change Your Life
• Katherine Tate the Language Translator
• 8 Recent World Events That Made You Re-Think Your Job