pepsi

Have I mentioned I love LifeHack?

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I would like to start this post out by saying that I think I may be coming out of my depression, or depression-like state. I won’t say for certain that I was or am depressed, as I have not been diagnosed or anything of that nature. I am however willing to say that, whatever I was in, I am coming out of. It may be temporary, it may be permanent, I don’t know. It started out last week, near the end of the week, I just started feeling…well…better. I’m still not in the clear, and it’s an uphill battle from here to undo what I’ve done to myself mentally, and to those I love, but it’ll get there. I’ve been doing a number of things a little differently, but there’s one thing that I changed very recently versus when I started to feel better (and by very recently I mean 24 hours prior). I added Turmeric capsules to my mornings (http://smile.amazon.com/dp/B0017OFR5Q). I’m not trying to sell these capsules, I have no stake in them, and I’m definitely not a case study by any means. Have they helped me? It’s possible, there was little time between when I started taking these and when my mood was elevated. I’ve kept taking them, and honestly, I’ve continued to feel ok. Is it strictly them? Probably not, I’ve been doing a number of things (writing, electro-experimental music creation, drawing, reading, etc.) that may be helping me, but one thing is for sure, they haven’t hurt. SO, my final suggestion, if you can spare the $11, give them a shot, they may help. If they don’t, you’re out $11 and can keep trying other things.

You may be asking yourself, is there any reason to expect that these are helpful for depression? The answer is a straight-forward, no-doubt-possible, 100% POSSIBLY. 1 2 3 4 5 There is no certainty, but it COULD help, and that’s the point I’m trying to make. If you are having trouble getting to the point you want to be, and don’t want to take Anti-Depressants (and while I understand the struggle mentally with taking AD’s, you should always consider the possibility if you find that nothing else works) maybe trying something natural could help some. They also smell like cinnamon in my opinion (or pizza in my lovely fiancé’s opinion.) Please remember that I am NOT A DOCTOR and am not able to offer any medical advice. I am here solely expressing that something MAY help, and it’s up to you figure out the rest. If it helps, great, if not, keep trying. Again, if you are severely depressed, or depressed in general, you should consider seeing a doctor. There is always the possibility that anti-depressants are what will help you. I want nothing more than for those suffering to get better.

I don’t really have much to discuss today, so I think I’ll find another article to discuss. I’ve mentioned that I love the site Lifehack.org6.   They post stories regularly in one of 6 main categories, but have a total of 16 topics that they discuss frequently. The 6 are the top level and the rest are sub categories. Regardless, it is easy to find things that you want to read on the site. I spend most of my time in the subcategories of… well…Honestly I looked them over and couldn’t choose one or two. I think the ONLY ones I don’t go to are iOS and mac, and that’s because they don’t honestly interest me.

LifeHack is your typical “X number of things that…” style of website like Cracked or Buzzfeed. Granted I think that Cracked is funny and Buzzfeed is, well, Buzzfeed, Lifehack has stories that grab my interest, and has honestly found its place in my PaperMind. I love their style, I love their topics, and I love their categories. Right now, I’m reading an article that I would like to discuss, because it may help some people out of a rut. The article on Lifehack.org that I am reading is titled “10 Morning Habits of Highly Successful People that Make Them Extraordinary.”7

This article is your fairly typical LifeHack article. They do their research, they list the ideas, and they explain them. I love the way they present their information, and honestly I would love to dissect their articles and present them to my readers (all 3 of you, I love you all!) and potentially learn something. So here we go… Due to me not wanting to type 5000 words, I am going to cut this list down to the points that I feel are most important. I still suggest you read the article, and do your own research on the matters.

  1. Indra Nooyi (The CEO Of Pepsi) wakes up REALLY EARLY. This sounds like “early bird gets the worm” hodgepodge, but there may actually be some truth to it. LifeHack touts that waking up early gives you more time in your day, and more time that you have control over. I couldn’t agree more with these statements. If you have to be at work at 8:30AM, but often times find yourself waking up at 7:40AM, with a 15 minute drive between home and work (guilty…) you pretty much have 35 minutes between rushing out of bed to the minute you have to rush out the door. That leaves no time for yourself, and puts you in a work state of mind directly out of sleep. That’s a horrible idea as you are immediately introducing stress into your day and you go from sleeping to stress right off the plate. The alternative suggestion is waking up earlier in the day. There are actually known benefits to waking up earlier8. It’s actually more natural to wake up earlier than it is to sleep in, the world wakes up with the sun, and that’s what we should be doing as well. Another benefit is, as stated above, having more you time. Having time for yourself to do those things you want to do is incredibly important for your well-being. Sure, you aren’t going be able to go to the movies at 5:43 in the morning, but you can go for a walk, watch something on Netflix, paint, draw, learn a new skill….Opportunities are honestly endless. I’m not going to go through all of the benefits, but I’ve put some decent, and fairly quick reads in the sources. 9 10
  2. Tony Robbins (A Motivational Speaker) says that you should do an HOUR OF POWER! This sounds cheesy. Oh yes, yes indeed it does. You know why? Because it is cheesy! What exactly is an hour of power? It’s time taken to listen to/Do anything that motivates you. Maybe you could spend your time being motivated by the current top selling audiobook. Maybe a youtube search of Motivational videos is what you need. Maybe your motivation comes from exercise, prayer, meditation or goal setting11. Whatever it is, DO IT! Doing so will help you feel better from the beginning of the day, straight through the end of the day. Basically, if it makes you scream “CARPE DIEM!” do it in the morning before you are obligated to doing anything else. Oh, and LifeHack suggests doing it for 30 minutes…that actually makes this a half hour of power…
  3. Steve jobs (You probably know who this guy was) says that you should ask yourself one question. And that question is “If today was the last day of my life, would I still want to do what I am about to do today?” No lie, the answer is probably always going to be no for me. If I knew that it was going to be my last day, I wouldn’t pack up my laptop, get in my car and drive 15 minutes down K-10 to the office. However, reflecting on your dislike of your job isn’t the purpose of this question. The purpose is to get you to think about how you are living your life and what you should change. If you find yourself answering no regularly, then you should consider a change. I’ve linked another WP blog 13 that has a ton more information, including the video where he said this quote, in the references. I’m not a huge fan of Apple or Jobs, but this is an inspirational question.
  4. Brian Tracy (an Author) States that you should eat a frog…not really. Ok, so he didn’t actually say eat a frog, but eat YOUR frog. Once you get into your motivated state, and you’ve answered the hard hitting questions, you should look at the things you desperately need to get done, but have been putting off. Essentially, the purpose of the “eat the Frog” idea is to get you to do one of 4 things 13 (Hey look, my research led me back to Lifehack!) Something you want to do, but don’t necessarily need to do. Something you don’t want to do, but need to do. Something you want to do and need to do. And/Or Something you don’t want to do, and don’t necessarily need to do. There’s an order in which you should do the things, but I look at this way, if you do anything, and you get it out of the way, then you’ve done something, and that is all that matters.
  5. Christin Galib (a banking executive) says that you should Plan and Strategize. I’m not surprised to see this kind of thing on this list. One of the biggest things you can do is map out what you are going to do with your day, with your week, year and even life. Using a strategy, or a laid out plan, to handle everything can actually help people that have attention issues, or need help following a plan. I suggest doing things from a larger picture and drawing them down to the microscopic point of view. Start with the BIG things, what are you wanting out of life. Do you have a set goal? If so, Write it down, if you have several, write them all down and map them together. The next thing to do is to mark it down to the year, what do you want to accomplish by the end of 20XX. (I’m stopping there, because I’m guessing that by 2100 nobody will be reading my blog). Bring this in to the end of the week, and then the end of the day. Rework the goals as the weeks/days pass. Overall, the main reasoning here is so you have clearly defined goals along a clearly defined path.

So there you have it, the 5 top things that I agree with. The other 5 are good, BUT I felt that these 5 were the better, and I didn’t want to write a book here. The other 5 are included below, but I still implore you to please go read the article and continue on.

Don’t stare directly at the sun.

Lucas C.

REMAINDER:

  1. Ursula Burns (the CEO of XEROX) says to burn your calories.
  2. Wendy Key (pharmaceutical Exec) says to jot down in your gratitude journal.
  3. Obie Mackenzi (BlackRob Managing Director) tells you to connect with your partnet.
  4. Manisha Thakor (MoneyZen wealth management) says to meditate and CLEAR YOUR MIND
  5. Judi Rosenthal (a financial planner) challenges you to cuddle and bond with your children.