Do you know what to do on a long flight?
France, Asia, South America — they’re destinations that appear on nearly everyone’s bucket list. Yet most Americans’ passports are embarrassingly blank. The average American has visited just three nations. That means most of us have seen just a paltry 2% of the globe.
Perhaps one reason Americans don’t travel more is the long distances most of us have to fly to reach a foreign country. It certainly doesn’t help that, thanks to smartphones, we have a shorter attention span than a goldfish. I mean, what do you do when you’re crammed in a metal tube for six hours, anyway?
I once spent an hour-long flight watching the antics of two extremely inebriated individuals in the seats in front of me. I fully expected the police to meet us at the gate and haul them away. (No such luck, of course.) I’ve also noticed some people like to engage in another age-old pastime: making out all the way from Seattle to Denver.
However, if you’re not as easily amused or haven’t flown in a while, the days when you could load up on 15 gossip magazines to pass the time are long gone. Thanks to technology, there’s a lot of entertainment at your fingertips. You might even disembark at your destination wondering how you got there at all.
Here are some of my favorites:
That little screen in the back of your seat isn’t just for decoration. It’s your in-flight entertainment system, otherwise known as your window to the world. Want to watch the latest blockbuster or catch up on episodes of “The Bachelorette”? Binge-watch all you want.
Want information? Current events? Sheer laughs? Podcasts deliver all of that with a very low investment of energy. Just shut your eyes and drift off. Some airlines, including Qantas, have them built in to their in-flight entertainment systems. You don’t even have to worry about downloading them before your flight.
Has your phone been running a little slowly lately? Spend your air time trashing all those apps you never use and the accidental photos that are taking up space. While you’re at it, organize your apps by category.
Worried about communicating with the locals? By the time you land at your destination, you can at least have mastered “please,” “thank you,” and “Where’s the nearest bar?” Apps like Duolingo or Loecsen can help you get started.
See Also: 5 Effective Techniques To Learn A Language Faster
Log in to Spotify or 8tracks, and start making playlists for every category you can think of: travel, party, workout, road trip, etc. You’ll be so busy jamming by the time you touch down that you won’t even have noticed how much time has passed.
Instead of taking a chance on that potentially terrible in-flight movie, pick up a gritty crime novel at the airport. Depending on the airline, you may have a period of up to an hour between takeoff and landing when you won’t be able to use electronics. This is when books come in handy.
Those noise-canceling headphones shield your ears from engine noise, annoying seat belt sign dings, and the cranky toddler three seats behind you. If you can’t afford a $300 pair, even some foam earplugs can help you get some much-needed beauty sleep. Plus, if you snooze for a few hours, you’re almost halfway to your destination.
Remember, for the highest-quality sleep, go easy on the caffeine and alcohol. These substances dehydrate you and make your sleep less restful. Last but not least, guarantee restful sleep by bringing your own travel pillow. You’d be amazed how many different options there are these days.
As office drones know, it’s impossible to sit that long without fidgeting. Why should planes be the exception?
For the sake of your health, remember to get up every once in a while (when the seatbelt sign is off, of course). To get that blood flowing, you could even do some yoga.
Avoid a stiff neck by sitting straight up, with the crown of your head pointing toward the plane roof; then, slowly roll your neck around in a circle. Second, lift your arms straight up to release shoulder tension. Finish by lifting one leg and rotating your ankle in circles for a minute, then switch.
Tote along guidebooks or magazines. Decide which art museums to visit and the best night to go dancing. You may not be the type of person who breaks down every second of your trip. You can at least read up on the language, culture, and food. You’ll feel like a local as soon as you step off the plane.
See Also: Must-have apps for women who love to travel alone
A boring plane ride shouldn’t stand between you and the rest of the world. With a little planning, it doesn’t have to be boring at all. In fact, the flight might turn out to be your favorite part of the trip — right after that chocolate croissant on the Champs-Élysées!
The post Beyond the In-Flight Movie: 9 Ways to Beat Boredom in the Air appeared first on Dumb Little Man.
From the architect. The elegant and efficient sports centre at Latymer Upper School maximises the available space on a tightly constrained site, to create a centre for sporting excellence and ambition.
Latymer Upper School is an independent school for 1,200 pupils in Hammersmith, west London. The existing sports facilities were completed in 1980 and served the school well, helping to establish its reputation for sporting excellence. Fast forward to 2014, and the building was no longer fit for purpose.
The school’s ambition to maintain this strong sporting pedigree led to the decision to redevelop its existing offer with a state of the art swimming pool and sports centre. It was hoped that this would not only cultivate the next generation of world-class athletes, but also develop a wider appreciation of fitness and wellbeing within the whole student body.
The ambitious brief established the need for:
-A six lane swimming pool (25m) with a floating floor, to enable a water depth of two metres for speed orientated competition swimming, and shallower water for teaching and community use.
-Spectator seating.
-Fitness suite.
-Three large multi-purpose studios which could be combined to produce an exam hall.
-Renovation of the existing six court sports hall.
-Support accommodation for staff.
The site presented considerable challenges from both a physical perspective and a planning context.
The physical constraints included; a pedestrian underpass beneath the A4, a busy arterial route which arrives on the site in the centre of the northern boundary; and the existing sports hall, which had to remain in its present position. These constraints largely dictated the location of the new building, which would need to fill the available site to accommodate the school’s requirements.
From a planning perspective, whilst this was replacing an existing facility, the site was located within the vicinity of two listed buildings in a conservation area.
The design solution linked the two simple geometric volumes of the sports hall and pool block with a spine of accommodation that encompasses the main horizontal and vertical circulation routes. By stacking the studio spaces on top of the pool hall, this block supports a wide range of activities in a very small footprint. The creation of a large basement allowed for much of the building’s plant to be removed from the main body of the plan. This has the benefit of increasing the available space for the core functions and reducing the overall height of the structure, thereby producing a very elegant and efficient building
Externally, the expression of the building is very simple and restrained, with a palette of fibre-cement and glass. The primary volumes of the sports hall and swimming pool are clad in grey fibre–cement panels, modulated with different shades and sizes. The studio space is expressed as a cast-glass box ‘floating’ above the perimeter wall. Utilising a mixture of clear and translucent panels, the movement within the studios will present a constantly changing appearance: a living canvas which will, through shadow and silhouette, animate the elevation by day and night
Product Description. The architectural concept was a glass box – containing activity studios and fitness – over a concrete box containing a pool. The glazing to the upper box needed to be translucent with limited transparency to provide privacy, and insulation to provide thermal efficiency. Self-supporting, frameless Profilit panels were used – sandblasted and clear – which fulfilled these objectives.
Amazing Alabaster walkways in Canadian museum for Human Rights, Winnipeg 📸: @lavenderandlovage thanks !!
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You’re reading Avoid THIS Simple Mistake That Will Derail Your Entire Day, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.
I just had one of those days.
You know w I’m talking about…you’re at work with big plans for the day, then 8 hours later you hit the couch, and reflect on what just transpired:
“I didn’t do shit today.”
Am I right? Nothing bums me out more than starting the morning off right only to be derailed shortly after.
Looking back, I can pinpoint exactly what threw me off my game – a borderline useless meeting with my boss.
Experts say your morning often dictates your productivity and energy for the remainder of the day. Personal experience tells me this is true.
If I do something positive within the first few minutes of the day, I’m much more likely to ride that wave for the rest of my working hours.
On the reverse, if I sit around browsing Reddit or listening to a co-worker complain, it becomes much easier to throw in the towel. This sounds extreme, but it literally just happened, so it must be true.
The mistake I made this morning was letting someone else disrupt my core working hours. I am personally most productive between the hours of 7:30AM and 11:30AM. As a result, this is when I schedule my Most Important Tasks (MITs). When someone else steals my attention during these hours, the rest of my day goes to hell in a handbasket.
This morning was a classic example of that. I got into work with every intention of hitting the ground running. Instead, my boss called our team into a “meeting” to give us an impromptu, motivational, Monday-morning speech. You know the type.
“Five minutes of your time guys. Step in here for a quick chat,” he said. Almost fifty minutes later, I returned to my desk.
The result – at least for me – was the exact opposite of what he wanted to achieve. Rather than work through my list of to-do’s, I sat there completely dumbfounded and daydreaming. It was incredible what a small fraction of the day does to the rest. Whatever, his loss I guess, not mine.
The lesson I’m trying to convey here is really two-fold:
1. Start your day with positive action. This leads to more positive actions. I used to start my day by checking my phone, going through social media, emails, and whatever else was going on in the world. Now, I wake up, write in my gratitude journal, stretch, brew some tea, then get started with my day. I’m much more productive when I start off on the right foot.
Think of your day like building a snowman. You start with one little bit of snow and it eventually rolls into one giant ball after another. You can benefit from doing almost any positive habit, as long as it’s a conscious action. Brushing your teeth may not work since you’ve (hopefully) been doing it all your life. Instead, try meditating for a few minutes, doing some push-ups, or making your bed.
2. Once you get rolling, don’t let any non-essential distractions derail your day. You know yourself best and when you thrive. Do everything in your power to set aside that time for you and your MITs. Save any meetings, emails, or other “busy” work items for the afternoons when possible.
But Jason, what if something comes up and I absolutely have to do it? Great question. Hopefully, this won’t be the norm, but when it does happen, I’ve got a solution for you to try.
This is actually what I did today to get back on the track after that epic morning derailing.
Step 1. Allow yourself to be derailed. I know, this is counter-intuitive, but hear me out. When you’re feeling burnt out and like you want to sink into the couch, just let it happen. Let your mind wander and recharge for a bit. The trick is to give yourself a timer before you muster up the willpower to even attempt getting back on track. I like to set myself 15-20 minutes to allow myself to do stupid things before I start getting back into work mode again.
Step 2. Focus on small wins. Don’t immediately jump into your most challenging and longest task. This is a sure-fire way to completely ruin the rest of your day. Remember, productivity is like a snowman – when you get derailed, you need to slowly build back into it again. The easiest way to do this is to find a couple quick, easy tasks and knock them out of the way. You can actually start by doing something and simple as going to the bathroom. Then maybe do the dishes. If you work at an office, clean up your workplace a bit. Start off with a few tasks that take no more than 5-10 minutes total to complete. Now you’re ready to tackle the big stuff again.
Step 3. Work through your Most Important Tasks. With the productivity snowman starting to form, now’s the time to start working through your list. Remember to avoid distractions, resist the urge to procrastinate, and take short, timed breaks in-between your tasks.
In your work, remember that one good habit often leads to another, and don’t make the mistake of letting someone else’s agenda rule your day.
Jason Gutierrez teaches young professionals and entrepreneurs how to build better habits. He writes at themonklife.net about overcoming fear, making habits stick, and achieving peak performance. Sign up for his free newsletter to get practical advice and tips for becoming better, faster, healthier.
You’ve read Avoid THIS Simple Mistake That Will Derail Your Entire Day, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’ve enjoyed this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.
Sig Nordal 