Lung cancer is one of the leading causes of death in the United States. There will be approximately 159,260 deaths from lung cancer in the United States this year alone.

Despite smoking being the most common cause of lung cancer, more than 42 million Americans continue to smoke cigarettes. In case you are struggling with ditching the habit, here are some tips for quitting smoking.

1. Find a Substantial Reason to Quit

The best way to motivate yourself is to find a compelling reason to quit.

For many people, it’s to preserve their health. There are others who want to quit for the benefit of their loved ones.

Once you have identified your reason, remind yourself of it every day.

Place reminders on your phone, fridge, computer or even in your car. If your family is your reason for quitting, place their photo in your packet of cigarettes. Anytime you are about to light a cigarette, you will see their faces and think twice.

2. Understand the Damage That Smoking Does

If you require more motivation, spend some time looking into the health implications of smoking. In addition to causing lung cancer, smoking also increases your risk of having coronary heart disease, high blood pressure and cerebral infarction.

Your risk of having lung-related ailments also increases if you are a smoker. You’ll be prone to developing emphysema, chronic bronchitis and asthma attacks.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also suggests that, in addition to lung cancer, smoking can encourage cancers in other parts of the body, too. The list includes stomach, pancreas, liver, throat, kidney and bladder cancers.

Other health problems related to smoking are reduced sperm count, increased risk of type 2 diabetes, birth defects and stillbirth. It’s also associated with increased cataract risk and impaired immune system function.

3. Recognize the Symptoms of Nicotine Withdrawal

Once you have plenty of motivation to quit, it’s essential that you develop an understanding of the battle you’ll be facing. The first step is to know the symptoms of nicotine withdrawal.

The nicotine in cigarettes is what makes you feel good when you smoke. Nicotine stimulates your adrenal glands to produce adrenaline and give you a pleasurable feeling.

Some of the symptoms you may experience when withdrawing from nicotine include irritability, frustration, depression and anxiety. You can also experience headaches, fatigue, increased hunger and constipation.

By understanding the symptoms, you can create a plan to combat them.

4. Find Your Smoking Triggers

Most people have certain triggers that cause them to smoke or increase the number of cigarettes they light in a day.

For example, some people find themselves more compelled to smoke when they are drinking alcohol or after having a meal. Others have certain places or activities that make them more inclined to smoke.

One of the greatest tips for quitting smoking is to identify your triggers so that you’ll be able to deal with the compulsion.

If you find yourself smoking when drinking alcohol, replace it with another activity, like eating pistachios. This will keep your hands busy and reduce your compulsion to smoke.

5. Keep a Journal

To help you identify and remember your triggers, use a journal to keep track of your activities and how much you smoke each day.

You’ll be surprised to find how your emotions can affect your smoking habits. A journal is a good reminder that smoking is both a psychological and physiological addiction.

6. Throw Out Anything Associated with Smoking

Go around the house and remove anything associated with your habit. All your ashtrays, antique pipe collection and lighters must go.

You need to keep an eye out for anything that might trigger your cravings for cigarettes. As much as possible, remove the smell of cigarettes from your home as well so you don’t have a constant reminder of tobacco.

7. Cold Turkey Rarely Works

No matter how tough you think you are, quitting smoking is not an easy task- even if you go cold turkey.

According to research, most people who do manage to quit by going cold turkey relapse shortly afterward. The figures are shocking as only 3 to 6 out of 100 smokers quitting through the said approach manage to ditch the habit for good.

The most successful way to quit is to create a plan that will gradually reduce your nicotine consumption.

8. Use Nicotine Replacement Therapy

Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) uses gums, pills, patches, inhalers, lozenges or mouth sprays to deliver nicotine to your system as you reduce your cigarette intake. Studies indicate that people who use NRT are 50-70% more likely to successfully quit smoking.

Nicotine is the addictive component of cigarettes.

9. Keep Your Mouth Busy

Many cigarette smokers experience a compulsion to do something with their hands and mouth when they attempt to quit smoking. Directly address this problem by chewing gum, sucking on lozenges or eating pistachios to keep your hands and mouth preoccupied.

Some smokers gain weight when they are quitting because they begin to consume more candy. Instead of indulging in sweets, try selecting healthy treats like nuts.

10. Take Pills to Reduce the Effects of Smoking

There are medications available to help you quit smoking, such as Chantix and Zyban.

Chantix attempts to reduce the stimulatory effect that nicotine consumption has on the brain. Zyban, on the other hand, is a mild antidepressant that can reduce the negative impact of nicotine withdrawal.

It is important to remember that both of these drugs have some possible side effects.

11. Supplemental Treatments

A wide range of supplemental treatments has been reported helpful when it comes to nicotine withdrawal.

Aromatherapy, hypnotherapy, acupuncture and massage have great benefits to people aspiring to quit smoking. Deep breathing exercises and other relaxation techniques work well, too.

12. Ask For Help

In recent years, the government has been spending millions of dollars on programs to help people quit smoking. You can use the Internet to see what free programs and help lines are available in your area.

You could also quit with a friend who smokes or seek professional medical help for a safer process. It’s a good idea to ask your family to help as well.

The more help you have, the easier the quitting process.

13. Keep Busy

Nicotine withdrawal can also make you feel restless. To address this, try to keep yourself busy.

Take up a new hobby, wash your car or go hiking. You can also go for a quick jog or go out to lunch with your friends.

A busy schedule will help you forget about your nicotine cravings. Keep in mind, however, that you still need to avoid stressful activities as they can be smoking triggers.

See Also: Spiritual Pointers for Quitting a Bad Habit 

14. Hang Out With Healthy People

If you have non-smoking friends who live healthy lifestyles, spend more time with them. Their enthusiasm for fitness and being healthy will help you overcome your cigarette addiction.

15. Use Technology to Beat Cigarettes

There are applications for quitting smoking which you can download to your smart phone. Good examples include Quit It Lite, Quit Smoking, My Last Cigarette and ButtOut.

Most of these applications are free or cost a few dollars, so experiment with them to find the best one.

16. Create a Strategy and Schedule

If you can create a detailed plan using the mentioned tips for quitting smoking, your chances of succeeding will be greatly increased.

A good way to start your plan is by drafting a quitting schedule with a start date and a number of milestones. Use these milestones as markers for every symptom you’ll be able to overcome.

For example, 14 days after quitting, your circulation and lung capacity should improve. After 28 days, you will have less shortness of breath and be able to exercise more strenuously.

See Also: How a Healthy Lifestyle Affects Your Career 

Quitting a habit is not an easy task. However, with the right preparation and these tips for quitting smoking, you’ll be able to beat your addiction and live a healthier life in no time.

 

 

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Countries around the world experience division in so many ways. They can be divided by religion, caste systems, and even educational background. In some places, socio-economic standings count, too.

This particular article, however, will focus on language.

A cultural divide due to languages restricts people from socializing with each other. Take, for example, a person from a British-English speaking background. When he socializes with an American-English person, he may feel alienated due to their differences in accent and lifestyle.

For a person who is a non-native in an English-speaking country, embracing the region’s culture can be difficult. Since the person can’t easily mingle with the natives, he’ll feel left out and insecure. Because of these feelings, he’ll likely withdraw more.

A cultural division due to languages doesn’t only happen in English-speaking countries.

Mandarin Chinese is one of the most spoken languages in the world. Despite this, not everyone in the world knows how to speak it.

For a first time traveler, surviving a trip to China alone is near to impossible. He needs to bring along someone who knows a thing or two about Chinese culture. If not, he’ll feel very much unwelcome.

One good reason is misconception. For people who know how to speak Mandarin Chinese, it’s easy to downplay others who can’t even understand its basic words and phrases.

Because it’s a widely spoken language, they expect other people to know it, too. And when foreign people can’t engage in small talks with the natives, they’ll consider them unfriendly and a snob.

However, what those natives don’t know is that the foreign people are just experiencing difficulty understanding their language and communicating.

People aren’t always expressive with these misconceptions. In fact, they are implied most of the time and it is what makes things a lot more complicated.

In many South Asian nations, being fluent in English means being successful. They think that English speakers are smart, witty and intelligent.

The ability to speak in a foreign language gives one an edge in the corporate world. Because of this, a lot of people try to learn the most influential languages in the world to get better career opportunities and experience professional growth. Some of these people even travel abroad just to master the languages.

When they get home, however, natives consider them as too good for their community. This, as a result, leads to isolation and the gap becomes even wider.

The Solution

To bridge this gap, we must learn to appreciate diversity. People are different and so are the languages they speak.

Despite these differences, we should still learn more about other people’s languages. Being a native of one country doesn’t mean that you don’t have any right to learn another country’s language.

Think of it as a way to connect with other people.

Natives think that foreign people aren’t friendly because they are not talking to them. Foreign people, on the other hand, feel isolated and unwelcomed because natives aren’t reaching out to them.

By taking the time to learn a foreign language, we will be able to avoid these misconceptions. And the lesser these misconceptions are, the more we can prevent cultural divide due to languages.

See Also: 5 Tips to Learn Languages by Reading Foreign Books

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You get stopped by a police officer on one of those nights that you have been out with your friends having a good time. None of you expected to be charged with any offense- until the police handed the breathalyzer.

Driving while intoxicated is not condoned in any state. For this exact reason, knowing how you can defend yourself in case you get caught is extremely essential. One of the best DUI tips is to get a lawyer.

Here are 5 good reasons why:

• The law is too complicated

Different states have different laws that govern them. A DUI lawyer knows those laws inside and out and can, therefore, find a good way to get you out of trouble.

• Lawyers are good negotiators

Until the questions start to get asked, it’s easy for you to feel relaxed and at ease. However, once the questioning begins, you’ll feel tense and in a turmoil. You might even find it hard to think of any clear answer.

If you have a lawyer to represent you, your lawyer will know exactly how to negotiate with the authorities. A good lawyer will keep things from getting out of hand. He/she will negotiate on your behalf and can increase your chances of the judge ruling in your favor.

See Also: How Long Does It Take A DUI To Fall Off Your Driving Record?

• Not hiring a lawyer is expensive

If you have ever been to a court proceeding, then you must know that there are court fees and charges that you need to pay as the case proceeds. In some instances, especially if you do not have a lawyer, you may end up spending a lot more than what you are supposed to-  and still be found liable.

Before going to court without a lawyer, make sure you’ve considered and reconsidered your options as going without a lawyer might prove even more expensive in the long run.

• The other party will have a lawyer

Not having a lawyer to inform you about court procedures can leave you vulnerable during trials. When you are being charged against the state, that’s the last thing you would want to happen.

Keep the upper hand during trials by planning and preparing with your lawyer. He knows exactly what to do.

• You are more likely to win the case with a lawyer

Every person charged with DUI needs a great defense for his case. It isn’t easy to figure one out on your own and this is exactly why you need a DUI lawyer.

Those who are convicted of DUI must spend time behind bars. The amount of time varies depending on the number of times you’ve been charged with DUI. When there is a lawyer working on your case, he might be able to help keep you out of jail or, at least, lessen the time you’ll be required to stay there.

DUI has many laws surrounding it. Unfortunately, most people are unaware of those laws and it is what puts them at risk of getting convicted. If you don’t want to add to these people, hire a lawyer to handle your case. It’s one of the best DUI tips to follow.

See Also: 5 Seriously Easy Ways to Get Home Safe from Your Holiday Party

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If you’re a freelancer, juggling multiple balls in the air is a must-know trick. One way to learn that trick is to know how to properly manage your time, systems, and files.

As a way to help you, we’ve put together the ultimate guide for managing PDFs — every smart freelancer’s go-to tool — that will leave you more time to spend on your other tasks.

Extracting Certain Portions

Let’s say you’re receiving PDFs from a client or a collaborator or you want to re-use a photo from a previous PDF that you’ve made — what do you do? Your best move is to take a screenshot, crop it down and save the result as a JPG file.

You can also use the Adobe software. Simply hit “Edit” after opening the document in Acrobat and modify the file as needed. You can consider using an online option to split a file into various components, too.

You can even convert a PDF to JPG with web-based extractors, like ExtractPDF and ZonePDF.

Marking & Annotating

Part of managing your PDF files is being able to mark them up.

This is especially useful to copywriters who need their copies and drafts critiqued and marked up. Designers who frequently require client feedback on the first or second iterations of their designs will find this useful, too.

There are several apps that can allow you to create markings, annotations, and corrections by highlighting, striking through, and adding images to the document. Simply save the additions using the software and you’re ready to send and share.

Good examples include Penultimate or GoodReader.

Merge & Split

Knowing how to merge and split files or bring separate documents together in one document is an important trick for freelancers, especially those who are managing teams.

Let’s say, for example, you created productivity tools, like calendars and planners separately and wanted to combine them all in one “Bonus Package”. You can use apps like PDF Merge and Split and ZonePDF to get the job done.

Just use the special Page Selection tool to create your own order or set the web-based PDF tool where you want to start the split. Then, you can email yourself the results or share them with other team members.

See Also: How to Merge PDF Files

Repair Damaged or Corrupted Files

Repairing and troubleshooting corrupted PDF files is a tricky process, so stick with us.

First, check that your version of Adobe Reader is up to date and it’s not the issue. If it is, update to the latest version.

If it’s not the reader and it is indeed your file, consider downloading an alternative reader such as Sumatra PDF, Okular, and Evince. In case none of these options work, try restoring a previous version of the file on your computer or an external hard drive.

Luckily, Word stores hidden copies of auto-saved files locally. These usually have the extension .tmp (for “temporary”) so try and run a search.

Signing Documents

This is a great feature you can use with Acrobat. It allows you to send out proposals and contracts as well as invoices with signatures and have the service email you a copy.

To get started, pull the PDF in Adobe Acrobat. Choose “Prepare Form” from the menu and select signature boxes from the options.

Place the boxes where you would like the receiver to sign. Make sure to sign the form yourself then hit “Send for Signature” and enter the receiver’s email. The service will not only send a copy to your client, but it will also save you a copy. It can even let you know when the form has been viewed and signed.

How’s that for service?

Make It Interactive

Managing your PDFs well means making sure they’re being used and read. If you’re preparing a survey for feedback, for example, you want to make sure your user is answering all the questions and saving the responses.

Likewise, you also want to make sure your content is engaging. Part of the reason why PDFs are preferred over any other document type is their ability to get interactive. You can add multimedia content like videos and audio files.

You can also add hyperlinks and buttons to help readers navigate through the document without scrolling and text boxes for users to save their responses.

Hook It Up To Another App

PDFs are so well-known and used that third-party apps don’t just allow viewing and editing anymore. You can now integrate them into your daily system, too.

Using third party apps like IFTTT or Zapier, you can create a fillable PDF form and allow recipients to fill, save and send.

When they send the form, instead of getting a flurry of random PDFs clogging your inbox, you can set a “rule” that will direct all responses to a Google Docs spreadsheet saved in your Drive.

See Also: How to Edit PDFs With Preview in Mac OSX Leopard

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A lot of people work more than they should and don’t get enough rest. Paired with being underpaid, these things can easily make anyone unhappy. They can also cause a handful of health issues.

If you are wondering if you’re at risk of these negative effects, here are some of the telltale signs of overworking.

You Have Trouble Sleeping

Studies have found that overworking can negatively impact your sleep. The stress you get from working too much in a day can disrupt your sleep cycle. The result is what sleep experts call “sleep debt” and it can raise your risk of heart disease, stroke, and diabetes.

What to do: Make sure that you get enough sleep every night, preferably 7 to 8 hours. Don’t listen to “sleep experts” that say you’ll be fine with just five hours of sleep.

Your Work Quality Suffers

Researchers have found that stress and exhaustion brought by overworking can reduce efficiency in workers. Inefficient workers are more likely to make mistakes and poor judgment. They find it harder to communicate and they take a longer time to finish their tasks

What to do: Take lots of breaks while working. Don’t work if you can’t think straight. Outsource admin or writing tasks so you can use your time to rest.

You are Gaining or Losing Too Much Weight

When you’re stressed, you’re less likely to pay attention to your eating habits. Because you’re too worried about work, you may not notice that you’re eating less or more than what you are supposed to.

What to do: Log your food intake and count your calories to make sure you’re having enough for the day. Try to move away from your desk and do little exercises even for a few minutes while working.

You Find it Hard to Be Creative

Wonder why some days you can easily finish a 2000-word article while there are days you can barely write 500 words?

Lack of creativity is one of the signs of overworking.

If you continue working even when your mind is troubled, you’re less likely to finish anything. You can even end up staring at the same blank page for hours.

What to Do: Relax after an hour or two of working. Do something that inspires you, like watching a movie or reading a good book.

See Also: Here’s How to Get Creativity Bursting Out of Your Eyeballs

You Get Pissed Off Easily

Overworking makes you more irritable than usual. If you find yourself getting mad more easily or being rude to almost everyone, it’s time to take a break from work.

What to Do: Don’t make decisions when you’re mad, tired or depressed. Try to calm yourself by taking a bath, having a nap or taking a walk.

See Also: How To Make Better Decisions: 4 Smart Strategies You Can Use

You Look Older than Your Age

There’s nothing bad about growing old- we’ll all get there eventually. The problem, however, is when you start looking older than your actual age.

If you are still in your 20’s but you already look like you’re in your 40’s, there’s something wrong with your lifestyle. And it could be that you’re working too much.

What to Do: Stop stressing too much at work. Negative facial expressions won’t only drain your happiness but they can also make you look older. Smiling and staying positive, even under pressure, keeps the wrinkles away.

Your Heart Rate Increases

When you’re calm, your heart rate will stay at a normal range (60 to 100 beats per minute). However, if you’re overworked and stressed, your body compensates by increasing the blood flow to your heart and brain. This results in your heart rate increasing.

What to Do: If you find your heart rate increasing, try to get some rest. Take a short nap or sleep longer at night to conserve your body’s energy.

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Making money with social media is no longer a myth. In fact, you can even do it without breaking a sweat. There a lot of opportunities for those who are actively online, but to give you specific ideas on how you can actually earn, here are five good ways you can try.

Social Media Manager

This wouldn’t make you eye-boggling sums but it will make you some cool side cash if you find the right gig. If you have had real success in getting people to notice, like, comment on or share your posts across social media platforms, then you already have the basic requirements.

Companies that know how social media is no longer an option in the 21st century can hire you to manage their social media marketing campaigns, design social media strategy and manage their platforms. What you just have to do is to know what these companies are. Most of the time, these are private contractor’s jobs that can be done remotely.

Make Money Off Of Your Videos

Not everyone can swing this admittedly, so I guess it may not be an “easy tip” for everyone. But, if you have an engaging personality, sense of humor, a unique perspective and considerable knowledge of a particular subject, then you can do a lot of things with social media.

You can monetize your YouTube Channel, for instance, by being a vlogger and posting videos. Once they go viral, you can get a reasonable side income. Apart from virality, you can also earn revenue by joining the Youtube Partner Program which basically allows Google to install ads at the start of your videos.

Take, for example, Grace Helbig. She creates fun Youtube videos and shares them on her other social media accounts.

You could also coach someone remotely. With the engagement that social media has brought about, you can do almost anything that can be done personally through a video tutorial, Skype or even over e-mail.

If you have an area of expertise and reasonable knowledge to help someone with, you can offer your services via social media like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Charge a fee for your services and make that cash.

You can even use a YouTube channel to upload your tutorials on a general basis and then promote them via other social media platforms.

Make Money Off Of Your Photos

If you are an avid Instagram user and post various original photos across social media, you can turn that into a paying gig. However, before this gig can fly, you would probably have to have built a following and made people reasonably aware of your work and the quality of your work.

You can promote your work with platforms like Flickr or you can offer your work so people can use them for free on their websites. Once you are able to increase the number of people who are aware of your work, you can join paying sites like Shutterstock or iStockphoto. If someone takes interest in your work, he’ll be required to pay for your pictures before using them on his blogs.

Utilize Your Instagram Account

I can safely say that Instagram has a proven track record of conversion for businesses than most platforms. Its visual and captivating nature make it a great ground to start from.

You probably didn’t know that you could monetize your Instagram account, did you? Well, you can!

While you can’t make purchases from Instagram yet, its unique features make it a great place for showcasing your work. With platforms like Like2b.uy, which is designed to allow your followers to buy what they’ve seen in your feed with just a few clicks, you’ll be earning good cash in no time.

For you to experience this, you may need to add a third-party app. “Shop Instagram” or ” As Seen on Instagram” are great choices since they only need to be added to a part of your homepage. You can also link them in your Instagram bio or your website so you can drive traffic there

JennieKwonDesigns is one of those people who has had great success with this trick.

 

See Also: How to Increase Your Instagram Followers in 2017

Sell Your Art And Songs

Instagram and Tumblr are great means to test the waters with your artwork. When you get great responses, you can then utilize them to sell prints and other merchandise through online stores, like Etsy or Big Cartel.

If you can make great beats, jingles and good music, places like Soundcloud are one of the best and easiest to use platform that can help you get your work noticed. You can share the SoundCloud link to all your social media platforms and get instant downloads. Who knows who will hear your work?

See Also: 3 Things You Should Know Before Pursuing A Songwriting Career

There are a lot more options like Freelance writing, selling an e-book, and you can even come up with one! The opportunity to make money from social media is relatively endless. You just have to figure out what will work best for you.

Go make some money!

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When you were in grade school, you probably experienced getting threatened with your permanent record. Most teachers and parents would warn their students to behave properly and get good grades because they will be in their permanent records. Unfortunately, this isn’t really the case.

Unless you are planning to go into the Secret Service, your permanent record starts collecting dust approximately 10 minutes after college graduation. Sure, those grades are important to get you scholarships and into the right clubs and organizations, but outside of that, your boss really doesn’t care what your GPA was in college. Your grades won’t be enough to get you through life.

Most interviewers know within a few minutes of interviewing you whether they would hire you for a position at their company. In most cases, their decision has nothing to do with your college transcript.

Employers are looking for good communication skills. They’ll assess if you can communicate clearly and effectively with the team as well as with clients. They’ll check if you can make a great team player as well as look into your leadership potential. Being able to solve problems and follow directions are things they’ll test, too.

There are plenty of large companies that look for graduates from top colleges and universities. In fact, Facebook, Google, Morgan Stanley and Microsoft all hire a large percentage of their employees from top 200 schools. That doesn’t mean you will never get in the door with a degree from a lesser school, though. You will just have to be able to show that you have the skills and the drive to succeed.

In college, you won’t learn everything you will need to succeed at life. There are still loads of work to do after graduation. You can start by understanding the importance of soft skills.

Do you need to work on being a better team player? Could your written communication skills use a little polish? Should you be fine-tuning your verbal communication skills?

Apart from communication skills, you also have to make sure your resume is a killer. Many companies receive more than 300 resumes for one position and they can only call about a dozen people or so for an interview. Having a resume that stands out from the pack is crucial to getting that call back.

See Also: 16 Worst Resume Mistakes

If you do get that call for an interview, make sure you dazzle them. Make the interview an opportunity to prove that you are a good fit for the company. Practice your nonverbal cues since they can tell an interviewer a lot about you that aren’t going to be on your resume or on your transcript.

A third of interviewers rely on nonverbal cues to determine whether they would hire an applicant within the first 90 seconds of the interview. Do your homework on the company before you go in. Being informed can set you apart from the crowd, especially when tons of applicants don’t really know anything about the company they are applying for.

Asking questions can also be a great way to demonstrate your soft skills during the interview process.

See Also: 6 Interview Hacks That Are Sure To Land You The Job

Once you get the job, your opportunities to continue to develop your soft skills are not over. If you want to be able to take on opportunities for advancement, be sure to take on new projects as a way to develop yourself personally and professionally.

Learn more about the importance of soft skills and why you shouldn’t be leaning on your GPA from this infographic below. Learning doesn’t stop when you leave the classroom!

Source

 

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While time management apps help us configure and control our schedules, it is still best to exercise time management skills and create a habit out of them. Maximum productivity, after all, is reached when one is able to produce more results in a shorter period of time.

To help you kickstart that habit, here’s a rundown of seven of the most effective tricks and tips to establish better time management!

Manage your day according to your prime time

Our energy levels differ from one another. Not everyone can wake up before 6 A.M. to be the best and most productive versions of themselves. The same goes for the early birds who are most likely to have low energy levels by the time the clock strikes 9 P.M.

To increase productivity, it is recommended that you take advantage of your biological prime time (BPT). Your BPT is the time of the day when your energy level is at its peak. In essence, it is when you feel most alert and productive.

Once you have determined your BPT, organize your day not by time blocks for each activity, but by the amount of energy you will spend on it. For instance, you can work on proposals and reports in the afternoon, if you’re more focused by then than in the morning.

While this technique may not explicitly be about time management, keep in mind that the end goal of time management is productivity. By taking advantage of your BPT, you’ll be able to achieve exactly that.

Take advantage of your downtimes

“I don’t have time for that.”

Whenever I hear this statement, I always do an imaginary headshake. I regard this statement as an excuse. There is always time for everything. It’s just a matter of effective time management, of course.

People tend to forget that downtime can mean extra time to accomplish things. For example, if you’re an early riser and you can manage to wake up at least 30 minutes before everyone else in your household, you can use this time to visualize how your day will go.

Identify the most crucial tasks of the day and schedule when you need to accomplish them. You can even do this while showering!

For commuters, maximize your commute time for small tasks, such as checking your e-mail, gathering updates on a project you’re working on or following up on a client.

You can also turn your lunch break into a working lunch session, instead of just having lunch at your desk or outside. This way, you’ll be able to cross off client meeting and lunch on your to-do list at the same time. Who knows, you might even close a deal!

It really isn’t about having the time, but more of making time, especially for your day’s important tasks.

Set a time limit for each activity

When I schedule my day, I block off at least 30 minutes for an activity. For example, 7:30-8:00 on Thursday evenings are for yoga; 10:00-11:00 on Tuesday mornings are for project A and the same time slot on Wednesday mornings are for project B.

Setting up an allotted time for each activity can remind you of deadlines and schedules that need to be followed. Time limits can also reduce distractions and drive you to focus more on the task at hand. This way, you ensure not only the completion of a project within its expected timeframe but quality, too.

Group related tasks

A usual office work day includes meetings with clients and business associates, writing reports and presenting project proposals. If you have the same routine at work, you can schedule related activities together.

Say you have two client meetings, a business presentation and three reports scheduled in one day. You can set the client meetings in the morning, do the business presentation during lunch and tackle the reports in the afternoon.

In doing so, you exercise the same mindset for related activities which can help you in working smarter.

Reduce meeting time

I know many would agree when I say that meeting time is one of those most dreadful things in our schedules. Meetings tend to be unproductive and they eat too much of our time, without really accomplishing anything.

The best remedy to this is to cut meeting time by at least 25 percent.

As much as possible, try to inform everyone about what will be discussed during the meeting. Around thirty minutes prior to the scheduled meeting, you can give them an outline of the talking points so that they can have an idea of what will be discussed.

Not only will this help everyone prepare for the meeting and bring up relevant concerns, it will also keep them focused on the subject.

You can also consider the three P’s for effective meeting facilitation: purpose, process, and people.

Determine the purpose of the meeting by knowing what it is for and what needs to be addressed. Then, determine how to go about the meeting. Decide whether it will be a presentation or a discussion. Lastly, get the right people to attend the meeting.

The three P’s will help you accomplish more within a shorter meeting time because they ensure that the meeting is on track and that the topic discussed is heard by the appropriate people involved.

Another trick to keeping meetings short is to conduct it standing up.

Consider interruptions and distractions

Distractions are, most of the time, inevitable. Because of this, it is best if you can take them into account and include them in your schedule.

Set aside fifteen minutes in the morning and in the afternoon to check for e-mail updates and scroll through your social media sites. Give your daily schedule some leeway to accommodate an urgent meeting or an emergency phone call.

Once a colleague knocks on your door, be ready to either tell him to come back in a few minutes or give him spare 5-10 minutes of your time to talk about his concern.

You also need to determine whether an interruption is urgent or not. This way, you’ll be able to identify whether it can be put off for later or not.

Take five

Taking short breaks in between work is as important as scheduling and prioritizing when it comes to productivity. In fact, it keeps you from maxing out your energy and potentially suffering from a burnout.

In the Pomodoro technique, the five-minute break after every 25-minute work session is necessary because it helps lessen anxiety and regain focus.

See Also: 5 Techniques for Increasing your Focus in 5 Minutes

Dr. James Levine of Mayo Clinic recommends that breaks be included in a daily routine to maximize work effectivity. It benefits one’s mental and physical health because it reduces stress, allows your eyes to relax and improve memory retention, concentration and attention span. It also helps one to step back from the task and re-evaluate his or her goal.

So don’t fret too much about taking a much-needed break!

See Also: 5 Quick Fixes To Improve Your Mental Health

The post Take 7: Seven Tips For A Better Organization Of Your Time appeared first on Dumb Little Man.

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A lot of people struggle with starting a workout regimen. A lot of them lay out several excuses in order to postpone their training sessions.

This is where motivation kicks in.

Depending on the type of your personality, you have to find one specific motivation to get you up and running for your workout program. One of the best and most interesting motivators you can find is technology.

No matter if you are an amateur or a professional, you can take advantage of the latest technologies in order to track your progress. If you love the old ways of tracking workouts, you can always choose to do so as well. The most important thing is that you organize and track your progress.

Why should you track your workout?

When you start a workout regimen, the exercise selection is fairly small and you can easily remember the number of reps per workout you can make.

However, as you get in better shape, the more routines and variations you can make. It now becomes impossible to keep all the information in your head.

This is one good reason why tracking your activity is a necessary step.

Additionally, writing down everything that you do during every workout is going to show how fast you are progressing. It’s a good way to get a clearer idea of what changes and adjustments you need to make. By doing this, you can create a more efficient regimen that is going to bring you better results.

What are the best ways to track your progress?

It’s quite simple to accurately track your progress. First of all, it all depends on your personality. You can focus on a few important details or keep track of all workout-related information.

Here are a few examples:

Calendar

This is the most common way of tracking your workout activity. This type of tracking allows you to plan out the days on which you are going to perform your workouts. Thanks to modern smartphones, you can have a calendar with you at all times.

Electronic calendars can store more information about your workouts. Plus, there are reminders that you could set to notify you about your upcoming workout schedules.

If you prefer an old-school approach, you can hang a calendar on a wall and track your activities with a pen. This is the easiest way of tracking your workout progress. However, it does not a lot of space for details, except your schedule and the number of repetitions you are able to perform.

See Also: 5 Ways to Make a Workout Schedule that WORKS

Online websites

There are lots of great online tools that can help you track your workout progress. One good example is bodybuilding.com. Apart from tracking, the website offers a big community of people who share the same interests as yours. This is a perfect way to acquire new information about different exercises and workout routines.

Another website that offers a lot of tracking details is thesquattingrack.com. In this site, you have to input a whole set of information about your current workout progress. From there,  you can track your personal records, like weight lifting and squatting. You can even track your body measurements and nutrition plan.

Based on all this information, a graph is projected to give you an overview of your progress curve. Since all the data is straightforward, you can easily see what kinds of adjustments would make your workouts more efficient.

Workout gadgets

As consumer technology quickly developed in the past couple of years, an increasing number of people begun relying on various types of gadgets, too. These devices are groundbreaking, as they offer numerous detailed data about a person’s physical activity throughout the whole day.

There are a variety of trackers out there and it all comes down to your personal preference. These are some of the most popular fitness gadgets in the world that are used by millions of people:

● Fitbit Blaze is a great choice for people who want to wear a tracker that is also fashionable. This Fitbit product serves its purpose perfectly, just like the majority of their other gadgets.

● Garmin Vivosmart HR offers a variety of different notifications for you throughout the day. The optical technology behind this useful gadget is fit for precise measurements of your heart rate. It is a perfect device for those who want to stay in the target HR values to maximize calorie expenditure during the workout.

● Jawbone UP2 is a device with a greatly simplified design. It tracks all of your activity throughout the day and the software that it comes with is fairly easy to use. If you prefer having a screen on your tracker, however, this is probably not the best choice for you.

Keep in mind that this device is much cheaper than the competition, despite offering accurate information.

● Misfit Shine 2 is a beautifully designed tracker with an incredibly accurate data tracking feature. If you want a device that offers top notch data, this is probably the one you should go for.

These are only some of the trackers that are available on the market today. The thing with wearable technology is that it constantly monitors your body’s state even when you are asleep.

The goal of these devices is to improve your whole lifestyle by providing you with accurate details about your calorie expenditure and activities.

Smartphones

If you are someone who doesn’t like carrying a lot of different gadgets, you can turn your smartphone into a great activity tracker. These devices are equipped with various sensors that can be used to track your daily activity levels.

The more important part when it comes to using your smartphone as a fitness tracker is picking the right software for your device. If you do your research well, you’ll be able to find the best solutions on websites like CrowdReviews.com.

With the right application on your phone, you can get almost all of the details as the abovementioned trackers have to offer. You can track your heart rate during the workouts as well as the calories burned and distance covered. The majority of tracking apps can also show you graphs of your progress.

Most of the apps are free, but if you want advanced options unlocked, you may need to invest a little bit of money – roughly around $2-5.

If you are satisfied with basic information about your day, Google Fit is a great way to track your progress. Other big companies such as LG and Samsung offer their own fitness trackers that can be integrated with Google Fit.

With so many options, it really comes down to personal preference. No matter what method you choose, the most important thing is that you keep your tracker with you at all times.

Tracking workouts and progress can be quite motivating. It will just depend on how much time you are willing to dedicate to it. Once you get the hang of it, you can easily make plans for your next routine.

See Also: Finding your Fitness Passion

The post Tracking Your Workout Activity: Several Ways You Can Do It appeared first on Dumb Little Man.

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If you’re bored by the games you see every day, it’s probably the right time you try something new and unusual. Your best bets are games that came straight out of a film or book.

There are a number of sports seen in fiction stories that fans have wanted to play ever since they read about them. Fortunately, some of those fans were inventive enough to find ways to replicate them and make them work in real life.

Here are five examples of the sports that were inspired by fiction stories- and a guide on how to play them.

Quidditch

Quidditch appeared in the immensely popular Harry Potter series and has been in books, films and plays. Because of how popular it is, fans have had plenty of source materials on which to base the rules.

The original version of Quidditch had players flying through the sky on magical broomsticks which were called “Nimbus 2000” and “Firebolt 3000”. Their main goals were to throw balls through hoops, beat off aggressive and independent Bludger balls, and catch the tiny, golden Snitch.

The real-life version is much more grounded. Although players still have broomsticks, some factors were not the same. Players, for example, need to hold the sticks up by clutching them between their legs.

They need to throw balls through the hoops. However, rather than trying to fight off Bludgers, the players, called “Beaters”, have to throw deflated dodgeballs at the opposite team to knock them out of play temporarily.

The Snitch, meanwhile, is a lot easier to see than in the Harry Potter series. In the real game, it’s attached to an impartial official who runs away from the seekers who aim to catch it.

Tridimensional Chess

Tridimensional, or sometimes “Tri-D”, chess is quite similar to the real world Three Dimensional Chess. This version, however, uses a specific board and is inspired by the sci-fi classic, Star Trek. It’s been shown in several episodes of the series.

In early depictions, there were no rules and the board often changed design from one scene to another. In general, the boards were vertically-arranged but their sizes differ.

With this, fans were able to put together real-world versions of the board and solidified the rules into a sensible set. It’s quite similar to normal chess and even more so to 3D chess, but the game has different moves and levels.

Pyramid/Triad

The original series of Battlestar Galactica came up with a game called “Triad”. In the game, players make limited steps while holding a basketball-like object and throwing it into a scoring area.

The game took place in a triangular zone called the “Triad”. As a result of the release of the new series, the game received a new name- “Pyramid”. The rules, however, remained roughly the same.

In real life, it’s a full contact game with safe zones and teams or individuals. Players can only take three steps before throwing the ball and must try to score a goal. Compared with the rules in the show, it’s one of the games on this list that’s closest to the fictional version.

True American

True American is a game that has its origins in the series, New Girl.

The original version was completely random, with the cast of the show improvising. Becase of this, fans had to make a set of stricter rules to make the game a lot more structured.

Without touching the floor, referred to as “lava”, players make their way to a castle in the center of the room. This area is made up of bottles of beer (the “pawns”) and spirits. The players have to drink them until they’re all gone.

The first player or team who is able to reach the center first and finish the bottles wins. Finally, before one can be declared as winner, he must be able to take a swig from a central bottle called the “king”.

Poohsticks

Poohsticks is the ideal game if you are looking for something relaxing. It comes from the children’s classic story, Winnie the Pooh, and has the same set of rules.

Players find a stick of their choice and stand on a bridge over a river. They drop or throw their sticks together onto the upstream side and goes to the other side of the river to see which stick reaches it first. The first one to emerge on the other side is the winner.

The game has a remarkably large following for such a simple game and that included numerous World Championships.

The real-life adaptation of the game was originally called Posingford Bridge. It was later reconceptualized using funding from Disney and was renamed as “Poohsticks Bridge”.

Other Sports Brought to Life By Fans

These aren’t the only games from fiction stories that have been adapted in real life. If you want to know the other games and understand more clearly the five games in this list, have a look at the infographic.

View Interactive Version

The post 5 Sports From Fiction You Can Try And How You Can Play Them appeared first on Dumb Little Man.

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