Habit: before adding any new information source, remove an information source.

My main sources are google reader and twitter lists.  So, following this habit, I unsubscribe to one feed before adding a new feed, and unfollow one twitter account before adding another to a list.

If you are already overloaded, double the removes so this habit would be:

Habit: before adding any new information source, remove two information sources.

Mindfulness is essentially focusing on the present moment & letting go of thoughts and worries about the past and future.  Take the time to expand your awareness, notice what you see, smell, taste, hear, and feel.  Feel the physical sensations.  Notice, but don’t attach to thoughts that come into your consciousness.  Practice non-judgmental acceptance of your present experience.

Some daily activities that you can practice mindfully:  cooking, brushing your teeth, straightening up, washing your hands, walking to the restroom.

Please share any ideas for other activities that are chances for mindfulness practice.

Over the years, I’ve cobbled together a system for processing my email which has taken me from a high of over 2,000 emails in my inbox to close to zero*.  I’ve integrated ideas from a few places, including Getting Things Done (GTD) and Inbox Zero.  Gmail’s filtering, archiving, and keyboard shortcuts keep things simple and speedy.

Philosophy:

We have way too much information coming at us.  We all have limited time and brain capacity. To make room for what really matters in life, we need to do the following things: Process all e-mails once and only once, corral e-mail time so it doesn’t take over the day, keep things as simple as possible,  and get rid of the 80% of e-mails that really don’t matter.

Set up:

Gmail: 1. Enable Send & Archive; 2. Enable keyboard shortcuts

Task manager you can add tasks to via e-mail (Here’s how for Toodledo)

Flowchart:

Before starting:

• Schedule 1-3 times each day to process e-mail (only check more often than this if it is essential to your job).
• At the beginning of each processing session, ground yourself with a few deep breathes.
• Set your intention for processing.  Ask yourself what are your most important projects?  What 1 or 2 tasks will you gain the most from completing today. Your intention may be to keep in mind your priorities and let things go that don’t support them.
• Consider setting a time limit for processing.  I usually limit my processing to 15 minutes.

Processing:

• Open the top e-mail (o)
• Ask, “Does this really matter?”
  Quickly scan the subject and sender (& message body as needed.)  Hopefully, you have in your mind your priorities.  Does this really make a difference in achieving those priorities?  Are there consequences  to ignoring the e-mail?  Try to go with your gut.
• -> No.  Archive immediately ([).
  If this is an e-mail that never matters, for example from a listserv or an online shopping site, make a filter for it. (. then “filter messages like these”)
  I send all my coupons and online shopping e-mails straight to “Shopping” and listservs and newsletters to “Lists.”  It’s then easy for me to check for sales and coupons when I am looking to buy something  or to see what is in my Lists folder when I feel like reading.
• -> Maybe. Archive immediately ([).
  If you aren’t sure it matters, it probably doesn’t.  The beauty of archiving is that if it turns out to be important, you can easily retrieve the e-mail.  99 times out of 100, if something really matters, you will  be reminded about it some other way.
  Aim for clearing about 75% of your e-mail by archiving No’s and Maybe’s.
• If it does matter, ask yourself what you need to do with it
• Delegate
  Forward the e-mail & archive
  If you need to check on the progress later, you can use a service like followup.cc or a gmail filter
• Act
  * If it will take you 2 min or less, just do it. Then archive the e-mail ([).
  * Otherwise, add it to your todo system.
  I use Toodledo, which you can add tasks to through e-mail.  I just forward (f) to my special toodledo e-mail (which I named “toodleadd” in my contacts).  The subject line will be the task name, so I edit as needed.  If you are following GTD you can add @context, #due-date, and *project (for example, “Call client regarding color scheme @phone #tomorrow *clientA”)   I like to keep things simple, so I will usually only use #due-date, and then only if I really need it.
  I use send & archive (<esc> then <tab> then <enter>).  This takes me back to the inbox, so I press “o” to go to the next e-mail.
• Schedule
  If the e-mail is about an event or appointment, add it to calendar.  Then, archive ([).
• File
  Archive ([).  If needed, label (l) then archive ([).  Usually archiving is sufficient.
  I also like to set up filters that label e-mails from people who usually communicate with me about a particular project or job.  For example, students who are working with me on research get the label “Research”  This way all I need to do is archive.

* For a little bit of flexibility:  You can use the “j” shortcut to go to the next e-mail without archiving or acting on it.  It isn’t always realistic to process everything “perfectly,” and allowing yourself a little leeway will  help keep things moving along.

Wrap up:
When you’ve emptied your inbox, close gmail.  If you can stand it, only open it for specific tasks until your next scheduled processing.

I hope you found this helpful.  I would love to hear in the comments your gmail and email tips.

Source: Huffingtonpost

Soul-Talk: Why Your New Year’s Resolution Just Won’t Work

Ever wonder why those New Year’s resolutions don’t ever seem to work out? While it probably makes sense to work out more regularly, stick to a better diet or work on that bad habit, you have probably selected the wrong focus. If you want things to be different this time around, what you really need to do is ask yourself a few more questions rather than seeking a few more goals.

 

Let’s start with why going to the gym, dieting or stopping smoking matters in the first place. No one goes to the gym because going to the gym is the goal. If you have gym on your resolution list, ask yourself why going to the gym matters.

 

Once you get your first answer to “why gym,” take it another level deeper and ask “why does that matter.” You may have to go several levels deeper before you wind up with what really matters to you. For example, I recall working with Rob a few years back. He really wanted to get into a routine of working out at the gym three times a week. When I asked why that was important, he said he wanted to get back into shape. “Why is getting back into shape important?” I asked. “So I’ll feel good about myself.”

 

You can imagine where this might be heading. Sure, he didn’t feel good about himself in part because of his physical condition, but there were more significant issues underneath all that physical level image stuff. When I asked him if there were other things that made him feel not so good about himself, he began to open up to what really mattered to him.

 

He said that he had a sense of having let himself down over the years, picking goals and then shrinking from them. Underneath all of that he found that he lacked self-confidence, and along with that came a low sense of self-worth or self-esteem.

 

We then turned our attention to what would be true if he had more self-confidence and a greater sense of self-esteem. As we worked on these questions, he became increasingly aware of what really mattered to him, and he began to glow. The more he became aware of the difference between his inner and outer areas of focus, it was a pretty simple process of asking him to imagine how he would like to experience himself in the process of setting and accomplishing his goals. …he wanted to experience greater self-confidence and self-esteem.

 

The more he began to focus on building his sense of well-being and self-esteem, the more he began to realize that what he really wanted was to experience himself in alignment with a deeper aspect of who he truly was. This sense of inner alignment is often referred to in the worlds of psychology and personal development as having integrity or being authentic.

 

One useful definition of being authentic means presenting outwardly that which is also true inwardly, while having integrity can mean simply being “one with what is.” Rob was beginning to discover that his self-esteem and self-confidence issues arose less from what he did with his physical body and more from how well he reflected who he truly is in his day-to-day life. In other words, his quality of life came more from how he presented himself in the world than it did through what he did in the world.

…Read more

Habit #1: Repeat this affirmation daily: “I live my life with authenticity and make choices that are aligned with my soul.”
Details: It can help to set reminders throughout the day, for example using a smartphone app (such as a mindfulness bell or reminder app), or reminders on outlook or google calendar, and/or posting reminders around work and home.
Pass: At least saying the affirmation once a day

Habit #2: When setting a goal/planning, ask “why it matters?” and keep drilling down until get to what is really important to me.
Details: This is especially important as a habit for people who are constantly telling themselves they “should” do this or that, constantly planning and setting goals, but not really following through.

How would you break these ideas down into workable habits?

I’ve set up a 12 Habits for 2012 challenge, which may be straying from simplicity a bit, but sounds fun to me.  However, in the name of simplicity, what is one goal for 2012 and one habit you can start today that will help move you in that direction?  Post it here and/or on twitter (#1habit or #habitspark)

For me, my one goal is to stay connected to myself so I can recognize & meet my needs.  The habit I am starting with is to check in hourly.

So, in order to spend less time ‘checking’ and more time creating, I’m going to start a new habit:

Use the ‘check’ (twitter mentions, retweets, facebook comments, subscribes, posts, etc.) as a reward for spending at least 15 minutes on content.  Check one thing at that time and go back to creating.

Do you think this habit would help you?  How would you tweak it to make it right for you?  Please share in the comments below.

If you’d like to learn the habitspark method, try the Habitspark 7-Day Jumpstart.

Find out what the 3 habits are on Diets In Review.com

When I moved to North Dakota, three years ago, I was still fit. Somewhere along the way, however, I lost the focus on my health. Part of it could be the spartan diet I existed on when I lived in Detroit. I moved to North Dakota and met the love of my life, so I decided to be more normal(ish.) Meals became about convenience: fast food, pizza. . . anything that was quick and easy was fair game.

Another reason is the long winter. It’s cold for about seven months of the year; which, coupled with life in a small apartment, means that there’s little exercise to be had without buying a gym membership. I ran for a little while when I moved here, and then winter came. It’s arguably too cold to exercise outside for at least five months, but I’m not a winter runner – yet.

No matter what I choose to blame it on, the fact is that I had gained nearly fifty pounds; so when it came time to make a resolution for 2011, rather than focusing on just losing weight, I decided to focus on my habits in order to change my problems with fitness, weight, and any general dissatisfaction I had with life in general. I wrote it down: “2011 will be the year of accomplishment.” Nearly six months in, I’ve lost nearly fifty of the sixty pounds I want to have lost by the end of the year; I feel great, I look great, and I still have half the year to work on the last ten pounds – I’m certain that I will reach my goal.

The Strategy:
My strategy focuses on two areas: diet and exercise. I knew that I didn’t want to diet, so I choose to refer to it as an “eating lifestyle” (my wife is in this with me, which helps a lot.) I wanted to revolutionize my eating habits, with a focus on content and caloric restriction. For the area of exercise, I wanted to establish and maintain not only a regular habit of activities intended to be exercise, but I also wanted to cut out activity (or lack thereof) that ran counter to the idea of exercise.

Diet: a.k.a. your “eating lifestyle”
Thinking about your “eating lifestyle” can be complex. Do you eat meals five times a day or just once? Do you snack? What do you eat on a regular basis? I had to simplify the mental load in order to do this by making the following rules for myself:

1.No more fast food or sugary soda, period. You know all the hype about fast food companies making their food healthier to appeal to the increasing health consciousness? It’s a red herring. What they’re not telling you is that they can easily fool around with the fat so that they can make a health claim while leaving in all the additives, preservatives, and added sugar that makes it so delicious and addictive.

2.Cut out as much sugar as possible. This includes fruit and juice. Fruit, while being healthy in general, tends to fall into the medium range on the glycemic index (GI), which means it contains ample sugar and so shouldn’t be a dietary staple. Juice is worse, even without added sugar. However, there are fruits that are low GI, if one wanted to choose them. The basic list of high, medium, and low GI foods that’s posted at http://www.the-gi-diet.org/lowgifoods/ is one that I refer to from time to time to keep myself on track. Remember: sugar is technically a controlled substance.

3.Cut out any food that has more than 30% of its calories in fats, within reason. Simple, right? Just read the label, and use good judgement. There are lot of notable exceptions built into this rule: nuts, seeds, olive oil, whole eggs, avocados, olives, fish, and peanuts – which are beans, not nuts – are some of them. A great article on good and bad fats is available at http://www.helpguide.org/life/healthy_diet_fats.htm. I refer to this from time to time.

4.Make as much of my food as possible from scratch. The rule of thumb is that the easier it is to put it on the table, the more mystery ingredients they had to put into that food in order to make it that easy for me. Read the label, google the ingredients if necessary. I tend to choose foods containing fewer ingredients, foods that have a shorter shelf life (because they’re fresher and contain fewer preservatives, if any) and foods that encourage my wife and me make meals from scratch.

5.Make sure to eat as many vegetables as possible. Guess what? Most veggies are low fat, low GI, low starch, high fiber, and loaded with nutrients – vitamins, minerals, flavonoids, antioxidants, et al. My wife and I have salad at every dinner and a zero fat raspberry vinaigrette that adds just 25 calories per serving – spinach, romaine, broccoli slaw mix (now that’s convenient,) sliced almonds and chow mein noodles, with four or five grape tomatoes. Also, eat main dishes that feature vegetables, and remember: the more colors of veggies on the plate, the better.

6.Restrict my caloric intake. Not to be confused with starvation, of which I have been seriously accused in the recent past. The trick is in keeping my total Calorie intake lower than the amount I need to maintain my weight; this can come from several strategic habits, such as:
·cutting out fat and incorporating lots of veggies, as previously mentioned;
·using certain foods in moderation – salad dressings, olive oil, etc;
·don’t drink up Calories – no juice, soda, or sweetened milk-type beverages
·find an online calculator for caloric requirements and don’t factor in exercise
·exercise; and
·watch how many calories go into what I’m eating and then figure out how to cut down on them.
I eat about 300 Calories for breakfast, 200 for lunch, and 1200-1500 for dinner. This is what works for me, and is in fact backward from many recommended strategies because I have narcolepsy, which affects how my metabolism works. It was tough for me to cut down on eating at first, because I often felt like I was hungry. Eventually, though, I stopped missing all the extra food I ate; I have a lot more energy throughout the day now, and I always look forward to that salad before dinner.

7.Disregard the naysaysers. I’ve had people tell me that I’m losing weight too quickly, but I lose an average of 1.5 pounds a week, which is fine. I’ve lost weight before, and it’s the same old story: people see you lose weight, and they freak out. It’s like they see you one day, and you suddenly look like Chuck Norris, and they think you have cancer. It happens! Eventually, they get over it. Another naysayer is your own body; remember that changing habits means a withdrawal process – i.e., a struggle of willpower vs. those factors that are more or less resistant to change. Make up your mind, and persuade your body to follow suit.

8.Obey the “ban list”. The following things should be banned from anyone’s eating lifestyle:
·Trans-fats and hydrogenated oils
·High fructose corn syrup (HFCS)
·Soy – any soy-based ingredients with the exception of fermented products (soy sauce, tempeh, miso, and natto.) The reason for this is that soy has been found to contain anti-nutritive compounds that have a toxic effect on the body’s enzymes, hormones, and nutrient uptake. The other exception is soy lecithin, a binder used in small amounts that is very hard to avoid consuming, and so is my only concession to unfermented soy.
The ban list is a place for foods that I never, ever want to eat again. If I add something to it, I’m dead serious about it.

By following these rules, I have effectively changed my eating lifestyle without actually going on a diet, and this has translated to weight loss.

Exercise: Just Move
That’s the best advice when it comes to exercise: just move. I grew up as a big kid. They called me fat, and I always hated it. I thought I was trapped, until I realized I had to lose weight in order to join the Army when I was 20. That was the first time I started to manage my eating lifestyle, and the first time I started running, which is my exercise vice. I got down to 165 pounds for the first time since the sixth grade, and I got into the Army without having to fill out a waiver that said they could starve me. Of course, I soon realized that they‘ll starve anyone who can’t fill their gullet in less than fifteen minutes. I still tell people that I learned to eat in the Army!

What I took away from the month I spent in the military – before I learned that my inability to stay awake when I sit down and turn off was really a textbook case of relatively mild narcolepsy that got me medically discharged – was the phrase “just move.” After the initial week of in-processing and the move to the barracks, they didn’t let us stop to do anything but sleep (on their schedule, so my narco didn’t count.) We never sat down except to eat. We were walking, jogging, running, training, cleaning, polishing, marching. . . something. This is a valuable habit to develop.

My exercise comes from running five or six days a week, biking to work, and just moving. I don’t have a sit-down job, so that helps. I’m considering switching to a regimen of running four days and practicing yoga three days, which means exercise every day, but alternating so that I get a break from running three days a week. I’m researching that. I have watched the pounds melt away – not as slowly as I might like, but a loss of forty-six pounds in six months is not too shabby, and just knowing that I’ve gone from a waist size of 38/40 to a 32 is a wonderful thing. The only real drawback to this incredible change is having to pay the credit card bill, since I had to replace my entire wardrobe; but I’m more than happy to let that one go.

I (Rob Ross) live in Bismarck, North Dakota with my wife of two years, our cats Nikolai and Lola, and our dog Alexei. I work part-time at a regional band and orchestra retailer while attending college to earn my Bachelor degree in secondary English education. Feel free to stop by my blog at http://robssurfreport.wordpress.com or my Etsy shop (DragonGear Books) at http://www.etsy.com/shop/greatbigdragon.