Tag Archive for: Netflix

Barbara Walter’s Retirement To-Do List

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Barbara Walters

Barbara Walters retires May 16, 2014. (Photo Credit: deadline.com)

If you were to visit my parents on Long Island and ask to see my high school year book, next to my photo you would find the words, “hopes to become the next Barbara Walters.” What an overachiever I was, even then! Truth is — I’ve always looked up to Barbara Walters. I remember watching interviews she had done in my college journalism classes and learning from the best. I try to use her techniques even today when I do my own interviews. After reading her memoir, “Audition” I felt compelled to write her an email — and she actually wrote me back! I’m happy I got the opportunity to tell Barbara that she is one of my greatest teachers.

Today is her very last day of work after 50 years on television. She’ll finally be able to enjoy some well-deserved downtime.  To help her out, I made a to-do list of things she should enjoy during her retirement that will keep her up to date with the times:

1. Get a Netflix account: In a recent interview, Barbara said one of the first things she wants to do during her retirement is go to a movie. What she may not realize is that with a Netflix account, she’ll be able to watch as many movies as she wants whenever she wants… in her own home!

2. Get an Instagram account: After 50 years on television, it may be hard to adjust back into the “real world.” But she doesn’t need to cut out the entertainment industry completely (and she’s not—she’s still going to be executive producer for The View!). With an Instagram account, she can stay up to date with some of her favorite people she’s gotten to know over the years by “liking” their posts as they attend numerous events and award shows. And I would love to continue seeing what she’s up to!

3. Go through her old wardrobe: Barbara is in luck—fashion trends are starting to repeat themselves. Rather than have to update her wardrobe, she can just go through her closet and bring out her old favorites. Or use the extra time to clear out clutter and do a bit of a fashion show with all the garments she’s worn through the years on big interviews.

4. Travel: Since her budget won’t be going towards an updated wardrobe, Barbara can spend all her money towards travels. I even have some recommendations on my Pinterest board for places to go!

5. Learn how to take a selfie: Lets face it– we’re all going to miss seeing Barbara on our television screens everyday. It’s going to be weird not knowing what she’s up to! But once she learns how to take the infamous selfie, we’ll be able to stay updated. She can post it to her Instagram account!

6. Have lunch with me! I had to throw it in there because I’m sure we’d have tons to talk about. I’m available whenever you are Barbara!

Happy Retirement!

Is Binge Watching Hurting Your Productivity?

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Television remote control

Television remote control (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“Binge Watching” = The act of consecutively watching television shows online for hours.. many, many, hours.

I’ve fallen victim to this illness various times, and I know I’m not alone! I mean how can you not binge watch when Netflix has every episode of the best shows ever  – including one of my personal faves Breaking Bad?  Even ABC Go dedicated an entire week of their online service to binge watching. They posted all of their shows’ seasons, which they have never done before.

As awesome as it is to catch up on a show or throw yourself into an entirely new one, this “addiction” can seriously get in the way of your productivity. Because episodes continue one after the other you can totally lose track of time and the next thing you know you’ve been sitting on your couch for six hours.

So here is my list on how to balance your binge watching and your to-do’s!

1. Make It A Game: When I know that I have things to do, but I am dying to catch up on my shows I make a little competition with myself. I set my goals for the day and then I will reward myself with an episode or two if I accomplish all my work. Two or three checks off my to-do list equals admiring Michael C. Hall (Dexter) for an hour. Not a bad payoff, huh?
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Organize Anything With SpringPad

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A friend of mine is moving for a new job and needed to get a lot organized in a short period of time. She tried a few apps that I’ve suggested on the site, but even my hero app Evernote couldn’t keep up with everything she needed to do. She needed an app that would allow her to make notebooks that could include tasks, people, events, lists, location information, and important links. While I can think of the best apps to handle each of those things individually, I couldn’t think of any that handled them all together. Until we found SpringPad.

SpringPad is a multi-faceted personal organization tool that is designed to help you plan or organize anything. Create custom notebooks for yourself, or share them with others to collaborate. Then, start filling those notebooks up with “springs.”

A spring could be anything, like:

Movies – When I spring a movie title Springpad creates a small icon with the poster of the movie. The app notifies me when the film comes out in theaters (and will help me find showtimes), when it comes out on DVD, and even when it is available on Netflix.

Links – For links, I usually use the “Spring It” feature, a button that lives in the bookmarks bar and allows me to “spring” any website to my SpringPad account. It’s a great way to save articles and videos to watch later. Read more

“Netflix for Books” Can Save You Money!

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English: A Picture of a eBook Español: Foto de...It’s been so cold here in New York and I’m looking forward this weekend when I can stay inside and cozy up with a good book to relax! I really love biographies, historical fiction, and any book that’s about to be made into a movie. As a kid – I loved going to the library and would often pick the same books over and over (usually Curious George or Paul’s Christmas Birthday.) But with libraries becoming virtually a thing of the past, reading can actually be a pretty costly hobby (not to mention costly for the environment if you’re still buying hard copies.)  And think about all the clutter those beloved books create.

Recently, I discovered Oyster – it’s the app CNN calls “Netflix for Books” because, for a monthly subscription, you can read an unlimited number of titles available in their library. I was completely into the app until I realized that their library had a lot of interesting titles, but very few that were already on my reading list.

But fear not — Oyster isn’t the only app that lets you subscribe and read all you want – BookSwim and BookLending.com offer similar services, but they each have their own pros and cons.

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7 Ways Your Job Could Be More Balanced

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balance copyYou’re sitting at your desk with a long list of tasks in front of you. It’s only 10 a.m., but you’re already set up for an un-productive day because all you can focus on is the dishes sitting in the sink at home. Maybe you forgot to make lunch for yourself. Or worse, you forgot to make lunch for your family. We all have to find a work-life balance. But just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should. Getting some help and cutting down on menial tasks allows you to use your brain and time for more productive endeavors.

Time that isn’t spent benefiting the company is time and money wasted, so many employers actually invest in different ways to keep their employees happy and working hard. Sometimes productivity requires creativity, and these 10 companies took that to heart when developing these awesome policies for employees:

  1. netflix-logoNever thought 9-5 could work for you? Employees at Netflix don’t work a set schedule. They are instead given a list of tasks to complete and their performance is judged based on how well they complete those tasks.
  2. Asana-logo (1)Can you only work standing up or in an office that is totally feng-shui? At Asana employees are given $10,000 to customize their workspace.
  3. evernote_logoI’ve loved Evernote even more when I found out that the company sends a cleaning service to each employees’ home twice a month. Imagine the time you would save if you never had to worry about going home to vacuum!
  4. Facebook_LogoGone are the days where you have to make the choice between working and raising a family. At Facebook, employees are given $3,000 annually to help cover child-care expenses.
  5. airbnb-logoAre you a vegan who loves Tupac in the San Francisco Bay area? Well then pass the Kale Mary! Airbnb provides healthy meals with fun music-themed menus so all employees can eat together!
  6. JibJabLogoForget about separating your darks and lights if you’re employed at Jib-Jab. This fun company does their employees laundry for them!
  7. new-google-logo-knockoffIn addition to the many perks Google offers employees, now friends and families of employees can reap the benefits too. Is your daughter visiting you at work today? Take her to lunch at one of Google‘s 16 in-house cafes, all free to employees and guests.