Tag Archive for: reduce stress

You Should Really Change All Your Passwords

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Part of my routine when I walk to work is to listen to podcasts. It’s my favorite thing to do. They often inspire me with new ideas or I’ll pick up some interesting tips. However when I listened to this podcast it stopped me dead in my tracks.

“Reply All” (one of my absolute favorites) starts out telling the story Alex Blumberg, CEO of Gimlet Media (which produces the podcast) getting his Uber account hacked. This wasn’t such a problem for me, as I don’t even have an Uber account but I continued to listen. I protested them a long time ago when they first started out because they stole my credit card information. But I digress.

Back to the podcast – the story itself is a little frightening because not only does Alex have his account hacked but the hacker also covers up all his tracks. Once the hacker has treated himself to a few free Uber rides in Russia he manages to delete the account without any trace. Even though Alex’s credit card was charged, when he calls up Uber they have no record of him.

So how did the hackers get into his account? Read more

I Finally Figured Out How to Meditate

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I’ve tried to meditate lots of times.

I’ve gotten into the groove once or twice, but it just never stuck.  I’ve done countless stories at work as a senior health producer about all the benefits and it sounds great.

One of those benefits is better focus and increased productivity.  And you KNOW I want that. But I just couldn’t figure it out.

I always struggle to switch my brain off and so I’ve never had the “enlightening moment” everyone always talks about.

Well it turns out I was doing it wrong.

My intentions were all screwed up.

But thanks to Oprah (of course) and an all day meditation retreat with world renowned meditation teacher Sharon Salzberg I figured it out.

If you know me personally or have read my book Listful Thinking, you know  I have a generally positive and sunny outlook on the world. It’s the thing that many people tell me is one of my best qualities. Read more

Eat The Frog to Get More Done

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Do you ever get that feeling when you first wake up, the fear of knowing that today you have to do THAT task.

The thing you’ve been putting off for weeks now and the deadline has finally arrived. Maybe it’s paying your bills or deciding which contractor to sign with.

I’m a natural procrastinator myself so I will try to do these kinds of tasks at the last minute and if it has to be done on a particular day then you know I’ll be dreading it.

But there is another way.

A few weeks ago during my Listful Thinking MasterClass my web designer and media strategist Cass hosted my class because she has a very unique way of looking at productivity and I thought they would learn a lot from her. And they did! During Cass’s talk, while discussing the perils of procrastination, she explained her belief that you have to “eat the frog”

What?

Eat the Frog is a productivity concept in which you do the tasks you want to do the least  first. By getting the awful tasks out of the way your burden for the day is lifted and you can actually enjoy the remainder of it. And be more productive because you crossed off something that was looming large.

This simple concept really resonates with people and the fact that it frees up the rest of your day is a built in reward that encourages you to banish those procrastination habits!

Ok so what task will you use to Eat the Frog today?

How to Be a Part-Time Minimalist

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Living in New York (or any big city) forces a person to be minimalistic when it comes to their stuff. There’s barely enough space for the things I need, let alone the things I don’t need! It’s why I’m such a huge fan of Marie Kondo, she helps you to hold on to the things that spark the most joy,  and get rid of all the stuff that doesn’t.

However, it was only when my appendix burst that I began to adopt minimalism as more of a way of life, as opposed to just a way to deal with clutter.

But what does that actually mean?

Minimalism isn’t about getting rid of everything you own or leaving everyone you know to travel around the world. It’s more about getting back to basics, relying less on material needs or obsessing over the desire to have it all. Read more

Declutter Your Subscriptions To Clear Your Mind

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In the past 10 years we’ve moved away from buying individual items like DVDs, music albums and books towards subscription services like Netflix, Spotify and Audible. In fact it seems like there is a subscription services for practically everything now – you’d be hard pressed to find a big name company that doesn’t offer one in some form or another.  I even saw one for electric toothbrushes the other day!

It’s easy to see why subscription services are so popular, Netflix for example, costs $9.99 a month. When you can have seemingly unlimited viewing for the cost of a few  coffees, why wouldn’t you sign up? But that’s how they reel you in. One subscription for that amount is fine, but when you add in Amazon Prime, a gym membership, snack boxes, Apple music, Skype premium… it all starts to add up. Read more