Waking Up Early – 15 Tips That Work It has almost been one year since I posted about how to Wake up Early and Consistently. I thought now might be a good time to post a follow up, including what I have personally found to work. Let me first start by saying that waking up early has made a huge difference in my life. I used to be the complete opposite – late sleeper and late riser. What I like most about being an early riser is getting that extra quiet time in the mornings to work at a few next actions even before the day officially begins. Here is a list of things that worked for me: 1. I’ve found this to be the single most important element in being an early riser. 2. It wasn’t enough to just be an early riser. 3. Your body is trying to tell you something if you constantly feel overly tired during the day. 4. One simple thing which helped me get enough sleep was to … well … go to bed earlier. 5. The other thing I noticed about sleep is sleeping longer doesn’t necessarily translate to sleeping better. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11.
8 Things Everybody Ought to Know About Concentrating “Music helps me concentrate,” Mike said to me glancing briefly over his shoulder. Mike was in his room writing a paper for his U.S. History class. On his desk next to his computer sat crunched Red Bulls, empty Gatorade bottles, some extra pocket change and scattered pieces of paper. Mike made a shift about every thirty seconds between all of the above. Do you know a person like this? The Science Behind Concentration In the above account, Mike’s obviously stuck in a routine that many of us may have found ourselves in, yet in the moment we feel it’s almost an impossible routine to get out of. When we constantly multitask to get things done, we’re not multitasking, we’re rapidly shifting our attention. Phase 1: Blood Rush Alert When Mike decides to start writing his History essay, blood rushes to his anterior prefrontal cortex. Phase 2: Find and Execute Phase 3: Disengagement While in this state, Mike then hears an email notification. The process repeats itself sequentially. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
9 Ways to Wake Up Ready to Rock “Never Wake Up” courtesy of Heiko Muller I bet you’ve had days when you just want to stay under the duvet. Maybe you slept badly, or perhaps you just can’t face dragging yourself out of bed and facing your to-do list. Yet you know that if you could get up when you want to every day – rather than at the last minute possible – you’d be able to accomplish a lot more of your goals. Here are nine ways to wake up ready to rock, roughly in order of when you’ll need to do them the day before. Feel free to add your own tips in the comments! 1. There are plenty of great reasons to exercise, and I won’t rehash them all here. If you’re struggling to fit exercise into your day, try looking for ways to get active in your lunch hour or straight after work: if exercise forms a natural part of your routine, you’ll be much more likely to stick with it. 2. Sometimes, even when we do manage to get up on time, we’re just not in the mood to rock! 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. What’s your morning routine like? 8. 9.
How to Wake Up Early After reading last week’s article on problem solving, Tina casually mentioned wanting to wake up early. I felt inspired to write a piece on how to wake up early. For the past 4 months, I’ve been consistently waking up early—5am specifically. This article contain tips I’ve found helpful to become an early riser. 4:45 a.m. arrives and our bedroom becomes a full on symphony of battling alarms: my husband’s starts at 4:45, mine follows at 5:00, his chimes back in again at 5:00 (in unison with mine), and depending on the snooze capacity that day … we may even have one more finale at 5:15 a.m. The coffee grinder is also programmed to go off at 5 a.m. One year ago, this would have been an awful disturbance. I was not a morning person, regardless of how much I tried to be. Today, this has changed. I am humbled and proud to be a recovering night owl with so much joy in waking up early well before sunrise. There is a sense of peace and belonging in waking up before most of the world. 1. 2. 3. 1. 2.
How to Learn (Almost) Anything This is a guest post by Glen Allsopp of PluginID. Have you ever read an informative book, only to later remember just a few main points — if anything at all? The problem might be that you’re using one of the least efficient ways of learning available. The Cone of Learning I remember back about 7 years ago when I was taking music lessons at school, there was a poster on the wall that really grabbed my attention. Image Credit After doing some research, I found that the contents of that poster were based upon the work of Edgar Dale back in 1969. Today, many of you may know this as the Cone of Learning, but beware: although the cone is in fact based upon the results of Dale’s research, the percentage figures were never actually cited by Dale, and added by others after the initial investigation. Based on the research we can see that: The Cone of Learning suggests why you are more likely to remember parts of a movie than you are from a book on the same topic. Learning Almost Anything
How to Sleep Better: Tips for Getting a Good Night’s Sleep The secret to getting good sleep every night Well-planned strategies are essential to deep, restorative sleep you can count on, night after night. By learning to avoid common enemies of sleep and trying out a variety of healthy sleep-promoting techniques, you can discover your personal prescription to a good night’s rest. The key, or secret, is to experiment. What works for some might not work as well for others. It’s important to find the sleep strategies that work best for you. The first step to improving the quality of your rest is finding out how much sleep you need. How to sleep better tip 1: Keep a regular sleep schedule Getting in sync with your body’s natural sleep-wake cycle—your circadian rhythm—is one of the most important strategies for achieving good sleep. Set a regular bedtime. Discovering your optimal sleep schedule Find a period of time (a week or two should do) when you are free to experiment with different sleep and wake times. Increase light exposure during the day
» 10 Benefits of Rising Early, and How to Do It “Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise” – Ben Franklin, famously “Put no trust in the benefits to accrue from early rising, as set forth by the infatuated Franklin …” – Mark Twain By Leo Babauta Recently, reader Rob asked me about my habit of waking at 4:30 a.m. each day, and asked me to write about the health benefits of rising early, which I thought was an excellent question. However, there are a ton of other great benefits. Now, let me first say that if you are a night owl, and that works for you, I think that’s great. Greet the day. How to Become an Early Riser Don’t make drastic changes.
Teaher's Guide to Information Crap Detection Information overload, information crap,information pollution...are some of the words that are being used now to describe the tsunami of irrelevant information we are bombarded with day and night.In December 2009, Google began customizing its search results for all users, and we entered a new era of personalization. With little notice or fanfare, our online experience is changing, as the websites we visit are increasingly tailoring themselves to us.Everywhere you turn you find information that seems relevant to you but in fact is nothing but crap. This is probably why Eli Pariser recommended what he called Information Bubble. Howard Rheingold is another guy who has done a lot of writings on Information Crap. in an article posted last year. The first thing we all need to know about information online is how to detect crap, a technical term I use for information tainted by ignorance, inept communication, or deliberate deception. 4- Crap Test 5- Video
25 Life Improvements That Will Make You Happier How to Wake Up Early: The Definitive Guide Most successful people are early risers. Think of Tiger Woods and Donald Trump. One reason why waking up early is correlated with success is that you get more work done in the morning. But how do you build the habit of waking up early without feeling like a mess in the morning? 1. Wake Up At The Same Time. 2. Put your alarm out of arm reach so you can’t hit the snooze to sleep in. 3. Stop Rationalizing. 4. Open Window Blinds. 5. Eat Breakfast. 6. Set Goals. 7. Wake up at 6am. 8. Use Willpower. 9. That’s why going to bed at the same time each day won’t work. Get Downtime Pre-bed. 10. Stop Stimulants. Check the Power Sleep Program for a definitive guide on how to improve your sleep quality so you feel more energized & productive while sleeping less. 11. This is because you tend to care about other people’s opinion and don’t want to be embarassed for failing. 12. About a year ago I built the habit of waking up at 6AM because I realized that you get more done if you wake up early.
8 must-reads detail how to verify information in real-time, from social media, users Over the past couple of years, I’ve been trying to collect every good piece of writing and advice about verifying social media content and other types of information that flow across networks. This form of verification involves some new tools and techniques, and requires a basic understanding of the way networks operate and how people use them. It also requires many of the so-called old school values and techniques that have been around for a while: being skeptical, asking questions, tracking down high quality sources, exercising restraint, collaborating and communicating with team members. For example, lots of people talk about how Andy Carvin does crowdsourced verification and turns his Twitter feed into a real time newswire. Lost in the discussion is the fact that Carvin also develops sources and contacts on the ground and stays in touch with them on Skype and through other means. Some things never go out of style. From the post: Verification must reads 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Bonus!