Smart Guy Productivity Pitfalls Productivity is one of my pet topics, because it's always dogged me a bit, especially early in my career. I'd pull long days and nights and then realize I only actually worked (as in, typing in code, debugging stuff, and thinking about problems and their solutions) maybe 20% of the time. Upon talking to coworkers, this seemed to be a part of the expected friction costs incurred working in an office environment. Eventually working around high-productivity professionals like John Carmack made me realize that if you want to excel, then you have to work hard and focus the whole time. I remember Carmack talking about productivity measurement. You know what's pretty hardcore? (Sidenote: my memory is hazy on this since it was long ago -- CD PLAYERS yo). That level of work ethic and focus is rare, particularly with my generation of programmers who were raised with the vile "work smart, not hard" mantra, coupled with the sense that we were somehow significantly brighter than most of our peers.
13 Most Precious Things To Give Your Loved Ones We’re already experiencing the “-ber” months. Pretty soon, Christmas will be coming and your loved ones will be requesting the gifts and presents that they would like to have. Why don’t you stand out from the crowd and skip the materialistic gifts for now? These 13 valuable things are priceless — you can’t see them by window shopping, you can’t buy them from any store, and you can only derive them out of the goodness of your own heart. Which items made the list? 1. Once you’re motivated to see the good in everyone, giving sincere compliments will be a walk in the park for you. 2. In a busy world, it’s understandable for you to have a lot on your plate right now. 3. One of the best (and hardest!) 4. Turn that frown upside down and show your smile to the people you love. Receive smiles and give smiles. 5. Trust isn’t something that you can readily give, so the people you’re giving it to must be pretty special. 6. 7. Don’t forget to tell your loved ones just how much you love them. 8. 9.
Flex Wireless Activity & Sleep Wristband Your Fitbit One is always tracking, even when the display is asleep. Press the button to view your stats. Your flower will grow and shrink, depending on how active you've been recently. Calories burned includes resting calories and calories from activity. To track your sleep, press and hold the button on your tracker until you see the stopwatch. Press and hold the same button when you are awake to end your sleep recording. Use Silent Alarms to wake from sleep without disturbing your partner. Your One gently vibrates on your wrist to silently wake you. Your Fitbit One contains a rechargeable battery. When plugged into the Charging Cable, it takes about 2 hours for your tracker to be fully charged. Your activity information is sent to your computer when your tracker is within 20 feet of the plugged-in Wireless Sync Dongle Syncing happens automatically. One™ syncs wirelessly and automatically with smartphones that support Bluetooth 4.0. steps distance calories burned fitbit smiley clock
3 beliefs that are ruining your life | KickAss AcademyKickAss Academy I was making the most crucial decisions of my life on autopilot. I didn’t realize it of course. But I was unthinkingly ruling out courses of action or continuing with others based on my 100% certain understanding of How the World Worked. I look back at the way I used to view people and relationships and really, the whole point of life and I’m shocked. My implicit beliefs flew in the face of everything I dreamed of becoming. I want to call out all the bullshit inherent in those implicit assumptions. If history has taught us anything, it is that we can’t find justification for our actions by looking to our contemporaries. So don’t judge my Martian-speak by how many others understand it. So before diving in, please 1) Read with an open mind. 2) Don’t crowd source your world view. Let’s get it on! How to Improve Your Life: People chase money. The reason people chase money is because they think they can buy the emotions they desire. Also, if you drink the wrong Lite Beer you’re a pussy The truth
20 Timeless Tips to Make the Most Out of Life The first step to making the most out of life is deciding what you hope to accomplish. What is it you desire? There is no right or wrong answer. Maybe you aspire to do satisfying work that will allow you to add value to the world. Maybe you’re looking for a fulfilling relationship that brings you joy. Maybe you want to become fit and healthy so you can be a positive example that your children can look up to. 1. “Imagination is more important than knowledge.” – Albert Einstein The greatest minds are not filled with facts, but creativity. 2. “If you obey all the rules you miss all the fun.” – Katharine Hepburn Why should you follow a list of rules without questioning their validity? 3. “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” – Eleanor Roosevelt That person you feel inferior to? 4. “There is more to life than increasing its speed.” – Mahatma Gandhi Why are you in such a hurry all the time? 5. “Now, we must all fear evil men. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. “Life moves pretty fast. 11. 12.
12 Tough Truths that Help You Grow As you look back on your life, you will often realize that many of the times you thought you were being rejected from something good, you were in fact being redirected to something better. You can’t control everything. Sometimes you just need to relax and have faith that things will work out. Let go a little and just let life happen. Because sometimes the truths you can’t change, end up changing you and helping you grow. Here are twelve such truths… Everything is as it should be. Photo by: Martin Gommel Related 10 Mistakes Unhappy People Make Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass, it’s about learning to dance in the rain. May 28, 2012 In "Hacks" 50 Quotes to Help You Let Go and Live “Some people believe holding on and hanging in there are signs of great strength. November 20, 2013 In "Happiness" 9 Good Reminders that Will Change the Way You Think “The world as we have created it is a process of our thinking.
If You’re Busy, You’re Doing Something Wrong: The Surprisingly Relaxed Lives of Elite Achievers November 11th, 2011 · 275 comments The Berlin Study In the early 1990s, a trio of psychologists descended on the Universität der Künste, a historic arts academy in the heart of West Berlin. They came to study the violinists. As described in their subsequent publication in Psychological Review, the researchers asked the academy’s music professors to help them identify a set of stand out violin players — the students who the professors believed would go onto careers as professional performers. We’ll call this group the elite players. For a point of comparison, they also selected a group of students from the school’s education department. We’ll call this group the average players. The three researchers subjected their subjects to a series of in-depth interviews. Flush with data, the researchers went to work trying to answer a fundamental question: Why are the elite players better than the average players? The obvious guess is that the elite players are more dedicated to their craft.
10 Secrets to Making Lifelong Friends Ever since college, it has been harder and harder to meet and keep friends. But with these ten secrets to making lifelong friends, you’ll be rocking new and deeper friendships before you know it. Here they are: 1. Be open to connection. 2. Phone calls, emails, texts: if you’re keeping track of whose turn it is, give it up and reach out more. 3. Doing the little extras can be really fun and can help deepen your friendship. 4. Being inquisitive and listening to others is the hallmark of a good friend. 5. Again, there must be heartfelt sharing in order to foster a strong and healthy friendship. 6. Physical touch is incredibly nurturing and, personally, I can never get enough hugs and snuggles. 7. Different from compliments, which only go skin deep, offering gratitude and acknowledgment is a way to share your heart and deepen your connections with everyone in your life. 8. Help out, do the dishes, fix the sink, offer to run to the store. 9. 10. Featured photo credit: friendsvia Shutterstock