This was the year of the leap second:
“At the precise moment the display reads 6:59 p.m. (EST), start the stopwatch. When the display changes to 7:00, stop the watch. It should read 61 seconds.”
What are the 3 Things you are going to get done in 2006?
Every year around this time I start asking myself this question. The exercise of narrowing it down to only three things is actually much harder than it seems. Usually I can come up with a dozen things I’d like to do but of course most of them I never will.
So by really forcing myself to choose only three things I have to think hard about what my priorities are and what I’m going to focus on in the coming year.
Another trick is that all Things are equal in the sense that if I pick one personal Thing (say, spend at least one night a week with my friends) then that can bump off a business Thing (get a promotion). This process of picking and choosing, bumping off good goals for better ones can be agonizing and it always makes me think of that old nugget of wisdom, “You can do anything, but you can’t do everything.”
How do you set your priorities for the coming year?
““Spending income on experiences makes people much happier than spending on material goods (beyond a threshold of income). So to increase happiness, concentrate on experiences (diving, safari and concerts) rather than possessions (new house, fast cars or flashy watches).””
Kadavy has the best list so far for 8 Life Hacks for Health, Wealth, and Happiness : kadavy.net:
“I‚Äôve noticed in my short existence that I tend to do many things differently from most people. Some of those things probably work just as well, whereas others make me wonder ‚Äúwhy doesn‚Äôt everyone do this?‚Äù Here are eight things that may make you feel like you‚Äôre cheating the system, too”
I agree with the entire list - especially walk, live small, and under-organize.
Devilishly difficult to let ourselves submit to some of these lifestyle changes and so rewarding if we do.
Sodawar is on week two of seriously trying daily affirmations as a way to improve personal performance:
“I‚Äôm still surprised by just how effective they can be at times, and I often find myself repeating my affirmations if I‚Äôm feeling low. They don‚Äôt completely remove the negativity, but they certainly make a difference.”
LifeHacker points out this cute little simulation game for improving your time management skills… so schedule some time to play it, why not?
In a recent declaration, ‘podcast’ has been awarded ‘word of the year’ by Oxford dictionary, leaving many worthy runners-up…
lifehack (a more efficient or effective way of completing an everyday task: “I found a great lifehack for getting a cheap hotel room.”)
Mark Cuban picks out his favorite posts how how he became successful:
“I get so many questions about how I got¬†‚Äùlucky‚Äù so many times,¬†things I have done that have worked or not.¬†Experiences I have had. This series of entries, written more than¬† a year ago, I think,¬†bring back some great memories for me and I think are worth sharing again.”
Haha! Here is a training system sure to shock you! The USB-powered buzztrainer is here to help…
The BuzzTrainer assists computer users in learning software, and can also be used to eliminate bad PC habits. Through the use of small electric shocks administered through the wrist strap, the BuzzTrainer is guaranteed to improve your PC skills, help you restrain specific behaviors, or control PC addiction.
Configure any application as a BuzzApp and eliminate the desire to spend hours gaming, to file share, or to download illegal music.
Well, if using this as a way to curb some bad habits is not for you, you can also try it as an acupressure system, as it can be programmed to target the 5 pressure points in the wrist. The claimed effect is to improve your overall well-being, possibly so you can sit/waste a few more hours at the computer.
As usual David Seah hits the nail on the head when he relates the way pilots measure their own experience in hours logged to other areas of self-improvement:
“The point: the ability to improve ourselves is very much within our grasp. I always knew this, but putting it in terms of accumulating hours of experience is awesome. An acquaintance of mine put weight loss in similar terms: ‚ÄúSure, it‚Äôs going to take two years to lose that much weight‚Äìit‚Äôs a drag. But you‚Äôre going to be living those two years anyway, so why not slim down at the same time?‚ÄùIf we are mindful about the way we exist, we really have no choice but to get better at whatever we‚Äôre doing. Mindfulness is the key. There probably is an optimal way of structuring that time for efficient learning, but the general idea is awesome.”