How to Destroy Your Productivity @ Work

http://www.visualnews.com/2012/08/04/how-to-destroy-your-productivity-at-work/

Well here’s something I needed to read!  I’d like to point out that I was “working” when I read this article.  I do that.  Between tasks I “cleanse the palate” so to speak with news stories and quick looks at Facebook.  Actually, I should be moving on to my next task.  I might actually get more accomplished during the day. 

This article listed 7 ways to destroy your productivity at work. 

1.      Check your email every two minutes

2.      Keep your desk cluttered

3.      Be as un-ergonomical as possible

4.      Make sure to multitask

5.      Notify the hell out of your life

6.      Allow others to bug you

7.      Create an impossibly long to-do list

Guilty as charged on all 7 counts.  Which is my biggest offense, you ask?  #7.  So after I read this article I literally purged my to-do list.  I had SOOOO many overdue items that nearly 75% of my list was RED.  After cutting that crap, you know what?  I feel BETTER.  I’m not kidding!!!  Now my pledge is to keep that to-do list at a reasonable level. 

I think multitasking is over-rated, but I get caught in that trap on a daily basis. From now on I’m going to focus on one thing at a time and get each one done in a timely manner.  I have alerts set up for everything.  I’ll delete 50% of those after the writing of this blog post.  I check my email all the time. That I can’t help.  I depend on email at work.  Checking that regularly is kind of a no-brainer.

And then I cleanse my palate. 

Yeah. 

Let’s get back to that.

I read articles like this one, and I check Facebook.  Truth be told, I check Facebook more frequently than I do email.  Starting today, that’s going to change.  No longer will I be a slave to this Book of Face.  I’m taking back my productivity, Mr. Zuckerberg! 

I WILL complete the items on my to-do list!     

We helped these refrigerators find new homes!

So this weekend we cut the crap by selling 10, yes you read that right, 10 refrigerators.  Why on earth did we have so many refrigerators?  Well, let me tell you…

A close friend is in the appliance delivery business… as in, he owns the business and delivers, installs, and removes appliances all over the front range and into the mountains.  My hubby helps out from time to time as he can.  Last week our friend got a job removing refrigerators from a recently remodeled building.  This particular building had suffered fire damage in one section.  As part of the insurance agreement, he and my hubby replaced 11 refrigerators… even in the units that had not burned.  When asked what to do with the “old” refrigerators (they were only 6 years old and were in perfect working order), our friend and my hubby were told to “get rid of them”.  That was it.  Get rid of them. 

Our friend’s initial thought was to take them to the scrap yard and get about $150 for the metal.  Total.  For all 11 fridges.  My hubby pointed out that they were in perfect working order.  That would be a waste!  So, my hubby volunteered to thoroughly clean out the fridges and place an ad on Craigslist.  Our friend agreed. 

So, we washed them up and dried them out.  Not only did we put an ad on Craigslist, but we put some of the fridges out on the curb with "For Sale" signs on them.  We sold half of them that way!  My daughter even got in on the action!  She helped us clean the insides and made a little extra cash.  I'm hoping this will be a long lasting lesson for many obvious reasons, but she has decided to save the money she earned so she can buy her own iPod Touch.  

Within 4 days, we sold 10 and kept one for our garage.  Not only did we keep perfectly working fridges out of the landfill (at least the parts the scrap metal guy wouldn’t want), but we sold them to people who will continue to use them.  We made a little money, too!  That’s a win win!  I’d say we cut the crap on that one!  

 

We Are Aurora, Colorado

Like many people this weekend, you were probably checking newsfeeds for more updates about the Century 16 Massacre.  You were horrified, sickened, heart-sick.  We were, too.   We live in Aurora.

When we woke up Friday morning, we saw the reports.  We took many calls, instant messages, emails from friends and family asking if we were okay… or making sure we weren’t at that movie premiere.  Of course we weren’t there, but 33 people from our church (Calvary Chapel Aurora) were… a few people from my job were there… So even if we weren’t there, we were NOT okay.  We were worried.  

As we sat at our kitchen table listening to our children play blissfully unaware, my husband and I were overcome with a myriad of emotions.  Our hearts ached for the victims, for their families, for the first responders.  We vacillated between anger and disbelief that this happened in our city, in a theater in which we had seen movies, too.  We repeatedly looked at our children, thanking God for them when we knew that at least one family had lost a 6-year-old.  Our neighbors and friends felt the same way.  We talked about how crazy it all was.  How awful.  

Our church pastoral staff was already mobilizing to help the victims.  They were at hospitals.  They were helping the people that had gathered at Gateway High School to learn the fate of their missing loved ones.  Our church was already preparing for funerals and readying the staff for grief counseling.  Our pastor broke into regular programming on 89.7 Grace FM to take calls from anyone affected so they would have an outlet and could get prayer if they wanted it. 

Our church was not the only one doing this.  All the area churches were.  Hospitals, charities, businesses.  Our community was moving.  It was trying to put a bandage on the gaping wound that was the Century 16 Theater.   

      

As the day unfolded we learned more and more.   Thankfully, all the people from our church escaped unscathed.  When I say unscathed, I mean it in the physical sense.  They are forever changed by the events in that theater, as we all are.  We learned that my co-workers were wounded, but were alive.  We learned that our friends in the medical field were exhausted but had carried on valiantly. 

We listened to the dispatch recording of the first responders.  They were on the scene within 90 seconds and had apprehended the suspect in under 5 minutes.  Police took him without a shot, by the way.  They shouted out locations, gave stats on victims, secured the area, transported victims when ambulances couldn’t get there fast enough.  They were the real heroes.   

That night, we tried to go about our lives as normally as possible.  We sought out the fellowship of some dear friends and broke bread with them.  We tried to laugh.  We tried to lift each other up.  We talked about how we could help with our church’s efforts and made plans to attend the vigil on Sunday.  We watched our children laughing and giggling, full of life, and we were so thankful for them.   

My husband and his friend went to the vigil on Sunday.  He said it was beautiful and reflective.  He also said that our wonderful Aurora PD put the crazy Westboro Baptist folks SO FAR out of the way that the vigil attendees didn’t even know they were there.  Our heroes yet again.  

The overwhelming mantra was “We Will Remember”.  And we will.  We will carry on.  We will come alongside the survivors and help them heal.  We will minister to the families of those that lost loved ones.  We are Aurora, Colorado.   

Fewer people see college as good financial investment

Fewer people see college as good financial investment

Really?  I think college is an awesome investment.

If you can afford it.

In this day and age, college tuition prices are rising at a seeming exponential rate.  For-profit institutions offer flexible class schedules at a premium... and then unscrupulous lenders swoop in offering unsubsidized money (AKA LOANS) to pay for said flexible schedules... and then students are in debt faster than they can blink an eye.  Tens of thousands of dollars later (and in some cases, this reaches into six figures) these students have a degree and then a HUGE loan payment.

But prices at the non-profits are also going up.  Books are ridiculous.  On-campus housing isn't as cost-efficient as it used to be.

And then you have the glut in the market.  Every summer recent college grads flood the market hoping to find a job.  In fact, I think many of them unrealistically expect to get six figure incomes as soon as they're handed their degrees.  They quickly realize that all those loans have to get paid somehow and so they take what they can get.  I don't know how to fix this.  It's just an observation.  

Still, most employers want to see that you have a degree in SOMETHING.  I think a lot of employers want education AND experience.  So what are we to do?  Whatever we can.  Get experience because that is less expensive but also get an education at the same time.  I guess.

I say all of this and I had a full scholarship for ALL FOUR YEARS of my undergrad education.  I busted my butt, though.  I had to keep my GPA above a 3.5.  I think there should be more scholarships from the private sector.  More corporations should offer internships so people can get valuable experience.  I also think there should be more work-study programs to help students work off what they owe.

Education.  This is a passion of mine and has been since I can remember.  Our society seems to value it to a certain extent because employers like to see a college degree on a resume.  Yet, we don't value it enough.  If we did, there would be more options for people to gain an education/trade/career.  Right?

*SIGH*

I have no idea how this should be fixed.  I'm just venting.

Homeschool World: Articles: Getting Started in Homeschooling

Homeschool World: Articles: Getting Started in Homeschooling

Some of you have sent me messages about homeschooling.  Here's an article that explains a bit of why our family has chosen to homeschool.  We know we've taken on a huge responsibility, but ultimately this responsibility was ours to begin with.  We're just approaching it differently now.

Cut the Clutter

Clutter is something I struggle with.  I have a cluttered house, especially upstairs in the bedrooms and bathrooms.  Downstairs isn't as bad, but it isn't ideal, either.  I constantly think, "Oh, I can use that later!" and then I stow it away somewhere: in a drawer, on a shelf, in a file.  The "it" that I hoard can be anything from a cross-stitch pattern to the bottom of the celery stalk that I chopped off for my children's next art project.  The reality is that I very rarely get to those "saved" things.  They end up occupying valuable space, and I have no idea what to do about it.

This article sheds a little light on a few things for me.  I am a self-defeating procrastinator whom everyone has told -repeatedly my life long- that I have fantastic potential if only I could tap it... realize it... but when I get home and look at my house I think of a dozen different reasons to defer greatness: I can't possibly finish my novel until the bathroom is organized; I can't possibly sew those cute summer dresses for Megan until I clean my horribly messy bedroom.  This list can go on and on. Truthfully, though, I could do those things if I would just let myself, because the bathroom and the bedroom never get cleaned anyway.

So, today I'm going to try something new.  I'm going to clean/organize/declutter a room or area, and then give myself permission to do a fun thing like get started on that pink polka dotted sun dress Megan has been begging me for.  Why not?  My time is valuable, my clutter is not.  I need to cut the clutter.  Then I might feel better.  :)    

Cutting Inches. Cutting Public School.

So… I’m cutting inches!  Yay!  Woot!  So far I’ve lost 2 inches on my hips, 2 inches on my waist, and 1 inch on my chest!  As far as I can tell, I’ve lost only fat, which is ideal.  My clothes fit better. I have more energy.  My hubby has already lost 13lbs and about 5 inches, too! 

How am I doing this, you ask?  ViSalus.  I have a shake for breakfast and lunch, and I eat healthy snacks in between.  I then have a healthy dinner.  I’m pretty much doing the Paleo/Primal diet and the ViSalus shakes.  I walk at lunch every day to get that cardio going, but so far that’s it.  I’m going to start weight training this week to build up some more lean muscle. 

Also, today is Megan’s last day in public school.  We’ll give her some time to “de-school” and then jump right in with our homeschooling plans.  While we’ve added something pretty big to our plates, we’ve also scraped off the public schools and all that entails.  We got a lot of skepticism from traditional school folks, her 1^st Grade Teacher included, but I think overall we’re doing the right thing for her.  Public schools are a 1-size-fits-all when it comes to teaching methods.  If your child doesn’t fit that “size”, your child falls through the cracks.  Megan is a kinesthetic learner, which means she learns best with hands-on interaction.  Most schools barely touch this learning style.  As we homeschool, we can actually cater to this.  I want to use her strengths to help her learn.  So, I think we’re doing good things here.  If you have any experience teaching kinesthetic learners, I would love to hear it! 

So that’s it for now.  From now on, I’ll try to chronicle the weight loss and homeschooling in separate posts for more simplicity. 

It's Friday. Here are your top 5 Cut The Crap sites that pop up when I google "Cut The Crap."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cut_the_Crap
http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/cut+the+crap
http://pleasecutthecrap.typepad.com/
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=cut%20the%20crap
http://mindset.tumblr.com/search/cut-the-crap-available

It is my hope to someday have my blog listed up there when someone googles Cut The Crap.  I think I need to do A LOT more writing... maybe some SEOing... We'll see. 

What's shakin'? I'm back. Again.

Today I decided to brush the dust off my blog and start talking about crap again.  It’s been too long.  In my defense, work has been crazy busy for like three months straight.  It’s still crazy busy.  However, if I don’t give myself an outlet other than Facebook, that crazy busy is just going to become CRAZY AMY.

What have I been doing, you ask?  I only have like 8 followers, so if you guys want to know, then I’ll tell you.

Working.  A LOT. 

Have I been cutting crap?  Not really.  I’ve been adding crap, but I HAVE lost 6 pounds.  I’ll tell you about that in a few minutes.  What have I added? What have I cut?  Here ya go.

•  My daughter now takes singing lessons.  That’s an add.  My recent pay raise pretty much pays for it. 
• We stopped going to Awana, because my daughter was just NOT getting enough sleep on Wednesday nights.  That’s a cut.  While Megan got a lot out of it, it was complicating bedtime and Thursday morning.  The amount of sleep a 7-year-old gets seems to be pretty important.
• Speaking of my daughter, we’ve decided to homeschool this coming school year.  That decision was a tough road to walk, but we think the benefits will outweigh any detriments.  If you’re the praying type, please keep us in prayer.
• My husband lost his job.  There went the rest of my pay raise.  Now my income is paying for all the necessities, but there is literally nothing left over.  That’s a cut.  Can I just say, though, that I love having him home full time.  It has really removed some of the other stresses from me, even if we are a little strapped for cash at the moment. 
• We started a business.  That’s an add.

And that brings me to that 6 pounds I recently lost.  When I say recently, I mean in the last seven days.  After hounding some people and doing the research, Rob and I decided to try out the ViSalus 90 Day Challenge.  After only a week we’re both seeing results.  Rob also lost 6 pounds.  That energy dip that usually comes mid-afternoon has been non-existent for the past week as well.  Overall, I’m already feeling a little better.  We’re so sold on the product that we’ve decided to become distributors.  Our goal is to replace Rob’s within 60 days.  I’ll let you know how that goes, and in the meantime, if you want to try a sample, let me know.  I’ll USPS you some. 

Heart Surgeon Speaks Out On What Really Causes Heart Disease -- Health & Wellness -- Sott.net

Heart Surgeon Speaks Out On What Really Causes Heart Disease -- Health & Wellness -- Sott.net

This is an excellent article on the pitfalls of our culture's diet as a whole. It is also a describes the REAL cause of heart disease.  Hint... it's a diet high in processed foods.  Please have a look.  It's eye-opening.

It also validates my decision to NOT take statins.  

Even the FDA is warning us about statins now.

Remember when I refused to start taking statins to lower my cholesterol?  Well, the almighty FDA has even issued a statement about the pitfalls of taking them.

My suggestion for everyone? Don't take them.  They'll f you up.  Just sayin'... Don't buy into the medical/pharmaceutical hype that this stuff is safe.  It's not. 

I'm still not taking statins and don't intend to start.  I haven't been very good about my paleo/primal diet, but I intend to get back on that bandwagon posthaste to help with my cholesterol levels.

Too Much TV.

As you all know, I’ve drastically cut back the amount of TV services we have coming into our house.  We have Netflix now, and a very basic cable package.  We rent a dvd or two from Redbox once in a blue moon.  But I never really thought about HOW much TV we watch.  I thought cutting the cable was a good enough.  But then I realized that my kids were STILL watching A LOT.  Granted, the content they are allowed to watch is highly restricted, but I noticed they were spending more time than reasonable in front of our TV watching said content.  

Don’t get me wrong.  Our TV is AWESOME.  We paid enough for it, so I guess it should be.  It makes movies POP.  It’s HUGE.  Well, huge for us.  All our previous TVs had been hand-me-downs; the largest of which was a 32 inch Sony Trinitron that required a furniture dolly and two grown men to move.  Needless to say, our current TV blows everything out of the water, and we LOVE using it.  I guess that explains WHY we use it so much. 

But we’ve all heard about the studies.  We all know that too much TV is NOT a good thing.  Here’s a pretty informative video that shows the science behind why little ones shouldn’t get over-stimulated.  When I saw this I immediately thought of my kiddos, and I think it is a must see for parents of young children. 

 

So last night, we didn’t watch anything. 

That’s right.  I kept the TV off until right before bed (Xander watches until he falls to sleep, but I’m going to wean him from that, too.)  What did we do instead, you ask? We did art projects.  I cleaned out the kids’ activity chest and reorganized it.  Megan and I made “activity cards” that listed alternatives to watching TV, and we had a lot of fun coming up with things to do.  I wrote the descriptions; she drew the pictures.  It was awesome, and Megan went to bed happy.  Can’t beat that!

So, I think I’m going to cut the TV crap for my kiddos.  They’ll watch it occasionally, but I don’t think I’m going to let it babysit them any longer.  This is something I should have done from the get-go, but work schedules being what they were, TV helped us get by.  Now I’m saying enough.

I’d love to hear what you guys do or don’t do about TV.  Sound off!   

Cutting Cable - You, too, can be cable free

Remember a few months ago when I blogged about cutting cable?  Here’s an article that lists a few more alternatives for you.  More and more people are taking control of what they watch – and how much they pay for it.  As I blogged before, my family now uses Netflix and Redbox.  We aren’t sorry, either. 

I'm back!

Goodness!  Has it really been three months since I posted on my blog?  It HAS!  Sorry about that.  I really didn’t have the bandwidth to update my blog since I’ve been so busy with work.  When I was done with work each day, I was pretty much DONE with everything.  I didn’t even want to look at a computer, much less post an entry here.  My poor children got the bare minimum attention, because my brain would literally shut down.  Not good.  My poor husband did his best to weather the storm.  I really do love that man.  He’s far from perfect, but the stuff he puts up with… O.M.G. 

That being said, I still love my job.  It has its harrowing moments, but it’s a pretty sweet gig.  We get bagels every morning.  I have awesome benefits; aside from the normal medical, dental, eye stuff, I also get regular training on the company’s dime.  I get to work from home on snowy days… or when I’m sick (shouldn’t be doing that.  I should cut out that crap)… or if I have the cable guy coming over.  I work with brilliant people, and I get to work on way cool stuff to educate present and future generations of students.  Can you say OpenClass?  Have a look.  It’s pretty dang cool.   So even though I’ve had some pretty demanding projects lately, I’m not cutting out my job.  It just isn’t crappy.  Or cut-worthy. 

So how have I cut the crap over the past 3+ months?  Not as much as I’d like.  The Paleo Diet has waxed and waned; Rob is finally on board, though, as he’s reading 4 Hour Body.  We’re going for a BMI test next week.  My quest to weed out my email inbox is still ongoing, but my company gave me an ADDITIONAL, corporate-wide account that had 5000+ emails already waiting for me in it.  I deleted those.  I’ve been weeding out friends and causes and likes on Facebook.  My kids have a box of toys to be donated (or sold at a yard sale), so that’s pretty good.  Recycling efforts were reinforced at Christmas.  I made reusable sandwich wraps for all the nieces and nephews to use in their daily school lunches.  I also tried to wrap as many presents in either recycled paper or reusable bags.  That was cool. 

So, I have been keeping with the spirit of cutting the crap.  I just haven’t been blogging about it or stepping it up as much as I wanted for 2012… at least not so far.  I want to get my reader counts up this year.  I want to write more.  Quite frankly, it’s like therapy to me.  I need it.  And I want to find more ways to cut out the crap from my life.  There is plenty of it!  Help me stay accountable, People!