Organize IT

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Christmas is meant to be fun, enjoyable and even meaningful, but people seem to be increasingly becoming jaded by it. Whether it be the hassle and expense of buying everyone presents and cards, the stresses of arranging and preparing all the food and decorations or the yearly disappointment of the TV schedule, Christmas has lost some of it’s sparkle, don’t you think?

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The more books I read (Brain Rules, Predictably Irrational and Freakonomics to name a few recent ones) and the more I write on this blog, the more I come across ideas and concepts that go against the conventional advice dished out by businesses, schools and the media in general. This is in some ways alarming. Millions of people are born, grow up and lives their lives based on traditional ideas that are sometimes outdated, occasionally misleading and often contradictory to scientific research and logic. Is it any wonder that we are generally less happy, less well off and often in careers we hate nowadays? Below I’ve detailed four concepts where, when it comes to being productive organized and just generally living stress-free, the world has got it badly wrong. Can you think of any others?

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Today is the third annual Blog Action Day, a great event where thousands of bloggers (just under 7000 at the time of typing this) all write about one particular topic of concern. This year it’s about climate change, a particularly apt subject given how world leaders will gather in two months time to hopefully finalize a global deal on the issue. I like to get involved in this event  and have done so for the previous two years (be sure to read my posts for 2008 and 2007). This year is no exception. However this time it took me a while to figure out what exactly to write about. After all, climate change is a huge, complicated topic. Now that the politicians, companies and the media have jumped all over it, there is so much information, facts, tips and advice out there that it’s hard to know where to start. But starting is what we all have to do, and that’s what this post is about.

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Junk food is bad for us, that much is certainly obvious. As obesity rates continue to rise it’s becoming more of an issue. But the real problem comes from regular consumption of junk food at the expense of healthier options. Having takeaway pizzas several times a week is naturally going to mess you up over time, and it’s not just because of all the fat and junk in that sort of food. If you’re not eating healthy then you can only be eating crap. In effect we put our bodies through a grueling diet without giving anything back.

Something that’s always seemed a little odd to me is all the lifehacking advice on how to get a good night’s sleep. Rather than actually getting to sleep I’d instead be awake trying to apply all these little tricks and techniques, when what I should be doing is closing my eyes and letting my mind relax. It could just be me (I can take anything up to thirty minutes to fall asleep) but all the sleephacking advice out there just doesn’t do it for me. My attitude is that the less you worry about sleeping the more likely you are to actually get to sleep. With that concept in mind, below are my top four practical tips for doing just that.