I was once told quite a nice little analogy about the human body and it’s stuck with me ever since. The human body is like a battery, every so often it needs to recharge (if you have ever watched The Matrix humans are used literally as batteries). If you ever feel tired, or even depressed and just generally don’t feel like doing anything, don’t beat yourself up over it, it’s just your body telling you to sit down, chill out and refuel. Yes, your productivity will slump, your GTD system may go stale and paperwork pile up but we are only human and we need that break, however small it is, don’t beat yourself up about it. It is much better to take a small break than try and struggle along on something when your body is dragging you back. You will actually get less done in the long term that way.
How do we recharge? In an ideal world, the best approach would be to take a few days off, go on holiday to a nice warm place, relax and get away from everything but that’s obviously not always practical. However, make no mistake the best way to recharge is to take a break from things, however short it may be. At the very least, leave work an hour early one day and plan out a relaxing evening. Too many people make the mistake of trying to push through it, hoping it will go away. You are not a machine, you have your health and sanity to think about, heed your bodys warning signs.
The key ingredients to recharging are:
Relaxing environments. Get away from the noise and stress of your normal life. Give your senses a break from shouting co-workers and computer screens. Let your mind unwind.
Sleep. Get enough of it. Besides obviously helping with feeling tired, lack of sleep weakens the immune system which will make you more run-down with colds and other diseases.
Stress. Close as much stuff as possible before you take your break. You don’t want any loose strings that could catch up with you and bring on stress again. You want to be able to leave work and any other problems behind you.
Exercise. This might seem contradictory to the above points but like relaxing, its great for de-stressing and getting your mind off things. Futhermore, it ironically reduces fatigue and boosts your energy level. In many ways this is the battery recharger for humans. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a big workout at the gym, it can be something as simple as a casual walk in the countryside (in some ways this is even better as you don’t have any noise and you get plenty of fresh air). I should stress that energy drinks and foods are not subsitutes to a more healthy approach.
Though you want to be avoiding stress inducing activities and get plenty of sleep and relaxation, you still want to stay active by doing things you enjoy. Do not just laze on the couch watching TV and eating take-aways! Stress, like lack of sleep and being inactive, impairs the immune system as well as impacting on your mental and emotional processes too. Some people tend to find that their body telling them to recharge is also accompanied with general feelings of negativity or even depression because of the impacted emotional processes. This is a natural consequence and you should hold onto the fact that you will feel better as your body recharges.
I thought I would try out a completely unoriginal idea, and do a regular video feature. I will hopefully provide a mix of funny clips and stuff that is interesting and relevant to the site. If this feature takes off then great, expect another one next week. If it flops expect this post to get deleted very quickly.
I’ve been getting loads of hits these last two days or so since my article on clutter got put up on Lifehack.org. To help all those new readers get acquainted with the site I thought I would share a few of my best posts from the last few weeks:
Speed reading test! How many words can you read per minute? At the very least it’s fairly interesting to see what your speed is. I know that it has been mentioned before on Steve Pavlina about the practical benefits of reading quickly, so maybe this could be a good starting point.
Check out this very nice looking GTD wallpaper (wide version). Normally, I’m not too bothered about these sorts of things (do we really want it rammed in our faces all the time?), but this particular one looks so nice I have to recommend it. If only all GTD diagrams were so nice
A nice little prioritizing tool I came across on CNNMoney.com of all places. I’ve only had a brief play with it because I don’t currently have any prioritizing dilemmas to deal with but I like the idea. If any of you guys give it a try and find it helps you out then let me know.
Merlin Mann of 43Folders fame has started a video podcast. As it’s the opening week, there are already 5 shows up so go check them out and catch up.
I’ve found myself with a fair bit of spare time at the moment so I’ve decided to give the home a really good and long overdue tidy and de-clutter (4 big bags of rubbish and counting). So as a natural progression, I thought I would write a little series on dealing with clutter. In this first part I will look at what sort of attitudes make us keep so much stuff. Next week I will talk about some approaches and tactics to clearing it all out. As always let us know your thoughts
It was a gift/present.
If a gift had any practical use to you it’s likely it would already be serving its purpose and/or have a suitable place in your home, rather than be taking up space. If it could be used, use it now, otherwise give some careful thought to getting rid of it (keeping one or two big gifts for the sake of not offending someone is understandable, but bear in mind the majority of time they won’t even remember).
It’s expensive/It cost me a lot of money
Well if it’s lumped in with your clutter, it’s either served its purpose or been a big waste of money unfortunately. Either way, deal with it! Its costing you even more money to have it stuck around taking up room. Try selling it if it’s worth that much, but if it’s not shifting, see below…
I might be able to sell it on someday
Why do you think you can or will sell it in the future? What’s stopping you from selling it now and clearing some space? If its some sort of investment like an antique or collectors item store it in an appropriate place (remember, I’ve said it before and its corny but a place for everything and everything in its place), otherwise put it on eBay or have a car-boot sale. Get rid of it now.
It might come in useful one day
If you have already had the item for a while and you havn’t used it, it’s safe to assume you are not going to be needing it any time soon. Simple really.
I would feel guilty throwing away so much stuff
Recycle it then, give it away to your friends or charity shops. There are so many options nowadays which are out of the scope of this particular article so I suggest you do a google search for recycling and clutter in your particular region/country (if there is any interest I will add to this series with a few links/suggestions for recycling, let me know in the comments).
I don’t have time
Make time now and save loads later! You won’t have to dig around in the back of boxes, struggle with space whenever you buy a new item, stress about losing a bill in the masses of paperwork stuffed in drawers. Once you are on top of the clutter in your home it’s almost a natural (and quick!) process to stick with it.
I can’t be bothered
If you are reading this blog then I would assume you are interested in becoming more productive and/or you want to make some positive steps in your life. Getting rid of all the clutter in your life is one aspect of that. De-cluttering your home is a key step in de-cluttering your mind. It makes your whole living streamlined.
Over at The Simple Dollar there is quite an interesting article (via Lifehack.org) on frugal living and how to get over how overwhelming it can seem. Ten suggestions have been made that you can try out for a week. At the end of the 7 days, you will hopefully find what meshes with your life, what sort of expenses you can do without, etc. I’ve been thinking about this sort of think recently too, so I’ve added my thoughts to some of the points made:
Prepare and eat every meal you can at home.
This is especially true. When tracking my finances I split my food shopping between eating out and staying in. Though more often than not I take the former option, those weeks I have shown a bit of discipline and stayed in, I’ve more than halved my food expenses. I am currently trying to find a nice balance between the two approaches, by only eating out 2 or 3 times a week.
Buy generics at the grocery store.
As the article says, generics/own brands tend to be roughly equivalent in quality (own brands are often named brands with a different label). Its important to work out where the cheap/tasty line is crossed however (there is plenty of choice out there, you just have to experiment) because there is no point in sacrificing your taste buds and even your health to save a little money. Also, you will end up being more inclined to fall back on expensive groceries/eating out (see above).
Entertain yourself with things you already own.
There is so much to do on the internet, just browse around. If you can’t find something interesting to read (like this blog ahem…), or find some flash games to play, or watch an engaging video on YouTube, then cancel your internet subscription now! Or go to your local library instead.
Adjust the temperature by two degrees.
This is a running joke with people who know me, but unless its really that cold, why not just wear an extra jumper or shirt instead of having the heaters on? Besides, if you’re too warm it will just make you tired and lethargic, you want to be nippy and on your toes
Turn on only the lights and devices you need.
With this point I think its important to dismiss a myth and point out that the surge that comes from turning on a light will not make any difference to your electricity bill.
March 5th 2007
Health
5 comments
I was once told quite a nice little analogy about the human body and it’s stuck with me ever since. The human body is like a battery, every so often it needs to recharge (if you have ever watched The Matrix humans are used literally as batteries). If you ever feel tired, or even depressed and just generally don’t feel like doing anything, don’t beat yourself up over it, it’s just your body telling you to sit down, chill out and refuel. Yes, your productivity will slump, your GTD system may go stale and paperwork pile up but we are only human and we need that break, however small it is, don’t beat yourself up about it. It is much better to take a small break than try and struggle along on something when your body is dragging you back. You will actually get less done in the long term that way.
I’ve found myself with a fair bit of spare time at the moment so I’ve decided to give the home a really good and long overdue tidy and de-clutter (4 big bags of rubbish and counting). So as a natural progression, I thought I would write a little series on dealing with clutter. In this first part I will look at what sort of attitudes make us keep so much stuff. Next week I will talk about some approaches and tactics to clearing it all out. As always let us know your thoughts 
