Limited opportunity: Win a "Yes, But Still..." T-shirt

I expect this will happen again in the future, but in the moment, I am offering a limited edition yesbutstill t-shirt to the winner of this contest.

How do I enter the contest? You ask.

Submit a guest blog post to me via email, and a winner will be selected from among all the entries.

The winner will receive:

1) an official yesbutstill t-shirt. (see photo)

And

2) your submission will be published on this blog.

I look forward to reading your submissions!

scottedwardjacobs (at) gmail (dot) com

Track your progress, daily.

"What gets measured gets done".

So I have no idea who said this, but I can swear to its usefulness.

And I interpret this to mean: track your progress... for everything.

My system of tracking progress is very simple. (Email me if you're interested in the details.)

What I have is a spreadsheet that has a place for the date, current projects, and a spot for notes. At the end of the day, I put a checkmark down for each project I made progress on, make any notes, or add a big fat "0" if nothing got done.

It's very motivating to quantify your success (in whatever manner is appropriate for you).

Try it out, and see what works.

Life optimization weekly tip #5: The power of 10 minutes

I'm convinced that I can do anything--and I mean, accomplish really big tasks--in only 10 minutes a day.

Okay, so it's not exactly the truth: But it's a motivation trick.

It's simple, and I think it works.

For example, when I have a particularly hard task ahead of me, or something I've been procrastinating on (cleaning my kitchen would count), and I'm clearly procrastinating, I just tell myself that I'll only work on it for 10 minutes.

What usually happens is I think "Oh that's easy, sure, 10 minutes of monotony is not a big deal."

And I find that once I make a little progress, and feel good about it, I see that task through to completion.

So whatever task you have that you know you have been procrastinating over, go work on that for 10 minutes.

Just 10 minutes!

You can do it!

Now go see what happens...

Now accepting guest post submissions

Hello friends,

For those of you who are new: welcome!

And for those of you who are loyal readers: thank you!

A lot of you have already me via email if you can submit a guest article, and I look forward to reading (and posting) them!

For everyone else:

If you enjoy what you are reading, and would like to contribute what you have learned during your own adventure in life optimization, please feel free to contact me via email, with the words "Guest Blog Post" in the subject line of your email.

Thanks so much, and I look forward to hearing from each and every one of you!

The cognitive costs of making decisions: Yet another reason to simplify your life

Just last week, I attended a talk by Dr. Kathleen Vohs, who presented some fascinating research on the cognitive costs associated with making choices.

Her research has found that making choices--even simple ones, such as choosing among limited options--can tax one's self-regulation resources, so that an individual will have less control over future acts that involve regulating a behavioral response.

To put this more simply: Making choices requires energy, which can become depleted and influence future behaviors.

Now, how could you use this knowledge to optimize your life?

I suspect that you could structure your environment to limit the number of decisions you have to make in a given day.

For example, you might harness the power of routine.

I'll let you take it from here, to think about how you can use routines (morning routine, evening routine, fitness routine, etc.) to simplify your life and optimize your energy.

And feel free to leave comments below about the routines in your life that help to streamline your day. If routine can cut down on the number of choices you have to make, there's good evidence that it might improve your ability to control future impulses.

Life optimization weekly tip #4: Try a self-affirmation

This type of exercise works for many people, and sometimes, I'm one of them.

Self-affirmations are typically used to boost one's self esteem and mood, and they generally fall in the "fake-it-till-you-make-it" category.

I know that this has been stated time and time again, so once more won't really hurt:

Positive emotional states are psychologically powerful and should be cultivated in oneself. Not simply because they "feel good", but for the following reasons, all of which are supported by scientific research.

Positive emotional states:

1. Induce approach behaviors---one is more likely to engage in novel activities such as meeting new people or starting new projects when they are, what I would call, "under the influence", of positive emotion.

2. Spark "big picture" modes of thinking, often helping one get out of the box of normal thought patterns.

3. Improve psychological resilience, leading to what could be deemed an upward spiral in one's overall mood.

So if you're into optimizing your overall well-being. You might try a self-affirmation. You can find some here.

Stay tuned for future life-optimizing tips.

In an upcoming post I will share some thoughts on how positive moods contribute to a beneficial social environment.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Read this.

Then do something special for your partner. You could even try something on this list.

And if that's not an option.

Take your best single friend out to dinner.

It will make you both happier.

Go for a walk...

Make it brisk too, and in a scenic area.

You'll feel more calm with the sights and sounds of nature around you.

And get this, even a very minimal amount of high intensity exercise can boost your metabolism.

Researchers have found that high intensity exercise, even as little as 30 seconds worth on a regular basis, can boost one's metabolic rate. That's it! 30 seconds!

You can certainly spare 30 seconds, right?

So go run up the stairs or something, and think about how life-optimizing that is...

Ask yourself: What would Carl Rogers do? (part 2)

While reading "A Way of Being" by Carl Rogers, a particular passage stuck out for me.

I will reproduce it here:

"I am disappointed when I realize--and of course this realization always comes afterward, after a lag of time--that I have been too frightened or too threatened to let myself get close to what I am experiencing, and that consequently I have not been geniune or congruent. There immediately comes to mind an instance that is somewhat painful to reveal. Some years ago I was invited to be a Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford. The Fellows are a group of brilliant and well-informed scholars. I suppose it is inevitable that there is a considerable amount of one-upmanship, of showing off one's knowledge and achievements. It seems important for each Fellow to impress the others, to be a little more assured, to be a little more knowledgeable than he really is. I found myself doing this same thing--playing a role of having greater certainty and greater competence than I really possess. I can't tell you how disgusted with myself I felt as I realized what I was doing: I was not being me, I was playing a part. " (From pg 18, A Way of Being, by Carl Rogers).

Here, Rogers brings to mind an example of a situation where he was not being his authentic, true self. And he noted the negative emotions he felt as a result of behaving in that manner.

Today's message is to be authentic. Admit your shortcomings, and you might find that others will follow suit.

It's easier to connect to another person, when it is clear that that person is presenting their true self to you. So go out in the world and make it easier for others to know who you really are.

Feel free to leave comments below if you experienced similar situations to the one Carl Rogers described. How did it make you feel once you realized you weren't being authentic?

Life optimization weekly tip #3: Take a siesta.

Take a siesta.

Seriously, go take a nap.

It has been widely reported that those who take an afternoon nap have a lower risk of heart disease.

And if that isn't motivating enough for you, it's even been shown that a brief nap will help one retain learned information.

So go take a nap. It could be good for your brain and your heart.

Work is fun: Personal musings on the notion of 'work as play'

To truly optimize your satisfication from the experiences in life that might be considered mundane, you have to begin to think of these situations as games, opportunities for learnings, or riddles that have a correct response.

And games are fun.

So consider the following scenario: You work at a job with very clear goals, with measurable ways to quantify your success. Now, under these circumstances many could find themselves just passing the bar, laying low without trying too hard.

But those who see this as a game, would bypass all the others. They would feel energized, and jump out of bed in the morning ready to play. They wouldn't go home tired, or stressed, but would leave eager to return.

Those who are winnning the rat race might be doing so because they're playing, not working.

Office politics is another example of where this mindset can help.

Perhaps you have a colleague who tries to puts you on edge. Once you begin to think of this as a test, a challenge sent forth from the heavens, only then will you find yourself modifying your responses more appropriately.

I believe the philosopher Epictetus has written extensively on the notion of controlling one's response to the challenges posed by difficult situations. The idea is that after you acknowledge that most of your environment is out of your control, you can begin to focus on controlling that which is in your power: Your response to a given situation.

So go play: optimize your work/play environment, and pass any challenges that arise in your day.

Think of life as a journey with a goal, and you'll miss the whole point.

Here, you have a brief lecture by philosopher Alan Watts, animated by the creators of South Park.

I don't intend to ruin it with commentary, so after you've watched it (maybe a few times), feel free to reflect on your own life, and consider that your own pursuit of happiness may be interfering with it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Also recommended:

Alan Watts -- 'Work as Play'

Life optimization weekly tip #2

By no measure, would I call myself a fan of videogames.

But after I read this, I've begun to reconsider.

Researchers found that older adults (in 60s & 70s) had significant improvement in working memory and other executive functioning skills after they played computer games (In this particular study, the game was "Rise of Nations").

Of course, in this study no evidence was collected for younger adults, but I'm convinced that these improvements would emerge if younger adults had played the games as well.

So your weekly life optimization tip is to go out and play some videogames: science says that it might improve your cognitive ability.

And what's not fun about that?

Happy ground hog day! --- Or, just say yes...

Yes, the groundhog saw his shadow---six more weeks of winter.

Let's assume, for a moment, that the furry creature is correct.

"What can be done!?" -You ask. "How can I optimize my life with all this snow in the way?"

I found an answer from the folks over at http://www.getrichslowly.org/ who have a great piece on how to get more out of life.

The advice is to agree to all invitations, even ones that you would normally turn down. The idea behind this is that if you behave in this manner, you will find yourself having more positive experiences, and if not, you will at least learn new things about yourself.

Very recently, a new friend asked me if I would like to go snowboarding or skiing (an invitation, I might add, I have always turned down).

I was about to decline, but then I remembered.......

"Yes."

So next weekend, I will find myself snowboarding for the first time ever.

Now you, happy reader, go accept more invitations.