Things I learned while moving (to a new apartment)

So I spent the whole day organizing, packing up everything I own, throwing out things I don't need anymore, and moving into a new apartment. Along with this, I learned a few things, and I expect that if you ever move you will have a similar experience.

This is what my bedroom looked like when I started:

And this is how it ended:

Here's what I learned:

1) I should dust on a regular basis.

2) I have a lot of clothing that I never wear.

3) I can accumulate a lot of things in a short amount of time.

This applies to food as well.

Going through my cupboards, I noticed lots of things I have purchased that I would probably never really eat. Most of these things fall under the category of 'health food'. Like the giant container of instant oatmeal I had on the very top shelf. I bought it a while ago (maybe last year), because it's supposed to be good for you, but I find it largely flavorless, and no matter what I add to it, I never eat it. It's been there ever since, and now, it is gone.

There's a lot of things in your apartment or house right now that you probably never use, wear, or eat.

It might be better just to go through your place and discard all of that stuff now. I think you'll feel happier afterward, I know I did.

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My to-do list is too long: and now I'm procrastinating...

Today, I'm going to share with you the beauty of what's been termed 'structured procrastination'.

How many of you have experienced this?

You have a series of tasks you need to do, one of which is at the top of the list, and you do everything but that one.

Even though it seems to be the most important.


Why does this happen? And how can you harness this power?



What you have to do is put something that seems important, and seems urgent, at the top of your list. If you do this correctly, you'll procrastinate on that task by doing everything else on your list.


One thing that I've done is set arbitrary deadlines for tasks that aren't really urgent. It might work for you too.

So what do YOU do when you are procrastinating?



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recommended reading:

http://www.structuredprocrastination.com/

The cheapest coffee date ever

So today, before I got started with the work I had to do, I went to Starbucks with my favorite sidekick. Coffee helps me get my day started (wooohoo caffeine !!!), and typically, we'll get two small coffees, which costs me around $3 (I think).

But today, I felt like optimizing my wallet, and here's what I learned:

I can buy 1 extra large coffee for about $1.80 and then split it into two small ones. Since two small coffees costs about $ 3 dollars. I effectively save myself $1.20 every time I do this.

If I were continue with my old method (two small coffees), five days a week for a year (which is an exaggeration, but it will make clear how awesome this is), I am on track to spend about $780.

With the new method (splitting a large coffee), I am on track to spend about $468, a savings of $312. [And I know that there are some of you out there who are saving even more money by brewing your own coffee, but I'm not there yet. Stay tuned...]

At the end of a year, maybe I'll go buy a new laptop to go with my large coffee.

Of course, I would never recommend trying to split a large coffee if you're going on a real date---this only works with someone who loves you.

Take care, and feel free to share in the comment section the tricks you use to optimize your wallet....

How I saved over $400 dollars a year, and probably 1000s of hours of my time too....

I cancelled my cable TV subscription.

And I've probably gained thousands of hours of future productivity.

If you're motivated by saving money, keep in mind that you can watch most tv shows on the internet these days.

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If that's not motivating, read this:

"American children and adolescents spend 22 to 28 hours per week viewing television, more than any other activity except sleeping. By the age of 70 they will have spent 7 to 10 years of their lives watching TV."-- The Kaiser Family Foundation

Make a 3d movie, instantly...

Okay, so this post is aimed at helping you tap into your creative mind.

I found this cool website that helps you make a 3d cartoon movie, with really no effort at all.

Here is the link:

http://www.xtranormal.com/

I'm sure I'll be busy for a few hours while I play around with it.

Go check it out, and see what you come up with...

Exclusive interview with Daily Jump Start Guy

Greetings readers, today I have an exclusive interview for you that I had with "Daily Jump Start Guy" of the blog http://dailyjumpstart.blogspot.com/

A fellow blogger and life optimizer, dailyjumpstart provides a daily dose of motivation to get your day rolling. If you find his site as useful as I do, you'll appreciate the following short interview I had with him.

Enjoy!

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YBS (Yes, But Still..): A lot of my readers (and myself) have found your site very useful. Could you share with them your motivation for starting your blog?

DJSG (Daily Jump Start Guy): Thanks Scott. The motivation started by me looking for something that I could read every day that would kick my morning off, and give me a mental tool to put to work immediately. What I found was that writing them myself gave it more meaning, and the ability to share it and get feedback from other such as yourself makes it much more rewarding.

YBS: Here, I write about my personal adventures in life optimization. Is there a tip or trick that you discovered that has made your life and work more fulfilling?

DJSG: It's going to be different for everyone, what has worked for me is to look at my work as a means to afford what I'm passionate about. When you have passion, your blood races, obstacles fall, time quickens...but sometimes it's difficult to muster passion for something like work...this is when you need to look at your work as a means to lift you to what you want, it then has a purpose.

YBS: It's obvious that you have put a lot of thought into discovering ways to improve one's motivation. What is your favorite motivation 'hack'?

DJSG: One of my favorites is to look at a list of quotes by someone such as Emerson, Thoreau, Churchill, etc. Find one that resonates with you and then write about it, write what it means to you, extend the thought. This way you get a good start, but can "customize" the quote to what's going on in your life. This can then be used as a journal entry, an affirmation, or just something you look at when you need a lift.

YBS: What advice would you give to someone, that is, what action would you recommend they take at this very moment, to begin to bring about positive changes in their life right now?

DJSG: Write down what those positive changes would look like when they occur. Work through your frustrations and goals until you have written out something that looks like your ideal day or life. This will take some time, and should be done somewhere outside your office or home. Make it a blueprint for what you want your life to look like. Then work backwards...take each goal, break it down into smaller goals, then make a list of action items that are things you can actually physically do today that get you closer...then do them. It's simple, but not easy. After that I'd suggest they read the Yes, but still blog!

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Thanks, readers! I hope you enjoyed this interview as much as I did. Stay tuned for more...

I want to try this: The "Miracle Berry"

Look here:

http://www.thinkgeek.com/caffeine/wacky-candy/ab3f/

Apparently this "miracle fruit" temporarly alters the way your taste buds work.

The review says:  

"Limes suddenly tasted like the sweetest, most perfect limeade ever. Oranges (already quite sweet) tasted like they were imported from an Alien world or plucked straight from the Garden of Eden (truly, words can't describe the life-altering sensations caused by these little tablets)."

Whether it is 'life-optimizing' or not is up for debate.

But it would be certainly be an interesting experience.

Experience psychological theory first hand...

A friend brought my attention to a website with a bunch of tasks explaining various psychological phenomena.

Try them out and see what you learn.

What's your "real age"?

I found this website that claims to calculate your "Real Age": http://www.realage.com/

You answer a bunch of health questions, then it spits out a number that's supposed to reflect how young or old your body is.

And if you haven't been taking very good care of yourself, it will even give you a health plan to get back on track.

So it seems pretty useful if you're good at following directions.

When I filled it out, it said that I had a real age of "21.2". [Given my actual age, I take this as a good thing, but it's really unclear how they calculate these numbers.]

Go see what you think...

Becoming an expert: It (only) takes 10,000 hours.

So Malcolm Gladwell, in his book Outliers, claims that it takes 10,000 hours for one to become an expert in a given domain.

Right now, I'm working on a PhD in psychology, so let me run a rough estimate at where I stand...


I've been here for about 18 months. If I estimate that I have put in 50 hours of work per week, this means that I'm currently about (18 months x 4 weeks per month x 50 hours) = 3600 hours along the way.

Based on Gladwell's logic, I am 6400 hours away from expertness.

Woohoo!

How to improve your relationships: The "No Festering rule".

I found this over at http://www.doingless.net/node/45. It's a post on how to maintain positive, honest interactions in relationships.


The idea is to air your differences and assumptions immediately. Clearing the air on a regular basis will facilitate your interactions by reducing the tendency to harbor resentment.

Marc Lesser even provides a three-step plan on how to accomplish such a feat.

Read and enjoy.

How to clean your place in 10 minutes

I found this in the Stanford University student housing guide, in the section on cleaning.

It's called the "10 minute quick clean", I'll reproduce it below for your enjoyment (from pg 1):

"1. Make the bed. Smooth out the sheets and blankets; straighten the comforter or bedspread and pillow/s.

2. Empty the trash. Toss garbage in the dumpster, cans and papers and other recyclables in the recycling bins.

3. Stuff your dirty laundry into a hamper or basket. Big clue: if the hamper doesn’t have enough room for everything, plan to do some laundry soon.

4. Gather odds and ends—the CDs you need to return, iPod speakers, poker cards—into a basket. Put food away.

5. Dust. Spray a little all-purpose cleaner onto a cloth or paper towels and wipe down washable surfaces.

6. Sweep. If you have a patio or balcony, sweep it.

7. Vacuum. First pick up paper clips, rubber bands, and bits of string that can clog the vacuum cleaner."

Personally, I don't think it's humanly possible to do all of the above in 10 minutes.

Comment below if you're able to pull it off.

Daily Jump Start

There's a really useful blog over at http://dailyjumpstart.blogspot.com/

The posts arrive on a daily basis and are targeted at giving you a motivation boost.

Read and enjoy! That's it for today.