A month or two ago I released the software program Life Manager Pro both for Windows and the Mac platforms. Since then Mac users have asked me to include some way that they can carry their essential information on their Iphones for use when away from their computer.
I've been working away to make this happen and now it is ready. Life Manager Pro is software that helps organize your life and be more productive. It keps track of all your to dos, contacts and calendar events. These can then be synced with Mac programs, Ical and Address Book, and from there they will automatically appear on your Iphone or Itouch. The to dos appear as a note on the Iphone.
Stress can have a major influence on your health. Whilst some stress is a natural component of life, too much can seriously affect your health. Many conditions such as heart disease and IBS are linked to stress.
One of the causes of stress is being disorganized, which makes you feel that you are not controlling your life.
Ask yourself the following questions:
- Is your office so cluttered that you waste valuable time searching for the things that you need right now?
- Do you sometimes wish for more hours in the week to finish all the tasks that need doing?
- Is your lack of organisation holding you back and causing you stress?
- Have you got the ideal work/life balance?
- Do you lose your car keys because you have forgotten where you left them?
Image via Wikipedia
This Christmas I went to see the film The Avatar. It’s a great film, especially the world created in breathtaking 3D. Sitting in the Imax cinema it was like being on a beautiful colourful planet filled with exotic plants and creatures.
The film is rumoured to be the most expensive film ever made. The end credits seem to go on for ever as there is a vast army of people involved in the making of the movie.
Many of the notable makers of Avatar have personal assistants. This got me thinking, wouldn’t it be great to have a personal assistant to organize my life for me.
Life Manager Pro
As I get older I tend to forget things – or maybe I was always forgetful and I notice it more!
I used to think that this problem was peculiar to me, but the more I looked into it, I found that human brains are not wired up to retain and recall lots of information. That’s why post-it notes are so useful, or notes attached to the fridge to remind you when your running out of groceries.
Do you:
- Forget to pay your bills on time and receive threatening letters?
- Have to return to the supermarket because you forgot a vital ingredient for the gourmet meal you are making?
- Forget your friend’s birthday?
- Can’t remember where you put your car keys, your glasses, your pills? Read more
Image via Wikipedia
This has been a hectic week. I’ve been finishing my software project Life Manager Pro and also getting my house ready for laminate flooring to be fitted.
Sometimes it seems that there is just too much to do each day. Do you lead a hectic busy life? What does it take to just slow down and relax whilst still getting things done? Read more
- Image by David Reber via Flickr
I used to work in an office of a large company. I generally worked from 9 until 5.30 at night thinking that I had done a fair day’s work for my pay. I noticed that others on the floor where I worked were always there when I arrived and still there when I left. I was never sure what they were doing early morning and late at night. Perhaps they were not doing a lot, but believed their presence gave the impression that they were working long and productive hours.
Though there are days when I do work long hours I now realise that the number of hours that I work are not as important as what I actually do during those hours.
- Do you work long hours?
- Are you working at optimal efficiency during all those hours?
- Could you work less hours yet achieve more?
Image via Wikipedia
Many years ago I had the idea to write software that would help organise my life. Five years later and the goal is about to be achieved.
Why did it take 5 years? The answer will be revealed later.
If you want to build a shed in the back garden you don’t just think, I’ll get 10 planks of wood from somewhere and some nails then just sort of start building the thing. No, you follow a procedure:
Image via Wikipedia
Here are 10 common ways that people use to achieve their goals. How many of these strategies do you use?
- Make a step-by-step plan
- Motivate yourself by focussing on someone who has achieved a similar goal
- Tell other people about your goal
- Think about bad things that will happen if you do not achieve your goal
- Think about the good things that will happen if you achieve your goal
- Try to suppress unhelpful or negative thoughts about your goal and how to achieve it
- Reward yourself for making progress in your goal
- Rely on willpower
- Record your progress
- Fantasize or visualize how great your life will be when you achieve your goal
The mind is disorganised and that’s just the way it works. Brains are not designed to create order in your life. They need some help.
How many of these statements apply to you?
- You think about something that needs doing, then forgot about it a few minutes later.
- You put small objects down in the house such as car keys or glasses and cannot find them a few hours later
- You are introduced to someone and then forget what their name is
- You say yes to lots of things and find that the day is too short to do them all
- You are working on your computer and find that you have been surfing the Internet aimlessly for the last two hours
- You find that you cannot get enough done and find yourself working long hours
If one or more of these statements describes you then you need help in organising your life.
I was looking at my doctor’s website yesterday and in particular the statistics on what they have treated. Ten per cent of patients are treated for depression. How many more people are not yet at the stage of clinical depression, but are very unhappy?
Are you happy? If not, what can you do about it. Positive psychology believes that it has the answer to happiness. Research has shown that 40% of happiness is under your conscious control. The other 60% is due to our circumstances, where you live, the family that you are bought up in and so on.
Happiness has two main components. You can asses yours by asking yourself the following questions:
- How satisfied are you overall with your life and are you progressing in your life goals?
- How often do you feel positive emotions and how often do you feel negative emotions?
- Image by thinkpanama via Flickr
The smart goals formula is a great way of helping you achieve success.
I once went with two friends to see a motivational speaker who told us to make a goals about how much money we wanted in earn in the next year.
In the car on my way home from the talk one of my friends asked us to say how much money we wanted to earn. He said £500,000, my other friend said £250,000 – and I laughed thinking that the whole exercise was just picking a figure out of thin air. I had no idea how much money I would earn during the year.
After 12 months I found out that neither of my friends had earned anything like the figure they had quoted. I did not earn much money in that year.
So, what stopped me and my friends earning a lot of money? Where had they gone wrong? What is stopping you earning your desired amount of money?
- Image via Wikipedia
Do you lack smart goals?
I was on a self service cafe this weekend with a friend. As we stood at the counter waiting to order our food a man came up to us holding a bowl of soup.
“I’ve been waiting 10 minutes for a spoon to eat my soup and my soup is getting cold.” he said.
My friend caught the attention of a member of staff and asked for some spoons. A few seconds later the staff member handed over the spoons. She gave one to the man.
“Thank you, but my soup is getting cold,” he complained.
“Why don’t you ask them to replace your cool soup with hot soup?” she asked.
“But my soup’s getting cold,” said the man as he walked away.
The man focussed on lack:
- Lack of a spoon
- Lack of warmth in his soup
My friend focussed on the solution:
- Obtain a spoon
- Replace the cold soup with a fresh bowl of of soup
Do you focus on lack or solutions?
Can binaural beats get you high?
I learnt to meditate many years ago. This involved a simple breathing technique:
Breathing deeply and slowly, following the movement of the breath as I inhaled and exhaled.
This sounded simply enough but the problem was that my thoughts keep intruding. I would start off breathing in, breathing out, following the rhythm for about a minute before odd thoughts entered my head:
- What shall I have for dinner tonight?
- Have I left the oven on?
- That was a great night out last night.
After a few random thoughts, I would pull my attention back to my breathing for a short while before the thoughts came back.
After many months I could manage to concentrate on my breathing for longer periods of time, and sometimes I reached what I call the meditator’s high in which there is a sense of deep peace and euphoria.
I am not unusual. Most people find meditation a difficult skill to master.
Is there an easier way? Read more
Do self help books work?
I used to go into large book stores and head for the self help book section where I stood before a few hundred titles. I start to browse the books that looked interesting. After about an hour of intense browsing I would decide on the book I wanted and wander out of the store with my new book and head for the nearest Starbucks to start reading it.
Almost every self help book that I read contained glowing testimonials by people whose lives have been transformed by it. I would start reading, full of expectations that I too would be changed by it. After I read it I would say to myself:
“That was a great book, but I feel just the same as I did before reading it!”
I met a friend who complained that she had a whole bookcase full of self help books but none of them had really changed her. I too felt short-changed by these books. This feeling lasted until the next time I visited the book store and stood in front of the self help goodies! Maybe the next book would be the one that would change my life forever.
So, do self help books work?
Can video games be part of self improvement?
On the campus the lone gunman kills a group of students and staff, is chased by the police and then kills himself. This nightmare story has been played out several times in recent years.
After the event there is much speculation in the media about the causes of these events. People naturally need to find out what motivated the assailant,( usually a male youth). The typical profile of this man is:
- He has had a troubled childhood,
- He feels alienated from society
- His class mates thought he was a bit weird
- He watches violent films
- He plays violent video games
There is also usually a call for violent video games to be banned.
But, are all video games bad and lead to anti-social and violent behaviour?
At the recent Games Developers Conference there was much attention paid to games that allow players to
- set their own goals
- customize their own content
- make their own fun
Do these type of games contribute towards self improvement?
