Category: advice

Your problem is actually a solution. And that’s the real problem. Which calls for the real solution.


Your problem is actually a solution. And that’s the real problem. Which calls for the real solution.

Let’s unpack that.

Many of the common problems we have are actually solutions for underlying problems we have. So if you have a problem with: eating, drinking, smoking,  sleeping, shopping, etc. too much, you need to look at those behaviours not just as problems but as solutions to underlying problems. You might be indulging in those behaviours because they solve your underlying problem of being anxious, bored, tired, etc. If you try and solve the problem of doing something too much like eating without dealing with the actual problem, you will have a difficult time. And you will have a difficult time because you will may have taken away the solution for the actual problem you were avoiding.

One approach to start dealing with this is get out a notepad and write down what problems you are struggling with and try to get underneath them and see if those problems are actually solving other problems. Then write down those problems and see what you can do to solve them. If you can make progress in solving the underlying problems, you might find that the other problems dissipate.

As always, talk to a professional if you think or feel that your problems are harming you. Take good care of yourself; get help if you can’t do it alone.

 

How to paint using one color, and more how to advice for artists


I’ve been working on drawing and painting again. During this work, I’ve collected a fair amount of good links on the subjects. Take a look:

Good luck to all who strive to create art!

Jerry Seinfeld, and the art of changing your mind in public

Jerry Seinfeld gives a good example of how to change your mind in public, here: Jerry Seinfeld says he was ‘wrong’ to blame ‘extreme left’ for killing comedy.

Not only does he says his old way of thinking was wrong, but he shows that he has considered what he thought before and contrasts that with his new way of  thinking.

If you have to change your position on a topic in public, it’s not enough to say, “well I thought A before, but now I think B”. You want to show why you no longer think that way. It shows you’re thoughtful and sincere.

No one likes having to change your mind in public. If you have to do so, consider the way Seinfeld did it.

 

 

If you get your blood pressure measured, make sure you do this

If you get your blood pressure measured, arm position is important. As this piece states:

When the arm is on the lap or the side, a blood pressure reading can be erroneously high. But when the arm is supported and at heart height, a blood pressure reading is more likely to be right.

Whenever I go to my doctor, she makes sure my arm is in that position. When you get your blood pressure read, make sure you do so too.

Don’t just take my opinion, though: ask your health professional.

In a conflict with significant bad actors on both sides, there are no good options for bystanders

In a conflict with significant bad actors on both sides, there are no good options for bystanders.In such a conflict, you have three options:

  1. you can take a side
  2. you can try to rise above the conflict
  3. you can do nothing

If you take a side, you will be associated with the bad actors on that side. If you try to say “I take this side but I don’t associate with the bad actors on this side”, you will come across as a hypocrite, or naive, or ignorant. And when the bad actors on your side do something wrong, which they will, you will be associated with that wrong too.

You might say, I don’t care. Or the other side is still worse. And that’s fine. But it doesn’t make this option a good one. It’s just an option you are willing to take.

If you try and rise above the conflict, then you will be criticized by both sides for ignoring the bad actors on the other side. In addition, you will be seen as ineffective and weak and irrelevant. Again, it’s an option, it’s just not a good one.

Doing nothing is the flipside of trying to rise above the conflict. You won’t be stuck with having to side with bad actors, but you will be criticized for being indifferent and uncaring, cold and thoughtless.

In life there are often situations where there is no good options to choose from. A conflict with significant bad actors on both sides is one of those situations.

What you mean when you say you’re wasting your time doing X

What does it mean when you say you’re wasting your time doing X?

This question came to me recently when I was sitting on my porch. I thought: why am I wasting my time here? And then I had the follow on thought: what should I be doing this is not a waste of time?

Before I moved though, I asked myself: why was sitting on the porch a waste of time? I concluded I was sitting on the porch because it was a nice summer day and I was enjoying it. In other word,  enjoying a nice summer day has no value (i.e. it’s a waste of time).

Now there are other enjoyable I do that I don’t consider a waste of time: talking with loved ones, eating a good meal, going for a walk. So why is this different?

I think I have been conditioned to think simply sitting around is a waste of time, best done on vacation. Otherwise I think deep down I should be doing something productive. it’s a weirdly puritanical view that conflicts with my non puritanical views on food.

So the next time you are doing something you enjoy doing, attach some value to that. 

 

How to shop for a duffle bag or gym bag on Amazon and get the right size

If you are shopping for a gym bag or duffle bag on Amazon, you might be hard pressed to know if the bag you are buying is big enough. Some of them will say they are large but they aren’t really.

One good way to gauge how big a bag is look for its litre size (e.g. 60L) Roughly speaking, there seems to be four ranges that gym bags or duffle bags come in:

  • 40 L – small
  • 60L – medium and a typical gym bag
  • 100L – large. Good if you have a lot of gear.
  • 150L – extra-large. Likely a good size for hockey gear.

If you just have a few items, a small might do it, but something in the medium range might be more versatile and typical for a gym bag. If you have equipment to carry, though, you want to get something in the large or even extra large size, depending on how much equipment you have.

 

Taking care of yourself is not optional

I’ve been thinking of this commandment, ““taking care of yourself is not optional” ever since I read it on an email from Mike Monteiro’s newsletter. I think that is an important commandment to abide by, especially as you get old.

When you get old, it is temping to think taking care of yourself doesn’t matter. Why bother, you think. You don’t have that many years anyway.Why waste your time on that when I have so little time as it is. Besides, no one cares.

But here’s the thing: people do care. You don’t know how many years you have left, and you never have, even when you were younger and you did take care of yourself. And if you don’t take care of yourself, that little time you have might be miserable due to your neglect of yourself.

If you argue that “I don’t believe in all that self-care goopy nonsense”, consider that taking care of yourself doesn’t have to mean meditation and massages and whatever else new age beliefs you may be rejecting. Taking care of yourself can just be the basics: get some good sleep habits, some good eating habits, add some good hygiene habits, plus a bit of exercise too, even if it is walking regularly. If you have all that going on, then you can extend that out to taking care of the environment you are in and the relationships you have, because that comes back to taking care of yourself, too. Have you been to the doctor lately? If not, get checked out. Dentist? Do that too.

Here’s another thing. Taking care of yourself sends a message, to others and yourself. The message is, you matter. You have value. You are precious, even. So start acting like it.

Start taking care of yourself. It’s not optional.

What should you do? Here’s a chart to guide you

I like this chart, found at substack TBM 16/52: Can Do vs. Should Do by John Cutler. I use a similar one when working with clients.

If you have a list of tasks you feel need doing, list them out and grade them on a scale of 1 to 3 (or 5 or 10). We grade them usually on a scale of Low, Medium and High. If you rank a task High for you Should do it and High for you Can do it, then that goes up in the top right corner of this chart (#3). Those are the tasks you want to do first.

See #1 and #2? The way we tackle them is by breaking them down and finding a part of them we can do. That part we move into the #3 section. There’s always some part of #1 and #2 you Can do, even if it involved asking someone for help with them.

Obviously those things you shouldn’t do (#9) should move off your list, no matter how capable you are of doing things. Likewise #6-#8 should be avoided, but sometimes we do #8 when we are blocked or tired (which is a form of blocked).

Anyway, a great chart. Check out the substack post for more insight on it.

 

How can you learn about Project 2025? Three ways

If you are curious about Project 2025 — and if you are an American, you should be — there are at least three ways you can learn more about it.

The first way is to go to a web site set up to describe it, Project 2025: Presidential Transition Project.

Personally, and as a progressive person, I found this the best way to understand the effects it could have, 25and.me: How Does Project 2025 Affect Me?

However, if all that is hard to get a handle on, or if you want something more neutral, you can also check out: Project 2025 in Wikipedia.

Chances are if Donald Trump is reelected president, many of the things proposed in Project 2025 will come to fruition in the four years he is in office. So before you vote, read up on Project 2025 and know what you might be in store for.

Computers and the Vietnam War: a cautionary tale

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This piece, According to Big Data We Won the Vietnam War, should be read by everyone who  strongly believes the next new technology (e.g. gen AI) will be able to make decisive predictions to solve big problems (e.g. the Vietnam War).  The best computers and minds at the time thought they could win the war with technology. They were wrong then, and they will be wrong again.

If you think newer computers will win this time, reconsider that. If you think we learned our lesson last time, read this.

So you want to publish a cookbook? If so, read this.

If you are thinking of publishing a cook book, then you owe it to yourself to read this piece in Eater. Eater interviewed three cookbook authors on how they got their first book deal and touches on all aspects of the process they followed. It even talks about how much money you might make. (Emphasis on the word, might.)

Obviously this isn’t the last word on how to get published, but you will come away from it with a better sense of what those authors did to become successful. In one case, author Priya Krishna went on to become very successful with a prominent position at the New York Times. Who knows where you and your stack of recipes — or Instagram posts — will end up?

 

Have you had your joy snack today?

Who doesn’t want to feel more joyful? And who doesn’t like a snack? If you are still with me, then let me introduce you to the combined concept of a joy snack. As Neuroscientist and science journalist Richard Sima explains, these are:

… little moments of delight you experience throughout the day: He calls them “joy snacks.” These include things like your first sip of coffee in the morning, or telling a joke where the punchline hits just right. By savoring even small bites of bliss, you can transform an otherwise mundane moment into something joyful. And cultivating more joy can help you create a more meaningful life.

I like it! Joy and snacks: two great things that go great together!

For more on this, check this out: An easy way to feel happier: Snacking on joy. In The Washington Post.

Now get snacking!

It’s the weekend. Go do something with your hands

Why? Well according to this: Working With Your Hands Is Good for Your Brain (in The New York Times). It doesn’t matter if it is knitting or gardening or writing or painting. As long as it is not….typing.

It’s not clear why this is so, but studies show it to be true. So put the computer down and go do something manual. You’ll be glad you did.

 

The 20/20 rule for decluttering

The 20/20 rule for decluttering is simple and good:

First, ask yourself, “Could I replace this item for less than $20?” Then, ask yourself, “Could I replace it in less than 20 minutes?”

If the answer to both of those questions is YES, then toss it without thinking any more about it. Note: replacing it in 20 minutes means can I replace it by ordering it online.

PS: For more decluttering advice I’ve recommended, go  here. In that list is the “Box and Banish” approach, the 90/90 rule, and more.

Speaking of more, if you want to learn more about the 20/20 rule, go here: Ask Yourself These Two Questions Before You Keep Something ‘Just in Case’ at Lifehacker.

On the chocolate cake at Claud and what we can learn from it

The Claud chocolate cake can be a lesson for any restaurant in this day of social media and influencers.

Claud in NYC is a highly respected restaurant with subtle and sophisticated cuisine. Yet if you go to social media sites like Instagram, what you’ll often see is their chocolate cake, shown above. (And yes it is mine and I ordered it.)  Just looking at it and you can see why it is popular: it is an eye catching slice of dessert.

I hesitate to call it a gimmick, for it’s delicious and well made. But it is definitely an attention getter, and in this age of social media, getting attention is key.

There are many ways to attract diners. If you want an easy and low cost way to do that, get yourself a menu item like Claud’s cake.

 

 

Just Be It. Or what the inclusiveness of marathon running taught me about writing, art and other activities

If you train for a marathon and you run it in a big city, chances are you will be in the same race — not run, but race — as world class runners. You will not win of course, but you will be included. That’s what is great about marathon running: you are as much a marathon runner / racer as someone hoping to be in the Olympics. It is inclusive.

Nike is a company that also supports inclusiveness, not just for running but for athleticism in general. They like to say: “if you have a body, you are an athlete”. It doesn’t get more inclusive than that.

I think such inclusiveness should be seen in the art world. If you create, you are an artist. If you write, you are a writer. If you’re writing poetry, you are a poet. Taking photos: a photographer. Thinking about the meaning of life: a philosopher.

Maybe your art is not going to bring you fame or fortune. Your running might not either. But if you are out there running or cycling or skiing or whatever you do, you are an athlete. The same should be true of writing or painting or photographing: you are an artist. Don’t let others exclude you from the group; don’t let others discourage you and get you to stop doing the thing you want to do. You’re as much a part of it as the people up front. Put on those running shoes, pick up that camera, that pen, that brush, and be the thing you are.

Instacart recipes have a secret ingredient: AI. What cooks should know.

One convenient feature of Instacart is a listing of “Related recipes” it will provide you if you are searching for a product or ingredient. For instance, I was searching for “biscuits” and one of the recipes that appeared to me was no-milk biscuits. Hmmmm, that could be good and simple, I thought. Seemed reasonable too. Then I scrolled down the bottom to the recipe and came across the text: this recipe is powered by the magic of AI.

First off, let me say: AI is not magic. Second, this COULD be a good recipe. Or it could be something where AI hallucinated ingredients or quantities. For this recipe, it is somewhat close to this recipe for dairy free biscuits at allRecipes.com, but it is missing some ingredients and the quantities of some of the ingredients are different. I searched other recipes at other sites, and while it is close to them, it seems…lacking…in comparison.

Simply put: you would be better off getting recipes from either reputable cookbooks or websites where recipes are tested and confirmed. It is convenient to use the recipes in places like Instacart, because you can easily add the ingredients of the recipe to your shopping cart, but the results from the recipes generated by AI could leave you very disappointed. Especially when it comes to baking!

P.S. Not to pick just on Instacart: I suspect we are going to see more and more of this type of AI generated advice on websites. Keep an eye out for it.

If you are using python packages like xmltodict or yaml, here is something to be aware of

If you are using python packages like xmltodict or yaml to write and read your own XML and yaml files, you probably don’t need to know this. But if you are reading someone else’s files, here is something to be aware of.

This week I had to process an XML files in python. No problem, I thought, I’ll use a python package like xmltodict to translate the XML into a dictionary variable. Then I could edit it and print out a new file with the changes. Sounds easy!

Well, first off, it wasn’t too easy: the nesting was horrendous. However, with some help from VS Code, I was able to power through and get the value I want.

Here’s where I got burned. I wanted to change the text in the XML file, so I had a statement like this to read it


mytext = python_dict["graphml"]["graph"]["node"][nodecount]["graph"]["node"][i]["data"]["y:ShapeNode"]["y:NodeLabel"]["#text"]

and then a simple statement like this to change it to lower text:


python_dict["graphml"]["graph"]["node"][nodecount]["graph"]["node"][i]["data"]["y:ShapeNode"]["y:NodeLabel"]["#text"] = mytext.lower()

Very basic.

Now this particular file is an XML file that has a graphml extension, which allows an editor like YED to read it. YED can read the original file, but it turns out xmltodict writes the file in such a way that the YED editor can no longer see the text. I don’t know why.

I spent hours working on it until I finally gave up. I wrote a much dumber program that read through the graphml file a line at a time and changed it the way I wanted to. No fancy packages involved. Dumb but it worked.

This is the second time this year a package has given me problems. In late January I wrote some code to parse yaml files for a client to extract information for them and to produce a report. Again, there is a package to do that: yaml. Which is….good…except when the yaml it is processing it is poorly written. Which this yaml was.

Again, I spent hours linting the yaml and in some cases having to forgo certain files because they were poorly constructed. What should have been easy — read the yaml file, transform it, write a new yaml file — was instead very difficult.

And that’s often the problem with yaml files and XML and JSON files: they are often handcrafted and inconsistent. They MAY be good enough for whatever tool is ingesting them, but not good enough for the packages you want to use to process them.

I think those packages are great if you are making the input files. But if you are processing someone elses, caveat emptor (caveat programmer?).

How often to check your cell phone plan (and other plans too)


We are often reminded to change our smoke detector batteries twice a year by basing it on some calendar event, like the equinox or at the start of certain seasons (e.g. Fall and Spring).

I recommend you do that for your cell phone plans and other plans from service providers you have. Especially with cell phones, you will find that new plans will come out that are better than your current plan, and a call to your provider can save you money and get you better service.

Go through your financial statements and look at all the service fees you are paying. Then pick some times on the calendar and at that time either cancel the service or ask them for better or cheaper service. Over time you’ll save money.

Joan Didion, and why you should write

In the 1970s Joan Didion wrote:

I write entirely to find out what I’m thinking, what I’m looking at, what I see and what it means. What I want and what I fear. – Why I Write (essay originally published in the New York Times Book Review in 1976, here)

I think it is a good reason for all of us to write, regardless of our level of skill. I think I am going to be adopting that more, here and offline. I would hope the same for you, even if it is a matter of making notes in a composition notebook or a scribbler.

Writing as thinking. Not only deep thoughts, or correct thoughts, but thoughts in general.

A great collection of Joan Didion in her own words from the Guardian, here.

How to simply merge PDF files on a Mac for free with no additional software

If you want to merge PDF files on a Mac, you might be tempted to use a tool like www.ilovepdf.com. Worse still, you might try and do it from Adobe’s Acrobat site and end up signing up to pay $200 or more per year for the privilege!

The good news is if you are on a Mac, you don’t need to do any of that.

Instead, open your PDF files using Preview. Make sure your view shows Thumbnails of the pages in each document. Then drag the thumbnail pages of one document into another. Then save the document you added the thumbnails to and you are done.

For example, let’s say you have two PDF files: abc.pdf and xyz.pdf. You want all the pages in abc.pdf to be in xyz.pdf. You open them both using Preview, you drag the thumbnails of abc.pdf over to the thumbnail section of xyz.pdf. Then you save xyz.pdf. (You can save abc.pdf as an empty document or quit and have it revert back to how it was.)

If you want to leave abc.pdf and xyz.pdf untouched but merge them into a third document, first copy xyz.pdf and give it a name like abcxyz.pdf. Then open abc and abcxyz.pdf using Preview. Then copy the thumbnails of abc.pdf into abcxyz.pdf and save abcxyz.pdf and quit and do not save abc.pdf. Now you have three files: abc.pdf and xyz.pdf are unchanged and abcxyz.pdf are merged copies of the two of them.

Some thoughts on blog posts vs reels for advice

I spotted this post — Eponis | Sinope (Everything Is Awful and I’m Not Okay: questions to…) — and as usual I thought: I should share this because it contains a few nuggets of good advice and others would find it helpful.

Sadly, though, it reminded me of a reel I have seen in various forms on Instagram. Like many reels, that particular reel was less about passing on good advice and more about gaining attention to the creator of the reel.

That’s the thing I do like about blog posts and I don’t like about reels. You could come across a blog post, get the information you need, and never know or care about the person who made it. When you come across most reels (and I assume tiktoks), you might get information you need, but they seem more about the maker than the advice.

I realize this is a matter of preference and not a matter of right and wrong. I prefer just getting the information, while others prefer knowing the person who is giving the advice. Given how Tiktok and Reels are overtaking user generated content, I am likely on the losing side.

I’ll keep sharing helpful things here: that’s been the purpose of this blog since the late 2000s. I’ll also try to 99%**of the time not make it not about me. 🙂

 

(** did I say 99%? Ok, maybe it’s closer to 90%…😄)

Does your WFH desk / work area need a refresh?


If you are feeling your work from home (WFH) work area needs some new ideas, I think you should check out the following links for inspiration.

For example, this setup was designed to maximize productivity while minimizing your screen time. Also good:  every one of these wfh furniture pieces includes a secret feature to keep your work and life separate. Cool. Cool too are these Panasonic desks: komoru. (More on that panasonic desk, here.)

Need more ideas? Then check out these great  desk setups with minimal designs to increase your work from home productivity.

 

 

 

 

The way to make your Apple Watch more useful is to change your App View

If you want to make your Apple Watch more useful, you want to change your App View. Here’s how.

On your iPhone, find the Watch app icon and click on it. Look for App View and click on it. From here you can change the view to Grid View. (Grid View looks like the watch in the photo above.) Now click on Arrangement.

Once in Arrangement, hold your finger on an icon of something you use often. Drag your finger tip and the icon to the top left. Keep doing that so all the Watch apps you will use the most are on the top rows. Once you have it the way you like it, exit the Watch app.

If you are stuck as to what to put on top, my top apps are:

  1. Stopwatch
  2. Workout
  3. IFTTT
  4. Weather
  5. Text
  6. Phone
  7. Calendar
  8. Heart rate monitor
  9. Activity
  10. Maps

I have a few dozen more Watch apps, but those are the ones I use often.

If you want to see what you can have on your Watch, go back to the Watch app on your phone and scroll down to see what apps are installed on your watch and what ones you can install.

Once you rearrange the Watch apps,  press in the crown on your Watch. You will now see the Watch apps organized the way you want. I bet you start pressing your crown more to access and use the apps you have installed.

The Apple Watch is great. Squeeze more greatness from it by taking advantage of the Watch apps you have.

It’s the weekend. You’ve much to do but you still would like to watch a movie. Got 90 minutes?

Nowadays movies seem to be getting longer….many creeping up to 2.5 hours in length. (Don’t believe me? Check out this.) That’s fine if you have the time to settle into a film, but what if you can’t? What if your weekend is already packed as it is, but you still would like to see something?

If that’s your problem, then Lifehacker has the solution here: the best movies under 90 minutes. The list has everything: classic movies, kids movies, films that are fairly recent….you name it. Even better, it tells you where you can see it.

Highly recommended for your next sit down in front of the big screen at home.

Things to Pack When Heading to the Emergency Room

Here’s a really good list: 11 Things to Pack When Heading to the Emergency Room.

A few thoughts/additions:

  • take your smartphone. Much of this information can be found there. Indeed, you can put much of this information in a central, easy to find place on your phone, so when you are at the hospital and at admittance, you can easily share it with the hospital. Plus you may use your phone to order Ubers, pay for things, update work, etc.
  • take a smartphone charger. Your smartphone is your contact to the outside world. It’s also a reliever of boredom while you wait for treatment. You don’t want it to die on you while you are in a waiting room.
  • take your wallet. Things not on your smartphone are there.
  • take some snacks (e.g. granola bars) and water if you can. You may want to have some sustenance to keep you going if you are waiting for awhile. Don’t assume your trip will be brief or you can find food there.
  • take something to listen to sounds on your phone. It can help you stay calm and relaxed when you are waiting.
  • write down the timeline of events that made you decide to come to the ER. Do this either on your phone or on paper. It will help you when you have to repeat things and you and you are too tired or ill to tell them.

Dead week, week 52, Janus week, the last week of the old before the first week of the new

How to think about week 52, the last week of the old year before the first week of the new year? It’s a good question I’ve been considering since I read this post by Austin Kleon over on his substack: How I’m spending Dead Week. He states:

For years, I have dreaded the weird no man’s land between Christmas and New Year’s Eve. Because I set my own hours around here, I never know what I should be doing. Should I be working? Should I rest? Should I do both? I was delighted when Meg sent me Helena Fitzgerald’s piece, “All Hail Dead Week, the Best Week of the Year.” Finally, a term I can use. “Dead Week!”  Fitzgerald says instead of dreading Dead Week, she looks forward to it all year long. She frames Dead Week as a “nothing time” in which nobody really expects that much of you and nothing you do matters that much.

Ha! That’s one way to look at it! I think it especially good if your year has had you burning the candle at both ends….use that week to let the candle burn out! Rest and recuperate, I say. Read some books. Take some baths! Grabs some naps. Let things slide.

I also think of the week as Janus week. As wikipedia explains:

In ancient Roman religion and myth, Janus  is the god of beginnings, gates, transitions, time, duality, doorways, passages, frames, and endings. He is usually depicted as having two faces. The month of January is named for Janus (Ianuarius).

That’s how I like to use the week. There’s lots to look back upon and consider during that time. Indeed, it’s hard not to, as media of all kinds publish their Bests of 2023 lists on every topic you can think of. And while it is fine to contemplate the year that past — and I recommend you do —  it’s also a good time to think about what you will do in the new year. So do that too. Like Janus, look backwards and forwards simulataneously.

So while it is a dead week for some, for others like myself it is a transition week where the old goes out and the new comes in and I prepare myself accordingly. Does this mean I am discouraging you from hot baths, trashy TV and Christmas leftovers? Not at all. I think there is room for both in this, the last week of the year.

Enjoy week 52, however you go about it. Your earned some rest, and then some.

How to take the stress out of entertaining over the Christmas holidays

Christmas time is a busy time and a stressful time. If you are having people over for dinner during this holiday season, you can reduce your own stress by taking some tips from House & Garden and serve what they have to offer, here: The easiest dinner party you’ll ever host: seven cold plates to serve this Christmas.

Make those dishes: the food will still be great, and you will have a much more enjoyable time hosting.

Good luck!

Canadian Christmas gift ideas you can use now (or even the rest of the year)

For Canadians who still have some Christmas shopping to do, this list of made in Canada Christmas gift ideas from Chatelaine could be just the thing to help with those left on the gift list.

And hey, unlike the beautiful panettone from Viva pictured above, many of them would make good birthday gifts too. So even if you have all your holiday shopping done, give it a look.

Cleaning is part of a cycle. Complete the cycle (though cycles are never done)

I have come across the idea of completing the cycle when it comes to cleaning and it has made a difference in how I perceive cleaning.

I hate cleaning, but a contributor to that was I didn’t complete the cycle. If I was making a meal, I’d start the cycle by getting out the ingredients, then cook them, then eat them. The end of that cycle is putting the ingredients away and doing the dishes. But I didn’t commit to that, which meant the dishes would pile up. The same was true of other activities: I would stop at the satisfying part of activity (e.g. eating).

Once I committed to completing the cycle, things improved. I recognized that doing any activity meant I had to clean up at the end. Cleaning wasn’t a separate activity: it was part of the overall cycle of the activity.

I thought of this again when I read this piece in VOX on the vicious cycle of never-ending laundry. In it they are so close to getting it. It’s true, laundry is a cycle. They seem to think of it as something you can complete. You can never complete doing laundry, any more than you can complete cleaning your bathroom or complete eating. They are all cycles. The best you can do is complete a cycle of whatever you are doing.

Think of laundry as part of a bigger cycle of caring for your clothes, which is an extension of caring for yourself. There are any number of things you do to care of yourself during the week, from getting good sleep to exercising to…well, washing drying and putting away your clothes. Laundry is all part of that cycle you do every day and week to take care of yourself. It’s part of completing that cycle. Don’t think of it as a separate activity. (Unless you actually love doing laundry. :))

Completing the cycle: a smarter way to clean up and stay clean.

P.S. For more on the “Complete the Cycle” Cleaning Method, read this.

I also thought that this piece in the New York Times has some good advice on  how to clean was good.

Finally, if it is all too much, the Washington Post has an article on how to fake clean your house. Hey, whatever works.

If you are having a difficult time, you need to listen to Michael Caine

If you are struggling with difficulties in life, then you need to listen to what Michael Caine has to say on this. He recalls once when he was acting on stage…

“I opened the door, and I said to the producer who was sitting out in the stalls, ‘Well look, I can’t get in. There’s a chair in my way.’

He said, ‘Well, use the difficulty.’

So I said, ‘What do you mean, use the difficulty?’

He said, ‘Well, if it’s a drama, pick it up and smash it. If it’s a comedy, fall over it.’

This was a line for me for life: Always use the difficulty.”

I think that is great. He followed up by saying, if possible avoid the difficulty! 🙂

You can hear him talk about it, and more,  here.

Remember: USE the difficulty.

It may be time to ditch Evernote. I went with Joplin and it’s been great

Now that Evernote is all but killing their free plan, you may be considering moving. That was me awhile ago. I loved Evernote, but the restrictions and bloated features made me want to move.

I wasn’t sure what to move to, so I did some research. These two links were especially helpful:

I nixed migrating Evernote to OneNote because I use the latter mostly for work notes. And while I use and love SimpleNote, I like it only for specific purposes. I considered Obsidian, but it seemed more than what I wanted.

In the end I went with Joplin for a few reasons:

  1. Joplin made it easy to move my Evernote material into it.
  2. Joplin can run on my Mac, iPhone and iPad for free.
  3. With Joplin my notes are stored on Dropbox, which I like.
  4. Joplin seemed closest in features to Evernote for me.
  5. With Joplin I can use Markdown if I want.

I haven’t had any problems with Joplin since I moved to it many weeks ago. I kept Evernote on my Phone in case of problems, but I have not used it in ages. After I post this, I think it will be time to delete the app from all my platforms.

I was a big fan of Evernote. It was great. But Joplin is great too, and once you start using it, you won’t turn back.

P.S. Don’t just take my word on it. Read those links, too. You might find you want to go with one of those other tools. I use OneNote and SimpleNote all the time and I highly recommend those, too.

If you are going for an eye exam in Ontario, ask some questions before you go


If you are going for an eye exam in Ontario, ask the staff some questions before you go. Otherwise you might get surprised by charges you were not expecting.

As the Toronto Star reported, the Ford government has cut back on OHIP-covered eye services for some seniors. Specifically….

 Free annual eye exams paid for through the Ontario Health Insurance Plan will no longer be available to all seniors…Only those with “eligible medical conditions affecting their eyes such as macular degeneration, glaucoma or diabetes” will get a yearly checkup. “Seniors without an eligible medical condition will receive one exam every 18 months,” the government said…As well, seniors will be limited to just two minor followup assessments with an optometrist every year. Currently, there’s no limit on such minor assessments. OHIP coverage of eye exams for people of all ages with cataracts will continue.

Additional charges are not limited to seniors. I was surprised at my last visit: I knew I was going to be charged for the visit, but I did not know that the optometrist was going to do additional tests that drove the cost of the visit to over 300. I am lucky to be covered for that: some Ontarians who have stretched finances might find that hard to deal with.

It’s not just limited to Ontarians, either: provinces like Manitoba and Nova Scotia only insure eye exams every 24 months for all seniors.

The next time you go, ask what it will cost.

(This might be mind boggling to any Americans reading this, I know.)

On bullshit jobs and how to overcome them

Do you feel like your job is socially useless? If so, you may have a bullshit job. As this piece shows, many people feel they work in pointless, meaningless jobs.  Just look at the graph above, taken from the article. People in all sorts of occupations feel like their job is a waste of time. People in office jobs especially so.

What I would like to focus on is the jobs at the bottom of that chart. Many of those jobs center around helping others, be it trainers, librarians, healthcare practitioners, and social service workers. There are also jobs where people make things, be it in construction or engineering and architecture. When you are making something like a building or a road, you know you are doing something useful. Likewise, you know what you are doing is useful if you are helping to educate someone or helping them get healthier. I suspect that is why people in those professions they don’t find their jobs useless.

If you have a job that you feel is useless, see if there are aspects of it that are helpful to someone. Or try and find activities where you make something that others can take and do something with. Or do both. It might feel like you currently don’t do any such things, but if you track what you do in a week or a month, you may find you were doing those things and you just weren’t aware of it.

You can also try and insert more of those activities into your job. Share the things you know with your coworkers. Mentor new people on the job. Create material that others can use to make their own job easier, even if it’s simply a spreadsheet or a Powerpoint template. Look for ways to be useful to others on your job. You may find yourself enjoying your job more in the process of being useful.

Good luck!

 

 

 

On there being two types of freedom

There are two ways to be free:

  1. to be in a higher state of being
  2. to be in a different state of being

The first way of being free requires a continual effort to remain that way. If you do not expend this effort, you will slip back down and no longer be free.

When political people say “eternal vigilance is the price of liberty”, they are talking about this type of freedom. It’s also true for people that get into shape, or quit a bad habit, or make improvements in other aspects of their life. Indeed, any type of freedom that has to battle decay and entropy is a type of freedom that needs continual effort.

The second way of being free does not require continual effort. When you graduate from school, quit a job, end a relationship, or move away from someplace, you become free of those things. You have transitioned to a different state of being.

You might argue that some people have to work hard to not go back to that old job, that old relationship, or that old home town. I’d counter that even if one does, they are a different person than when they left and what they return to has changed too Additionally I think most people do not go back. People move on. They move away.

It is easy to get discouraged if you think all forms of freedom require continual effort. Many do, but many do not. Sometimes you just need to push to get to the other side to be free, and once you do, you are free once and for all.

P.S. For more on this, see: It takes a daily effort to be free by Austin Kleon. His piece got me thinking along these lines.

P.S.S. If you think of life as being cyclical, you are likely to see freedom as being something you constantly have to work with. If you see life as linear, you are likely to see it as something you can achieve once and be done.