Enjoy a bit of slow jam with the news.
03/30/2010
03/23/2010
Page 2
The panels on this page actually belonged on the first page, but they really didn't fit well. I have to learn to plan my pages as a whole and leave room for dialogue. Enjoy!
03/22/2010
30 Habits that Will Change your Life - From Freestylemind
This is straight from Freestylemind so give them credit/linkage if you like it.
Developing good habits is the basic of personal development and growth. Everything we do is the result of a habit that was previously taught to us. Unfortunately, not all the habits that we have are good, that’s why we are constantly trying to improve.
The following is a list of 30 practical habits that can make a huge difference in your life.
You should treat this list as a reference, and implement just one habit per month. This way you will have the time to fully absorb each of them, while still seeing significant improvements each month.
Health habits
- Exercise 30 minutes every day. Especially if you don’t do much movement while working, it’s essential that you get some daily exercise. 30 minutes every day are the minimum recommended for optimal health.
- Eat breakfast every day. Breakfast is the more important meal of the day, yet so many people skip it. Personally, I like to eat a couple of toasts in the morning along with a fruit beverage.
- Sleep 8 hours. Sleep deprivation is never a good idea. You may think that you are gaining time by sleeping less, when in reality you are only gaining stress and tiredness. 8 hours are a good number of hours for most people, along with an optional 20 minutes nap after lunch.
- Avoid snacking between meals. Snacking between meals is the best way to gain weight. If you are hungry, eat something concrete. Otherwise don’t. Update: for clarification, I mean don’t eat junk food between meals, but eating real food it’s ok.
- Eat five portions of fruits and vegetables every day. Our body and brain loves getting vegetables and fruit, so I highly recommend eating as much of them as possible. Five portions is the dose that’s usually recommended by many health associations.
- Eat fish. Fish is rich of omega 3 and other healthy elements. At least one meal per week of fish should be enough for getting all these nutrients.
- Drink one glass of water when you wake up. When you wake up, your body is dehydrated and needs liquid. Make the habit of drinking one glass of water after you wake up in the morning. Also, drink more during the day.
- Avoid soda. Soda is often one of the most unhealthy beverage you can find. Limit your consumption of soda as much as possible and you’re body will be grateful for that.
- Keep your body clean. I don’t advise spending your day in front of the mirror, but a minimum of personal care does never hurt.
- If you smoke, stop it. There’s no reason to smoke anymore, and quitting is easy.
- If you drink, stop it. Same as above. Don’t think that alcohol will solve your problems. It never does. The only exception is one glass of wine per day during meals.
- Take the stairs. This is just a hack that forces you to do a minimum of exercise. Instead of taking the elevator, take the stairs.
Productivity habits
- Use an inbox system. Make the habit of keeping track of all the ideas and things that comes to mind. You can use a notebook to do this, and then sync everything on your computer.
- Prioritize. If you have a list of things to do, where do you start? One way is to prioritize your list. If you are in doubt, ask yourself: “If I could only accomplish one thing today, what would it be?”
- Plan, but not too much. Planning is important, and you should decide in advance what you are going to do today or this week. However, planning for more than a few weeks is usually inefficient, so I would not worry too much about that.
- Wake up early. Waking up early in the morning is a great way to gain extra time. I personally like to wake up at 5 am, so that by 9 am I have already accomplished what otherwise would have taken me many days..
- Check your email only twice per day. Email can easily become an addiction, but it’s usually unnecessary to check it every 10 minutes. Make an effort and check your email only once or twice per day, see if the world will still rotate as before after you try this.
- Eliminate unimportant tasks. Being busy all day does not mean you are doing important stuff. Eliminate every activity that’s not important, and focus on what really matters.
- Clean off your desk and room. Having a clear room and desk is important to maintain focus and creativity.
- Automate. There are a lot of tasks that you need to perform every day or every week. Try to automate them as much as possible.
- Set strict deadlines. When you do something, decide in advance when you’re going to stop. There’s a rule that states that you will fulfill all the time you have available for completing a task, so make an habit of setting strict deadlines for maximizing your productivity.
- Take one day off per week. Instead of working every day, take one day off per week (for example sunday) where you are not going to turn on your computer. Use that time for doing recreational activities like going for a walk.
Personal Development habits
- Read 1 book per week. Reading is a good way to keep your brain active. With just 30 minutes per day you should be able to read one book per week, or more than 50 books per year.
- Solve puzzles. Quizzes, word games, etc. are all good ways to exercise your brain.
- Think positively. You are what you think, all the time.
- Make fast decisions. Instead of thinking for one hour wherever you are going to do something, make your decisions as fast as possible (usually less than 1 minute).
- Wait before buying. Waiting 48 hours before buying anything is a tremendous money saver, try it.
- Meditate 30 minutes per day. A great way to gain clearness and peace is through meditation. 30 minutes are not a lot, but enough to get you started with meditation.
Career habits
- Start a blog. Blogging is one of the best way to put your word out. It doesn’t have to be around a specific topic, even a personal blog will do.
- Build a portfolio. If your job is creating stuff, building a portfolio is a great way to show what you are capable of. You can also contribute stuff for free if that applies to your work.
What do you think? What are the habits that changed your life?
03/17/2010
I love creative projects
I've been working on this in my spare time for a month or so (you've seen quite a few sketches). I'll try to update it weekly. Check it out after a few weeks and let me know what you think. The website is still barebones, but I'll be updating it as well.
03/15/2010
The Parachute Game!
Parachute Game!
I was just talking to someone about playing this game in P.E. as a kid. What silly fun it was! Everyone lifts up the parachute, runs under, then runs back when it deflates slowly.
03/12/2010
I love paper, I hate paper
I have a love-hate relationship with paper. For me there are two kinds of paper:
-The type I can use: journals, sketchbooks and books
-The type I hate to have around: bills, notices, work documents, licenses and such.
You can guess which ones I love to have, and which I can't stand to have around. Since I've taken two consecutive trips through airports where I didn't need a paper ticket (they have scanners for large screen pdas/phones), I've been toying with the idea of getting rid of the type of paper I hate having around. I walk around my house and the idea just starts to crystalize. I'm tired of gathering up bills (of companies that don't seem to be able to become paperless) and the mandatory shipping papers that come with new equipment. I love having clutter that's of things you like having scattered about, but I hate having clutter of stuff I move around because, though it's organized, it's rarely useful to me - though it might have purpose in the future (which has a sort of radioactive decay from the exact moment I receive the document until it expires and ends up in a landfill). The organized part of me has it separated and located in the right places, but the minimalist in me just does NOT want this stuff around. I'm getting rid of as much of it as I can. I only want to keep the paper that I must keep and the paper that I love around.
I've gotten a document scanner and a bit of software to help me organize and manage what will be the intangible ghost of these paper gremlins. I'm not sure how it's going to turn out, but I hope I'll end up with some closet space from getting rid of file boxes and a filing cabinet full of tree pulp. We'll see how it goes over the next month or so. It's time to do the annual post tax preparation shedding of old papers anyway.
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