TV is gone

Well, I've done it. I have given my TV away. It is the first evening without the box and so far so good.

I had a nice visit with my son in the afternoon and a lovely knitting group for two hours in the evening.

Now, for the first time since coming back from America, I think I'll make myself comfortable with a new book, "The Hundred Year House".

I don't mind getting up early but can only do that if I go to bed on time. No more falling asleep in front of the boob tube. When reading, I notice myself getting sleepy better than in front of the TV. There, I fall asleep and wake up hours later.

It's worth a try.

August 28: So far, so great! You'd think I would be embarking on an amazing adventure! Last evening, I knitted on a sweater, listened to a great TED talk with Shawn Achor and started his book "Before Happiness", reviewed some Italian words and made a healthy dinner instead of snacking in front of the TV. This could be a revival of quality evenings.

And I woke up positive this morning at 4:40!

August 30: It's happening! My theory proved correct that cutting out the TV (option) would help me control what I eat. In other words, help prevent mindless snacking. Upon weighing myself this morning, I had reached the 68s. Last week, I was still in the 70s!

Otherwise, the evenings never seem long enough to do all the things I've planned. With TV, I didn't plan anything.

September 7: Goodness! My evenings are filled with hobbies instead of watching boring TV shows. I painted this evening, knitted part of a baby sweater (anybody out there expecting?), worked on my seminar for Tuesday, read part of Damasio's Descartes' Error and enjoyed the last few days of summer out on the balcony.

September 28: Did I ever have a television?! With a television, I vegetated. Without it, I run the danger of free-time stress! So much to do and so little time. With TV, I didn't even care. 

November 2: It is so good that I have no TV. About 5 times this weekend, I got the urge to chill in front of it. It's a kind of escape really. If everything gets to be too much, I could hide in my armchair and watch anything that moves. I never realized it.

Now, I notice the "I have to escape!" feelings as what they are - stress indicators. So I sit down, make a list of all the things that are haunting me and just look at it. Having the stressors out in front of me takes the unsettling feeling away. If I then set priorities and make a plan, I feel much better. 

Then, I set off to do the most important things or just sit in my armchair without the TV. 

A round of chilling anyone?

Study: High-action TV shows lead to more snacking

By Kathryn Doyle

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Watching high-energy TV programs might make watching calories harder, a new study suggests.

With snacks freely available, young adults watching an action movie ate almost twice as much food as those watching an interview show, the researchers found.

Those watching the action movie ate more even if the sound was turned off.

“What we found was that even watching the silent film generated a large increase in what people ate compared to the talk show,” said coauthor Aner Tal at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.

He and his colleagues divided 94 college students into three TV-watching groups. One group watched 20 minutes of the 2005 science fiction action thriller The Island, directed by Michael Bay, another watched 20 minutes of the PBS interview program Charlie Rose, and the third watched The Island with the sound off.

As Tal and his colleagues note in their research letter in JAMA Internal Medicine September 1, The Island averages more than 24 camera cuts per minute and Charlie Rose has only 4.8 cuts per minute.

The students each had access to bowls of M&Ms, carrots, cookies and grapes and could eat as much as they wanted.

Students watching The Island with sound ate 207 grams of food on average, compared to 104 grams for those watching Charlie Rose. Over the 20-minute period, action movie watchers consumed 354 calories, 104 calories more than talk show watchers.

Even without sound, students watching The Island ate 40 more grams and 100 more calories than those watching Charlie Rose.

Perfect Selfmanagement in 52 Weeks: The Art of Making Intelligent Decisions

Building Blocks of Intelligent Decision-Making

Decision-making is a cognitive process leading to the selection of a course of action among alternatives. Whether an action or opinion, every decision making process produces a final choice.

The decision making process begins when an action needs to be taken, but one doesn’t know exactly what to do or where to begin. The reasoning process can be rational or intuitive, with most decisions based on explicit or implied assumptions.

Applying The Principles of Decision Making

Judiciously applying specific decision making principles will more often than not make the difference between taking effective or ineffective action. Each decision made should serve as a learning experience.

There are 10 basic steps to follow when a decision has to be made. These include:

1. Identify the purpose of the decision. What exactly is the problem to be addressed and why does it need to be solved?
2. Gather information. What factors does the problem involve?
3. Identify principles with which to judge the alternatives. What standards and judgment criteria should the solution meet?
4. Brainstorm and list a wide variety of possible choices.
5. Generate as many likely solutions as possible.
6. Evaluate each choice in terms of its consequences, using predetermined standards and judgment criteria to determine the pros and cons of each alternative.
7. Settle upon the best alternative. This becomes much easier once the above steps have been undertaken.
8. Translate the decision into a specific action or plan of action steps.
9. Carefully execute the plan.
10. Evaluate the outcome of the decision and subsequent action steps. Within this process it is important to identify the lessons learned. This is an important step for further development of more effective decision making skills and judgment.

Building Block One:  Creating an Objectives Hierarchy

The first step in the process is to identify the purpose of the decision-making effort: What is the problem and why does it need to be solved?

In order to achieve this end it is important to generate, record and display an objectives hierarchy by creating a list in outline format. (Software applications are also available that allow individuals or groups to create organizational charts that work well in generating visually appealing objectives hierarchies.)

In establishing an objectives hierarchy it is essential to gather as much information as possible to identify the factors involved in the problem. Objectives should flow from “Why?” at higher levels to “How?” at lower levels. Higher-level objectives tend to be broad, inclusive, and even ambiguous, lower-level objectives more specific, which are mapped to real or actual organizational and workplace attributes or characteristics.

The objectives hierarchy should be inclusive, representing a mix of stakeholder views, and avoiding value judgments in respect to one objective over another.

Building Block Two:  Designing Alternatives

For each objective or group of objectives within the hierarchy, it is important to identify the types of actions that would yield the optimal effect.

When designing alternatives, various objectives should have been detailed and considered within the hierarchy. With enough specificity, some may be flagged for specific action or categorized as activity-driven.

Designing alternatives tends to occur in two phases: identifying the principles by which to judge the alternatives—i.e. the standards solutions should meet—and brainstorming, or listing actual potential solutions.

Steps for Identifying Alternatives:

1. For each objective or group of objectives in the hierarchy, individuals identify the types of actions that would have the desired effect.
2. Two or more options for addressing each objective are defined. These may be different types of activities, different levels, strategies, or approaches for the same activity type, or modifications to ongoing related activities. If there is already a proposed action, the activities that comprise it are detailed in terms of how they align with the measured criteria in the objectives.
3. Specific actions are grouped into alternatives. If there are competing objectives (perhaps reflecting different stakeholder values), alternatives can be developed that favor different groupings of objectives. In other words, different balances are sought among objectives in each alternative.  Conversely, the same balance of objectives by different groupings of actions can be striven for.
4. If a revision of alternatives is needed, it is wise to look for simple adjustments first. If major revisions are needed, the objectives hierarchy and decision making model should be revisited to determine whether erroneous or inconsistent logic led to problems.
5. An open mind should be maintained, with preconceptions about what is the “best choice” not allowed to limit any or all solution options.
6. For each alternative, specifics as to how, where, what, and when actions will occur should be outlined. Here it is important to make detailed assumptions about each modeled action early and explicitly in order to minimize confusion when placing this information into a structured decision making model.
7. Results are recorded and activities could be plotted on a decision making map.

Building Block Three:  Evaluating Each Choice

For each alternative, it is best to be as specific as possible in terms of how, where, what, and when actions will occur. An analysis of effects may suggest modification of one or more alternatives or the creation of additional alternatives. If the latter is the case it will be prudent to return to the first stage of the process.

It is important to apply standards and judgment criteria (a set of indicators) to determine the pros and cons of each alternative. When the best alternative is identified, a process overview of the selected option is conducted.

During this decision making and planning arena, it is important to make certain that an action or set of actions is specifically geared toward achieving the objectives identified.

Within the evaluation or overview stage, further details can come to light that can either be added to particular action steps or grouped into a different set of alternatives.

Decision-making is a cognitive process leading to the selection of a course of action among alternatives. Whether an action or opinion, every decision making process produces a final choice.

The decision making process begins when an action needs to be taken, but one doesn’t know exactly what to do or where to begin. The reasoning process can be rational or intuitive.

Excerpt: Intelligent Decision Making: Pinpoint Management Skill Development Training Series (Majorium Business Press, 2011) $ 18.95 USD by Timothy F. Bednarz

Day 1: Pick out an important decision that you’ve been putting off. Write it down. 

Identify principles with which to judge the alternatives. What standards and judgment criteria should the solution meet? The criteria defines the action that is required for a decision. For example, if you are trying to decide what to make for dinner, the criteria may be a recipe that includes the ingredients you have on hand and something that is kid-friendly.

Write these down.

Identify the purpose of the decision. What exactly is the problem to be addressed and why does it need to be solved? 
Write this down.

Day 2: Gather information. What factors does the problem involve? 

Day 3: This is the fun creative part.  Brainstorm and list a wide variety of possible choices.  Generate as many likely solutions as possible. Don’t judge or evaluate yet. Write down any and every possibility you have. Ask others for possible ideas.

Day 4: This step takes awhile. Evaluate each choice/solution in terms of its consequences, using the predetermined standards and judgment criteria to determine the pros and cons of each alternative. Settle upon the best alternative. This becomes much easier once the above steps have been undertaken.

Day 5: Translate the decision into a specific action or plan of action steps.  Carefully execute the plan. Once you’ve made a decision, act on it. So many people get caught up in “paralysis by analysis”! 

Evaluate the outcome of the decision and subsequent action steps. This is an important step for further development of more effective decision making skills and judgment.

With each decision, you get better and better.

There is no guarantee that all decisions made by going through this process turn up perfect results. It is possible that there are NO perfect outcomes. Understand that in many situations, no decision is not a choice. It is worse than a bad decision.  You must decide on something. 

Ask yourself 4 questions:

1.     What is one possibility?

2.     What is another possibility?

3.     Combine both possibilities into one new possibility.

4.     What is a possibility which doesn’t have anything at all to do with 1-3?!

5.     What is a completely different possibility than ALL/ANY OF THE ABOVE?

This process is called the Tetralemma Process.

The tetralemma, is a “tool” which originates in traditional Indian reasoning and Buddhist philosophy and is frequently used today to stimulate “thinking outside the box”. It aims to break with a bipolar perception of the world, and the perceptions of problems as “di-lemmas”. Whereas “western” or “European” logic follows a binary view in which “either-or” thinking dominates, it is a crucial proposition of the tetralemma that there exist at least four options on each perceived problem.

Tetralemma

Position A

Position B

Both A and B

Neither A nor B

None of this – but also not this

The fifth position “none of this but also not this” is not easy to understand. It tries to indicate that there are further options and issues that are relevant for the perceived problem but which can only be discovered through a process of action and reflection. In a program evaluation in South Africa, the tetralemma was used to get different ideas about the future of the program activities out into the open, including hidden and less conscious issues:

The tetralemma is a process tool, which means that we do not know all the positions from the very beginning: they are created and formed through the process of working with the tetralemma.

Source: Körppen et al. 2008

Now decide to have a great weekend! Off you go!

DJ Rafik is 32 today!

My son, DJ Rafik, turned 32 today. Happy Birthday!

The 30 Day Challenge revisited

You can do anything for 30 days.

Right now, I am doing a small (I thought!) purge-and-organize project every day for the next, er, now there are 27 days to go.

One small step toward a larger goal. It doesn't even hurt!

Some people want to work toward being fit so they do some sort of exercise for 30 days. On Pinterest you can find 30 day Ab Challenges, Ab & Squat Challenges, Push-Up challenges, Eat-Breakfast challenges, Lose-100 grams-each-day challenges.

http://www.ted.com/talks/matt_cutts_try_something_new_for_30_days

I love the idea about one picture every day. And now, I even know where my camera is!









I have decided on drawing one small picture each day for thirty days. I've got all these art supplies so I need to use them.

Reading 10 pages each day will get easier once the TV is gone.

I am good at training but for those of you who aren't:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uv8YoPMW5S4&index=3&list=PLdLzQAslwOS7dTmPGigl_1Ju6C0I3y-6T

In case you like the idea but don't know what to implement, try:

http://thoughtbrick.com/lifestyle/hundred-30-day-challenge-ideas/

Don't you love it?!!!

A purgatory of well-intentioned STUFF

OMG!! I’ve cleaned my office table and folded it up (to prevent further clutter)!! Then I was on a roll so I did my desk. The next day, I organized and put away a pile of seminar papers. That took 1 ½ hours!

I had been walking around all these „projects“ for over a year (or more). I needed a push, some motivation. Yet, the way I really started wasn’t even spectacular – I just set a timer for twenty minutes and gave myself the option of stopping when the timer went off.

Like Speedy Gonzales, I tore into the stuff, racing against the clock, er, timer. I brought things back to their original homes, threw away, - decided, decided, decided. When the timer went off, I had made so much progress that I kept on until the finish.

My problem is not only the incoming volume of stuff; it's that I delay making decisions about what to do with it. That's why, during PROJECT OFFICE, everything that served no essential work purpose was dumped into containers to be donated or packed into trash or recycling. I told myself I could keep whatever I wanted. But I had to make a decision to keep it (and where was its designated home). The minute I say, 'I'll deal with it later,' the battle is lost.

Now that I've cleared my desk, the table, the floor, etc., I need to set limits for the future: In my case, I’ll leave the table folded up so I can’t dump on it when in a hurry. It must be easy and fast to put things away or I’ll get impatient when times are stressful. And I need to carve out five minutes at the end (or beginning) of each day to clear surface areas.

At the moment, I am relaxed enough to follow the rule „After you use it, put it back where it belongs“. I don’t even need the 5-minute-Blitzclean.

And the ultimate test is yet to come: I am giving away my TV/DVD!! It is kind of scary. That said from a woman who never watches TV at all in the USA! Because, in America, I am on vacation (of sorts). I read, socialize, take drives to beautiful places. Well yes, I also go shopping (blush). Here in Germany, I watch TV completely exhausted from the day. I zap during commercials or because the shows are boring. I snack while watching. I fall asleep in front of the thing and peel myself out of the easy chair at 1 a.m. These are habits I don’t want to cultivate!

By de-cluttering and organizing, it's like you open up an energetic space to get things done. I got so excited that I went on and organized my apartment, too. Including (or especially) the dreaded kitchen!

5 Steps to Kick-Start Your Clutter Cleaning

by Peter Walsh

Step 1: Get Real

Do you remember the last time you parked in your garage? How about the last time you saw what color your basement carpet is? If you had to step over piles of clothes, papers and unidentifiable "stuff" just to get to your computer, it's time to take action. And chances are if you're shuffling papers just to read this—before you can even choose a room to declutter—you need to ask yourself, What's really going on underneath all that junk?

Studies show that although families are smaller, homes are larger than ever. Even with more square feet of living space, many Americans still fill attics, basements and storage units with clutter. Blame it on our super-size mentality, but more is not necessarily better. Things cannot bring us happiness. If your house is full of clutter, all the blessings that could fill your house can't get in.

The good news is it doesn't matter where you start. Just grab a trash bag and start dancing what I call the Trash Bag Tango.

http://www.oprah.com/home/Learn-How-to-Do-the-Trash-Bag-Tango

Step 2: Realize There Are Two Types of Clutter

Most people have two kinds of clutter: memory clutter or "I-might-need-it-one-day" clutter. However, we all struggle with the 'lazy clutter' and that's what we need to tackle first.

Lazy clutter is all the stuff that accumulates out of negligence over time. It's not stuff you care too much about, so you ignore it: un-filed papers, unopened junk mail, magazines, unwanted gifts or that freebie cap you brought home from the grocery store but will never wear. Lazy clutter is little more than trash and one of the few purposes it serves is to accumulate on every flat surface in your home.

Memory clutter reminds us of some important person or event or achievement in the past—it's sentimental and often hardest to part with. "I-might-need-it-one-day" clutter is all that stuff that you know you might need...maybe. For the kick start, don't make the tough decisions that come with dealing with memory clutter or "I-might-need-it-one-day clutter." The first step is to take on the lazy clutter, then go through your other belongings methodically and logically. You'll learn how to balance the stuff you want to own with the space you have for it. When you find this balance, you'll learn how to keep it.

For now, stick to the quick-and-dirty purge and get rid of the superficial stuff that is relatively easy to clear.

Step 3: Think F.A.S.T.!

Until further notice, do not go out and buy anything new and unnecessary—no retail therapy, no "great deals" and no sales! Instead, purge as much clutter as possible as quickly as you can using the F.A.S.T. method. Here's a step-by-step breakdown on how to clean house and get organized.

F: Fix a time. Schedule a time that suits everyone involved. Cleaning up is a family affair, so get everyone on board by scheduling your kick start at a time that works for everyone and make attendance mandatory! Set aside a Saturday or a Sunday, or a few hours every day, to start the process.

A: Anything not used in 12 months. Face it: If you haven't used an item in the last year, it is highly unlikely you really need it or that you are going to ever get enough use out of it to justify it cluttering up your home. Take the plunge and get rid of it! Ask yourself these questions as you encounter each piece of clutter:

• Do I use this?
• How long has it been since I've used it?
• Will I use it again?
• Is it worth the space it takes up in my house?

Remember: The objective is to get stuff out of your home, not to move it into another room. You will be amazed by the sheer volume of unused and unneeded items in your home. Don't spend time inventing reasons to keep these things.

S: Someone else's stuff. It's bad enough when clutter is your own, but it is totally crazy when the clutter belongs to someone else. Your house should not contain anything that doesn't belong to you. If it's something you've borrowed, give it back. If you've ended a relationship or gotten a divorce, now's the time to let your ex's belongings go. If your kids have established their own households, it's time for them to pick their stuff up.

T: Trash. The trash can is your friend. It is your very hungry friend. Take pride in how much you throw away and make it fun. Compete with your family members to see who tosses the most or award a prize to the best purger. Remember the goal: You only want to keep the amount of stuff that makes sense for your space.

Step 4: Learn the Game Rules

You have the plan and the room, now do it! Here are some guidelines that should keep you on track to a clutter-free home.

Start on time. You have a lot of work ahead of you! Your commitment to this project is your first step toward creating the life you want to have. Don't put it off for another second.

Don't argue. Have the whole family work together on one area so you can give one another guidance. Listen with respect when you talk about whether to keep something. Remember, save the hard decisions for later and don't argue about whose stuff is taking up all the space.

Don't waste time. Now is not the time to take a trip down memory lane. Touch each item once, make a decision and move on. Also, no breaks or phone calls. This is a workday!

Make your piles. Move stuff out of the room and into three piles: trash, keep and donate. As you do, assess your progress. Remember, the trash pile should be growing—and quickly.

Don't stop until you're done. The last thing you want is to end the day with a bigger mess than when you started. Finish the job. Bag up all the trash and put it in bins. Return all the "keep" items to their proper places. Move your charity donations to a specific location, drop them off or prepare them for pickup.

Evaluate and congratulate. As you finish the quick purge, you will make discoveries. You may find yourself feeling attached to things you know you shouldn't keep. One family member may want to keep something another one doesn't. Take the time to discuss your discoveries from the day.

Step 5: Do It All Over Again

Have you ever noticed shampoo bottles always say "wet hair, lather, rinse, repeat"? If you follow those circular instructions, you'll be shampooing your hair until the end of time.

Not so with the kick start, but you will need to move through your house methodically, getting rid of unnecessary clutter until you've done every room. Only then will you be ready for the hard part—letting go of the stuff that feels valuable or important.

This quick purge is just a primer, but it will fill you with excitement and a real sense of what conquering clutter can achieve. Now that you've cleared away the first level of clutter, you're ready to tackle the real issues. Open up your space and unclutter your mind!

Source: Oprah.com