Archive for 2009
Top 6 Tips for Fighting Holiday Stress
In addition to managing stress by being in control of the details of your life, yesterday we had the first half of a guest post from Dr. Harvey Kitzman, explaining exactly what stress does and how it affects us. Below he shares his top 6 easy and inexpensive ways to help you start 2010 calm and capable.
Tips to Fight Holiday Stress and Holiday Blues, Pt. 2
by Dr. Harvey Kitzman
- Get enough rest. By making sure that you get enough sleep, you will decrease your cortisol levels (this is the hormone involved in the fight-or-flight response. Elevated levels contribute to adrenal fatigue and increased belly fat).
- Continue your exercise program. Many of us, especially when we travel, get out of our normal exercise patterns. Regular exercise is well document as having stress reduction effects, especially by increasing brain hormone levels that are involved in mood regulation. I know myself that after a few minutes warming up on the elliptical trainer, I get “in the zone”, and I find it to have a very calming effect. Be sure to continue both cardiovascular and weight training.
- Don’t overindulge on the sweet foods. I enjoy Mom’s Christmas cookies every year, so I am not telling you to avoid eating them. Just watch your amounts so that you don’t get the sugar crash and feelings of lethargy that accompany them.
- Watch your alcohol consumption. Alcohol is a depressant, and too much alcohol can affect your mood levels.
- Continue to eat well (as best you can). Rich leafy greens and fruits and vegetables that have deep rich colors not only provide the proper nutrients, but they can also provide the antioxidants that we need to fight free radicals. Again, you don’t need to avoid the holiday foods, just watch your consumption levels, especially if you are in a situation where you can not exercise.
- Nutritional supplements can help you to reduce holiday stress levels as well:
- A good multivitamin will ensure that you are getting the proper nutrients to maintain normal metabolic functioning, and to supplement nutrient deficiencies in diet. They will also help your body heal itself.
- Omega III Fish Oils perform so many helpful functions in the body. With respect to mood levels, they will provide essential fatty acids needed for normal neural functioning.
- A good antioxidant will scavenge free radicals, cutting down their levels.
- B Complex vitamins help decrease stress and improve mood, help maintain healthy levels of serotonin, increase energy, and help to maintain proper neural function.
- A good Greens supplement with probiotics will boost the immune system, and aid in providing the body with enzymes, nutrients, probiotics and phytonutrients that a vegetable-rich diet offers, helping individuals to receive well rounded nutrition.
- There are herbal formals available that contain adaptogenic herbs. Adaptogens are natural herbals products that help to increase the body’s resistance to stress, fatigues, trauma, and anxiety. They help to increase the body’s resistance to stressors and return it to normal physiological functioning.
If you have any questions about this information, or would like a free consultation to learn more about nutrition, nutritional counseling, or nutritional supplementation, contact Dr. Harvey Kitzman at hkitzman@austin.rr.com or 512-657-3432 (for your free consult, just tell him you read this article on the RegainYourTime.com Blog).
Have a happy and healthy holiday season!
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/harvey-kitzman/0/8b5/388
How Stress Hurts
I think the best way to deal with the stress of our busy lives is to be in CONTROL over the details, having everything out of your head where you can see it and manage it effectively. That’s why I teach people the Empowered Productivity System, to turn chaos into control. However my friend Dr. Harvey Kitzman has some other ideas about managing your stress levels, especially during the holidays, and I invited him to share them here. Today he’ll explain what stress is and ways it can affect us that you might not know about. Tomorrow he’ll provide 6 tips for beating stress, at the holidays and throughout the year.
Tips to Fight Holiday Stress and Holiday Blues, Pt. 1
by Dr. Harvey Kitzman
With the holidays already here, many people see an increase in their stress levels, and some people even have the holiday blues. Who doesn’t get stressed out with all of the shopping, cooking and travel plans that happen during the holidays? How many of us are time crunched and sleep deprived already? Add to that the fear of the flu bug and the H1N1 flu that we hear about on the news, and that worry just adds to our holiday stress levels.
What is stress anyway? Stress is an internal reaction to external events. It is an evolutionary response – the fight or flight response. Continuous stress can manifest itself as GI problems, losing sleep, increased fatigue, heightened blood pressure, headaches, concentration problems, adrenal fatigue and other symptoms. As we all know, many events can trigger the appearance of stress in our lives – job, marriage, money, new baby, holidays etc. The body does not distinguish between “good” stress (marriage, new baby, starting a new biz) and “bad” stress. It only knows that there is stress, and it reacts. Are there other types of stresses? Yes. Our bodies are subject to stress from many sources, both internal and external. Another type of stress we need to be concerned about is oxidative stress. Oxidative stress is defined as a condition of increased oxidant production in animal cells characterized by the release of free radicals and resulting in cellular degeneration. Think of this like taking a bite of an apple and letting it sit for a few minutes. The brown pigmentation that we see is due to oxidative stress. The same analogy can also be seen by rust forming on metal. This type of stress has been shown to be present in many types of medical conditions, including atherosclerosis, diseases involving inflammation, such as IBS, IBD, arthritis, periodontal disease, Crohn’s disease and Alzheimer’s. Free radicals are produced from both our internal cellular processes, such as the electron transport chain, and from the external environment. For example smoking is one method that is used by smokers to alleviate stress. When we smoke, however, each puff delivers 1027 of free radicals into our lungs. Think about that for a second. How much damage do you think this is doing internally?
Come back tomorrow to read Dr. Kitzman’s top 6 tips for fighting stress. All are easy and inexpensive, to make sure that you can start 2010 calm and capable!
If you have any questions about this information, or would like a free consultation to learn more about nutrition, nutritional counseling, or nutritional supplementation, contact Dr. Harvey Kitzman at hkitzman@austin.rr.com or 512-657-3432 (for your free consult, just tell him you read this article on the RegainYourTime.com Blog).
Have a happy and healthy holiday season!
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/harvey-kitzman/0/8b5/388
Thinking About a New Bluetooth Headset?
Ok, so I claim that I am not much of a “techie,” and compared to many of my friends in Austin, (which feels like the tech capital of the world!) I’m not much of one. But I admit to taking advantage of cool tools, gadgets, and apps that make my life easier (for more on this, read this post and this post). One gadget I’ve found it difficult to live without is a Bluetooth headset.
Last year I decided I needed a wireless headset for my iPhone, since I often do other things while on the phone such as empty the dishwasher, fold the laundry, make coffee, etc. (I also drive while talking on the phone more often than I should. This is NOT safe and I am trying to wean myself from this habit).
So I went on CNET to check out their reviews and at the time, one of their favorites was the Jawbone by Aliph. It claimed to use military technology called “Noise Assasin” to eliminate background noise, including wind. One or two others were similarly rated, but the Jawbone came in pink so this was a no-brainer decision for me. 
I used it for just about a year and while I could always hear people on it just fine, I got many complaints that people could not hear me. I tried adjusting the size of the earpiece but the complaints continued. Sometimes I had to abandon the headset and take the call directly on the iPhone. Another problem for me was that it didn’t come with a case, and would always turn itself on in my purse, thus draining the battery and it was often dead or dying when I needed it. Since I paid over $100 for the Jawbone, I did not care to spend yet more money (about $9.99 on Amazon) for a case. I found an old snap-shut jewelry box that was about the right size for a thrifty solution to that problem.
Last week, I lost my Jawbone, jewelry box and all. I looked for about a week, all over my home, office, and locations I frequent, but it did not turn up. I found it frustrating to be without one so I bit the bullet and decided to purchase another. So back to CNET to find that Jawbone had a newer version than the one I bought last year, and CNET still gave it a high rating. But another headset with exactly the same rating was the Plantronics 975. Since I wasn’t completely satisfied with the Jawbone the first time around (even though it now comes in purple!) I decided to give the Plantronics a shot.
I was hoping that the prices of high-quality bluetooth headsets would have come down, but the Plantronics was even more than the Jawbone at $129.99 (BestBuy). However, I knew that BestBuy did offer price protection so while I was in the store, I fired up Safari on my iPhone and did a little price comparison. Amazon had the Plantronics for $107 and my helpful BestBuy representative agreed to match the price. This made the price for the Plantronics headset competitive with the Jawbone (note: yesterday I saw a Jawbone in Costco for $69.99, but I’m unsure if this was the newest model. I think they make it hard to tell on purpose). But here’s what I think makes the Plantronics a better deal: it comes with not only it’s own case (solving the turn-on problem in my purse) but it’s a charging case! When the case it fully charged, it can provide the headset with two complete charges before it needs to be recharged. Also there is a small LCD screen on the charging case telling you the charge status of both the headset and the case. And it even has a handy-dandy hook for attaching the case to a strap or your purse or clothing.
All of those things give the Plantronics 975 bonus points in my book, but the real test comes in the usability. What I’ve found is that most of my callers don’t even realize I’m on a headset, and tell me that I sound clear as a bell. No sound problems on my end, either.
If you plan to use your headset a lot, my suggestion would be to go for a higher-end model (what’s the point of having one if it doesn’t work well?), and it seems that most reviewers compare the Plantronics 975 similarly with the Aliph Jawbone. Having used both, I think the Plantronics is the hands-down winner. Even though it doesn’t come in pink.
If you’d like to share your experience with your bluetooth headset, please do so in the comments, I’d love to hear what you have to say. Thanks for reading!
How to ADD Time to Your Day (Really!)
Feeling like there aren’t enough hours in your day? Doesn’t everyone? I’ve discovered a powerful secret that has given me several extra hours in my day to get things done. Impossible, you say? Read on…
One of the things that’s difficult for me to “find” the time for is exercise. Sometimes I’ll think, “if I skip my workout, I can make some real progress on my to-do list.” Skipping meals, especially breakfast, also seems to be a common time-saver among my friends.
I’ve come to realize that there is an important point that’s missing with this logic. Exercise and eating right, especially breakfast, actually add time to your day. We treat them like a net-negative when it comes to how much time we have in the day to do things. They are actually a net-positive, and not only on a cumulative basis, but on a daily basis. We all recognize that when we eat right and exercise, we have more energy and motivation. But even when you look at it that way, it makes it easy to think that skipping a day is ok, and before you know it, you’ve skipped many days. But what I’ve come to realize is that if I have a healthy bite to eat in the morning AND exercise for at least 20 minutes, I get MORE time IN THAT DAY than I had without it. On the mornings when I take 15 minutes to grab a bite for breakfast, and 20-30 minutes to exercise, I actually feel energetic and productive well into the evening. On the days I don’t, I’m typically drooping in the mid-afternoon, and then again by about 7pm. During these “droopy” times, I’m easily distracted, unfocused, and end up resorting to busy-work-type activities that don’t accomplish much, or sometimes even daydreaming or otherwise fussing around without getting anything done. On the days without breakfast or a workout, I’m longing to hit the couch by 7pm, the dishes stay in the sink and the dog doesn’t get a walk because I’m spent.
Exercise and breakfast actually give me more productive hours in my day. They help me to spend a productive afternoon focusing and getting important tasks accomplished, I whirl around the kitchen making dinner, cleaning up, walking the dog, tidying the house, preparing for the next day, and feeling great about it all. That 45 minutes or so I allow in the morning to take care of my body, easily adds several hours of productive time to my day. Now every time I feel like I “don’t have the time” for breakfast or a workout, I remember this and it’s a powerful motivator to lace up my running shoes! You might find that a change of perspective, from a good diet and exercise as a net-negative, to a net-positive of time in your day, might be just what you need to motivate you to change your habits.
Do you have anything to add? I’d love to read your comments. Thanks for reading!
Apple’s Productivity Shortcomings (And How to Get Around Them)
So by the title, you might think I’m not a fan of Macs. You’d be wrong. I converted from a PC over two years ago and have been glad every day that I did so. Macs do *almost* everything better, and without the headaches of PCs. And the fact that you can go into an Apple retail store and get all kinds of help, most of it free, just seems to make using a Mac a no-brainer. But notice I did say that Macs do almost everything better. The one thing that is harder using Mac-native tools is personal productivity. And being that this is my profession, that’s a bit of a big deal for me.
Your brain was not designed to manage the details of your life. So in order to be effective, you need a tool. And that tool needs to manage at least 5 things well: calendar, contacts, to-do’s (or tasks), email, and notes. I believe that everything in one place is best. If it can’t be one place, the fewer the better, in my experience. On a PC, this is handled quite effectively by Microsoft Outlook, and Outlook has the added advantage of syncing pretty seamlessly with most smartphones.
Mac’s answer to this challenge is 3 different programs, and those programs don’t work particularly well together (even though Apple claims they do): Apple Mail, iCal, and Address Book. It’s not easy enough to create a task from an email, so I had to install an add-on program called MailTags (and BTW, MailTags does lots of other things. I’m a fan). The next problem is that Notes and Tasks don’t sync to iPhone. I am not alone in my shock that Apple would ignore such basic functionality, but there it is. I went outside the Mac native tools for my notes, and chose Evernote, and it enables me to see my notes on my iPhone. My one complaint with Evernote is that my notes are not synced locally on my iPhone, so I need an internet connection to view/edit them. So now instead of one program for my productivity system, I’m up to four.
Until recently there was no good solution to take your tasks from iCal and get them to your iPhone (see comments on OmniFocus, below). There are plenty of simple to-do apps that are web-based, like Remember the Milk, Toodledo, and Jott. But what I wanted was one that would sync with my tasks from iCal, so that I didn’t have to add yet another tool to my productivity system (4 already seems excessive). Finally, Appigo has solved my problem. They offer a free sync tool called Appigo sync, which you download on your Mac, and an iPhone app (although pricey for an app at $9.99) called ToDo. Finally! (UPDATE: There is now another great option: 2Do by Guided Ways Technologies – I suggest you check it out.) This solution allows me to sync my tasks from iCal to my iPhone, and it has lots of functionality for managing views, such as viewing by calendar, priority, due date, etc. If you’re a Mac user and looking for a productivity solution, I suggest you give this formula a try. There is another solution to task management that will also sync with your iPhone, called OmniFocus, but in my opinion, it’s unnecessarily complicated, it may not play as well with Mac OS as OS-native tools, and it’s pricey ($79.95).
If you’re a Mac user with another solution for managing the combination of tasks, calendar, contacts, email, and notes, that is also accessible from your iPhone or smartphone, I’d love to hear about it. Thanks for reading!
More iPhone & Other Technology Conveniences
I was hired to give a keynote presentation in San Antonio this weekend, where I stayed overnight, and on the drive home I was marveling over the technology that made the trip so enjoyable and convenient for me. Since it was a Friday, I suggested my husband take the day off and join me for a short getaway.
On the drive down (about 90 minutes from Austin), we used listening to an audiobook (or several) as fodder for conversation. This was possible through our subscription to Audible, an iPhone (iPod would work too), and an auxiliary outlet in the car. Oh, and we were also navigating to the hotel via Google Maps on the iPhone. What’s even better than the text directions is that the iPhone 3G shows your current location as a dot on the map so you can tell if you’re heading in the right direction, how close the turn is, whether or not you missed it, etc. Priceless for those, like me, who are directionally challenged.
We have not had a lot of down time lately, and we’ve visited San Antonio several times before, so we decided that after the talk, we were going to hole up in our room and indulge our “Lost” addiction. This was possible thanks to free internet access at the hotel, a laptop, and an $8.99/month Netflix subscription, which allows unlimited streaming of shows or movies, directly to your TV or computer. Personalized, on-demand entertainment on the go. I could not have imagined this 10 years ago.
But before the Lost marathon, we decided to head out for lunch. The Yelp app on the iPhone came in handy here, and thanks to that, we found a GREAT place to eat (which I highly recommend if you’re ever in San Antonio) called Texas Farm to Table. Using the app we got some options, read reviews, found out the details, and got directions to the restaurant. Yelp never lets me down when I’m in a new city. It’s like having an “insider” everywhere I go, and thanks to the iPhone app, I don’t need to make lists before I leave: I can check what I need on the fly.
I know that some people find it scary to embrace all of this new technology, but honestly I am amazed almost every day at how much easier and more convenient it makes my life.
If you have a story about how technology has made your life easier or more convenient lately, I’d love to hear it. Thanks for reading!
Confessions of a (Highly Productive) iPhone Addict: UPDATE
Since I wrote this post, I’ve gotten an overwhelming response from people who said they found it helpful. And now that I’ve had my iPhone for even longer, and upgraded to the 3G, I use it even more than I did before. And if you read that post, you know it was a lot then. I thought I’d share some of the new things I’ve learned.
First, let me just mention how handy the camera is, especially combined with email, and now text (AT&T finally supports images & video in text messages). My husband and I have been doing a lot of decorating lately, and it’s come in so handy for shopping. We were looking for some furniture & accessories, but it’s hard to visualize how things will look inside the house. I’ve snapped pictures of furniture in different stores, so not only could I compare pieces, but I could bring them home, hold up the picture in the spot, and visualize how the piece will fit in. I took a picture of the wall color so that I could get curtains & a pillow that would complement it. While shopping at the store I hold up the picture to check the colors together. I snap a shot of something & email it to my husband to make sure he likes it before I buy it. SO handy.
I’ve also discovered several apps that facilitate meditation & deep sleep which are great to help me relax and I use them at various times, like after a difficult phone call, before an afternoon powernap, and often while drifting off to sleep at night.
If you travel at all, you’ll want to check out Tripit and Packing. Each has proven to be invaluable to me both getting ready for trips and to access useful information while I’m on my trip, so now I use my iPhone even more when I travel.
I could go on and on here, so I’ll just briefly mention a few more of my favorites:
Yelp & Around Me help me find great local businesses (& my favorite chain stores) when I’m out of my neighborhood.
Snooth (or Beer Brands) helps me pick a good wine (or beer) at dinner or to bring to a party.
Stanza is my favorite eBook & PDF reader for my iPhone – I find a Kindle unnecessary thanks to Stanza (incidentally, Stanza by Lexcycle is the brainchild of former Austinite Neelan Choksi, and was acquired this year by Amazon).
FaceBook & LinkedIn have iPhone versions that let me quickly check in with my social media connections.
Pandora & Slacker let me listen to commercial free music in my choice of genre at any time.
Pret-a-Yoga allows me to get a yoga workout even when I can’t attend a class. I’m also considering buying my yoga teacher’s DVD and loading that on my iPhone.
Bump helps me easily share contact information & files with other iPhone users.
What’s YOUR favorite, use-it-every-day, can’t-live-without-it iPhone app? I’d love to hear it! Thanks for reading!