Holiday Stress

It can get to the best of us. Your go-to meditation mobile applications can even be utterly useless. One of the best things that you can do for that stress is to take thirty minutes to meditate or just sit quietly and focus on breathing. You might say that you do not have time to spare around the holidays but if you think about the time spent in front of the TV, you should be able to find some time to relax. When you feel yourself getting stressed out, stop breathe deeply and notice how your body is feeling. Notice if you have tension or discomfort anywhere. What emotions are you feeling? The simple act of stopping and acknowledging those feelings is often enough to diffuse them. Sometimes they are like wild cats that just do not want the attention and run away. Physical activity is also something that is very important when it comes to getting rid of stress. Just take a quick walk around the block without any media in front of you or in your ears. It will do you a world of good.

Using the Hardwired to Fight Stress

Our biological stress responses have not really changed that much since the caveman days. Our environments, on the other hand, changed many times over. In the wild, there was a fight or flight response to stress and then one of the actions was taken which negated all those stress hormones and helped you return to normal. When you are sitting in on a video conference and are stressing out over the idiot babbling in front of you, punching your screen would not be the advisable way to handle the stress. There are things that we can do to work with the way that we are supposed to handle stress. You could get your heart rate up using at least a minute of intense activity. All it takes is a minute. Try jumping jacks or running up some stairs. You should also eat regularly to keep your sugar levels from dropping. Even it you are running from meeting to meeting, you still cannot skip a meal. At least try a granola bar to hold you over.

Hack Sleep

In the business world, if you are able to function on little sleep, it is seen as somewhat of an accomplishment. Studies by the CDC show that sleep deprivation costs businesses about $63 billion in lost productivity each year. The approach to this is to optimize sleep. Many large companies are investing in rooms where employees can catch some shuteye during the day. All it takes is a 10-20 minute nap to increase alertness and productivity for the next several hours. There needs to be the culture that sleep is not for wimps and that people should not feel that they are not doing their part. It is especially important for those people that are sitting in from of a screen with a software development project or an Excel spreadsheet that has no end. In addition to the rooms, there should also be lighting changes. Blue toned white lights can increase alertness and productivity so they should only be in the working part of the office.

Sleep Makeover

If you are having trouble with your sleeping patterns and they are keeping you from functioning at your best, there are some things that you can change in your daily habits. One of the things that you should do is sleep seven hours instead of eight. It sounds counter intuitive but there is research supporting the claim that you might do better with seven hours. Secondly, make sure that your phone and all those phone and cloud services are sleeping on the couch. The blue glow from the screen and the constant demand for your input will make it harder to fall asleep. Make sure that you are getting your workout in the morning and not at night. When your alarm rings in the morning, do not hit that snooze button because it will mess up your sleep cycle and you will be regretting it around noon. On the weekends you will want to sleep in but try to resist because it is all about consistency.

Increasing Mental Energy

Mental energy is important to have in any field of work but sometimes it can slag a bit. Fortunately there are lots of ways to keep that energy up. Do challenging brain puzzles everyday. Whether it is a mobile application or a trinket. There are many different apps and you just need to find the right one. You could also read something that you do not normally read. It could even spark some ideas to tread in a different territories. Not to mention that it will challenge you to think differently. You could also go and work in another place...right after a brisk walk outside. It can be stimulating and create new ideas. If you work in the same place all the time, it can get you to grow a bit lax. Do you have any other ideas about how to create more mental energy?

Things Technology Killed

Do you remember the suspense that was felt when you were waiting to find out the rest of the news story at 11 pm? Of course you do not. It has been so long when you could not know all the news whenever you felt like looking it up. Technology gave a whole new definition to news junky. Most of the time these days, you can keep up with the news as it is happening. What about the satisfaction felt when you slammed the phone down in anger. You cannot slam your phone down to hand up on that person unless you want to feel some regret about that very expensive piece of technology. You also cannot lie about trying to call someone and missing them or hearing a busy signal. Thanks to cell phone services, call display, call waiting, and voicemail, no one has missed a call in about 15 years. If you call someone, both your phone and their phone has disgusting, ugly evidence of the fact, and will hold onto it indefinitely if you want it to.

Eliminating Tolerations

Finding mental clarity can seem like a daunting task especially if you are running a business. Between all the video conferencing and using content management systems, that to-do list can get quite extensive. In A Portable Coach by Thomas Leonard, he says the key is to eliminate all tolerations. These are the minor annoyances that are not annoying enough to do anything about them but still can weigh us down. They can accumulate over a lifetime and start to clutter your mind. Time to remove them. Time to fix that blind. Time to finally organize the closet. The first thing to do is to mentally walk through your week and write down all those annoyances. Then take about a hundred dollars and an afternoon to address all of them and set up ways to prevent them from happening again. This will reduce the small stresses that sum up to equal one big stress in your life

The Eldery and Tech

According to the Pew Internet Research Project, more than three-quarters of Americans age 65-plus carry cellphones, and six out of 10 are online. And of Americans over 80, nearly two-thirds are on the wrong side of the digital divide. That is a shame. Technology can help your aging relatives live fuller, more independent lives for far longer. The problem is that it is not always easy to convince them to use all that technology. One of the challenges is that it might be harder than you think for seniors to use things like the mouse or understand terminology such as cloud services. A solution to being able to get seniors to use it is to make it relevent to them such as saying that it is one of the only ways to stay in touch with their grandchildren. It also needs to be practical and be able to help with things that they do everyday. Shouldn't that be everyone's criteria? Just a thought. Another way to get them to use it is to make the tech simple and easy to use.

Health and Wise

Some of it comes with age and the rest with learning. You can either make your mistakes and learn from them or read and learn from other people's mistakes. Whether it is in business or life, you need to have boundaries. First it is important to decide what matters and how you want to operate personally. Then you can set boundaries and keep them enforced. If the time with your partner is committed on certain days and times, keep those commitments and do not let work or even mobile applications creep up into those times. Work styles vary, but one thing is certain, getting up away from the desk is important. Moving around helps reset your energy level and stimulate new thoughts. It also gets the blood flowing, which is good for the mind and body. Words are powerful, and you need to make sure what comes out of your mouth agrees with what you believe and where you want to go. Clarity in conversation can be very important but so can clarity in your home, mind and body. Keep yourself organized in every aspect of your life by spending the few extra moments a day it takes to clean up after yourself, eliminate clutter and get organized.

Saving Time

Saving time can be a great stress reducer. Here are a couple of hacks that can help with finding more time on your hands. And who know what you can do with all that extra time, learn a language or web development? It is always good to schedule some time to get the personal stuff out of the way so that when you are at work, they are not distracting you. When you need 100% focus, make sure to disconnect. This means turning off your cell phone and your email. Your to-do lists should be made the night before so that you can jump right in the next day. Not to mention, you can also get some sleep without constantly thinking about what you have to do the next day. Another great thing that you can do is eliminate that negative energy and thoughts and really concentrate on the positive starting with a list of the things that you are thankful for. Name three things each morning before you even get out of bed. You might also be able to automate certain tasks which can save you a lot of stress as well as time.

Hard Truths

There are somethings that we have a hard time admitting to ourselves but we would all be better for it if we just admit them and move on. One of the things that we do not like to think about is the fact that looks matters. Research actually points to that more attractive people tend to make more money and are seen as smarter than people who not as good looking. Such an ugly truth and there is no mobile application for that. No one is truly altruistic and there is no such thing as a friendship without self-interest. One of the most popular responses in the thread pointed out that everyone eventually dies, and it could happen at any moment. While we all know we'll die one day, the suddenness with which death could come is something most of us try to forget. If you are confused about what you want to do with your life, take solace in the knowledge that most, if not all, of us are also still figuring things out. Lastly, success does not happen overnight. It takes a lot of small steps and some epic failures.

Dealing With Stress: Individualized

There are different types of people and business professionals. This means that we have different ways of dealing with stress. People are managers and like to be in control tend to lower stress levels by keeping that control. When that type of person is stressed, they will take control from people with force. The best way to stay stress free in this situation is to know what needs to happen when and be sure to communicate it. Those that tend to nurture and create harmony try to soothe stress by taking on responsibilities and calming the nerves of those around them. The biggest fear for this group is being excluded, so they’ll take on too much work or try to rescue others from stress, just to stay involved. This often leads to feeling overwhelmed and under-appreciated when you end up working long hours and getting stuck with all the emails and other communication services. To keep your cool and manage your stress level, ask if offering to help will actually benefit the people around you. Another solution is to help that other person get more organized, like using mobile applications, instead of taking the work away from them

Workplace Stress

The only direction that it needs to go is down. It can be a huge hindrance to productivity and efficiency. It can also put a damper on creativity when you are trying to find ways to improve web development and mobile applications. First of all you need to get organized, both physically and mentally. Clean up that desk and figure out how to attack that to do list. Secondly, the things around work can be adding to the stress so switching your schedule around might be a good idea. When negotiating an alternative schedule or work situation, focus on the benefits you and the new schedule will deliver to the employer, not on your goal of reducing stress. Take a walk or find a bit of time to get moving, it will lift your mood significantly. While you are walking, also think positive thoughts. There are scientific studies that back the positive thinking up. So here is to more happier days!

Yesterday's Beliefs

There has been research that points to the fact that people take in information based on how they perceive the world. Your brain creates an “auto-pilot” version of how it thinks the world should work, and sometimes you keep using it even when it’s no longer true or helpful. It also affects what you believe about yourself. These beliefs have the power to push you in certain directions that you might not have wanted to go in. You can approach it like a software development project and draw a tree diagram with yes and nos as to what is working. Just because it was true in the past, doesn’t mean it’s true today. And just because you learned something one way doesn’t mean you learned it the best way. Don’t let yesterday’s beliefs dictate the story that you live out today. This requires the sometimes uncomfortable act of taking a look at what you believe and if it works today. Some people might say that faith is something that does not change. It is absolutely necessary to look at yourself through a mirror and ask these questions to be able to survive. The world is constantly changing and the fittest will survive.

Pick Up the Phone

Social media, communication services, and mobile applications have changed the communication landscape significantly. This has even gotten the attention of researchers because many of the changes are affecting the way we live and do business. We are able to connect with each other more but there is much less interaction that is face to face. The number of text messages sent monthly in the U.S. exploded from 14 billion in 2000 to 188 billion in 2010. As a result, a whole generation is rapidly losing the social grace necessary to conduct calls. Their reasoning makes sense, at least to them - why talk on the phone when it's so easy to text/email/Hangout/Snapchat/Facebook Message. I have to admit that even I have thought along those lines when talking on the phone was feeling like a chore. What would happen in the internet went down? Would chaos break out and you would have scenes like from the Purge? It begs the question, how in the world did people survive before being online? They had to, wait for it, actually talk to other people and look them in the eye. These days, it seems like people have social issues when someone talks to them in person or calls them on the phone.

Different Tapping

Backed by $2.3 million, the San Jose, California-based startup has developed a new touchscreen technology that can detect the difference between a fingertip, a knuckle, a fingernail, and a stylus. By assigning different parts of the finger to different actions, this technology–known as FingerSense–could reduce tasks that currently require multiple steps to just one. We still use a single input–a fingertip–to operate the device. And that limits the way we use our phones. On a desktop, there’s a mouse, a right click button, a shift button, and many other inputs that serve different functions. But on the smartphone, because there’s just the fingertip, a common task like copying and pasting becomes a tedious process of tapping, holding, dragging, and selecting. Qeexo wants to finally put the smartphone on par with the desktop. The technology uses the accelerometer to detect the different vibrations created by the different parts of the hand. One of the other uses for this type of technology would come from the development of it on the body. A challenge of it is that the sensors have to specific enough to recognize the taps and it has to become intuitive and helpful in solving a problem. Otherwise, people will not adopt this new software development.

New Trends in Web Development

Mobile apps and smartphones have changed everything when it comes to developing a quality website. From the way we choose a restaurant to the way some people search for a date, mobile applications have encompassed almost every aspect of our lives. And unsurprisingly, the websites of yesteryear are beginning to disappear in favor of refined app-like experiences. In part due to the proliferation of touchscreens, mobile devices have fundamentally altered expectations for online experiences. Traditional HTML text heavy websites now look as archaic as a Ford Model-T. Faced with the sleek design and refined visual aesthetic of today's top mobile apps, web developers must adapt or fall to the wayside. This definitely goes for business professionals and owner where image is very important to keep up in order to keep your clients. One of the downsides to this redesign is that it sometimes does not mesh with the non-touchscreen devices and makes the sites harder to navigate. It seems like the hardware to slowing down when it comes to the speed of designing and innovation.

VoIP Interviewing

It is really important that you do not embarrass yourself while interviewing over VoIP services. Of course you already knew that but how exactly to go about it seems to be like solving the greatest challenge of all time. Some of the things that you can do is practice by yourself or with someone else. You can record yourself talking and then play it back to see your mannerisms or someone can give you some honest feedback. Just before the interview, make sure that all of your tech is working properly. There is nothing worse than your sound not working or the video coming in and out. Make sure that you are on time and keep up appearances. This means that even though you might be interviewed from the waist up, it is still important to put some slacks on. And as always, write a thank you note for the interview since they took time out of their day to do a video conference with you. Good luck on that next interview!

Unwritten Rules of Texting

Since texting is the main way of communication, whether it is through a mobile or business application or just the phone service providers, it is important to understand some ground rules. First of all, do not text and drive. This has been beaten to a pulp but it seems like some people still need reminding. Don't text sad or bad news, or anything private or confidential. This should be done in person only. Don't text at the dinner table (either at home or in a restaurant), in a movie theater, or when someone is talking to you. I think this seems like a no brainer but people actually whip out their phones when I or someone else was talking to them. Also it is important to be aware of the tone of the text and in case there is some confusion, add a smiley face or something along those lines. Got any more advice on how to use your texting abilities?

Blocking Telemarketers

Just when you thought that the switch of phone services will save you from those telemarketers, they have found you. It is a nuisance and a huge time waster when you are trying to run a business. There are actually apps that you can use to cut down on spam. If your phone is updated to Android 4.4 KitKat there are some built-in features that identify incoming calls. Caller ID by Google will match incoming calls with Google Places listings and display that name on the call screen for you. Unfortunately, this is highly dependent on the company being listed in Google’s business directory. Mr. Number lets you block calls and texts from specific numbers or specific area codes, and it can automatically block private or unknown numbers. It also lets users report spam, so when you get a call from an unknown number, you can see what others have reported about it. iOS 7 has built-in options for blocking numbers. Go to the Contacts app and tap on the contact you want to block or find the number on the Recent Calls tab (clock icon) in your Phone app and tap the circled “i” icon to the right of the number. Both these methods will take you to the contact page for that caller. Scroll to the bottom and click on the Block This Caller.