Archive for January, 2012

Balancing It All

Tuesday, January 31st, 2012

MAMAs know how hard it is to find the balance in our lives and keep it. We’ve got love and marriage, kids and family, business and pleasure, budgets and binkies…MAMAs balance it all, so tune in today to The Balancing Act on Lifetime Television – sometimes we need some advice on how to keep all of our balls in the air, right MAMAS?

O-MAMA is proud to announce that we are on set today talking about “the playground of politics!” And, we are bringing our opinons on news and events from a moms’ perspective to The Balancing Act blog every month. Now MAMAs have another outlet in which our voices can be heard. Tune in!

Change begins at home.™

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Leverage your iPad and iPhone Screens to Spark Success

Tuesday, January 31st, 2012

I love to see how others have their iPads laid out. I actually have my iPhone and iPad with prominent apps in the same places so I never have to hunt. Here are my screens and notes about current rationale for how I organize things. Even if you have a Droid or something else, the apps and the concepts may help you as you decide how you’re going to organize things.

Your 5 Important Electronic Desktop Decisions

Having an organized, productive workspace is important. You have 5 very important electronic desktop decisions that can have a big impact on your life and your focus:

  1. Your computer desktop
  2. Your browser start screen and toolbars (I use firefox browser sync and a custom igoogle page.)
  3. Your mobile phone start screen
  4. Your tablet device start screen
  5. Your media diet (thanks Mark Hurst – author of Bit Literacy: Productivity in the Age of Information and E-mail Overload for this one.) Your media diet is what media sources will I attend to daily

In this post, we’ll talk about how I tackle #3 and #4 on this list.

Home Screen- iPad
I “Pareto” everything. What are the 20% of things that give me 80% of the benefit of my life? These need to be in my face on my home screen shouting to be touched and used. What are the things I hunt for? If it is an icon on my home screen, I use it every day.

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Home Screen – iPhone
You’ll notice that I left the middle row on my iPad out on my iPhone. I did this because I feel like I look for the icons relative to the edge of the screen. So, I will look for the bottom icons relative to the bottom. Also, my tray at the bottom is different but I like it that way.

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Photographer Folder- iPad
I like to name most folders by who I am so I can picture myself as that and am reinforcing my thought patterns to get out of life what I want to be. In life, the journey is the destination. Now that photos are synced via my devices, I use these apps even more to doctor photos taken via iPhone. (I literally took a screenshot on my iphone and in less than a minute, the photos were on my ipad, ready to be uploaded into the first draft of this post on BlogPress.)

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Photographer Folder- iPhone

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Dashboard Folder- iPad
This folder holds my hottest tools and apps I need to get to. I use these items a lot and want to be reminded of them. If it is in my dashboard on my iPhone it is also here in exactly the same order.

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Dashboard – iPhone

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My Tools Folder- iPad
The utilities and tools that help. I follow the same rule as I have for dashboard.

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My tools -iPhone
iPhone has some things that iPad doesn’t and those tools are here.

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My Thought Leader Folder (Thought Ldr)
Note: my most important reads are ON the home screen of my iPad but I want a variety of news sources at my fingertips so I can read several sources of info. This is on my second screen on my iPhone because iPad is my electronic paper, typically. This is another example of how I’m trying to program myself to think in a way that I want to be.

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My Music Folder – iPad
More interfaces to find new music that have text features here.

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My music folder – iPhone

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My second Screen- iPad
Here, I want my favorite things in front of me that will lead me to the related folder on the right. I look at this screen pretty often.

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Second screen iPhone
These are folders based on who I want to be. Even if I don’t go in them, I look and read over the folder names daily because they keep front and center who I want to be. When I feel I am lacking in an area or badges are screaming at me, I go there and work on it as I travel.

There are two folder names you may be curious about so I will explain them. The 65% folder is from a statement made in a great book on personal productivity management called Personal KanBan (Personal Kanban: Mapping Work | Navigating Life.) The authors point out that highways start becoming parking lots at about the 65% full level. When I overbook myself I become unproductive, so the apps there help me manage myself to give myself some leeway. You can’t manage time, you can only manage yourself. I do not have to say yes to everything. 65% reminds my goal should be to hit that threshold for my waking hours- although I struggle with doing too much. (If you want me to share what is in these folders, let me know and I’ll work on a future post.)

Aire- Money is a struggle for many of us who got sucked into the lies the credit card companies told us in the 80′s and 90′s. I am sad to say that I fell for those lies and have spent the better part of the last 10 years paying dearly. Losing our life savings in the pecan grove in the flood of 94 and floating flat classroom projects on credit cards hasn’t helped but we consistently work to pay down our debt and live below our means. I dream of being an aire one day but will not put limits on it. (I was listening to a Brian Tracy audiobook Million Dollar Habits on the characteristics of millionaires the other day and heard the average millionaire goes broke 3.2 times. I called my husband and said, “Good news, honey, we only have .2 times to go.”)

Wishing won’t get you your dreams. Find out what those who have what you want do and emulate those behaviors and you will get the same results. Successful and unsuccessful people both hate doing the same things- the difference is that successful people do them anyway. (Another Brian Tracy paraphrase.)

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So, my folders are: 65%, Aire, Archivist, Artist, Athlete, Author, Chef, Christian, Connectivist, IPhone, Maestro, Minimalist, Newshound, R&R, Thought Ldr, Traveler

Third screen -iPad
My school app dashboard and other items that were on 2nd screen of iPhone in those folders.

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Fourth screen – iPad
My son’s study screen. This is where I keep the apps my 4th grader needs to do homework and study. We consistently do the first three games every day.

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Hope this gives you ideas but I also want to see your screens. Please share your productivity strategies. Hashtag: #mlearning or #ipadchat.

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Overweight to Endurance Athlete by Richard Kalasky

Tuesday, January 31st, 2012

Nutrition has never been as important as is it today. People are becoming more and more attentive to what they are eating and what will help them stay as healthy as possible. There are a few things that I recommend to all my clients. Stay away from Gluten, the effects are not worth it. You will feel so much better when you remove it from your diet. Secondly, incorporate about 75% of protein into your meals and leave about 25% for complex carbohydrates, remember, anything white is bad for you! Finally, I believe in a regimen of daily vitamins. Along with a good multivitamin, fiber, iron, B-12, and calcium with vit-D, I recommend the following be a part of your daily nutrition routine. These can be easily found at your health food store or online from www.easy2swallowvitamins.com.

Importance of Fish Oil in your everyday diet and nutrition plan…

  • One major health advantage that one can obtain from the use of Omega-3 fish oil is that it helps in the reduction of triglycerides by up to 50 %. This is important and may help prevent heart disease as well as the onset of diabetes. Considering this health benefit – even the FDA approved and recommended certain fish oil supplements recently.
  • Another benefit of Omega-3 fish oil is that it can reduce high-blood pressure in a person very effectively because of its ability to expand the blood vessels.
  • Many people with depression and other known mental health problems have been found to have lower levels of essential fatty acids in their blood. Recent studies show that fish oil may be beneficial in the treatment of depression.
  • Decreases pain and inflammation… Consuming Fish oil moderately decreases exercise-related inflammation. Omega 3 fatty acids, particularly EPA, have a very positive effect on your inflammatory response.
  • Studies suggest that the fatty acids found in some fish promote ideal brain function…Increasing the amount of omega-3s you consume may improve one’s memory and general IQ.
  • A growing body of evidence to the effect that omega-3 fatty acids can help to prevent the promotion and progression of certain cancers. They stop the alteration from a normal healthy cell to a cancerous mass, inhibiting unwanted cellular growth and causing apoptosis, or cellular death, of cancer cells.
  • Omega 3 fish oil believed to be beneficial for treating rheumatoid arthritis in some people.
  • Fish oil can slow down or reverse the process of atherosclerotic plaques.

Why is a B-Complex Vitamin important to help me lose weight and stay active???

There are basically eight essential vitamins that comprise Vitamin B Complex. They are : Vitamin B1 (Thiamine), Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin), Vitamin B3 (Niacinamide or Niacin), Vitamin B5 (Pantothenic acid), Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine or Pyridoxamine), Vitamin B7 (Biotin), Vitamin B9 (Folic acid) and lastly Vitamin B12 (Cobalamins or Cyanocobalamin). This combination of vitamins is necessary for the processes of the body to function properly. This group of water-soluble vitamins plays an essential role in cell metabolism, immunity and nervous system functions.

  • One of the Vitamin B complex benefits is energy production. With Vitamin B1, the carbohydrates that we consume are converted into glucose. After that, Biotin, Vitamins B2, B3, B5, and B6 help in converting the glucose into energy. This is why if a person has a deficiency in these vitamins, fatigue and lethargy could be felt by him.
  • Another of the Vitamin B complex benefits is promoting of healthy nervous system. The Vitamin B5 that is included in Vitamin B complex helps in the correction of the adrenal glands’ functioning and in the production of substances to regulate the nerves and hormones. More so, Vitamins B1, B6 and B12 assist in the correction and the regulation of the nervous system’s functions, which includes the functioning of the brain.
  • Good digestion is another benefit of the Vitamin B complex. It helps in proper digestion and healthy production of hydrochloric acid (HCL) which the acid breaks down carbohydrates, fats and proteins more efficiently. Deficiency in Vitamins B1, B2, B3 and B6, digestion could be seriously impaired and one could have severe digestion problems as a result.
  • Also another Vitamin B complex benefits is alleviating of stress and anxiety. They are very useful and beneficial in helping to relieve the symptoms of anxiety and stress caused by the hustle and bustle in life especially for busy executives that have tons of workloads to complete and working parents that need to juggle between work and family. Because of stress and anxiety caused by various factors, many individuals couldn’t sleep well and that is where Vitamin B1, B3, B6 and B12 will assist in alleviating sleep problems as well as normalizing sleep patterns to allow such individuals to handle stress and anxiety. A deficiency in any of the Vitamin B Complex vitamins can lead to feeling stressed, anxious and depressed.
  • There are more Vitamin B complex benefits that you can have by taking natural vitamin b foods that are rich in B vitamins (e.g. whole grains, beans, bananas, brewer’s yeast, etc.). Watch out for the gluten though!
  • It can help you not only in making your nails, hair, and skin healthier and also giving you a great general well-being and superior health benefits. we need the following B vitamins to ensure the good health of these structures – Vitamin B1, Vitamin B2, Vitamin B3, Vitamin B5, Vitamin B9, Vitamin B12, Biotin and Choline. Deficiencies of any of these B Vitamins can lead to dry, grey skin, dermatitis, wrinkles, acne, rashes, falling hair and weak, splitting nails.

B Vitamins are water-soluble which means any excess will be excreted through the urine. This also means that B Vitamins need to be taken on a daily basis, as the only one we can store is Vitamin B12. Taking a high dose Vitamin B Complex (50mg – 100mg) daily can turn urine a bright fluorescent, this is perfectly safe and normal so don’t be alarmed! Keep up on your daily water intake of at least 64 ounces.

By exPHATRunner

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A Brand New Beauty Routine for a Brand New Year!

Tuesday, January 31st, 2012

Want to give your beauty routine an ‘about face’ this year, but think that you don’t have time? Think again! Establishing a beauty routine doesn’t have to burden your busy schedule. Read on for tips to bring a little more beauty into 2012.

Resolve to make skin care a daily ritual.

One of the most important steps that you can add to your daily routine is to wash your face before bed. It’s tempting to fall into bed with traces of dirt and makeup still sitting on your skin. Take an extra few minutes to wash your face, and you’ll be ensuring that your skin will be glowing in the morning! For those extra hectic days, try keeping makeup remover wipes next to your bed — they’ll do in a pinch!

Master a 5-minute makeup routine.

Many of us don’t have the time (or the skills) to put on a full face of makeup everyday. You really only need 5 minutes to face the day: apply moisturizer, brush a powder foundation all over, add a touch of blush or bronzer, and sweep on mascara. Done!

Wear sunscreen every day.

Sun damage can happen every day of the year, for every skin type. Choose a moisturizer with a minimum SPF of 15 and slather it on daily. You’ll ensure that you’re protecting your skin from damaging UV rays, and helping to prevent wrinkles and age spots. Don’t forget to reapply during the day if you’re engaging in any activities or spending extra time in the sun.

Save time with technology.

Simple steps like using an electric toothbrush that signals you when you’ve brushed for 2 minutes can help to keep you on track. Replace hairdryers or straightening irons that don’t perform efficiently. Check out this post from Lifetime’s The Balancing Act about Remington’s i-LIGHT Pro™ to save time waxing and shaving. Investing in the best beauty tools can help to streamline your beauty routine.

Make pampering a priority.

Treat yourself to a manicure, pedicure, or massage every few months. A little extra “me” time will make you look and feel beautiful! Go ahead, you’re worth it. Indulging in a terrific new hair color or even just a new lipstick will give your looks and your spirit a lift!

Work these easy tips into your routine and make time for a more beautiful you this year!

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Rothbury Farms Black Bean Burgers

Friday, January 27th, 2012

One of the most wonderful things about being a Balancing Act Community Blogger is that they like to challenge me to develop recipes with a new to me ingredient like Rothbury Farms croutons.

It’s even better when that challenge email hits my inbox after I found out about it after watching a segment on The Balancing Act and before a planned look for it at the grocery store trip.

Why? Because RothBurby Farms croutons are one of the rare brands that are transfat free, high fructose corn syrup free, hydrogenated oil free, AND are made with whole wheat flour.

As a Budget Chef, I could most certainly make my own croutons without all of the nasty stuff I don’t want my family to eat. As a Lazy Chef with real world responsibilities, there isn’t always time to do so. As a result, every burger and meatloaf I make is soupy because it lacks a trans fat free crouton binder.

Let’s change that, shall we?

Spicy Shawarma Black Bean Burgers with Rothbury Farms Croutons

Sometimes I like to make a meatless meal to keep things interesting. It’s easier on the budget and my waistline after binging on holiday cookie for the last month. I haven’t found a black bean burger recipe that truly satisfies. I decided this is the perfect opportunity to create one!

Spicy Shawarma Black Bean Burgers

2 cups cooked dried black beans or 1 16 oz can of drained and rinsed black beans
½ chopped onion
1-2 cloves minced garlic
1 egg
3 tablespoons Shawarma spices
1 cup crushed Rothbury Farms Organic Seasoned Croutons

1.Crush the croutons in a blender, food processor, or with a rolling pin in the Rothbury Farms bag. Guess which one I did? Yep. Rolling pin. OK, I really smacked the bag with the stainless steel measuring cup I pulled out of the cupboard to measure the crushed croutons. Rooting through the lower cabinet for a rolling pin was too hard. Use whatever method you like that crushes your croutons.

2. Use a potato masher to mix the black beans, onion, garlic, egg, Shawarma spices, in a large bowl while mashing the beans.

3. Mix the crushed Rothbury Farms Organic Seasoned Croutons into the bean mixture.

Optional: Allow the mixture to sit for an hour in the refrigerator to allow the Shawarma spices to marinate for a stronger flavor. I didn’t do this while I was developing the recipe and my burgers tasted great. However, the extra burgers I froze for later, tasted a bit better. Let your taste buds and cooking timeline be your guide.

4. Roll the mixture into ball and flatten it to make a patty.

5. Grill the black bean burgers or fry them in light oil on stove over medium heat.
6. Chow down!

I buy my shawarma spices premixed at a local international grocery store. Most of those little local shops have better price and selection on spices than my traditional chain grocery store. If you can’t find premixed shawarma spices for sale, use this shawarma spice recipe to make your own.

Disclaimer: I am a Balancing Act Community Blogger and received samples of Rothbury Farms products to facilitate this review. All opinions are my own.

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Two Ways to Digitize Your Old Photos

Thursday, January 26th, 2012

Description:
By far one of the most common questions we get is “What do I do with all my old photos?” Frankly, we’ve all got shoeboxes full of them too, so we went off in search of a solution. First, if you’re only looking to digitize a small batch, maybe around 100, then there are lots of inexpensive flatbed scanners out there that will do the trick. Some even scan film negatives, which is a real plus. There are also a slew of portable scanners that are better used for scanning a low number of pictures. But before you press “scan” for the first time, let’s talk dpi (dots per inch). The higher the dpi, the better quality the image will be; however, the file size will be a lot larger as well. If all you want to do is post your pictures online after scanning them, 72 dpi is the best way to go. Scanning your pictures at 300 dpi will allow you to view them in print quality and you may even be able to print them a little bit bigger than their original size. If you really want to blow things up, 600 dpi is also available, but you should be selective about what you bump up. Now, if you have hundreds, yes, with an “s,” then you may be better off having a service such as Scanmyphotos.com take care of them for you. They have high speed scanners that turn your lifetime of photo memories into 300 dpi files burned conveniently onto a DVD. Their prices are reasonable ($79.50 for 1000 photos), but there are some details you’re going to want to let Carley tell you about in the video. Once your photos are scanned, you can load them on to external hard drives or even upload them to an online cloud service such as Dropbox.com for easy storage. Sorting through your photos is also a good way to separate the good, the bad, and the ugly. So check out this week’s Twirl for everything you need to know about digitizing your favorite photo memories. Then, just think of what you can do with all that space you freed up in that bottom drawer. Don’t let your lifetime of memories spend a lifetime in box!

Digitwirl is the weekly web show that offers simple solutions to modern day problems. In 3 minutes, Digitwirl brings busy women the very best time, money, and sanity-saving technology, and then teaches them how to use it, step-by-step. Digitwirl was created by technology lifestyle expert Carley Knobloch, who uses lots of technology to manage her busy life as mom of two and entrepreneur. Become a subscriber to get weekly show alerts and exclusive deals at Digitwirl.com, or follow Digitwirl on Twitter at @digitwirl.

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The Infamous Home Office

Thursday, January 26th, 2012

Smart Systems that Work for You

When you walk into your office, do you sit down at your desk and begin your daily work with a strong sense of focus and concentration? If you said yes, well good for you!  But many of us don’t feel this way.  Instead of entering with a purpose, we get distracted and end up going in several directions, none of which proves to be productive or efficient. 

If you can relate to this and feel overwhelmed and scattered, take a serious look at your desk!

Has it become your dumping ground and covered with things to read (I know, one day you will get to relax and read it) such as newspapers, magazine articles, letters…need I go on?

First, suffice it to say, you need a system to streamline your stuff and organize your work.

So let’s begin.


Smart Sorting

Take those papers and divide them into three categories:

1. Immediate Attention

2. Look Later

3. File

Please, make it simple on yourself, throw away, shred, or recycle everything else that you have not touched or looked at in years and do not need!

Never underestimate the power of having things within arm’s reach – so now put all those immediate action items there!

Organize them so you can see them…try something that will keep them upright, such as a letter sorter. If you lay them down, it’s too risky to start piling again, hence they get buried.

Now create an area that is for your “Look Later” stuff. Find something that is colorful and will draw your eye as a reminder.

I personally like the file totes that have the detachable file inserts. It’s ideal for your magazines, papers, and catalogs and you can make bold labeled tabs for each category.

Tip: Once you see it getting full or heavy, it’s time to purge!


Clearing Your Space

I always say, you must be attracted to your tools, and a filing cabinet is no exception. Find something that you like that will compliment the style of your office. You have to feel like you want to “go” to the files.

Take the time to shop or go on-line and browse a bit. I suggest you find one with drawers that close – it helps things look less cluttered and professional.

Finally, it’s important to put like with like.  This means, no commingling your papers please. Separate your mail immediately and keep your bills in their own home. Then put the rest of the mail in the homes you already established prior – “Immediate, Look at Later or File.” Remember, now is a good time to toss, shred or recycle the rest.

Tip: If it’s been more than 2 weeks and you haven’t read your catalogs, it’s time to let them go.

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Four Ways Restaurants Can Improve the Customer Experience

Wednesday, January 25th, 2012

And what you can learn from their mistakes

It’s no secret that I really like to eat and that I spend quite a bit of time in restaurants.  However, there are four things that occur in far too many restaurants that make it clear that they aren’t totally focused on the customer.  Here are my four tips to restaurants from the customers’ perspective: 

Take (and honor) reservations:
Time is our most precious and fleeting resource.  So, I don’t want to spend it hanging out in the waiting area (or bar) of your establishment, unless that was my predetermined plan.  Make sure that you take reservations to show that you value your customers’ time and when they show up, seat them at or very near the time of the reservation.  A 7:30 reservations should not mean 7:50 seating.

Write down my damn order:
When I go to a restaurant, I am well aware that I am not in a Jedi Mind Academy.  I am not impressed by memorization skills- I am impressed when my order comes out correctly.  So, have your waitstaff write the order down the first time.  Oh, and for brownie points (and by brownie points, I mean me not sending the food back), check the food against the written order before you bring it to the table.  Double points if your staff actually knows who at the table ordered each dish!

Stop leaning over me while I eat:
This is my #1 restaurant pet peeve and ranks in my top five peeves in life.  When I am enjoying a meal, I want to enjoy a meal.  I don’t know if waiters think are helping by clearing others’ plates, leaning over me and having their dandruff fall into my meal, or if it is just their way of rushing to turn the table.  Either way, it sucks (and in many cases, it is kinda gross).  I don’t want you leaning over me or my food, I don’t want you to bump into me, I don’t want to have to “excuse you” while you rearrange crap in front of me and I don’t want everyone else to have their plates taken away and have me be the “which of these kids is doing his own thing” at the table by being the last one left with a dish in front of me.

Don’t ask if you don’t give a flying ______:
If you are the manager, host, waiter or anyone else on the restaurant staff and you come by the table to find out how things were, then you should actually care.  If I have feedback that you don’t want to hear, deal with it or don’t ask the damn question in the first place.  Or if I give a compliment to the staff, make it clear that you are glad to get it.  If you are going to go through the motions to check on the customer, then you should want to act upon feedback. 

The takeaway:  What each of these issues demonstrates is how far removed many business owners are from their customers real wants or needs.  Restaurants aren’t just about food, they are also about an enjoyable social experience.  Make sure that you look at your business from your customers’ perspective and determine what needs (other than the obvious) you are really filling for them.

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