What ever happened to the 40 hour workweek? Is it gone forever?
As we are heading into what will be a long weekend for most of us I thought it might be a good time to ask the question…
Are we really getting more REAL and VALUABLE work done by working longer hours?
Infographic provided by OnlineMBA.com
How flexible are you? Your mind, not just your body…
The DailyOm has this great explanation of mental flexibility and it struck me how inflexible I can be at times…actually most of the time…
Flexibility is the capacity to bend without breaking, as well as a continual willingness to change or be changed in order to accommodate new circumstances. People with flexible minds are open to shifting their course when necessary or useful; they are not overly attached to things going the way they had planned. This enables them to take advantage of opportunities that a more rigid person would miss out on. It can also make life a lot more fun. When we are flexible, we allow for situations we could not have planned, and so the world continues to surprise and delight us.
I tend to have rigid plans and rather specific expectations…and I find it very difficult to accept and appreciate new possibilities when the road swerves into the unknown. I certainly could do with a bit more flexibility and I am not alone.
It’s one of those things that really can’t be practiced, instead it has to be allowed. That makes it very scary. We don’t like things we can’t control, but ultimately our clinging to inflexibility is really what is controlling us and in leaning toward flexibility we will find freedom…and a lot less stress.
What about you? How flexible are you? And do you think that’s good or bad?
From the book:
“Be brutally honest with yourself. Your time on earth is limited. Shouldn’t you start making the most of it? If you knew you had one month to live, you would look at everything from a different perspective. Many of the things you do now that seem so important would immediately become meaningless. You would have total clarity about what matters most, and you wouldn’t hesitate to be spontaneous and risk your heart. You wouldn’t wait until tomorrow to do what you need to do today. The way you lived that month would be the way you wished you had lived your whole life.
If you knew you had one month to live, your life would be radically transformed. But why do we wait until we’re diagnosed with cancer or we lose a loved one to accept this knowledge and allow it to free us? Don’t we want all that life has to offer? Don’t we want to fulfill the purpose for which we were created? Wouldn’t life be a lot more satisfying if we lived this way?
I’m challenging you to start living your life as though you have one month to live, and I’ve designed this book to help you. There are four universal principles in the one-month-to-live lifestyle: to live passionately, to love completely, to learn humbly, and to leave boldly. I’ve divided this book into four sections or “weeks” accordingly, and I encourage you to live these next thirty days as if they were your last.”
I find this book to be fascinating, thought-provoking and inspiring. Happy reading! What will you do with your one month?
Most of us are guilty of neglecting our health from time to time…myself included, embarrassing so.
The question I guess, is how much damage are we doing to ourselves? Short-term? Long-term? I’m not sure that can be measured…though there are many organizations working very hard to do just that. But while they’re arguing over the data, we can all agree that it’s a quality of life issue…
1. Sleep – Get good quality sleep in sufficient amounts (varies a bit by individual, but don’t kid yourself, most people need 7 -8 hours to live a full quality life.)
2. Doctor appointments –This includes dental and eye exams and even that chiropractor who eases your back pain. Be proactive with your health, rather than reactive.
3. Clean up your diet – You don’t have to be perfect, just make better choices most of the time. C’mon…You know what you should be eating…..and what you shouldn’t.
4. Some form of activity or exercise – No marathon running necessary, a daily walk, swim, yoga, bike ride, Zumba class, whatever gets you moving. A body in motion tends to stay in motion. It’s easier to maintain fitness than to get it back.
5. STRESS RELIEF – Anything you can do to lower your stress levels will benefit your health in particular and your life in general. Try meditation, yoga, journaling, vacation or maybe just a daily walk with your dog. Stress is, at best doing serious damage to the quality of our lives, at worst, it’s literally killing us.
Start with just one of the Big 5 if that’s all you can do. Once you start building good health, the next steps come a bit easier.
I don’t know about you…but while I’m here…I’d like to have a good life…and have it for a long time…this is a good place to start.
Share: How well are you doing with the Big 5? What are you neglecting?
There are days, more and more the older I get, when tasks seem to be everywhere I look, piling up faster than I can even capture them; a full dishwasher, dishes in the sink, laundry to be done, an errand list as long as my arm, emails to be returned, papers to go through, posts to be written, articles to be researched, appointments to be made…
When I start feeling…hmmm. Frantic is the word I guess. The only thing I can do is keep repeating over and over “one thing,” “one thing,” a mantra of sorts to remind myself to focus on just one thing at a time. Just one thing…, then the next…, and the next. I started out whispering it in my head, but now I just say it out loud and don’t care who thinks I’m crazy. Crazy or not, it helps…a lot.
One thing…
Put away the dishes – Check
Throw in a load of laundry – Check
Answer email – Check
Write blog post – Check
Conference call – Check
Research article – Check
Brainstorm name and domain for new project – Check
Call mom – Check
Text kids – Check
Make vet appointment for dogs – Check
Do a few errands – Check
Go to son’s track meet – Check
Try not to think about work I should be doing while at track meet – Sort of check
Make dinner – Check
Walk dogs – Check
Check homework – Check
And so on…
One thing…one thing…one thing…
It works for me…Maybe it will work for you…
Repeat after me…One thing, one thing, one thing…
Let me know if it helps!
Human Potential Zealot. Consultant. Writer. Idea Curator. Life & Business Strategist. Passionate about Life Fulfillment, Intentional Living, Doing More, Stressing Less. More...
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