Day 16 | Philip Zimbardo ................ The Psychology of Time

I think I need to watch this one again.

The Psychology of Time

Day 15 | Another blog fave

Yesterday I mentioned the wonderful C Jane Kendrick - today I want to share a link to another fave..... Lil Blue Boo. Ashley Hackshaw is just simply a woman to be admired. She left a high paying career, started a clothing company and an amazing DIY blog. More recently she suffered a series of absolutely devastating trials and has just shone through them all.

 

Check out this post. You'll be hooked.

 

Because I Could Have Said "no"

Day 14.........delayed..................

The TED Talks came to a rapid halt. A trip out of town and busy work schedule.....hard to find consistant scheduled time.

 

I've still been keeping up with my regular blogs and this one post in particular spoke to me.

 

Check out my favorite Mormon mommy blog (tongue in cheek, ha!) C Jane Kendrick. Courtney is passionate about her home town, which I love about her. She also tries to dig deep and really understand what she is feeling. I thought this post was right on point. Especially this part:

 

I think a life of ownership is the most spiritual, peaceful and joyful life I can imagine. To wake up every day ready to answer for all of your choices for that day, to promise to God to protect and utilize your power to choose and fight the temptation to let others make choices for you SO THAT you won't end up angry and resentful and hating the very thought of them--it sounds like the good life to me.

 

Check out the full post here:

The Parable of the Fruit Snack

 

Going to attempt to get up a little earlier and have some time in the morning for coffee and enlightenment. Let's see if I can manage to pull myself away from the cozy confines of a warm bed to do so. ;)

 

Day 13..................No TED, only gratitude

Didn't have time to watch a TED Talk, but here are my gratitudes...

 

1. Had time to run for a coffee before work.
2. Lunch with my hubby.
3. My jammie pants.

Positive Experience...

Hubs and I had an unexpected free night, with the kiddos both at activities. Housekeeper was here today so house was nice and clean. We just relaxed and watched some tv. So nice!

TED Talks | Day 12 [Jason Fried: Why Work Doesn't Happen At Work]

 

 

Summary:

 

Jason Fried has a radical theory of working: that the office isn't a good place to do it. In his talk, he lays out the main problems (call them the M&Ms) and offers three suggestions to make work work

 

Key Points:

 

People do not typically think of the office as a place to get work done. In most offices you don't have a work day - you have a work moment. Your day is interrupted on a continuous basis.

 

People's days are too jumbled. Tasks take up all the time, no meaningful work is done.

 

Sleep and work are closely related. Both happen in phases and if you are interrupted you have to start all over again from the beginning. Interruptions mean you don't sleep well - same with work.

 

Work is full of INVOLUNTARY distractions. Namely - meetings and managers.

 

Ideas to over come this, and get more work done at work:

1. Pick one day of the week and do not allow people to talk to each other.
2. Forgo active communication and use instant messages and emails so people can respond when they are ready.
3. Cancel meetings as much as possible.

 

Notes:

Can I just say AMEN??

 

Train Your Brain:

 

Three Gratitudes:

1. In Vancouver and no rain!
2. Got to have a nice dinner with friends.
3. Had a great Lush bath bomb bath.

 

Positive Experience:

Sitting at Caffe Artigiano having a latte and working away this morning.

TED Talks | Day 11 {Day 1 of Train Your Brain}

Shawn Achor: Work Happier

 

Summary:

We believe that we should work to be happy, but could that be backwards? In this fast-moving and entertaining talk, psychologist Shawn Achor argues that actually happiness inspires productivity.

 

Key Points:

• Link between happiness and success
• news focuses on negative and makes you think that that is the accurate ratio of positive (very little) to negative (the majority)
• it's not reality that shapes us, rather the lens with which you view reality, if we can change the lens we can change our happiness
• 90% of long term happiness is how your brain processes the world
• only 25% of job success is predicted by IQ - 75% of success is optimism levels, social support and the ability to see stress as a challenge - not a threat
• the formula for happiness and success must be reversed from:
• work harder -----> achieve more success ------> be happier; to
• positivity -----> better performance -----> better work
• to achieve this, train your brain to be more positive:
• write down 3 things you are grateful for each day
• journal one positive experience
• exercise
• meditate
• random acts of kindness (one positive email per day to someone)

Notes:

Loved this one. Watched it twice. Very entertaining. And likely correct. A change in attitude could benefit me greatly right now. Willing to try the 21 day challenge. Here we go:

 

Day 1 - Train Your Brain

 

Three gratitudes:

1. Kelsey made her own lunch.
2. Advil and midol work.
3. Did not have to shovel snow this morning.

Positive experience: Tried a new recipe and took some to work to share with the girls. They all loved it. Made it again tonight for them. :)

 

For today that is as good as it gets.

Postscript..........big storm, power out, left for Vancouver, no blogging...oops!

TED Talks | Day 10

Elon Musk: The Mind Behind Tesla, SpaceX, SolarCity

 

Summary:

Entrepreneur Elon Musk is a man with many plans. The founder of PayPal, Tesla Motors and SpaceX sits down with TED curator Chris Anderson to share details about his visionary projects, which include a mass-marketed electric car, a solar energy leasing company and a fully reusable rocket.

 

Key Points:

• Sustainable energy is the biggest problem we have this century
• mid level electric car comes with lifetime free charging on super chargers - charges in 20-30 minutes
• SolarCity - we are already a solar powered system as all earth systems depend on the sun.
• solar power once installed just keeps working
• to make it feasible, get the cost of infrastructure low
• solar will beat natural gas, it must as natural gas is not sustainable
• premise is no money down, utility bill decreases. SolarCity raises a chunk of capital from a company/partner, charges the homeowner a monthly fee that is still less than utility bills. Essentially, SolarCity is a giant distributed utility.
• Elon sold PayPal to fund SpaceX with a goal to expand rocket technology to have a reusable rocket in order for humans to be a space faring society
• Question? How does one person innovate such huge projects from start to finish?
• To do something new - boil down to the fundamental truths and reason from there.
• Discover new things that are counter intuitive to current thinking.
• Pay attention to negative feedback and solicit it.