zen habits

Lessons in Productivity from Ralph Waldo Emerson
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3. Keep moving

“Ah!” said a brave painter to me, thinking on these things, “if a man has failed, you will find he has dreamed instead of working. There is no way to success in our art, but to take off your coat, grind paint, and work like a digger on the railroad, all day and every day.”

Emerson understood that it is human nature to “lapse . . . quickly into flesh and sleep.” Nature is constantly pulling us toward the path of least resistance. To battle this natural tendency for laziness, Emerson stressed that we must “use all the exalters that will bring us into . . . a productive state.” For Emerson, the most effective tonic for laziness was work.

Emerson knew that once motivation dies it is hard to resuscitate. He kept his motivation alive by constantly working. When times were difficult and ideas didn’t come to him, Emerson continued to work knowing that inspiration would come soon. In a letter to an acquaintance, Emerson compared the mind to a pear-tree that goes through a season of bareness only to suddenly burst forth in fruitful growth. However, the farmer must continue to prune and graft even during these moments of sterility in order to reap the harvest.

zen habits

How to Get a Lot Done – 7 Tips to Achieve More
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7. Don’t be Bound by What Others Tell You Is or Isn’t Possible
If you don’t think something is possible, guess what? It isn’t. People do some pretty wild and unbelievable things. You’re a person, what makes you think you can’t do them?

In life you will encounter a lot of cynicism and disillusion, you’ll be told that certain things are or are not possible. Listen at your peril, as these are self-fulfilling prophecies.

While everyone has doubts, it’s important not to let them overpower you. If you’re feeling particularly low on confidence, there are still many things you can do to get over that. For instance:

* Start Small. There’s no need to take on the whole world in a day, and building up to things is the best way to get over low confidence. Tackle a set of smaller projects or milestones, and accomplish them. Give yourself some positive feedback to build on and then go upwards from there.
* Just Start. If you spend your time looking up at the top of a mountain, the climb seems a lot more daunting than if you just start with the bit in front of you. I often just jump into projects and ideas, deliberately not thinking them through, because I know that once I start, things inevitably work themselves out.
* Give yourself time. Everyone needs time to accomplish their goals, and as a general rule, things usually need more time than you would think. I can’t even count the number of projects that have taken me waaay longer than I had hoped or planned for. But looking back, none of that matters. There is only what you did and what you didn’t do.

"How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives."
~Annie Dillard

june's almost 1-year resolutions

I spent $22 last year on atm withdrawal fees. That's practically $2/month I could've spent on something else like a cup of Dunkin' Donuts coffee.

I also started bringing my lunch to work and its working out really well. Not only am I saving between $20-$40/week ($1040-$2080/year!) on food, but none of the food I've bought in the past two weeks has spoiled because its getting used for that extra meal.

And I've since been buying more fresh fruits and vegetables, using plastic containers, and reducing the waste I would have used (and partially paid to support the use of) if I were buying lunch.

Hopefully it means that I'm eating healthier food that's fresh and less processed, and I think its helped my morning routine to become a little bit more of just that, a routine, instead of just rolling out of bed and hitting the snooze button a bunch of times and still ending up at work a half hour to 45mins late.

compliments of the creepy daily quote subscription

"The virtues which keep this world sweet and the faithfulness which keeps it steadfast are chiefly those of the average man."
~ W. Russell Bowie

zen habits

7 Habits Essential for Tackling the Multitasking Virus
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4. Release a fear of failure.

I just joined twitter. So I guess I'm officially an virtuaphile ^_^

I also just became obsessed with making lots of ^_^ faces. They're so cute!