31/1/11
This seems near impossible. I'll spend a bit of time looking into box schemes, and might try a few more ethnic food stores, but basically freshness and range are just not easy to come by.
There are some vegan groups here....must talk to them
Update 19/4/11
I don't actually think the concept of goof FnV is understood in Glasgow! However, Aldi is actually providing some good competition price wise, and Tesco recently started to look like it's gotten a better range and quality. At least the one on Byres road seems to anyway.
Waitrose is overpriced and has a crap range.
Thursday, 27 January 2011
Wednesday, 26 January 2011
47. Do a waxing for charity
- How much to get waxed?
- Who to raise cash for?
- Any other ideas?
44. Establish my ‘daily meds’ list to support my routines (A non-medicated approach)
The Issue: I have no routine, perhaps as a result of a lack of those little boosters that stitch your day together and give you the lift you need when you need it!
So what are those things that give you a pep, keep you up when you need it, and help you come down when you want to, that keep your focus, let you know when your day begins and ends, and generally fuel your fire?
Well that's what I'm trying to find out. So this is a list of teh things I think my keep the engine running and the head in check....with a reason for each.
The Daily Meds (Non-medicated):
So here's hoping and help me where you can.
So what are those things that give you a pep, keep you up when you need it, and help you come down when you want to, that keep your focus, let you know when your day begins and ends, and generally fuel your fire?
Well that's what I'm trying to find out. So this is a list of teh things I think my keep the engine running and the head in check....with a reason for each.
The Daily Meds (Non-medicated):
- Getting the F*&K out of bed: Literally, if I allow myself a lie in, it's game over.
- Green Tea: Associated with improved concentration and focus due to a dopamine release it elicits.
- Morning Visualisation/Meditation: A lot of research encourages this as a means to help focus and maintain succesful work routine. Seeing yourself do something well tends to have a positive knock on. I find it useful when I do it. Plus, again it's not meds, it's easy and it's free. Oh and apparently it's associated with more grey matter!
- Anchoring: A little between event mental boost...and it really is a boost. I need to figure out where and how often to do it, but it's a little mental link back to a positive event that can help you clear your mind and get back on track. I faff getting bogged down in the detail and then freaked out...hopefully this help.
- Smoothies: Well this one I've missed and don't know why I ever left them behind. Great way to get a lot of fruit into you and you can lace them with all sorts of other stuff...oats, echinacea, ginseng or whatever.
- Udo's choice: Seems to be a great way to get some essential oils into ya!
- Food: Breakfast, lunch, dinner decent grazing between and NO LATE EATING!.
- Exercise: Come on, why have I gotten so sedentary. It's undoubtedly part of a bigger picture, but this is one thing that gives back the more you invest in it. But like everything, the more I ponder, the less I do it. So I'm aiming for a post work session most days a week and factoring in my other PA plans (Tennis, Golf, Basketball etc. later in the week and over the weekends.
- My Diary: This one I kind of hate. It plays with my eyes, badly. It forces me to reflect! It makes me look at the long list of things I haven't gotten done....but inevitably, it's what I need to chain myself to in order to know where I'm going and why. This should be pre-exercise?
- A shower before bed time: It's said to lower your body temperature (in the post shower cooling phase) and help to induce sleep.
- Progressive Muscular Relaxation: Tensing and relaxing body parts starting from toe to head. Helps to induce a mental and physical relaxation and again, nod off to a less busy minded sleep. I get as far as my knees and I'm comatozed.
So here's hoping and help me where you can.
40. Create a videoblog to report the 52
This one's essentially done....but not all the Dos require a video and I need t get a flip cam.
To be continued...
38. Reduce tv viewing to 3hrs per day
This is potentially my worst addiction and the biggest hurdle to overcome during the 52. If this is one end of the line, and the PhD is at the other, then everything lies in between. Whether TV is the cause of procrastination or something to do throughout, it is an issue I need to resolve.
I set the bar at no more than 3 hours per day, and I probably do a great deal more right now. However, this is at least a mark I can set to achieve. There is an article below that I'll borrow a few tips from, but the main idea will be to make the 3 hour mark the total time the TV is on, regardless of whether it's background noise or conscious viewing. One thing I must say, this would be easier if UK radio stations weren't so crap :)
This is the, albeit anecdotal, advice:
I set the bar at no more than 3 hours per day, and I probably do a great deal more right now. However, this is at least a mark I can set to achieve. There is an article below that I'll borrow a few tips from, but the main idea will be to make the 3 hour mark the total time the TV is on, regardless of whether it's background noise or conscious viewing. One thing I must say, this would be easier if UK radio stations weren't so crap :)
This is the, albeit anecdotal, advice:
Here's a foolproof plan to help you cure your addiction and get more out of life.
There is really nothing wrong with watching television. There isn't any other medium that communicates with the senses so memorably and intensively. A research carried out in Sweden actually showed that children from households deprived of a TV were at a disadvantage in terms of general education and practical intelligence in comparison with the children exposed to a TV, provided the latter didn't just sit continuously and consistently in front of the box. Sitting glued to the TV destroys its positive effects.
Here are a few tips for using the television in a helpful way:
1 - Watch a single program, and then take a break. Never just turn on the television. Find a specific program that you really want to watch. Make a conscious decision that you are going to turn it off immediately after watching the particular program and that you will make extra effort to withstand all requests to "Stay tuned!" This is particularly important when you are alone in the house or in a hotel room and you're tempted to turn on the TV to counteract the unfamiliar experience of solitude.
2 - Delegating TV. When you are tempted to watch a particular program because you seriously feel that it may be of interest to you in connection with hobbies or work, ask someone else to watch the program and record it on video. Eventually, you can ask that person which part (if any) would be interesting for you. If there are any, you only need to watch the relevant parts on video.
3 - 50% withdrawal. Break the series addiction. Television series and daily soaps can be very addictive. If you have become addicted, try to watch every other episode. That way you will still get the plot, but you were able to successfully save time and it will be easier to get away from it after a while.
4 - The trick of just going away. There are times when you get caught up in film that is really worthless. Still, you sit in front of the box although you are not really interested and enjoying it. The remedy - leave the room while the TV is still on. Once the "magic thread" is broken, it will be way easier for you to realize that the program is not worth watching. Go back into the room and turn the TV off.
5 - Discard your rituals. Rethink and reevaluate your TV rituals. Can't you live without the TV news? Think of other alternatives like listening to the news from a radio station. They normally give more detailed bulletins than most TV stations. This is an effective alternative for you to keep the TV news from becoming like a "gateway drug" that leads you to watch other evening programs.
There is really nothing wrong with watching television. There isn't any other medium that communicates with the senses so memorably and intensively. A research carried out in Sweden actually showed that children from households deprived of a TV were at a disadvantage in terms of general education and practical intelligence in comparison with the children exposed to a TV, provided the latter didn't just sit continuously and consistently in front of the box. Sitting glued to the TV destroys its positive effects.
Here are a few tips for using the television in a helpful way:
1 - Watch a single program, and then take a break. Never just turn on the television. Find a specific program that you really want to watch. Make a conscious decision that you are going to turn it off immediately after watching the particular program and that you will make extra effort to withstand all requests to "Stay tuned!" This is particularly important when you are alone in the house or in a hotel room and you're tempted to turn on the TV to counteract the unfamiliar experience of solitude.
2 - Delegating TV. When you are tempted to watch a particular program because you seriously feel that it may be of interest to you in connection with hobbies or work, ask someone else to watch the program and record it on video. Eventually, you can ask that person which part (if any) would be interesting for you. If there are any, you only need to watch the relevant parts on video.
3 - 50% withdrawal. Break the series addiction. Television series and daily soaps can be very addictive. If you have become addicted, try to watch every other episode. That way you will still get the plot, but you were able to successfully save time and it will be easier to get away from it after a while.
4 - The trick of just going away. There are times when you get caught up in film that is really worthless. Still, you sit in front of the box although you are not really interested and enjoying it. The remedy - leave the room while the TV is still on. Once the "magic thread" is broken, it will be way easier for you to realize that the program is not worth watching. Go back into the room and turn the TV off.
5 - Discard your rituals. Rethink and reevaluate your TV rituals. Can't you live without the TV news? Think of other alternatives like listening to the news from a radio station. They normally give more detailed bulletins than most TV stations. This is an effective alternative for you to keep the TV news from becoming like a "gateway drug" that leads you to watch other evening programs.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Janet_Chua
36. Take some photos worth doing something interesting with
Ok so I'll take any suggestions on this one...but if you have heard of photostich, then that's one thing i'm gonna use...I think I'll title the photos 'multiple me'
To be continued...
To be continued...
20. Create a working system Desk Space
So here's a handy bit of advice I read. The 5 (and only fice) thigs you need on your desk are:
1. A phone
2. A lamo
3. Your computer
4. An in/out tray
5. A folder or list of actions being taken
Here's hoping that helps...more info to follw.
G.
16. Learn a convincingly impressive magic or card trick
First one, really easy:
http://www.videojug.com/webvideo/how-to-do-a-super-simple-card-trick
Another quick and easy one
http://www.videojug.com/webvideo/how-to-do-a-super-simple-card-trick
Another quick and easy one
6. Lose a Stone...
18th Feb Update:
- 88kg!
- Next Weigh in, two weeks from now.
- POA...CV work, foam roller, flexibility work
5. Finish my PhD
This really is the drive for the 52 Dos.
My day MUST revolve around my PhD and the list MUST only support NOT distract.
My day MUST revolve around my PhD and the list MUST only support NOT distract.
1. Sky Dive
http://www.skydivestrathallan.co.uk/training.htm
Got a reply from the people running the Strathallan Skydiving Centre. All I need to do is top up my training and pay 40 quid. Nice! Will be done before the end of March.
Anyone got ideas on how I can film it?
Got a reply from the people running the Strathallan Skydiving Centre. All I need to do is top up my training and pay 40 quid. Nice! Will be done before the end of March.
Anyone got ideas on how I can film it?
Tuesday, 25 January 2011
How it's gonna work!
Hope it comes out clear.
Monday, 24 January 2011
52 Dos in 52 Weeks...the explanation
“52 Dos in 52 Weeks”
Ok so here it is…the 52 dos. This is a list of things to do in the next 52 weeks that I plan on documenting on a blog with videos, photos, reports, updates, links, hints, stories and whatever else comes to mind at the time.
The reason I’m doing this? To stop the rot! I’m facing into the finale of a PhD and rather than becoming more productive I’ve become less. Some hints to why that is are within the list, but what’s clear to me is that if I continue my descent into sluggishness then I’ll be looking back on an empty period of non-achievement and looking forward onto a void filled with no opportunities to pursue.
So fuck that, time to shake it up a little.
I’ll be setting up the blog this week and getting on with a few of the tasks on the list. But don’t confuse these with some A to B tick list, these are things to help me stay busy and moving forward, but also some things that might contribute if you are looking for similar things to do or find…like finding a decent place for fresh F&V in Glasgow…honestly, can I get a carrot that doesn’t turn to rubber in 24 hours please? So while some might happen quite quickly, others will cover a number of weeks such as getting ready for a race, or beating dyslexia.
Now it’s the 20th of January, an extremely misty, still, cold day in Glasgow and almost a metaphor for the future. But I’ve done the list, and I’m now doing the list and intend completing the list by this time next year. You’ve been warned and you will be asked for help, in the meantime wish me luck.
I’ve started at the end…No.52 Finish the list. Next up, The Blog!
The 52 dos:
1 Sky Dive
2 Get a golf handicap
3 Play a gig
4 Learn a dance
5 Finish my PhD
6 Lose a stone
7 Play regular Basketball (Jan-May)
8 Play regular tennis (May-Sep)
9 Improve reading speed by at least 100 w/m
10 Make anchoring and visualisation part of my daily routine (Outcome measure/monitor?)
11 Create RecGen
12 Do a Duathlon (Sep-Dec)
13 Do a 10K (May-Sep)
14 Sell my old car
15 Do Survival of the fittest (October)
16 Learn a convincingly impressive magic or card trick
17 Create a networking file of NB academic contacts (RecGen and Visio?)
18 Become a skilled writer (Outcome and Monitor?)
19 Beat Dyslexia (Establish the impeders and supporters)
20 Create a working system Desk Space (Include citrus scent and awesome + Insightful pic)
21 Librasise my files into an active system
22 Activise my files in my laptop
23 Fix it Friday re: Ad boards in rugby and 3 finger cartoons)
24 Training plan for year and monitoring plan
25 Find a decent source of fruit and veg in Glasgow
26 Create an active budget file
27 Establish Sunday cook ups (Monitoring?)
28 Become a mystery shopper
29 Be an extra at least once
30 Produce at least one invention
31 Do a Friends network file with Mind Genius
32 Update my CV
33 Start a Job Hunt
34 Catch up with significant people I’ve lost touch with
35 Put the blue umbrella on ebay
36 Take some photos worth doing something interesting with
37 Hold a dinner party…no reason why yet but do it
38 Reduce tv viewing to 3hrs per day
39 Increase reading amount to 1 book per month minimum
40 Create a videoblog to report the 52
41 Get up some hills in Scotland
42 Win some money…should be interesting
43 Do a 5 min stand up spot
44 Establish my ‘daily meds’ list to support my routines
45 Go the recording of a TV show…probably in London
46 Get sailing in a regatta (Single handers or otherwise)
47 Do a waxing for charity
48 Busk
49 Write a paper from my masters thesis
50 Go snowboarding again…I miss it
51 Fund raise
52 Finish the list
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