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Help People, Be Productive, and Avoid Outrage – Five Boosts 6/28/20

Feeling Overwhelmed Tangibly Improve the World

Five Easy Ways to Make Your Life Better for 6/28/20

Feeling Overwhelmed? Try Tangibly Improving The World
(Self Helping Yourself | Steven Ray Marks)
There’s a lot about the world that can feel overwhelming, and a lot of problems that we as individuals can’t effectively solve. Instead of being frustrated and depressed about this, the best way to respond is to improve a specific individual’s life in a tangible way you can see. This will make you feel better, and will make the world better as well.

My Most Productive Days are a Result of These Five Choices
(For the Interested | Josh Spector | Subscribe)
1. Do the most important thing first. 2. Say no to one unimportant thing every day. 3. Keep a running list of questions you’re curious about, so you know what to ask when you meet experts. 4. Make a specific schedule of how much time to work each day. 5. End your day with something on your to-do list that you’ve been avoiding.

For The Interested is probably my favorite weekly newsletter, especially if you’re any sort of creator, and I highly recommend subscribing.

Taking a Daily Walk Will Make You Much Happier
(Ladders | Kyle Schnitzer)
Diversity of experiences is a big factor in our happiness. With the recent COVID resurgence, it seems like we’ll be stuck at home for a while longer. An easy way to shake things up and get off the couch is to simply take a daily walk around your neighborhood. Try to take a different path and observe new things each time you do. It will make you a lot happier than staring at the walls of your house.

The Danger of Outrage Narratives
(How It Actually Works | Trevor McKendrick | Subscribe)
Whenever you see something outrage-inducing on the internet, you’re almost certainly not getting the full story. You’re seeing a highly skewed narrative from one side. There’s missing context. You aren’t in the heads of the people involved, and you don’t know their thought process. Nobody wakes up in the morning saying, “Muhaha, I’m going to be evil today!” If you were to take the time to fully research the situation, you’d find that everyone involved was acting a lot more reasonably than it seemed at first glance. But of course, you don’t have the time and energy to spend hours researching every angry tweet you ever see. So you’re better off simply ignoring them.

I’m always a fan of ways to reduce your hate and anger, and ways to be happier by not doing something instead of doing something, so I love this advice.

Hate Exercise? Try This Zero Minute Workout Instead
(Considerable | Stephanie Thurrott)
Exercise is important for health. But if you’re older and haven’t built the habit of taking time out of your day to exercise by now, you probably aren’t going to. An alternative is to incorporate exercise into activities you’re already doing, so it doesn’t cost you any time. Do things like carrying groceries, playing with your kids/grandkids/pets, walking up stairs, or cleaning in a way that is physically active and raises your heart rate.

Self Helping Yourself Tweet of the Week

Impostor syndrome can sap our mental health. If your bosses/clients are praising your work, that’s all the proof you need that you *are* good at it, and you deserve your success. Remind yourself of this, and tell your inner critic and doubts to take a hike.

Follow Self Helping Yourself on Twitter.

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Be Happier and Don’t Make Enemies – Five Boosts 6-21-20

Don't Make Enemies

Five easy ways to make your life better for June 21, 2020

How to Stop the Spread of Social Media Garbage
(Self Helping Yourself | Steven Ray Marks)
We all lament the spread of fake news, misinformation, and social media hate. But we tend to think of it as other people’s fault. In reality, it’s all of our faults, and it’s up to each of us as individuals to take responsibility for our own behavior and stop it. Here are tips on how to do so.

How to Stop Making Enemies
(Self Helping Yourself | Steven Ray Marks)
When trying to improve the world, people have a tendency to get overzealous and alienate others, doing their cause more harm than good. Here are tips on avoiding this pitfall. This is the follow-up to last week’s How to Win Allies.

How to Plan Your Day for Peak Performance
(Addicted 2 Success | Lorraine Kipling)
Suggestions on scheduling and when are the best times to do certain types of tasks. While I feel like this article is useful, one caution I’d give is to not feel like you have to slavishly adhere to these rules to the second. Different people will have different chronotypes. See the book When by Dan Pink for more information on this subject.

How to Turn off Political Ads on Facebook
(TechCrunch | Taylor Hatmaker)
Nobody likes seeing political ads. You already know who you’re going to vote for, and whether the ad is for someone on your side or the opposite side, it will just stress you out. Now there’s an option to not see them at all. I’d prefer if there was a way to hide political posts as well, but this is better than nothing.

15 Easy Ways to Be Happier
(SuccessConsciousness | Remez Sasson)
Here are 15 easy habits to build, ways to reframe your thinking, and changes in attitude that can dramatically increase your happiness, with very little effort.

Self Helping Yourself Tweet of the Week

Wishing things were different only brings regret/anger/sadness. If you want things to be different, you need to start by accepting the world as it is, not as you wish it were. And *then* take action to change it.

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Win Allies, be More Persuasive, and Get the Most Important Things Done – Five Boosts 6/14/20

Win Allies

Five easy ways to make your life better for June 14, 2020.

How to Win Allies (Part 1 of 2)
(Self Helping Yourself | Steven Ray Marks)
It’s better to win allies than create enemies. We ought to view discussions with those who have different views as an opportunity to learn and/or persuade. But most use it to try to score points in an imaginary game of “Who’s the Worse Person,” which only turns people into enemies. Here’s how to win people over instead.

Stop Confusing Habits For Routines
(Nir and Far | Nir Eyal)
routine is something you do regularly. A habit is something you do automatically. If a routine is unpleasant, difficult, or cognitively demanding, it may never become a habit. Expecting a routine that fits into this category to eventually become a habit will only lead to frustration.

How to get Your Most Important Work Done Today
(Medium/For The Interested | Josh Spector) [soft paywall*]
Pick what matters most, do it first, make it painful to not do it, make a list of things you won’t do, and treat the morning and afternoon like separate days.

Four Words to Make You More Persuasive
(Ladders | Michael Thompson)
Adding, “You will probably refuse” to a request makes people much more likely to agree. It piques their curiosity, and makes them more comfortable by establishing that there’s no pressure.

Five Lessons to Remember When Lockdown Ends
(Greater Good | Jill Suttie)
Being with others is key to happiness. Reducing stress is good for everyone. Showing gratitude matters. We need less stuff than we think. We are stronger when we act together.

[* Medium lets you read a limited number of articles per month, but you can always open the link in an incognito window.]

Self Helping Yourself Tweet of the Week

Some of the best ways to feel happier:
– Be kind, friendly, and genuine, whether or not people “deserve” it.
– Acts of charity.
– Believe in self-efficacy.
– Avoid negativity.
– Celebrate achievements/forgive mistakes, for you/others.
– Recognize the positive in the world.
– Forge connections and community

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