Life Tips Daily

I have shared a variation of this dilemma before but I guess the fact that I’m sharing it again is proof that it bothers me.

Being of a romantic disposition, my perpetually single status can be quite painful, and I can’t deny that finding myself constantly in the company of couples who are either married, newly married, engaged, dating, or newly dating is hard to bear. I look longingly at couples holding hands, sharing inside jokes, asking for one bill for the two of them and I feel like I’m missing out on something big, and I feel like there was a contest or race to find your mate and I missed the race; I didn’t even get the consolation prize!

So, my questions are: What should I do to get over myself? Am I justified in wanting to reduce the number of couple-full events I take part in? Do I need a new posse of single friends?

So, ready to recycle? Got your blue, black or green or cardboard box?

Let’s do it!

The reason some don’t recycle is it does require an investment of time. If you live somewhere where there are two or more boxes to consider when recycling, you have to sort your recyclables before tossing them into the appropriate box.

Recycling paper is very straight forward. In my municipality, almost anything goes paper-wise: egg cartons (as long as they are not made of sytrofoam), cardboard, magazines, flyers and newspapers are all fair game. As long as the paper isn’t mixed with any non-paper materials, you’re fine. But when we come to the blue box contents, you will need to exert yourself a bit more:

• Rinse all containers
  This is good for you and for the person who will be picking up your recycling. By rinsing your containers out, you will prevent the stench of curdled milk or pasta sauce that’s not quite as fresh as it used to be from invading your garage or backyard. Avoiding attracting wild animals is always a plus.
• Remove paper where it is possible to do so
  This rule appllies most to tin cans which often are covered in paper. Of course you’ll be tossing this paper you remove into your paper recycling bin, right?
• Check if your product is recyclable!
  I too used to think that all my plastics, glass and metal were recyclable, until I found out that in my city, the following items will not be picked up (see here for a complete list for the Ottawa, Ontario, Canada area):
• metal clothes hangers
• drinking glasses
• bakery and produce plastics

Happy recycling! It will probably take a while to get to the point where you consider the recycling box(es) before tossing something into a garbage bin but with time, it’ll become second nature to do so. I’ve been bitten by the recycling bug so badly that I separate the clear plastic bit above facial tissue (kleenex) boxes and throw that part away before recycling the cardboard portion. You too can get to this level, I promise you.

I am a firm believer in doing what you can for the environment and this includes using less, reusing things where possible and recycling.

Recycling paper, plastic, glass and metal things is such a part of my life that when I go to someone’s house and I’m helping them clean up after an event, I’m often shocked when I discover that someone doesn’t recycle. I must admit that my devotion to recycling is somewhat personal: I have never lectured someone on their decision not to recycle, nor have I offered to take their recyclable products that they refuse to recycle home with me.

When the city first started encouraging recycling, each household was provided with a blue box by the city:

and into this box, all paper, plastic, metal and glass were to go. If you had a stack of cardboard or newspapers or magazines, you were asked to bundle it, tie it with twine, and leave it beside your blue box.

After a few years (and probably a lot of frustration on the part of those people responsible for sorting recyclables), another box was added to our recycling system, the black box. The blue box was now exclusively for plastics, glass and metal, while the black box was for paper, cardboard, and any cartons that were not plasticized. Every other week you are expected to put either your blue or black box out to be picked up.

Now, recycling is assumed to be part of everyone’s life so it doesn’t get the attention it used to get from the city. I’m not even sure if you can still get a free recycling box anymore. However, if you would like to do your part for the environment, I encourage you to contact your city hall and see about getting yourself organized according to the system your city uses.

Happy recycling!

This world consists of two kinds of people: those who organize their photos into a photo album (conventional album or on the computer) and those who don’t. I am somewhere in between: my noble goal of ‘albumizing over thirty years of photos several years ago was abandoned within a week due to the sheer enormity of the task and uncertainty that all the photos that needed to be organized were at hand, however I do something that not many of my friends do: I print selected digital camera pictures and attempt to encase them in a photo album as soon as possible.

No matter the scope of the task you are tackling, here are some ways to get it done that won’t leave you surrounded by envelopes full of photos and fists full of your own hair from tearing it out.

Reduce excess packaging
Here, developed photographs come in an envelope, and this envelope is put into a larger one. This large outer envelope has information about what you ordered and the date you dropped off the film or digital pictures to be printed, but is largely useless, unless you develop your pictures the same day you take them: then the outer envelope would be a reminder of when the photos were taken. If you can live without it, get rid of the outer envelope.

Label everything
Label each envelope with the date(s) and occasions that take place within. If you can’t remember the exact date of the event the photos are capturing, put the month and year down, or even the season and year.

Box it
If you like photo boxes, you can put your envelopes, each labelled on the front with the date and occasion within, into a photo box chronologically. I strongly recommend chronological order because photographs capture memories and when you consider a memory, you usually think of when and where an event happened. If the pictures are in a logical order, finding them or filing them will make more sense. You may prefer to remove the pictures from their envelope, but don’t forget to divide each new group of pictures with an index card for easy searching later. Of course you’ll need to label the box at the end so you know what months/years are within.

Book it
And by book it, I mean get those pictures into an album. I prefer albums over photo boxes because of the way they protect photographs that will be handled–the clear plastic photo holders keep someone from smudging or spilling something on your photographs and the rigid structure of the book allows its creator some power over how the photos are experienced.

A final important note is to get your photographs organized as soon as possible, while the old memory can still recall what year the picture was taken in. Trust me on this one.

One of my daily calendars lists five things to be happy about every day.

Rather than focussing on those general things that we can all be happy about, such as the fact that our country is not a warzone, the ability to breathe fresh air and being generally healthy, I’d like you to list with me five things that might not matter much to anyone else but make you feel very happy.

I’ll start. I’m happy that:

• someone decided to make cans of compressed air for cleaning dust from computers and keyboards
• my parents still care enough to ask me where I’m going, even though I’m 28
• sand dollars exist–their delicacy humbles me
• my coworker now puts her opened half packets of coffee sweetner aside so that when I’m rifling through the sugar bowl looking for sugar among the artificial sweetners, I don’t have to run my hands against powdery crystals
• that I got this new casual bag that happens to have the perfect strap length on sale:
  

Your turn: what makes you happy?

Today’s teeny tiny tip:

To set black coloured clothing and slow down the fading, wash it with 1/2 cup of salt or vinegar.

Last week’s dilemma involved the fine line between being interfering and being a concerned friend. As Amanda’s comments showed, there may be layers to the situation that need to be examined. This week’s dilemma is not so complex in my view.

Vicky’s roomate, Linda, is dating a guy (Darnell) who shows all the classic signs of being a cheater. Lisa and Darnell have been dating for two years and in this time they have never spent any holidays together, other than a couple of hours when he stops by her apartment to give her a gift. They have one picture together. Here’s the kicker: they live in the same city!

Whenever Linda and Darnell make plans to go away for the weekend, or for her to meet his family (who live in town), or for him to meet her mom (who lives out of state and only visits once or twice a year), something always comes up, Darnell is unable to be where he’s supposed to be, and plans are cancelled.

On top of all this, Vicky was told by a mutual friend that Darnell was seen with a young child who looks a lot like him. This may be weak evidence but surely when put with all the rest it supports the thesis that Darnell is cheating on Linda?

(more…)

If you live in Canada or can get your hands on September’s issue of Glow magazine, do it! Why? Because this issue includes a great article entitled 20 ways to live longer.

The magazine explains each point in detail but here are my five favourite tips from the article:

(more…)

If you’re looking to reduce the time you’re in the kitchen, or cut down on the time you spend there, why not take advantage of the following:

Pre- or partially processed food
That can’t be the proper term for it but this refers to food where somebody has done the part that you hate doing for you. This includes frozen vegetables that are already washed and cut, cheese that has been grated (this is a definite time saver if you like a blend of various cheeses), already breaded chicken. Many of these convenience foods are frozen and may require thawing but the microwave makes short work of that.

The crock pot
Chances are if you look carefully, you’ll find one of these gadgets in your basement. Crock pot cooking is ideal for large cuts of meat that can be cooked slowly, soups and many other things. If you would like to explore what your crock pot can do, some sites for recipes are:

A Crock Cook
About.com’s Busy Cooks Section
Yummy Crock Pot Recipes

Cook once, eat twice
If you are used to cooking for many people, this tip may be as natural to you as breathing. Simply put, you cook up enough of an item such as meat for two meals: use half of the meat one day, and refrigerate or freeze the rest. The next time you use the meat, you’ll be further along with the cooking than if you had to start from scratch. And if you’re really lucky, you have leftoevers from the first meal that you can use for lunch, thus taking care of three meals.

Recruit your team mates at home
Sure, you don’t want your clueless child putting a pot of water on the stove to boil but if there are potatoes to be peeled, or vegetables to be washed, these are tasks that can be given to a responsible child even before you leave work. When you finally arrive at home, you’ll be further ahead than usual. Also, during your conversation you may find out that an item you thought you had is actually not at home. This way you can pick it (them) up before you arrive at home.

What food shortcuts make your life easier?

food, food shortcuts, save time cooking, cooking, crock pot

Years of part time work in the clothing retail sector have made it difficult for me to pay full price for clothing (the 50% discount helps with this affliction) but when I have to buy something from another store, you can bet I hunt for bargains too! In retail clothing, everything eventually goes on sale: the question is will your size still be available at this time. In the meantime, the following tips will save you money when buying your clothing:

Visit your favourite stores regularly
You don’t want to become known as the creepy customer who haunts the store, but visiting every two to three weeks is appropriate. Two reasons to do this are you never know when a last minute sale will come along and you may see something you’ve had your eye on for a while on sale, unexpectedly. Also, if you visit the store regularly and build a rapport with the sales associates, and let him or her know that you’re waiting for an item to go on sale, the associate may be able to give you some inside information on what sales are coming up!

Ask about a preferred customer program
Sales associates are encouraged to talk up such programs with you, but sometimes they forget. For a small fee or for free, you provide your contact information to the store and receive coupons in the mail or by e-mail, and receive phone calls alerting you of last minute sales or sales of short duration (weekend only).

Buy at the end of the season
This is a tip that more people need to consider: at the end of the season, clothing is sometimes up to 60% off the regular price, and if you’re lucky you can even get more of a deal. Try to stick to basic colours and cuts of clothing when stocking up: that lime green tank top may not be in style by next summer, but you’ll be sure to find classic items that can be worn year after year. Buy earlier, and stock up for next year, where you won’t mind buy a few more trendy pieces at regular price.

(more…)

We all have things we buy that don’t go on sale regularly enough to warrant waiting before buying: your favourite cologne, a good piece of jewelry, face cream that you can’t pick up at the local drugstore, a book on the bestseller list. Interestingly, these tend to be the more expensive things. However, there are some things that you should never buy at full price. Why? Because on any given week at least one store will have it (them) on sale! And when you find something on sale, you stock up and make sure that you never run out! Without further ado, here are some basic items that fall into this category:

• toilet paper
• kleenex
• non-speciality shampoo and conditioner
• toothpaste
• deodorant

Is there anything you refuse to pay full price for?

sales, don’t pay full price, bulk

Here’s a tip I had read somewhere but had never had to use, until a couple of days ago:

If you lose the back of your earring, cut a small piece of eraser and stick the post through: it’ll keep you from losing the earring too!

It works!

A friend of mine, Jane*, has a very close friend (Julia*) that is practically like family. Julia is engaged in self destructive behaviour. Jane is a self-described passive person who avoids conflict whenever possible and does not like to invade the privacy of others. However, she has shared concerns about Julia with me, and wanted to know how I would react to some of the situations she has witnessed Julia engaging in.

I was surprised with the laid back attitude that was being taken by Jane to the situation, and I told her this. We are not talking about somebody who is engaging in behaviour that I am against because it is a matter of preference, this is self destructive behaviour, behaviour that could be destructive to Julia’s family also. While Jane’s philosophy is “I can’t really stop her from behaving the way she wants”, and I agree, I do feel that as someone who is practically a member of Julia’s family, Jane’s obligation runs far deeper than doing her best to cover up Julia’s actions while she is with Julia. What about when Julia is alone with her family? Shouldn’t this behaviour be reported to the authorities or organizations created to help with this sort of behaviour? Jane is uneasy about this idea because of her feelings about not invading the privacy of others.

What do you think Jane’s obligations are in this situation?

*Names changed to protect the guilty

With me spouting off about procrastination here and here, you might think I’m a shining example of a procrastination success story.

Sadly, I’m not, not even close. I am sure that when procrastination is classed as a disease, I will be invited personally to be a research subject, my procrastination is at that advanced a stage. Due to procrastination, I have had to restart the process of acquiring a driver’s license, I have missed deadlines to apply for jobs and I have failed to get A+s on school projects (the teachers/professors have always informed me that certain work submitted by me would have been an A+ project had it been submitted on time). All of this qualifies me to speak about the benefits of abolishing procrastination, I think.

Here is my list of things to do, with a date beside it in brackets indicating when when I was to have done it:

• File my income tax return for 2006 (April 30, 2007) September 30, 2007
• Get an x-ray of my right foot (March 2007) September 15, 2007
• Sent the winner of some contest their prizes (March, April and May 2007) August 30, 2007

The new dates in bold indicate the new date by which I want to have accomplished these goals. I will rely on the tips such as just doing it, breaking each task down into smaller goals and accomplishing them, and not letting a fear of not doing each perfectly stop me. Clearly I need my tips at least as much as the next person. I will keep you posted on my progress!

Is your procrastination getting on your nerves yet? If not, I bet someone in your life has had it with your ability to put things off indefinitely. Yesterday we attempted to understand why people put things off so easily, today, let’s look at how to turn these reasons into starting points to becoming a ‘doer’.

(For descriptions of the following “problems”, see yesterday’s entry)

Problem: The Perfectionist’s Curse

Solution: Why is the quest for perfectionism called a curse? Because in some cases, perfectionism is simply not necessary! Yes, you should try your best but keep in mind that you can only do your best with what you have. So, in yesterday’s example of the rip in a piece of clothing, let’s say a grey pair of pants, choose the closest colour of thread you have (an exact match is not necessary) and stitch them up! In all other areas, look at the problem, look at your resources, and using what you have, do your best. Rest assured, in only very rare cases will your absolute best not be enough.

Lesson: make the limits of perfection the resources you have at hand. Sure, if you had a ten thousand dollar budget, you could probably do a better renovation job on the bathroom, but using the resources you have to replace the sink, add a fresh coat of paint, or redo the curtains is also a success.

Problem: Laziness

Solution: Nike has had much success with the “Just do it” slogan so why not apply it to getting over laziness. Just (get up and) do it! If you are a longtime procrastinator, you are well aware that putting things off doesn’t make them go away. So get going and save the resting for after the job is done.

Lesson: laziness breeds more laziness, or it leads to panic as you end up not having enough time to accomplish your important goals. Your time is precious; don’t let laziness rob you of it.

Problem: It’s just a temporary delay

Solution: If your temporary delays are never that, you can’t afford to give yourself that time. If you truly don’t know how a short delay ends up being months, set a timer for short time periods (five minutes, 30 minutes, two hours). When the timer goes off, you must get to work. You may also find it useful to break the task down into small elements that you can do and then take a break before moving on to the next element, allowing you to put things off–but not indefinitely.

Lesson: If you start things right away, and stop allowing yourself ‘temporary’ delays, you will get things done. Your rest will be that much sweeter as you’ve earned it due to your hard work.

Problem: Fear (of failure)

Solution: The best way to get over a fear of failure is to fail! You will be shocked to realize that there is life after failure, and this life can sometimes be even better than before. “Show me someone who has never failed and I will show you somebody who has never tried” a saying goes and there is a reason for that. Failure is a part of life. The act of failing always teaches you (and sometimes others) a lesson or two (whether these lessons are learned is another thing), and some are able to use the lessons learned to lead them in an entirely different direction, one that leads to success. Putting off doing something then, can be like delaying reaching your full potential: you never know where your next success or failure will lead you.

Lesson: Fear of failure could very well be a fear of reaching your full potential.

Lest you think you are getting tips from a reformed procrastinator, tomorrow I will horrify you with my own to do list that I will need to apply these very principles to!

procrastination, procrastinate, getting things done, stop procrastination, stop procrastinating