Life Tips Daily

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!

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?

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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

I went camping two weekends ago, and although we were well organized and had everything we absolutely needed, I thought of a few tips and tricks that would make camping even better:

Water jug
If you are camping on well established camping grounds that are provincially (state) regulated, you may have access to running water on the camp grounds. In Ontario, this water is perfectly fine for cooking with, brushing teeth and washing hands (and drinking too, although most bring their own water for that). Instead of shuffling over to the water pump every time you need to wash your hands, buy yourself a water jug that will hold several litres of water so you can minimize the number of trips you need to make.

Extra rope
If you enjoy going to the beach and swimming, or will be taking showers in the morning, you will likely have a soggy towel and/or suit that needs to be hung to dry. You can certainly use a tree branch to air your things but a rope strung between two trees would be a far neater solution.

Fire making 101
Making a fire may come easily to you but if it doesn’t, you should read up on how to create a roaring fire. Another way to help the fire making process is by collecting kindling (small pieces of wood used to keep the fire going) around your campsite, perhaps before setting up your tent. Provincial parks sell firewood but if you happen to have access to free wood at home or on the way to the camp site, you may want to take advantage of that as it will cut down on the expense.

Double duty items for meals
When planning meals, think of how some ingredients can be used for another meal: the bread used to make toast for breakfast could be wrapped around hotdogs, the hotdogs from lunch can be chopped up into the salad for dinner. If being economical is important, you can limit the number of food items you bring in order to ensure that each gets maximized (and hopefully used up!).

camping, camp, camp tips

Good morning!

I am currently without internet and have been for nearly a week now. I have managed to find myself a short bit of internet time so I will use it for good. Speaking of good: it’s a good thing that I had prepared some topics for Life Tips Daily earlier last week so you could (hopefully) enjoy them for most of last week.

It’s when something like this happens that you really learn what an integral part of your life some things have become. It can be easy to forget that there are people in the world who don’t consider clean water, a constant supply of electricity, a personal computer, and internet that is available 24 hours a day guarantees in their lives.

So today, enjoy all those little things that make your life worth enjoying. Not only do you not know when you might have to do without it, but sometimes looking at something with new eyes can increase your appreciation for it.

It’s Sunday evening, and you’ve invited friends over for dinner. They have young children, so you assume that it’ll be an early evening because there are children with bedtimes that should be enforced. Or, you have dinner with friends who are (also) professionals, and assume your 8-4 or 9-5 job schedules automatically dictate that people will be leaving soon after dessert. Sadly, you’re wrong. Here are some tips for dealing with guests that overstay their welcome.

Ask them to leave (politely)
There’s nothing wrong in letting your guests know (apologetically if that makes you feel better) that unfortunately you have an early morning and will have to “kick them out”. Said with a sense of humour and a lack of annoyance in your voice, this approach is best as it allows your guest to know why they are being asked to leave, and they may derive some small thrill from feeling like they are doing you a favour.

Pretend it’s your fault
Something along the lines of “I’m so sorry, look how long I’ve kept you with my chatting!” allows them to feel that they are not being kicked out but rather allowed to escape. This little white lie usually works…unless your guest is well aware that they have been having a monologue and you have only been nodding when appropriate. In that case they may become insulted so use this approach sparingly.

Hint by action subtly
This can be a very time consuming effort, especially if your guest is rather clueless. You may want to try stifling yawns, tidying discreetly yet visibly, and, if you have children, you can ask them to go and start getting ready for bed. You could also ask them when they go to bed, what they have planned for the following day, what time it is, in an effort to get them to be aware of their surroundings.

overstay welcome, guests, houseguests, guests that stay too late

Gratefulness gets a lot of attention in this blog, and that is because people aren’t grateful enough, and rudeness is on the rise. Not thanking someone for holding the door for you, not being wished a nice day by a cashier, not excusing yourself if you bump into somebody–these are all ways in which the reign of rudeness is being allowed to continue. So to that end, gratefulness and thankfulness will be preached regularly.

In the above examples, you express your appreciation and move on. There are certain cases, however, where a verbal thank you should be followed by a written (on paper!) thank you. I recommend that you send thank you cards or letters in the following situations:

Receipt of a gift following any event, but some that stand out are:

• the birth of a child
• a baby shower
• a wedding
• a wedding shower
• graduation
• new home
• new job
• good bye party

Receipt of services/help that you would ordinarily pay for
If someone, usually a friend or a friend of a friend, helps you uproot that 15 year old tree, or retile your bathroom, a spoken “Thank you” as they’re dragging their weary body home is not enough. Express your gratitude with a card (and a gift).

Following an interview with a prospective employer
While other interviewees may send an email to thank the employer for his or her time, s/he who sends a hand written card or letter will likely be remembered (put your best writing on display please!).

Following an interview unrelated to employment
Here is where the author of this site needs to practice what she preaches. I have yet to send a hand written thank you card to the people I have interviewed so far for this site, but I do think it is a good idea to do so and I will be sending one out this week.

What other occasions do you deem a hand written thank you card necessary?

thank you, thank you card, sending thank you cards, thank you letter

There’s a definite theme this week. Today I’m going to share some ordinary things that you can be grateful for. All may not apply to you, but perhaps one or two will strike you as things you take for granted.

Your senses
If you are reading this, you are blessed to have the sense of sight and not only can you read a computer screen, you can see all of the beauty that surrounds you. It is far too easy to take things like a sense of taste for granted, until you get a cold the day before a really extravagant dinner and can hardly taste what you’re eating! Be grateful for your ability to touch (and feel), taste, see, hear and smell things!

(Access to a) computer and internet
Although many children in North America grow up with a computer around them, it must be said that not everybody is so blessed. Being able to turn on the machine and work on it into the wee hours of the night is something I don’t take for granted (especially given my addiction to it!). If you do not own your own computer, you are probably able to access one through a local library, at school, or at a cyber café.

Electricity
It’s hard to believe, but in some countries a steady supply of electricity is not the norm. In parts of the world, people live every day with the expectation that power will go out several times before the evening is through (that is if it works at all!). This means that having a refrigerator or other appliances is not a priority. If you take a minute to think of all the things you use electricity for, you’ll be humbled by the ‘necessities’ that other people regularly live without.

Access to doctors and/or healthcare and medicine
Most people are aware of the good fortune they have in having access to not only general practioners but specialists equipped to treat all that ails them, along with nurses who help this process along. My family has personally relied on the personnel in the emergency room far too often for me to take this lightly. If you are feeling sick, you can find a place to go at any time of day or night here. Some suffer for months or years and must wait for a doctor to visit their town, or rely on the healing abilities of those who are not licensed to practice, but have learned how to treat conditions and make their own medicine. Many die because they are not able to seek medical help, or obtain it in time. Every time you take a pill to dull a headache, or clear your blocked nose, think of how lucky you are to have these supplies at your fingertips, and how blessed you are that you can consult a professional if a serious condition develops.

Life
The gift without which all these other gifts would be useless. I hope you are grateful for your life.

grateful, gratefulness, being grateful, gifts, things we take for granted

The title is from a song whose chorus goes:

Every life first the sun then the night falls
We’re all on borrowed time
I’ll never say goodbye
Take your time live your life like it’s last call
Don’t wanna see you cry
We’ll never say goodbye

When somebody dies we are reminded of our own mortality. We’re reminded to live every day to the fullest because we don’t know if it will be our last. It’s very scary to think that you may not live to see tomorrow, or your plans for next week, but that is the way life is (a trite answer, perhaps but a very true one).

I would like to challenge you as I challenge myself to live each day to the fullest. It is far too easy to get caught up in the full time job, the part time job, children, friends, moving from one activity to another, trying to earn more money, save more money, volunteering your time to everyone and everything, that you may not have taken any time to examine your life and see what it’s like. Do you enjoy your life? Are there moments of quiet mingled in with the bustle? If you find time to volunteer for certain causes, are you making sure that you are equally generous with your time and/or money to the friends and family around you?

Needless to say, this last point strikes a huge chord within me. I have a large family and there isn’t a day that goes by where I’m not snapping at, or scrapping with at at least one of them, yet I am able to go to work and be cordial and friendly with my coworkers. I hold the door for complete strangers and smile at people I don’t know on the bus. It seems I save my very worst behaviour for my “loved ones”. If my time were to be up tonight, would I be proud of their last memory of me?

Absolutely not.

My challenge then, is to treat each day as if it were your last. Tell your loved ones that you love them-and show it! Be more generous (God has given me so much, and I’m often too busy trying to get more to actually take stock of it. Taking stock of your blessings might be the first step). Smile more. Spend more time with your family, instead of shutting them out with the television or computer.

We’re all on borrowed time.

life, death, loved ones, live your life

Yesterday, I explained how frustrating seeking a lost item can be. Today I’d like to share some tips to make finding things more bearable:

Retrace your steps
This is the step that most people do the moment they realize they have lost something: they think back to where they last saw the item, and check all of those places and see if the item can be recovered along the way. Sometimes it can be helpful to mentally retrace one’s steps before physically retracing them as this gives you a chance to map out an entire route instead of jumping from place to place.

Recruit help
If during the previous step you discover that you covered a large area of space before you lost the item, it may be necessary to seek the help of others. Letting people know what you’re looking for can be helpful in several ways: it may help the job get done faster (the whole “two heads are better than one” argument) and someone may have already found the item you seek and by you consulting them they can hand over an item whose owner they were uncertain of. Also, a helper can ask questions that help to trigger your memory as you try to retrace your steps.

Check each area thoroughly before moving on
Leave no stone unturned and no envelope unopened when you’re seeking something! If you are looking for something on your desk, go through each drawer one by one. Remove everything and look in pockets, nooks and any other crannies before moving on to the next. This is such an important step because going through an area swiftly without checking everything carefully guarantees that you will need to recheck the place, which wastes time and gives the frustration an opportunity to mount.

Give yourself time
Although most searches are somewhat urgent, it is important to give yourself time for this process. By taking the time to think carefully as you retrace your steps and check each possible area, your chances of finding the item are greater. If you feel rushed, you may not see things are right in front of you. Take the time to be thorough.

These are tips that have helped me in the past, what is your searching style?

lost something, find, finding lost items, lost and found, how to find lost items, seeking lost things, searching for lost things

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If you have ever lost something and had to find it, you know what a frustrating process this can be. If you misplaced something recently, there is significantly less step-tracing involved but what if you lost something years ago?

I was given the second copy of a key several years ago and I promptly lost it. What made this situation irksome is that the key has a habit of being borrowed by a third party, often without my knowledge. The original owner of the key was not so careless and as a result, did not ever need my spare key so I thought I was safe. However, after almost three years, my luck ran out: the owner of the key locked his key inside a room and my copy of the key was needed to free the other key.

I had no idea where this key was, which led to frustration, but my frustration was twofold: I could not recall where I had put the key and second, I couldn’t recall whether the key had been borrowed and not returned (and alas, neither could the person who tended to borrow this key). Either way, as the person to whom the key was given, it fell on me to find it. When your living quarters best ressemble a warehouse, with boxes, trinkets and knicknacks everywhere, looking for a key becomes a search for the proverbial needle in the haystack. After cursing and checking those parts of my abode that hadn’t been moved around for a few years and not finding the key, I gave up. Then, on a whim, I decided to check one location that I thought was a new addition to my abode and could not possibly contain the key. Within 60 seconds the key was found and years of wondering of where it was was over.

My search techniques were somewhat haphazard but tomorrow I will share with you how to search for something like a pro.

lost something, find, finding lost items, lost and found

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Tomorrow I will be sharing an interview that I did with a local life coach. Life coaching is a fascinating profession, and one that is not well understood.

I had some misconceptions about how life coaches work, who benefits from life coaching, and what type of person goes for life coaching. Needless to say, the interview has opened my eyes–a lot that I thought was true about this profession is not true at all.

If you remember, please check out the interview. And if you aren’t in the Ottawa area, search online for a life coach in your area. Good luck!

For more on coaching, check out the International Coach Federation’s website.

Last week, Time released its list of the 50 best websites. While it’s no surprise that google and facebook appear on the list, there were some new sites that I had never consulted before but may start checking out:

Fatsecret.com, which looks somewhat like facebook to be honest. It’s a social networking site for people trying to lose weight.

Oh Don’t Forget.com is such a neat idea! You enter a message (make it short though!) and a reminder is sent to your cell phone on whatever day and time you want. My only beef with reminder services is you tend to remember those things you think you’ll forget. We need a more sophisticated system that can figure out what you’re likely to forget, then help us remember that!

Check out the list and pick your new favourite sites!

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Most cities are alive with festivals, especially in the summer. If you usually ignore mention of the latest festival that is happening in your town, city or a neighbouring area, you may want to make time to attend a festival or two. Here are some great reasons to check out a local festival:

You may discover someone or something new
If it is a music festival, you are sometimes offered fantastic deals if you buy tickets for the duration of the entire festival, instead of buying individual tickets for the shows you want to see. Take advantage of your all access pass to check out talent that you ordinarily wouldn’t see–you may find something you like!

If the festival involves other cultures, you may be introduced a new form of dance, or a new food, for example. Why not try it? You may discover something that you make a part of your everyday life.

Cure boredom
Despite waiting all winter for summer to arrive, it can sometimes be a bit of a letdown, especially if one doesn’t have many plans for the summer months. Checking out a festival might be just what is needed to cure the case of boredom troubling you.

Meet new people
If you attend a festival that is centered around a specific thing, you’re bound to meet people–in your own city!–who share this interest. Embrace the chance to make new friends.

Contribute to the economy
After gorging on popcorn and cotton candy, and fresh squeezed lemonade that costs a fortune, you may return home and curse all the money you spent. Instead of thinking of that, think of all the others who may have come from out of town to spend their money, and think of how much you are helping out the economy!

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If you own a computer and the internet is part of every day, then you may suffer from password overload. Between remembering passwords for email accounts, social networking sites, forums that address your varied interests, bank accounts (for online banking), your library account and your own blog(s) or website(s), you must have at least ten passwords (and don’t forget your usernames too!) bouncing around in your brain (and this is a conservative estimate).

I forget where I read it but using your brain to remember things like phone numbers, usernames and passwords is not supposed to be the best use of your brain, and writing these things down, or having a place where you can refer to them is a better idea, as it frees your brain to do other things, like keeping a running tally of the number of calories in every piece of food that crosses your lips.

The best way I have of keeping track of all my passwords is a simple spreadsheet. I organize my passwords (and usernames) by the categories above, and try to remind myself to update the file as my passwords increase and change. This helps me keep track of my various accounts, and I can’t deny being shocked every time I look at the file and see all the things I’ve signed up for, forgotten about or gotten bored with.

(I must admit that I still try to memorize all my usernames and passwords though to save the step of opening the file)

How do you keep track of your usernames and passwords?

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