Dumb Little Man | Tips for Life

You had one (or several) too many drinks on a night out with friends, and – at 8 am in the office – you’re really regretting it. Your head is pounding, your mouth feels like sawdust, and you wish your colleagues would tiptoe and whisper when they're near you. The thought of eating makes your stomach threaten to revolt, so you’ve skipped breakfast.

All you can think about is how you’re going to survive till four o’clock.

Here’s how:

1. Drink Lots Of Water
   Chances are, you’re still dehydrated. So your first step is to grab a big glass of water. Sip it slowly (especially if your stomach’s feeling dodgy).
   


2. Take Painkillers
   A mild-moderate painkiller will help with the headache. You might also want to take something to settle your stomach.
   


3. Eat Something
   Most people don’t feel like eating when they’re hungover, but food will help your body recover faster. Try some dry bread or crackers if you really think your stomach’s not up to much. (Over here in the UK, some people swear by the restorative powers of a big fried breakfast, but that may just be too much to contemplate!)
   


4. Avoid Conflicts
   Of course, it’s a good idea to avoid getting into arguments with workmates anyway – but if you’re hungover, make an extra effort to avoid situations where you’re likely to over-react. One of your colleagues has just said the stupidest thing ever about the economy? Let it go.


5. Take Your Time
   Even straightforward tasks can be a struggle when you’re hungover. Don’t rush things. Even if you have a lot of work on, you’re going to lose more time by making mistakes that you have to fix than by taking your time in the first place.


6. Avoid Clients
   This might not always be an option, but if you don’t need to see clients, then try not to. You’re never going to look your best when you have a pallid complexion, bloodshot eyes, and a tendency to drift off mid-conversation...


7. Tackle Easy Tasks
   If you have some choice over your work (and most of us do), then go for some of those boring, routine little jobs that you keep putting off. It’s a good chance to get through them while you’re feeling sub-par.


8. Take a Nap
   During your lunch break, or another official/scheduled break, get your head down and take a nap. (Note: avoid doing this when you’re supposed to be working, however tempting it is. It’s extremely unlikely to impress your boss.)


9. Ask For Help
   Even if you’re normally totally confident about the reports you write, the problems you solve or the widgets you crank, you might make mistakes when you’re hungover. Ask a colleague to look things over for you.


10. Don’t Mention The Hangover
    It always surprises me how many people will tell colleagues outright “I’m so hungover today”. The last thing you want is for the boss to hear about this ... and office gossip can spread fast. If anyone comments on your pallor, just say that you slept badly or that you’re feeling a bit under the weather.

If the above tips aren’t enough for you, you might also want to check out:
Ways To Cure Your Hangover and How to Severely Decrease the Chances Of A Hangover.

Have you ever been hungover at work? How did you cope? Do you have any disastrous hangover stories to share?

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No matter how perfect everything can feel and how awesome life can seem at times, things rarely stay that way. Let's face it, now and then we all experience the low points, and for some people, those low points can last a lot longer than anything else. You can tell just by looking at statistics which show that tens of thousands of people commit suicide each year around the world; for some people these low points just become unbearable.

I think there are some key aspects which can help people start to really enjoy life again, and make the most of the opportunities on this planet. In this post I want to look at what I think those aspects are and how you can incorporate them into your life.

Become Aware of your Mortality
I know that point heading doesn't sound very positive, but let me pan things out a bit. It's no secret that one day we are all going to die. Some of you may think we will be reincarnated, some may think we will go to heaven and some of you think we are spiritual beings in human form, and that's fine. However, all of us know that our current form won't last forever.

I've always been aware that I'm going to die someday, but I don't think I have ever really appreciated life. It wasn't until I became very sick last year and spent a week in hospital that the things which matter to me really became apparent, my health being one of them.

This is it. Make the most of the opportunity you have; life is completely what you make of it and is nothing more than an external reflection of your internal thoughts. If you start looking for the good in the world instead of focusing on the bad, I promise you will find it.

Make Notes of the Things that Matter to You
I used to be the kind of person that would read a blog post which asked you to do something, and kindly skip over the 'taking action' section. More recently, I actually took the time to write out a list of things I'm grateful for; some of the obvious items came up:

• My family and friends


• My health


• Being able to eat properly every day


• Having a roof over my head


• Having people that care for me
  

And while these items are obvious, we take them for granted but miss them so much for example when they deteriorate (health) or disappear (wealth). Simply doing this will allow you to see all the great things in your life instead of all the negative aspects in your current situation which may be getting you down.

Realize Every Problem Can Be Accepted or Dealt With
I came across an interesting concept recently by one of my favorite teachers who said "problems are only memories" and that saying actually became the basis for an article I wrote. To make things a little more understandable, my saying is this: there is no problem that you have which can't either be dealt with or accepted. Every single problem will fit under one of those two options.

"But I don't want to accept the things I cannot change" is a response I received from a lot of people when first mentioning this idea. "OK, so you are going to get angry, cry and stress yourself out about something that...you can't do anything about?" - It just doesn't make any sense. If you can change something you don't like then by all means work towards doing that, but otherwise accept what is and focus on other things that matter to you.

Set Yourself a Long Term Goal You Can Be Passionate About
I've worked hard with my online properties in the last few years and was lucky enough to be able to quit my job at the beginning of this year to work for myself full-time. I've noticed that now I'm at this stage I literally jump out of bed in the mornings excited to work on the projects that I have a real passion for. I've come to realise that it doesn't take quitting your job in order to be excited about waking up in the mornings; you just need something you can focus on that you are passionate about.

Maybe you want to lose weight, maybe you want to learn a new language or even learn to play an instrument. Pick a long-term goal that you can give some time regularly, something that really matters to you. The most important aspect to making this work in your favor is by opening your life up to being able to work on the things you enjoy. After-all, this is a goal you WANT to achieve and it is something you really CARE about.

What could be a better way to spend your time?

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Do you ever feel like you’re drowning in work? Your inbox is overflowing, you have to move two stacks of papers to get to your keyboard, you have a constant nagging feeling that you’ve forgotten about something vital, and that major project you want to start work on still remains a pipe dream.

Some people say they “work well under stress”, but most of us are happier, healthier and more productive when we feel that we’re on top of things. With that in mind, here are ten tips to help you stay on top of your work.

1. Don’t Take On Too Much
   If you’re overworked, is it because you’re not very efficient and waste time (be honest) or is it because you simply have too much work?
   
   All the time management tips in the world won’t give you more than twenty-four hours in a day. When you’re offered an exciting new project to be part of, when a colleague asks for a favor, or when you’re thinking about sticking up your hand and volunteering in a meeting ... stop and think about your other priorities. Remember that if your day is currently full and you take on new work, something else is going to have to go.
   


2. Minimize Meetings
   Many time-management writers, from Tim Ferriss to Mark Forster, advocate avoiding meetings if at all possible. How often have you sat in a meeting, bored out of your skull, wishing you could be getting on with your actual work?
   
   If you’re obliged to be in regular meetings, try cutting the frequency (perhaps a team meeting every fortnight, not every week, would be just as effective) or the duration (it’s surprising how much can be accomplished in half-an-hour).
   
   If you can possibly avoid meetings, do. That goes doubly for meetings which are off-site – there’s a lot of wasted time involved in getting there and back.
   


3. Make A To-Do List The Day Before
   If you normally work on whatever catches your attention, you’re working ineffectively, and you’re likely to end up feeling overwhelmed. Each evening before you stop work for the day, make a “to do” list for the following day. This should cover the crucial things that you want to get done. Make sure that at least one of them is advancing a long-term project.
   
   The next morning, start on your to-do list before doing anything else (checking email, gossiping round the water cooler, making a round of coffee).
   


4. “Big Rocks First”
   There’s an oft-cited time management adage “Big Rocks First”. The analogy goes like this: if you had to fill a jar with sand and rocks, it’s hard (almost impossible) to do it by pouring in the sand first then trying to fit in the rocks. But if you fit all the rocks first, the sand can simply flow into the gaps.
   
   Fit your “big rocks” – the major things you want to work on – into your day first. All the little jobs like checking email, tidying your desk and making phone calls can fit into small time-gaps in between the bigger tasks.
   


5. Work In Timed Bursts
   No one can sustain their concentration for hours at a time. And all of us find that we can speed up and focus well when it’s three thirty on Friday, or when we’re off on vacation for a fortnight. Take advantage of this effect by working in timed bursts: for example, work on that big report that’s been hanging over you for thirty solid minutes (no checking emails, Twitter, Facebook...) You’ll be surprised how much you can get done in a short space of time.
   
   It’s often useful to use this to do “big rocks” and then to relax your attention by attending to the “sand” tasks like answering emails.
   


6. Develop Good Systems
   We often work inefficiently because we just haven’t taken the time to develop a good system for something. If a particular aspect of your job is always causing you headaches, chances are that you need to fix the system you use for dealing with it. (In many cases, this means consciously implementing a system!)
   
   For example, if you find that you’re always forgetting to follow up on action points for meetings, develop a framework to help you do this. That might mean that you schedule yourself fifteen minutes after the meeting to go through your notes and put your action points onto your to-do list.
   


7. Limit Email Checking
   Most of us spend far too much time on email – some companies have even started introducing “no email days”, where workers are encouraged to phone or talk face-to-face rather than use emails. Reading and replying to emails can often be a distraction from getting on with more important work.
   
   Try “batching” your emails: instead of replying as soon as one arrives, set certain times of day (ideally, not before 10am) when you’ll read and reply to all your emails.
   


8. Set Your Own Deadlines
   Wouldn’t it be nice if you could set your own deadlines? Well, you can, of course: just make your deadline before the one that management (or your client) has given you.
   
   If you aim to get each project finished a few days in advance of the “real” deadline, you’ll feel considerably less stressed (you’re working to your own time, not to someone else’s) and you’ll also be able to cope with any genuine emergencies that crop up, without blowing the deadline.
   


9. Delegate
   One great way to stay on top of your work is to pass on low-level tasks to someone else. If you’re in management, you’re wasting your time and your company’s time when you perform tasks that a junior colleague could have carried out.
   
   (If, like many people, you’re not confident about delegating work, read Accomplish More Each Day: Four Steps To Easy Delegation)
   
   If you’re self-employed, can you pay someone else to do tasks for you? For example, you might find a student willing to do some administrative tasks, and you could pay an accountant to help with your taxes.
   


10. Ask For Less
    Depending on your job, you might be unable to delegate anything – in fact, you may be overwhelmed with other people delegating work to you!
    
    If this is the problem, don’t be afraid to say that you're being given too much to do. Your line manager may not realise that you’re feeling swamped. Don’t moan about having too much work, but mention your concerns that some aspects of your work aren’t getting done (or are being rushed) because you have too much else on.

How do you stay on top of your work? Share your tips and ideas in the comments!

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Time. I am writing this as I'm listening to a time management lecture by Randy Pausch, the guy who essentially wrote, "The Last Lecture" (Jeff Zaslow really wrote it, but it was based on the lecture by Randy Pausch). Great book... I definitely recommend it. Anyways, time. Time is ticking by right now. Sometimes it goes by so fast and sometimes it feels so slow. Why is that?

I also love the book Stargirl and Love, Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli. In Stargirl, there is this quote that always stuck with me...

“Nobody has the time. The time cannot be owned. Time is free to everyone!”

If you really think about it, time is the one thing we have that is always free, always there. Time never stops and always keeps going. Whether you want it to go slower, or faster, need more... it remains the same. Concurrently, we don't know how much of it we will have in our lives. Even if you receive a death sentence, a doctor cannot tell you the specific day in which you will die and your time here will cease.

In my opinion, here are the most important things that we need to remember as it pertains to time, or the management of it. If you leave with one thing, remember that even the smallest action, taking the shortest amount of time, can have great consequences.

• Get organized.
  Okay, okay, I do work at a place named Organize-It, I've compulsively made my bed every day since I was 5 years old, and everyone knows how neat I am. But still, I think it is important to everyone. Think about a time when you couldn't do something because you couldn't find it. I strongly believe you will get a lot more work done if you just take the time to put things in order first.
  


• Get the bad stuff done first.
  Okay, I am definitely bad at this one sometimes. Jot down a to-do list and get done that dreaded homework, head off to work, or clean your room before you go out and have fun. I'd guarantee you might have more time to do the things you like if you get the other stuff done first. In addition, you won't be mulling over the dreaded tasks that you've been procrastinating!
  


• Think about what you're doing right now.
  Surfing the web mindlessly? Watching TV? Anything else you could be doing that would be more productive or more satisfying? I strongly believe you need your downtime so don't freak out claiming that I believe we all need to keep our heads down working. However, I know I spend more time doing 'down things' than I really need to.
  


• I think a lot of people waste time being mad.
  Don't hold grudges; argue and fix it. Spend lots of loving time with the people you love. You don't know how long you might have with them.
  


• "Failing to plan is planning to fail."
  Plan your day, plan your life, and plan to leave room for days or minutes when you have nothing at all planned to do.

I'll end on a quote by the late, great Benjamin Franklin.

"Dost thou love life? Then waste not time; for time is the stuff that life is made of."

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