Productivity

NOVA | Cracking Your Genetic Code

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Another one of my skills is that of organizing. Earlier this year, I assisted a dear friend/producer who was pulling together this NOVA special: Cracking Your Genetic Code. This is a fascinating documentary which answers many questions and raises a few more.

When dealing with technology we are constantly asking ourselves about the wonders of the how we can use the technology. Now think about if you were able to know  your own DNA? It is already affordable to check your DNA and know what types of illness and disease you might be predisposed to.

Cracking Your Genetic Code is a NOVA special airing March 28, 2012 on your local PBS Station that dives into these questions. Have a peek here:

This film gives some heartfelt examples on how technology has elevated the patients’ health and lives.  It explores the moral dilemmas raised by new technologies.  Will it help or hurt us to know the diseases that may lie in our future?  And, what if such information falls into the hands of insurance companies, employers or prospective mates?

This is the new era of personalized, gene-based medicine and I believe we’ll be seeing a lot more of this.  Tune in next Wednesday night, March 28th to see for yourself: NOVA | Cracking Your Genetic Code.

Unstuck

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Unstuck from Unstuck on Vimeo.

Here’s a fun little app called Unstuck that was built to help you get ‘unstuck’ when you are working on a project or idea. After logging into the app, you are asked some questions concerning where and what you are stuck in. Just as one would do creating an online course this tool is broken down into objectives and steps. Unstuck is helping you get your game on and map out possibilities.

This is me looking into Unstuck

By determining how you are feeling in this stuck moment, this little app discovers the type of stuck moment you are in.  In my test I was a ‘Deflated Doer’ another time I might be a ‘Perplexed Planner’ or a ‘Fuzzy Forecaster’.  Once you’ve gotten this step complete, the app asks what type of stuck you are in and who it involves. You are then asked to type in an answer to the cause of your being stuck. [The app even gives you some prompts to help you.]

Then there is a fun little step where you sort through a deck of cards to figure out what you are thinking about with this issue and you are also asked about what 3 things you are doing-in this stuck moment. The final step is to answer a list of questions pertaining to the things you are doing because you are  stuck.

The app then analyzes your issue and offers advice. Read through what Unstuck offers, this is the fun of the app. I liked reading my ‘Stuck Report’ which helped me understand why I’m acting the way I am in this moment.  It evens compares you to the Unstuck community.

I think this app is probably as helpful-maybe more so- than randomly browsing websites or other procrastination tactics I might indulge in.   Try it for yourself. It’s nicely put together, fun to work with and might just help you.

30 Things to Start Doing for Yourself

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I recently discovered this lovely blog called Marc and Angel Hack Life: Practical Tips for Productive Living and since I’m always looking for ideas to streamline my productivity, these two have loads of advice. And since it’s the time of year to really reflect back on what has happened this year and look forward to the new year, I wanted to share a couple of Marc and Angel’s lists:

30 Things to Start Doing to Yourself:

  1. Start spending time with the right people.
  2. Start facing your problems head on.
  3. Start being honest with yourself about everything
  4. Start making your own happiness a priority.
  5. Start being yourself, genuinely and proudly.
  6. Start noticing and living in the present.
  7. Start valuing the lessons your mistakes teach you.
  8. Start being more polite to yourself.
  9. Start enjoying the things you already have.
  10. Start creating your own happiness.
  11. Start giving your ideas and dreams a chance.
  12. Start believing that you’re ready for the next step.
  13. Start entering new relationships for the right reasons.
  14. Start giving new people you meet a chance.
  15. Start competing against an earlier version of yourself.
  16. Start cheering for other people’s victories.
  17. Start looking for the silver lining in tough situations.
  18. Start forgiving yourself and others.
  19. Start helping those around you.
  20. Start listening to your own inner voice.
  21. Start being attentive to your stress level and take short breaks.
  22. Start noticing the beauty of small moments.
  23. Start accepting things when they are less than perfect.
  24. Start working toward your goals every single day.
  25. Start being more open about how you feel.
  26. Start taking full accountability for your own life.
  27. Start actively nurturing your most important relationships.
  28. Start concentrating on the things you can control. –
  29. Start focusing on the possibility of positive outcomes.
  30. Start noticing how wealthy you are right now.

Hey Tell

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This little app Hey Tell allows you to use your phone like a walkie-talkie and leave small voice notes for your friends and family.   Sure helps when you are walking and want to send someone a text, just push to talk.  And it is FREE!  You can, of course, add on a little bit and get the ability to “push your voice” out to multiple people.  Could be handy for sending out reminders to a list of say, students.  Just saying.