The lazy days of summer are officially here and I’ve embraced them.

Yes, I know sloth is one of the 7 Deadly Sins. In Dante’s Inferno, the slothful are punished in the fifth circle of hell along with the wrathful. They lie beneath the murky waters of the river Styx gurgling in the mud and slime for all eternity. It’s terrible, I understand.

But, I’m not talking about that rock-solid-drag-you-to-the-bottom kind of slothfulness. I’m talking about the summer-float-in-my-pool-chair-and-read-a-good-book kind of slothfulness. Most people I know spend their lives running frantically from work, to the grocery store, to kid’s events, out for social responsibilities, home to clean, do yard work, and finally fall into bed exhausted at the end of it all.

They need more laziness in their lives.

So, to help you find some time to relax in these long, summer days, I’ve put together seven lazy life hack links. That seemed like a perfect number since we’re discussing one of the 7 Deadly Sins.

Most of us can’t afford a complete vacation from the mundane. At least, not for long. But, if we could do things more quickly and easily, we’d at least have more vacation moments. Hope some of these help you enjoy more beach days!

Lazy Cooking Hacks:

This first hack is a video I shared on Facebook recently. I love corn on the cob in the summer, but pulling off all those little hairs is time consuming. Check this out.

Easiest Way to Cook and Shuck Corn

If you don’t want your health to suffer, you have to eat your veggies. They’re so beautiful this time of year, but cleaning and chopping can get tiresome. Here’re some easy, fresh choices.

5 Ideal Vegetables for Lazy Cooks

Lazy Calorie Burn Hacks:

I love to go for a run, swim, or hike in the summer, but I know not everyone feels the same. Here are some really easy ways to burn extra calories during the day. You won’t even break a sweat.

No Sweat Ways to Burn Calories

Lazy Housecleaning Hacks:

No matter how much you’d rather not clean, the house will get messy, especially with the kids home for the summer. Here are a few tips on not only how to clean quickly, but make the clean last longer so you don’t have to do it as often.

Keep Living Areas Clean Longer

Lazy Relationship Hacks:

Summer often means vacations and vacations often mean spending time with family. Lots of time. No matter how much you love yours, nobody knows how to push each other’s buttons better than family. Here are some tips on keeping your chin up.

15 Simple Ways to Get Your Confidence Back

One great way to relax is to get other people to do your work for you. Here are some ways to win friends and influence people from the pros.

 10 Psychology Tricks You Can Use to Influence People

Lazy Money Hacks:

Taking time off work can cost you money. Vacations cost you money. No matter how you cut it, worrying about money is not relaxing. Here are a few tips to help you get ahead the easy way.

How to Get Financially Ahead the Lazy Way

Got any good lazy life hacks to share? Come on. Not taking the time to leave a comment below doesn’t count.

To read all my articles in The 7 Deadly Sins series – click here.

The original article “7 Lazy Life Hacks” by Greta Boris was originally published on gretaboris.com
Photo by patti haskins from dallas, tx, usa (lazy day) [CC-BY-SA-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Everyone loves those days when you get a lot of work done, especially projects that have been hanging over your head for a while. When it comes to being efficient in the office, there are several things that might interfere with your ability to focus. Minimize these common distractions in order to optimize your productivity!

Attending unnecessary meetings. We are a “meeting” culture. We’ve all been part of a meeting in which our attendance seemed pointless or a waste of our time. If your name appears on an invite list unnecessarily, challenge the meeting planner in a constructive way. Offer to review the meeting recap notes in order to stay in the loop of things. And if you’re the one planning a meeting, make sure that those who are invited truly need to be in attendance.

Mixing business with pleasure. It’s easy to get into the habit of handling a few personal items while at work. However, be conscious of how much time you’re spending checking personal E-mail, taking cell phone calls, texting, monitoring an eBay auction, or scoping out the best vacation deals. According to Voco, a network security firm, workers are spending 25% of their time tending to personal things online and most bosses are totally unaware of it. Spending large amounts of time on personal items will increase the need to work late or to bring work home on the weekend.

Social media. Ever lose track of time with Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube? Online socializing—even when used for business purposes—can be a time waster if it interferes with other projects. Begin by giving yourself permission to check in online with others. This allows time on your calendar without unnecessary guilt. Next, designate a set amount of time each day for online social sites. In 15-20 minutes, you can update your status or send a few tweets; the limit makes you more aware of your time and less apt to waste it.

Interruptions by Co-workers.  There’s nothing worse than someone who asks for just a minute of your time but takes 15. You might feel you need a stoplight or yield sign to manage the flow of people coming by your office door. While interacting with others is a requirement, it doesn’t have to take up 8 hours of your day. Start by communicating to others your need for focus time. Hanging a sign/symbol on your doorknob or outside your cube will signal to others that this isn’t a good time to interrupt your work. Be creative—yellow caution tape, for example, sends a firm message but also humors those who would otherwise distract you.

Email.  According to RescueTime, a company that analyzes computer habits, a typical information worker who sits at a computer checks email more than 50 times a day. That’s once every 9.6 minutes. Begin immediately to control the number of times you go to your inbox. Set a goal to check your Email only 4-6 times throughout your day and get into the habit of minimizing your email program after checking Emails. Also, keep in mind that while many emails are important, few are urgent.

Distractions. Small, everyday things contribute to big distractions without us even realizing it. For example, you might be lucky to have a window in your office, but outside activities like wildlife, people or even traffic interfere with your ability to focus. Or perhaps your office is located close to the break room or restroom, and you find yourself noticing others instead of the project on your desk which desperately needs your time and attention. In that case, rearrange your office so you’re not directly facing the window or foot traffic going by. You’ll be less prone to outside distractions is you’re not oriented towards the entrance of your office.

Working from home. Many people enjoy working from home without the disruption of an office full of people. However, a common misconception is that telecommuters are able to multi-task with chores around the house and projects for their bosses. This habit usually results in longer work hours and wears down productivity. If you work from home, you need to clearly define working hours as well as specific time for doing laundry, starting dinner or running errands with the kids.

The original post, “Minimize 7 Common Distractions to Increase Productivity” by Audrey Thomas was originally published on OrganizedAudrey.com
Original Article
Illustration by Auguste Serrure (1825–1903) (http://kykolnik.dreamwidth.org/) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Illustration by Harrison Weir (1824-1906) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Remember when we were kids and our parents sat us down to discuss the birds and the bees? (Yea, neither do I but we will talk about that later….) As parents we are told we should talk with our kids about difficult topics like alcohol, drugs, sex and pornography. Today’s generation has a new topic to add to the list. Social Media.

Since the launch of MySpace in 2003 – and subsequently Facebook in 2004 – social media has exploded and many parents are finding it hard to keep up. You may not be able to navigate Tumblr or understand what a hash tag is, but here are some helpful tips to remember when it comes to social media:

10 Social Media Commandments for Kids & Parents

1. Talk to your kids about Social Media. Don’t hand your child an iPhone and tell them to “be careful with it”. If we don’t lay down the ground rules of what is acceptable and what is not, how are 13 year old boys supposed to know any better? TALK TO YOUR KIDS. Be frank and upfront. If they are old enough to have a social media account (or even be able to text), then they are old enough to understand the consequences of making a poor choice as it relates to social media.
2. Connect with your kids. If your kids are on social media, you should be too. And you should follow, like or connect with them so you can monitor what they are posting to ensure it is acceptable.
3. Be cautious of what your kids put on their profile. This sounds so obvious, right? You would be SHOCKED at how many of my friends kids I follow on various social media platforms that post their FULL name, the school they attend AND their age in their PROFILE.
4. Use the control settings! All social media platforms have some sort of privacy settings, and they are there for a reason. Understand how they work and use them to help control who your child connects with. Parents can also utilize them for restricting who can view profile information.
5. Be aware of how much information you are giving away. Posting pictures of yourself on ANY platform can give individuals information on where you live, who your friends are or what time of day you are home alone. It’s fun to post pictures of yourself, but be aware of who might be able to see them BESIDES your Instagram friends.
6. DO NOT TOLERATE BULLYING. Notice I didn’t say “Don’t bully”, because that’s sort of an obvious statement for a variety of reasons. But you should also NOT TOLERATE bullying. If you see anyone threatening, harassing or trying to embarrass ANYONE, report it to a parent, teacher or trusted adult immediately.
7. Don’t post pictures you might regret. Again, sounds obvious – but it’s not just about posting pictures of yourself, don’t REPOST pictures from others that are inappropriate, abusive or grotesque. If you wouldn’t want your grandma to see it, then don’t post it.
8. Don’t forget common sense. Consideration of others and compassion seem to be lacking these days. Don’t post pics all over your Facebook, Instagram or Twitter account of a great sleepover you had, knowing others who see those pics weren’t invited and will have their feelings hurt.
9. If you post it, they will find it. Along the lines of No. 6 above, remember that EVERYTHING you put online is, well, online. FOREVER. No amount of SnapChat  is going to save you from embarrassing messages or pics you thought were deleted forever.
10. NEVER click on pop-up ads. (My mom needs to remember this rule too!  ) If you’re using a computer to access social media, don’t click on pop ups or links that offer something for nothing. (Bill Gates is NOT giving away $5,000 if you click his link, nor is “Apple” giving away iPad minis. If it’s too good to be true, IT IS.)

These are main points to keep in mind. Do you have any tips for parents that you implemented in your household?

The original post, “10 Social Media Commandments for Kids & Parents” by Stephanie Bice was originally published on stephaniebice.com

Original Article

Image by James Tissot [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Most of us pride ourselves in multitasking. The more I think about multitasking, the more I feel that I probably don’t do full justice to any of the tasks at hand. Multitasking, I think possibly arises from distraction. The craze of Social Media, with the likes of Twitter, G+, Facebook, multiple chats (a friend of mine has possibly 35-40 chats going on at the same time …) has amplified our distraction. [Read more…]

There’s no shortage of important work to do – both at home and in your job. So, the last thing you want tossed your way is unnecessary work.

Easier said than done, right? I’m sure you can easily recall getting pulled into something that did not add value – at least not in your opinion. [Read more…]