How to do what you don't want to do

No cat wants to get wet, but in the end, when you got to get something done, then you get it done.

But how about doing things that you have to do but don't want to do?

For these types of tasks, I use a mental trick that has helped many, many times.

The trick is this: Put something on your to-do list that's you prefer even less to do than what you need to get done. In other words, find a task you do want to do, but perhaps it takes even more work, effort, and/or time than the task that you truly want to accomplish.

The classic example of this that rings a bell for all students is the exam studying/clean room scenario. Many students can attest to the fact that when it comes down to studying for an upcoming exam, rather than studying, they end up procrastinating by doing something like cleaning up their room. Spotlessly.

What's going on here? Well, the person does not want to clean their room (I mean really, who does), but, they prefer even more to NOT study for their exam. In other words, the student would rather clean up their room than study for their exam, because now the exam studying has taken precedence as the least favorable task to do. Often in this case, cleaning a room suddenly becomes a highly preferred task to do and it seems to take much less effort with the idea of studying for an exam lurking nearby.

This is also the same reason why people often 'create errands' to do in order to procrastinate the start of a more important project. If you want to get around this, simple make an even more daunting task appear on your task list, and soon something like training for a marathon, reading a long book, or cleaning your house may appear to be the more favorable thing to do than a task that's even harder to do. Try it out!

On the search for happiness...

CNN recently posted an interesting article about a journalist's trip around the world in the search for happiness. Many of you wishing to streamline your life may be looking to ultimately find happiness in your journey or bring more happiness to your life. I plan on picking up Eric Weiner's book, "Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World," but in the meanwhile, see what CNN's review has to say. There are a number of key points I found fascinating in this article:

1. Happiness is not necessarily related to money. That's probably nothing new to most of you. 2 of the places Eric Weiner found to be the happiest in the world included Bhutan, an almost pre-modern society in the Himalayas, and Iceland, a country with a lot of darkness and cold. Also interesting is Iceland and Bhutan's GDP (nominal), the benchmark often used to describe a country's production of goods: 95th and 159th, respectively. This is out of 180 countries (source).


2. Happiness is not even related to a warm, pleasant climate. This was a personal shocker to me. One thing that I thought always separated US citizens on the east coast (Miami, NYC, Boston, etc.) from those on the west coast (Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland, etc.) was that nicer weather on the west coast was a large reason why west coasters are usually more pleasant and relaxed. In a way, many would say they appear happier. Ironically, one of Mr. Weiner's observations was that the cold weather actually brings people together in Iceland, much as humans must have done long ago.


3. Happiness often comes with content and satisfaction. As mentioned in the article regarding Qatar, having wealth does not equal being content. Content can often come in the form of having few material possessions to have to worry about maintaining. Content can even come in the form of seeing your tax dollars being used appropriately. It's just amazing that a country such as Qatar doesn't have the most happiness. Qatari's are even paid by the government, as opposed to being taxed, just for being a resident, and yet happiness does not come from such benefits.


4. Happiness doesn't come from actively searching for happiness. Perhaps a bit of an irony, but countries and people that are happiest often do not seek it. Maybe it's because they just live a certain way and do not contemplate the happiness, as you may not seek what you already have. Alternatively, being active and socially interacting on a daily basis may bring you the happiness you seek, even though that is not your goal in mind at the time.

If anything, the take home message seems to be that having a simple, streamlined life where your time is freed up to spend with your loved ones may bring you the happiness for which many are searching. Check out the book next time you're at the book store... I know I will be.

Easy to make healthy foods

Here are the foods that are quickest to put into your life, along with their health benefits and relative costs:

blueberries: high in antioxidants, ready to eat after you wash them

salmon: high in protein and omega-3 fatty acids, can cook with 3 minutes of heat per side.

oatmeal: lots of fiber, can cook in 90 seconds, very cheap and portable

eggs: lots of protein, vitamins, and minerals. extremely easy to make (fry up or cook in microwave)

black beans: lots of protein, contains 'slow carbs', good for your brain function. cheap and you can eat it out of the can.

kimchi: great for digestion, work out of the jar. spices within are even anti-cancer

olive oil: easy to add to cooked food or salad. try not to cook with too much, as some of the health properties dissipate as it sits on the frying pan (cover your food with it before frying)

spinach: ready to eat vegetable, works great for salads, great source of iron

yogurt: can be bought for cheap (often on sale), great for digestion and calcium, edible out of the fridge

albacore tuna: great source of omega-3, edible out of the can, great source of protein, and often cheap

tomatoes: great source of lycopene, vitamin c, and works in a lot of foods (salads, on the side of dishes, and freshly eaten)

There's many more that you can find, but you'll want to emphasize quick preparation, because there are better things to do with your time than prepare food. Make tasty meals out of the foods above, and you're on your way to a more streamlined lifestyle!

Healthy foods and tiered food

A healthy diet is obviously important to having a streamlined lifestyle. Energy for doing daily activities comes from a healthy diet. Preventing diseases is possible through a healthy diet. Looking and feeling great also comes from a healthy diet.

In terms of the 4 attributes for a streamlined lifestyle, let's look at how the food you eat can come into play:

Health: Obviously your health is largely attributed to your diet. No more needs to be said on this.

Cost: Eating healthy can cost more if you don't go about shopping for healthy foods with strategy. It's important to note that to some people, the health benefits of some food are worth a higher price. If you think of food in terms of relative costs, then this makes sense. For example, cancer treatment will cost a lot more than buying healthy foods to begin with that may prevent cancer. A more extreme example is someone who believes in the anti-cancer properties of antioxidants; that person would not be concerned that blueberries may cost $4 a pint if they strongly believe it will keep them healthy longer. This is a personal preference.

Education: Eating healthy won't necessary make you more educated. You may need to do research to find out what is personally healthy for you to eat. You should always consult a doctor before trying anything radical with your diet.

Time: Eating healthy can definitely take more time. Hopefully this blog will help reduce the time needed to research healthy foods, but undoubtedly, eating whatever you like takes no time at all.

So are there general guidelines for what's health to eat? Here's the guidelines I try to follow, although you will want to consult your doctor before making any changes to your diet:

1. Start with trying to incorporate the healthiest foods you can afford. There are plenty of lists on the internet regarding what the healthiest foods are. One simple list I like to follow is the list on health.com. Shorter lists are not only easier to remember (so you'll be more likely to follow it), but there's a lot to say about short lists in general. They're not easy to make(!), so the author most likely put a lot of time in condensing the list to those he/she found to be most important. So yes, I incorporate olive oil, kimchi, lentils, yogurt, and soy in my diet as much as possible. Cook with olive oil. Put lentils in most meals. Eat yogurt every morning. Think of these 'healthiest foods' as Tier 1 foods that are great to incorporate as much as possible into your daily meals.


2. Add other foods that are healthy for certain benefits and do not take much time to prepare. That means blueberries, oatmeal, salmon, almonds, walnuts, spinach, black beans, bananas, eggs, chicken breast, grain-fed beef, carrots, and tilapia are all great to add into your diet. This list is not comprehensive, as they are literally hundreds of foods that could fit in this category. These are tier 2 foods.


3. Add other foods that are healthy, but may have some drawbacks. Work these more sparsely into your diet. Orange juice, for instance, has many health benefits from folic acid to vitamin C, but it's high in sugar content. Whole wheat bread (make sure it says 100% whole wheat) is packed with nutrients, but in the end, it's still a lot of carbohydrates that may not work in your diet. Carrots have vitamin A and fiber, but are high on the glycemic index scale. Ribeye steak may be good for iron and protein, but it can be high in saturated fat. These are tier 3 foods that you should stray away from, but can eat from time to time (diet permitting, of course).

Now the trick is to combine tier 1 and tier 2 foods as much as possible into simple meals that you can make quickly. For instance, if you can buy blueberries cheaply (or frozen blueberries), combine with oatmeal in the morning for a quick meal. Throw in some yogurt for it's digestive properties and you have a great start to your day. And since it only takes a minute to put together, you will be more likely to stick to it. Another example is to cook an egg, combine with black beans, kimchi, and some protein such as lean chicken or turkey. For dinner, you could put together frozen vegetables, some chicken breast, and a fried egg. For a salad, you could put together romain lettuce, sliced almonds, blueberries, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar. Focus on foods that are quick to make so that eating healthy doesn't become a chore.

Add tier 3 foods from time to time to keep your diet interesting, but don't go too overboard. At the same time, if you're an athlete or are extremely active, you may not be concerned to eat tier 3 foods routinely. And hey, at least they offer some health benefits, right?

Food such as chocolate cake, pork fat (often added to soup), candy bars, deep fried oreos, potato chips, etc. are not even considered to be a tier of food. Why? Because chances are you can find several, if not more, foods in the first 3 tiers that you enjoy. The food could be chicken breast that you like. It could be whole wheat bread, a fried egg, and a slice of deli turkey, topped with ketchup (lycopene!). There's so many ways to work relatively healthy ingredients together that are also easy to prepare.

Sample meals and snacks that are quick and healthy:

• oatmeal with blueberries and peanutbutter
• omelette made with 2 eggs, stuffed with black beans, brown rice, deli turkey, ketchup
• spinach salad, walnuts, blueberries, topped with olive oil and balsamic vinegar
• salmon soaked overnight with orange juice and soy sauce, grill the next day
• edamame (soy beans in the frozen section of most asian markets), microwaved for 90 seconds. Very addictive for snacking!
• tilapia with lentils on the side, steamed asparagus on the side
• Japanese seaweed salad (available at most asian markets, ready to eat), brown rice, tomatoes

Be creative and share any quick and healthy recipes you know. The key is to find healthy ingredients that take very little time/effort to prepare.

buying vs. "brown bagging" your lunch

('bento porn' courtesy of AppleBooty of Flickr)

For some of you who work by a place with cheap, healthy food, buying lunch may make the most sense. For the rest of us, food comes in one of several categories:

1) It's healthy and tasty, but is expensive (often $7+ in a city like New York City).
2) It's cheap and healthy, but the taste is pretty bad (e.g., buying boiled eggs every day).
3) It's cheap and tasty, but not healthy at all (e.g., fast food).

Do you want cheap, healthy, and tasty food? Get ready to brown bag. Now the main drawback to bringing your own lunch is that it takes time to plan your lunch and to actually make
your lunch. There are several ways to get around this:

1. Buy in bulk and prepare cooking for your whole week. We'll go more into detail on this topic in the future.


2. Pack your leftovers from dinner for lunch the next day. It saves on dishwashing and effort.


3. Buy easy to prepare, yet healthy and tasty foods. This is a whole other post itself, but just as an example, edamame is stored frozen, healthy, cheap, and tasty (addictive at that), and to make it, all you have to do is put them in the microwave for 2 minutes. No thought involved.

If you really want to commit to it, purchase a nice 'adult' lunchbox such as Mr. Bento. Besides the fact that there's a whole sub-culture bent on making nice looking lunches (search Flickr for 'bento porn'), it's great that it keeps your hot lunches hot and cold lunches cold. Mr. Bento works particularly well if you eat asian food often, but really works well for any type of cuisine.

On being a consumer...

You're a consumer whether you like to admit it or not. In order to survive in this world, you need to make use of other's skills. Though it may be nice to be able to know everything to survive on your own, in this complex lifestyle that we wll live, our daily lives make us a consumer. Being a consumer simply means we exchange our knowledge and skill expertise for other's knowledge and skill expertise. Why learn to make a coffee maker and manufacture it on our own when we can buy one in the store? Undoubtedly, it's more efficient to purchase a coffee maker than to make one on our own from materials we gather on our own (or mine from the Earth if we're going to start from scratch).

Can we be a better consumer? Of course we can. I'm going to touch on one facet of being a consumer, and that facet is consumer awareness.

It's astounding the number of items one can buy, and further amazing how this can change your life. It's no secret as any subscriber to David Allen's GTD (Getting Things Done) movement will say, the clutter can make your life more difficult to manage.

Back to consumer awareness, there are some wonderful items I've come across in the past few years that are wonderful products that actually do bring great value. So much value that, in fact, if more people were aware of them, the world would be a better place.

Let's go through some examples:

Charcoal lighter fluid vs. Weber Chimney Starter
People just do not know what chimney starters are, and if they did, they'd never buy charcoal lighter fluid again. The Weber Chimney Starter is cheap (low cost), quick to heat coals (low time), and is healthier because you're not using lighter fluid on your coals (high health). You won't have lighter fluid taste on your food, your coals will be red hot to cook in a shorter period of time, and this item is only $13 which is a fixed cost (vs. lighter fluid which you need to repeatedly purchase as your supply dwindles at barbecues).

coffee vs. yerba mateCoffee is caffeine that comes with 2 problems: the "high" is usually too high (i.e., you can't even concentrate on the task at hand due to jitters), and the "low" is usually too low (it puts some people to sleep). Instead, welcome to the world of yerba mate, of which my awareness all comes thanks to the insightful Tim Ferriss. Known to the atheletic world for some time, yerba mate can give you the mental awareness push that you want, but without the jitters or fallout after. It's less likely to irritate your stomach and you can definitely concentrate better on the 'high.' So why do people still drink coffee? Consumers are simply not aware of this wonderful drink that originated from South America where it's consumed on a daily basis. You can buy yerba mate for cheap online and at some specialty shops.

incandescent flashlight vs. LED flashlightsLED flashlights use less energy (less batteries), are cooler in temperature and energy efficiency, and are often cheaper AND brighter. I often carry a Princeton Tec Impulse on my keychain which comes in handy on too many occasions (walking up dark stairways, looking for items in closets, dropping something outside your car at nighttime, etc.).

These are just a few examples of great products that have totally eclipsed another product/technology in terms of value. If you liked these comparisons, there's more to come...

Television and a DVR

For some of you, countless hours in front of the television may be your idea of a great way to relax. Let's look at television in terms of the 4 basic factors:

Health: Sitting on the couch is not conducive to a healthy lifestyle. The fact is, when you're watching television, you're typically not very active. TV gets a low rating of Health.

Cost: TV can be costly in terms of having to buy a television and buying a cable subscription (yes, you can get television for free via other methods, but that is not often the case). Even if your television subscription is $25 a month (that's on the very low end if you're in a metropolitan area), you're looking at $300 a year that could be spent elsewhere.

Education: Well, this one is where television can offer SOME benefit. If you happen to be watching the Discovery Channel or the History Channel, for instance, the multimedia presentation in front of your very eyes with little to no effort makes TV great in terms of educational value (a high education value). If you're watching mindless television (no need to mention specific shows, celebrity gossip summary shows are pretty high up there), the education value drops to low. Let's give TV an education value of medium to be fair.

Time: Television is time consuming and time inefficient. From watching commercials to just the general value of getting information, television gets a low rating of Time.

So TV isn't great for your health, costs money, can possibly educate you, but is time inefficient. What do you think I'd propose about television?

GET RID OF IT.

There are so many better things to do with your time that are cheaper, take up less time, and are more fulfilling. Examples of what to do instead are coming up, but you can see why television is just not worthwhile if you want to streamline your life.

If you must have television in your life, the only way you should go about it is to have a Digital Video Recorder to go about skipping commercials and allowing you to watch television when you want. I'd highly recommend TIVO which has the slickest interface of all DVRs I've used, although the cost of a monthly subscription may outweigh the benefits of having the DVR. As you'll see in future posts, the time factor can be quite an expensive factor, and often the cost to maximize your time may be prohibitive depending on your financial situation. Interestingly, your financial situation largely hinges on your education. Interesting how this all ties together, isn't it :)