eSoup

Learning New Habits Stretches Your Mind--Literally

  Stretch Your Mind 
  Originally uploaded by abv

I used to work in administration for a hospital, and one of my duties was to supervise the volunteers.

My favorite volunteer was Mrs. P, who was 80 years old, full of life and enthusiasm and always had a full schedule of activities going on. I'm telling you--this tiny silver haired lady had a work and social life that was more full than most people half her age!

If she wasn't volunteering at the hospital, she was organizing fund raisers for her favorite causes, taking computer classes, going to the gym 3 times a week to lift weights, playing pinochle or bridge with her friends, and sitting on various boards for the museum or the hospital or whatever.

I was just amazed at her passion and her energy, and when I asked her what her secret was she said, "I always keep trying new things. I deliberately set out to learn new activities and skills, and that's what keeps my mind sharp."

Her words have always stuck with me and made sense--by learning new things we stretch our minds, and stretching our minds increases our ability to think in creative and problem solving ways.

Recently I saw an article in the New York Times that supports this idea. Actually the New York Times article said that basically any type of new habit that we initiate has the ability to positively impact our mental dexterity and creativity:

Can Using A Bigger Monitor Increase Your Productivity?

  My Current Setup 
  Originally uploaded by lannadelarosa

The Wall Street Journal says a larger monitor can increase productivity by up to 52% (!) for certain tasks  according to a recent study. I'm not that surprised.

Last year when I bought my iMac, I decided to go for the biggie--a 24 inch monitor. My reasoning is that I am looking at the computer for much of the day 5 days a week, so why strain my eyes?

I never thought that having a bigger screen would affect my productivity, but the bigger screen is quite addictive.

I do a lot of work that combines emails and internet, and I can have my email open on one side of my screen and right beside it the website that I'm working on. And any other little screens I need (documents, spreadsheets, etc) I can have them open too, and my screen is big enough to accommodate the crowd.

How To Get Your Blog (or Yourself) Featured In Newspapers

  newspapers & flowers 
  Originally uploaded by ♥girlwithcamera {cris}

Within just a few months of starting eSoup back in 2006 I was fortunate enough to be featured in an article by Boston Globe career columnist Penelope Trunk, which ended up being published in The Boston Globe and syndicated in several other newspapers. Here’s how that media windfall came about:

Penelope and I came into contact with each other through our blogs– I had written a post responding to one of her posts and linked back to her, then she came to check out my blog, saw what I did for a living, thought it sounded like a cool job, and found a way to include me in one of her articles.

That article led to me being interviewed for this article by Emily Shartin, which led to a few other interviews, the most recent of which came out just a couple weeks ago.

My first media blitz was the result of being in the right place at the right time (plus having a blog that established me as a credible resource). The other times the journalist contacted me either through being referred or through finding a relevant post on my blog while doing internet research for a story.

As someone who just started blogging a couple years ago (and before that I didn't even know what a blog was!), I am astounded at how having a blog has made it really easy to reach journalists without even trying.

Actually when you look at the numbers, it's shouldn't be that hard to believe--over 75% of journalists refer to blogs when doing research for stories.

I really think that if you have a blog and if you write on timely topics, it's just a matter of time before a journalist calls you up or emails you asking for your expert opinion.

How can you get ready? How can you inspire journalist to want to talk to you? How do you give a good interview?

If I could give just a few pieces of advice for getting mentioned in mainstream print, they would be:

Is Anyone Doing TV Turnoff Week?

  Dinner on the Porch 
  Originally uploaded by shinyrobot

If you are, please let us know how things are going.

Each year I do this my reaction never ceases to amaze me. The first day I'm thinking "Do I really need to do this? I don't watch that much TV."

But I do it anyway, just because I like to deprive myself sometimes ;-) and several times during the first couple days I find myself automatically planning some of my daily activities around favorite TV shows.

But then I catch myself.

When TV is taken out of the equation it's amazing how much time opens up, even when you think you don't really watch that much TV to begin with. You start to notice that the birds chirp throughout the day, not just in the morning. You dig out that old "books on tape" set that you started a while ago and never finished. You sit outside to eat dinner on the patio. You think "I might as well mow the lawn" (and it isn't even the weekend!).

The biggest difference I'm noticing is that there is a calmness to these days. It's like your brain has room to roam and spread out. I've also gotten much more work done, because for some reason as I've ruled out television, I'm also naturally not doing as much online socializing stuff. There is an abundance of time now, and I'm filling it with things that I've been meaning to do for a while, and also fun stuff (like shopping), and chores too. The days just feel more productive, more calm, and more satisfying.

Ahh, now I remember how I ended up giving up TV for an entire year the first year I participated in TV Turnoff week! The feelings of calmness are almost addictive (in a good way).

If you forgot about TV turnoff week or if you just decided today that you'd like to do it, just go ahead and start tomorrow, and abstain for a week. (Shhh-I promise that I won't tell the TV turnoff people that you're doing at an off-time :-) )

How Artists Do The Web Differently

I know that most of us are on the web because this is where our work is, but for a lot of us there is an artistic element to our online aspirations that gets stifled when we follow the herd who tells us all the stuff we should be doing and worrying about technology-wise.

This is why Robert Bruce turned me upside down (in a good way) with his guest post on Problogger called 27 Thoughts On Blogging For The Artist.

He doesn't pull any punches, and his points just made me think and acknowledge--are my activities/ways of approaching the internet leading me closer to or away from what it means to be an artist?

My faves of Robert's thoughts on Art and the Web:

6. If you’re spending more time on Twitter than on your novel/painting/film/poem/play/sculpture, you’re dead.

7. The creation of great art has nothing to do with Community.

9. If you’re the real thing, you’ll be around in 30 years, still working. Most of these services and sites you now admire will not.

13. Aim for Greatness, not the front page of Digg.

15. Though tempting, you’ll never crush your own mediocrity working only four hours a week.