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1. Blood sugar levels (actually a hormone related to them): 1 point if low
2. Cognitive reasoning “should I be hungry”: 1 point if “yes!”
3. Stomach distension “is my tummy full”: 1 point if no

… get 2 or more points and you feel hungry (I think). Certainly makes sense for me.

The keys, therefore, to controlling hunger are…

1. Eat low GI breakfast so you slow burn all day
2. DECIDE you’re NOT going to eat and that’s that. Be strong.
3. Drink plenty of water and herbal teas

Hope this makes sense?

I used to run a highly successful local computer support company called EmbraceIT. During my time in this business we transferred files and settings for literally hundreds of happy customers. We learnt the hard way to use a checklist to ensure nothing gets missed.

This article is written with both Mac and PC users in mind. Firstly please remember that things will be different on the new computer. Consider it a bit like moving home, the same furniture in a different space leads to a new experience.

Operating System

• Are you keeping the same system, or changing? If you’re going from PC to Mac (or the other way round for those crazies out there) then you certainly will be changing OS. If you are changing system you may want to get some training on the new system, the Missing Manuals are great.
• If it’s Microsoft Windows and you plan to use the same copy on the new machine, make sure you keep or photograph your Windows Licence Key sticker (25 digits in 5 blocks of 5). This will be on the software box, or the computer its self.
• Remember to keep any specialist fonts you may have acquired. They can be found in Control Panel > Fonts in Windows and a program called Font Book on the Mac.

Email settings

For each of the email boxes you check you’ll need to consider…

• The server settings (username, password, host name, protocols)
• Which email program(s) you are using and is it available on the new system?
• Your address book, where is it and can you get all the contacts across?
• Auto-fill. Often the names you type are not in your address book but Auto-Fill, Google to find out how to move these across.

Software

• Microsoft Office: Have you got the discs? Consider Open Office or Google Docs.
• Photos: If yours are in a photo program, ensure you can keep your metadata
• iTunes: De-authorise the old computer, and backup the whole directory
• Any other software you use regularly e.g. Sage or accounting software?

Web Browser

Whether you use Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, Chrome, Opera or some other browser, there are a few things to consider…

• Your bookmarks or favourites can be exported
• Remembered passwords won’t go across, do you know them?
• Cookies for carts etc will be lost if you’re 1/2 way through shopping

Peripherals

• Internet connection is usually WiFi these days, but consider if not.
• Wireless password: do you know what it is!?
• Printers, scanners, web cams, etc: Are they compatible with the new machine?
• For old computer is there anything in parallel port? e.g. software lock dongles

Now remember to check for photos, documents, music and other files for all other users including on the desktop.

If you can’t keep the old computer until you’re sure everything’s across, it would make sense to take a complete image of  your old machine with Norton Ghost, or Acronis True Image.

If you found this useful please comment and share below.

The use of nitrates in food preservation is controversial. This is due to the potential for the formation of nitrosamines when the preserved food is cooked at high temperature.[8]

So my next question is “how do you cook bacon without producing these nasties?” This study tested this for one type of nitrosamine (NNA), that found that…

The total NNAs (NDMA and NPYR) in the skillet-fried bacon was c. 11 ng/g for both the 171 and 206 degrees C fried samples. No NNAs were detected in the bacon or fried-out fat after cooking in a microwave oven for 45 sec/slice. However, excessive cooking of the bacon in a microwave oven (75 sec/slice) does produce levels of NPYR up to 5 ng/g.

I’d like to look into smoked, or brine cured bacon next. In the meantime we’ll either microwave it, or not eat it at all.

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ScheduleOnce is an online meeting booking system that I highly recommend. This tool can be used to save a lot of time when booking one-to-one, or group meetings.

How to provide a MeetMe link…

If you want to be able to provide a link where people can book themselves into your diary, this is the section for you. Firstly I’ll show you how it looks from their end, then I’ll walk you through the settings. This is what ScheduleOnce refer to as “Inbound Scheduling”. Enjoy!

20s QuickTips for Users…

Received a ScheduleOnce meeting invitation? Here’s how to get it right…

Parenting and entrepreneurialism are innate talents but you need to develop your knowledge and skills to thrive and survive. You must accept that some ideas simply aren’t meant to survive. Ready to leap in with no guarantees of success? Welcome to the world of a start-up!

You can start without an interview, whether or not you’re ready for the job. Don’t worry you’ll get plenty of “interviews” from your prospective customers and investors. In the meantime you will need to know yourself well enough to know your talents and blind spots so you know when to ask for help.

When you fail, and you will at times, you need to get up and fight another day. Remember that failure cannot tolerate persistence. When you succeed remember to celebrate. Experience it all, enjoy the ride, and the world can be your oyster.

We believe the “systems mindset” is the single most important paradigm shift for your success, and our mission is to help you embrace it.

We tend to open many tabs, and need to clean-up and get back to our core tasks now and this is a clean and simple way of doing it…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbhA4zynODk

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ao_ckse-wVY

I’ve been using a strategy inspired by a book called Getting Things Done, by David Allen. I now check email only once a day, and emptying it every time, and it feels great!

I’m a busy person with many personal and business commitments, however I feel completely in control of my email about 95% of the time. This strategy has passed the test of time for me and many others over the year.

If you do this you will save time, avoid distractions, and feel more in control. Other people will also start to notice that when you check your mail you deal with every mail – every time.

If this is going to work for you, you need to test it starting RIGHT NOW. You will also need to use a good dollop of discipline for a few months, because new habits take some time to form. Like anything worthwhile, there is effort and discipline involved, but stick with it and it will change your life for the better.

System for keeping your email under control

Starting with the oldest email, go through the following questions. Train your self to either Do, Delegate, Delete or Delay every time…

Do

If an email is going to take less than a few minutes to deal with, and you have everything you need to deal with it now, then do it straight away. Anything else isn’t worth the overhead. The goal is to handle every email just once. Once done archive it.

Delegate

Wooah, slow-down! Don’t just hit the “Forward” button unless there are already clearly established rules between you and whoever you’re forwarding to.

Take the time to anticipate the other party’s needs. Use an “If ___ then ___” structure to make sure they can add some value before replying, otherwise you’re just tying your self to your inbox.

For example, I could ask my assistant “Can you find out how much it costs to do X please”. Think forward to their reply, and the decision you will have to make. Make that decision now, so that they have the information and authority to add more value.

This previous step not only makes them feel more useful, but means it’s longer before I feel I need to check my email for a response. Remember the goal is to check email just once or twice a day.

Instead, therefore, I could ask “If X cost less than $200 please go ahead with it without asking, otherwise please send me their information containing features and benefits”. Hope that makes sense?

Delete

The next class of email are those that are simply “nice to know” and can be deleted. Simple enough, however think a little further about the underlying system here.

Sounds obvious, but be aware of the time you spend deleting. Lookout for mails you could unsubscribe from. Again this is an example of investing a little time now to save lots of time deleting emails in the future.

Furthermore, you really shouldn’t be “fielding” much spam these days. If your get a lot of spam through remember you can mark them as spam, which should help.

If you’re still getting a lot of spam, consider routing your mail through Google Mail, as they have amazing spam filtering. I can explain exactly how if you contact me.

Delay

For some mails you need to delay, typically because you…

• Don’t have to time to deal with it now
• Need something or somebody else
• Want some time to pass before deciding

The question is how do we efficiently delay an email without either leaving it in our inbox, cluttering the place up and causing us to re-make the delay decision over and over for that email until we finally deal with it?

Well, there are several specific ways depending on your email system, the key here is minimum keystrokes / mouse clicks so you’re not creating work for yourself. I’ll explain two specific systems below…

Delaying your action on an email in Google Mail (gMail)

Google have introduced a Tasks facility. Go to More > Add to Tasks. This will automatically create a tasked linked to the email, and a corresponding calendar entry. You can now archive the email and relax.

(This method is better than copying and pasting the URL of the gMail into a calendar entry, because as the calendar entry goes into the past it stays on your Tasks list so is unlikely to get forgotten. It’s also much quicker.)

Delaying your action on an email in Outlook

Simply use the “Follow-up” system in Outlook to create a task associated to the email, then move the email to a “Follow-up” folder so that it’s out of your inbox yet still available when you come back to it later.

Once dealt with you can delete, or move to an ”Archive” folder as you wish.

I hope you’ve found this useful, and would love to hear your comments and suggestions below.

If you would like more productivity and business system tips, please opt-in to my email list.

C = Current

Currency is a result of the other good habits below, and not a habit in its self.

L = Live

You want to make sure there as many “challenges” to the currency of a piece of information as possible. For example every time you interact with a customer, give them an opportunity to update their information.

E = Elemental

Keep the most basic information you can, e.g. a birth date not an age (the latter keeps changing). Also, break-up your information into logical elements and store them separately, e.g. address1, address2, city, county, postcode, country.

N = Necessary

Finally only store what’s necessary, because every pice of information is a liability as well as an asset… yet another thing you need to make sure is Current, Live and Elemental.   Follow these steps and all sorts of magical things will start to happen as you make fewer mistakes, fight less confusion, and start to gain fresh and clean insights from your data. What are your biggest confusions about what to store where? Comment below, and share with your friends.

This process starts with defining your Primary Intention. A Primary Intention is a single side of A4 that states where you’re going, and outlines how to get there.

Our Primary Intention as a Family…

This is a statement of our intention as a family, who we want to become, what we stand for, and how we behave. It is used to guide us in all our decisions. In difficult times it will bring us hope, in good times it will remind us to celebrate and show gratitude. It is our mission and vision.

We are a rapidly growing, ever-changing family with huge ambition. We choose to challenge society’s norms, deciding what to adopt and what to do our unique way. We move through the World with compassion for each other, the people around us, and for the planet its self.

We run our lives like a thriving, vibrant business. We respect good written habits as the DNA of our lives. We follow all the “laws of the land”, and those we choose for ourselves to the letter. We align our rules with the laws of nature. We welcome problems as challenges that makes us stronger, then focus our energy on permanently eliminating the root cause – as a team.

To us integrity means being true to ourselves, and to others at all times. We compare only to our past achievements, celebrating all successes as they happen. We accept that we will naturally compare to other families. When we judge them as “worse”, we will feel gratitude. When “better”, we will congratulate them and learn from what we see.

We work hard to maintain geographical flexibility so that we can experience the full spectrum of wonderful environments this planet has to offer. Wherever we are we create a clean, light, uncluttered personal space. We pay attention to details, and believe that they matter immensely.

We bring leadership, ambition and hope to those around us. We freely offer guidance and teaching to those who want to learn, and accept others’ advice with gratitude. We consistently do what it takes to stay healthy, wealthy and hence happy.

We value communication, unity, unconditional love and hierarchy. Seeing love as a verb, we love ourselves, and each other.