Blog of Roger Hyttinen » Home & Health

Getting a Life Outside of Work

Roger — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 00:30:07 +0000

Photo courtesy of mikebaird

“If we keep everything in balance, we are in harmony with ourselves and are at peace.”

Fools Crow, LAKOTA

In order to have a well-balanced life, we need to have an outside life other than our work. This may be especially true if you work for yourself as it is not at all difficult to put all of your free time into your work. I was guilty of this when I first went into business for myself. Once, a friend of mine asked me, “How do you find the discipline to work at home?” It wasn’t finding the discipline to work that was the issue – it was finding the discipline to STOP WORKING that was a challenge.

Here are some questions you can ask yourself, to see if your work life and social/home life are out of balance:

Do you have the opportunity to contribute to your community on a regular basis?
How long has it been since you hung out with friends and enjoyed their company?
How long as it been since you spent meaningful time with your family?
Do you regularly spend time out in nature?
Do you feel guilty that you are not spending enough time with your family and/or friends?
Do you spend ample time on the hobbies that you enjoy?
Are there new things or hobbies you want to learn but never seem to be able to find the time?
Do you get enough sleep?
Do you regularly take time out for exercise?
Do you take regularly take time to nourish yourself spiritually (by meditating, praying, etc)?
Do you consciously try to maintain a healthy diet?
Are there emotional issues that you know that you should deal with?
Do you regularly create opportunities to express your creativity?
When was the last time you spent a weekend doing something other than work?
When was the last time you had fun?

In order that our lives do not become lackluster, mundane or meaningless, we need to spend time away from our work and on things that add joy and meaning to our lives. I have seen the following quote time and time again and it always causes me to pause for a moment and evaluate my own habits:

How many people say on their deathbed, “I wish I would have spent more time at the office?”
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5 Ways To Get Out of a Funk

Roger — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 00:14:34 +0000

Image courtesy of Julianne Hide

You have put together your goal list. You are excited, motivated and your blood is boiling. Diligently, you work on your goals, making daily regular progress. Then one day – about a month or so later – you decide that you don’t feel like working on your goals today. Or perhaps you think, “This idea is stupid! What was I thinking?” and that is the end of the goal list.

This funk is not unusual – I used to go through this sort of thing every year. I’d start something, build up excitement over it and then discard it, feeling foolish that I ever thought it was a good idea in the first place. This may be one of the reasons that there are so many unfinished novels in the world. It is almost as if we try to sabotage ourselves. I personally call this annoying phase my “dark night of the soul.”

Below are a few ways that I have found to help get out of this funk:

1. Recognizing the funk

One of the first steps you can take to get out of the funk is simply recognizing it when it hits. After many years of going through the same thing and abandoning my projects or goals, one year I thought “Oh, you again!” At last I recognized this foul mood occurs regularly – and usually has nothing to do with my choice of projects or goals. Once you recognize it for what it is, it becomes much easier to say, “Ah – it’s only my yearly funk setting in.”

2. Refuse to give in right away

Another way in which I fought the urge to abandon my goals, was to set a minimum time limit for myself before quitting. I tell myself, “Okay, I have lost interest in this and I now think it’s a waste of time. But I will continue to work at it for one more month. If I still feel the same way at the end of the month, then I will chalk it up to a bad decision.

3. Don’t break the chain

I once read of a technique where every day you accomplished or made progress on your goal, you would cross off the day on the calendar. The idea was that you would not want to “break the chain”. I actually use a little different technique. Two things that I want to do everyday without fail is to practice my harp and work on my Spanish lessons. For each day that I accomplish this, I put a gold star on the calendar for each task (I have a special calendar just for this). I then connect the stars so that I don’t “break the chain”.

4. Visually remind yourself of your progress

Sometimes, a visual reminder of your progress is enough to keep you motivated and excited about your project. For example, if you are writing a novel, print out your completed pages at the end of every day and keep it within sight. Visually seeing the size of your novel grow can provide much needed inspiration.

5. Use your support group

Talk up your project to one or more people and ask them to be your support group for when times get tough. Sometimes all we need is for someone to tell us, “Now, now, this is just a temporary phase. So just shut up and get back to work!”

Do you have any tricks of your own to keep yourself motivated?
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Importance of Walking

Roger — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 23:27:26 +0000

Image courtesy of sk12

As I mentioned in a previous post, I drive very little by choice so I spend a lot of time walking. Today, the sun was shining and the temperature climbed above 32 degrees for the first time in a month so I bundled up and headed out for a seven mile walk.

I usually try to get out daily for a walk, weather permitting as I feel it is one of the most therapeutic forms of exercise you can do. Not only is it easy to do but there is no need for any expensive workout equipment or gym memberships – all that is required is a good pair of walking shoes.

Studies have indicated that walking helps reduce the risk of heart disease, helps ease arthritis pain and reduce levels of stress and anxiety. I find that it especially helps relive depression in the darker, winter months when many people are prone to Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD).

Walking can also help prevent osteoporosis – a common disease that causes bone loss, leading to skeletal fractures, height loss and pain. The key to preventing the disease is to get enough vitamin D and calcium – and the most natural way to get vitamin D is to expose your skin to sunlight several times a week (you will also need to make sure you receive the recommended level of calcium as well).

In addition to the physical benefits of walking, I have found that it can help your creativity. I get some of my best ideas and inspiration while I’m out taking a walk. Most of the time, our mind is so cluttered with what it next on our to-do list, that we don’t allow ourselves the opportunity to generate ideas and and to just simply contemplate. As we walk in sunlight and fresh air, the mind tends to clear and often inspiration is right around the corner. In fact, Julia Cameron, the author of The Artists Way, has incorporated a 20 minute walk, several times a day into her creativity program. You just might be surprised by what pops into your head while you’re out taking a stroll.

Below are just a few benefits of walking:

Reduced risk of heart attack
Reduced risk of stroke
Reduced risk high blood pressure
Reduced risk of type 2 diabetes
Helps prevent obesity
Increased level of fitness
Reduced risk of osteoporosis
Reduced stress and anxiety
Increase levels of creativity and inspiration
Improved quality of life
Increased levels of clarity
More appreciation for our natural world
Increased feeling of connection to the natural world
Increased longevity
Better levels of sleep at night
Continued mobility as we age
Reduced traffic congestion

Walking just 30 minutes a day can improved your overall outlook and the quality of your life. And by keeping yourself in good health, you increase your chances of remaining independent and mobile as you age.
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Life These Days

Roger — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 21:27:23 +0000

Winter is in full force and I have been pretty much hibernating. It’s a good excuse to work, I guess. I admit that I am one of those people who suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) and during the dark time of the year, it is all I can do to get out of bed. That is why I try to make it somewhere warm every year – it seems to help. This January has been bitterly cold so I have had a difficult time with that. But I am being productive this year at least.

I have put the finishing touches on my latest novel and am sending it off to a friend for review. So if all goes well, it will be off to the publisher within a month or two. I still have not come up with a definitive title yet, although I have a few ideas. I have a bit of time to think about it.

New projects: Working on a collection of ghost stories that I hope to finish up by halloween. I have several ideas for a new novel as well but nothing for certain.

Weight loss and dieting continue. I have just begun week 3 on the South Beach Diet. As of Saturday, I have lost 13 pounds. Not too bad in two weeks. I expect that this will slow down now that I am on Phase 2. Supposedly, one still loses about 2-3 pounds a week on this phase. I hope to be back down to my normal weight by this summer. I typically have about a 33′ waist but since I quit smoking, it has crept back up to about 36″. Now that I’m off the smokes, I have no excuse to keep stuffing myself.

So this being the dark time of the year, it is a good time to concentrate on self-improvement and the achievement of goals. And when summer comes – that’s when it’s time to be a bum.

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Day 4 on the South Beach Diet

Roger — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 03:11:53 +0000

Today was Day 4 on the South Beach Diet, a popular low-carb diet created by Dr. Agatston. This just isn’t a typical New Year’s resolution to lose weight – it’s actually something that I have been planning for awhile. I quit smoking 7 months ago and the weight has really come on since then. They say that after you quit smoking, your metabolism slows down to nothing for quite some time causing you to gain weight. Not to mention the constant eating – a replacement for cigarettes. While I was quitting smoking, I told myself that I would not worry about the weight gain – I would deal with that later. The most important thing was to get off of the smokes. Now 7 months later, it is time to pay the piper. I probably gained about 40 pounds since quitting.

This is not the first time I have been on the diet. I did it about 3 years ago and lost quite a bit of weight – about 35 pounds at the time. The first two weeks (Phase 1) are the most difficult – no fruit, no grains, no sugar (not even natural) – only foods like eggs, lean meats and vegetables. During this period, one typically loses about 12 pounds, which isn’t too bad considering that this is all within a two week period. Then, you move on to a more liberal phase of the diet (Phase 2) where you reintroduce certain low carb foods like fruit and grains. During this period, you lose about 2-3 pounds a week and you stay on this phase until you reach your target weight. In addition to the main book that explains the program, Dr. Agatston has also put out a cookbook, which provides you with many more meal choices during the diet. He has authored a few other books that I haven’t yet read: The South Beach Dining Guide, The South Beach Diet Supercharged: Faster Weight Loss and Better Health for Life">The South Beach Diet Supercharged: Faster Weight Loss and Better Health for Life, The South Beach Heart program: the 4-Step Plan that Can Save Your Life and The South Beach Diet Taste of Summer Cookbook.

One thing that I like about the diet is that it works! It is also very doable and tolerable. Anyone else have any success with it?
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