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Category: Productivity

Should I Start a Journaling Practice? – Part 1

Should I Start a Journaling Practice? – Part 1

Introduction Alongside meditation, journaling is one of the major trends within the arena of productivity and self-improvement which so many ‘successful’ people talk about being key to keeping them calm, collected and able to sustain such busy lives. Being a student of productivity, it’s something I’ve heard about on podcasts, and read about in books and articles over the past couple of years, but for many reasons I never seemed to be able to talk myself into actually trying it….

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Cultivating a Mindfulness and Meditation Routine

Cultivating a Mindfulness and Meditation Routine

Introduction The terms mindfulness and meditation are very popular at the moment, and this can clearly be seen in the rise of mobile apps such as Headspace, Calm, Buddhify and The Mindfulness App. However, there are many things which hit the mass conscious and are quickly forgotten or proven to be fakes, so for a long time I was sceptical. Two things quickly showed me that my scepticism was perhaps unfounded: The concept of meditation and mindfulness has been around…

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Reviewing 2017 & Planning 2018

Reviewing 2017 & Planning 2018

  Introduction  This won’t be yet another New Year’s Resolution blog post, I’m sure your sick of reading or hearing about them by now.   I don’t like making New Year’s Resolutions, primarily because it often feels like people make them purely to break them! Often people know they need to make a change but don’t really want to, therefore proclaim to everyone that it will be their New Year’s Resolution, so that no-one is surprised – and the individual isn’t disappointed – when they give…

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Benefits of a Scottish Shower

Benefits of a Scottish Shower

Introduction Having a daily hot shower is a habit that is almost universally shared in developed countries and something most of us have never thought about, but it is normal to turn on the hot tap when you get into the shower? For the majority of human existence having a hot shower was abnormal, primarily because it isn’t necessary and it was very costly and time consuming to warm the water only to throw it over you for a couple…

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First Time Managing Others

First Time Managing Others

Introduction Directly line managing someone – instead of just leading a small segment of what they do – is an extremely important skill to foster, but one that sufficient direct training and coaching isn’t often provided for. If you want to learn about accounting or programming you read a book and/or take an online course, but you can’t simply do that to learn how to manage people. Each individual is different and the type of person you are impacts what…

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Moving to Irregular Posts

Moving to Irregular Posts

Since creating jablifestyle.net back in April 2016 I have posted new content, either a blog or book review, almost every week. However, in recent weeks, and moving forward, my approach is changing. I wanted to share with you what has led to this change in approach, what content I’ll be sharing in the future and also take the opportunity to review the best of what I’ve shared to date.  My reasons for starting this blog haven’t changed significantly over the…

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Favourite Bloggers for Millennials to Read

Favourite Bloggers for Millennials to Read

Introduction I love reading other blogs, especially by creative individuals who are established in multiple different fields. They help me become a better blogger, provide inspiration and broaden my horizons of interest. The aim of this piece is to share with you the best bloggers I believe millennials should be following right now. This article is part of a mini-series I have been sharing over the last few months, the first two articles in the series are: Favourite Men’s Lifestyle…

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Harnessing the Power of Placebos: Belief Not Hope

Harnessing the Power of Placebos: Belief Not Hope

Introduction Placebo effects are fascinating things which often produce very divided and divisive views. But let’s start simply: what is a placebo? A placebo is best described as a ‘harmless’ remedy that has positive effects on an ailment that cannot be attributed directly to the remedy itself. When most people think of a placebo one of two things often comes to mind; (1) a parent kissing a child’s knee after they have fallen and hurt themselves (2) a patient being…

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Don’t Underestimate Incrementalism

Don’t Underestimate Incrementalism

Introduction Incrementalism is truly awesome and despite the relatively significant press coverage it has received in recent years, too few people really understand it or know how to harness the power of it. What is Incrementalism? Wikipedia defines it as: ‘a method of working by adding to a project using many small incremental changes instead of a few (extensively planned) large jumps’ My renewed interest in incrementalism was sparked by listening to an excellent Freakonomics podcast episode; ‘In Praise of Incrementalism’. It reminded me…

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Focus on Strengths not Weaknesses

Focus on Strengths not Weaknesses

Introduction:  There is a slight change of direction with this piece, I want to challenge the traditional view point that everyone should focus on improving and addressing their weaknesses not their strengths. I aim to show why this is actually the wrong way to be looking at things. Traditionally we are told to create two lists when summing up our current performance, a strengths list and a weaknesses list. The weaknesses list can sometimes be called a ‘development’ list if…

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