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Friday, June 28, 2019
West Nile Watch Update - June 28, 2019
Court Of Appeals Ponders: Who Has Right To Defend ACA?
Associated
Press June 27, 2019
NEW ORLEANS (AP) —
A federal appeals court on Wednesday requested written arguments on whether the
House of Representatives and numerous Democratic-leaning states can step in to
appeal a federal judge's ruling that struck down President Barack Obama's
health care law.
The question posed
to lawyers on both sides of the "Obamacare" legal battle is
significant because President Donald Trump's administration isn't defending the
Affordable Care Act. The filing at the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New
Orleans also raises the question of whether there is a legitimate "live
case or controversy" to be decided, and what the "appropriate conclusion"
of the case should be if nobody involved can legally appeal the December ruling
by Texas-based U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor striking down the law.
Arguments are set
for July 9. The names of the three judges who will consider the case have not
been released.
O'Connor ruled that
the entire health care law was rendered unconstitutional by a 2017
congressional repeal of its unpopular tax penalties on people who remain
uninsured. Texas is leading about 20 Republican-led states that filed suit in
the case and that are arguing to uphold O'Connor's ruling. Two individual
people opposed to "Obamacare" also sued and are part of the case. On
the other side, California's attorney general is leading 20 states seeking to
overturn O'Connor's ruling.
O'Connor said that
without a tax penalty, the law's requirement that most Americans have insurance
is unconstitutional, and that the whole law falls as a result.
Whatever the result
at the 5th Circuit, the case is expected to wind up at the Supreme Court.
Matthew Brown, a
health care lawyer and adjunct professor of law at Tulane University, said ACA
supporters "are probably feeling some concern" at the appeals court's
questions. But, he added, that observers shouldn't read too much into the
filing. "It does not necessarily telegraph one way or the other which way
they're going to rule," Brown said.
Even if they decide
that the House and the states supporting the law cannot appeal, the 5th Circuit
judges would still have a question of the constitutionality of the law before
them, Brown said. "And if they don't decide, I think it's something the
United States Supreme Court might be interested in," he said.
The effects of
O'Connor's ruling have been on hold pending appeals. If the ruling is allowed
to stand in its entirety, more than 20 million Americans would be at risk of
losing their health insurance. And popular provisions of the law, including
mandatory coverage of pre-existing conditions would go away.
In their appeal,
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, 20 other state attorneys general
and the House have argued that zeroing out the penalty does not make the
individual mandate unconstitutional; they note that the framework for the tax
remains in place. And even if the individual mandate were unconstitutional, the
rest of the law remains legally viable, they argued in briefs earlier this
year.
It's not the first
time the legal standing of those involved in the case has been an issue. The
health care law's supporters say neither the anti-ACA states nor the individual
opponents have standing to sue.
The ACA opponents
tried once before to block the House from taking part in the case. A single 5th
Circuit judge rejected their motion and allowed the House to intervene in a
February order.
How Too Many Small Decisions Can Cost You Big
By Emily Guy Birken on 28 June 2019
Toward the end of her life, my grandmother's doctor told her to
avoid a number of her favorite foods — including ice cream. Whenever my mother
found a pint of Ben & Jerry's in my grandmother's ice box, Grandma's excuse
was always the same, "Oh, the little bit I have won't hurt me!"
The thing about Grandma's excuse (that often made the vein in my
mother's forehead start to pulse) was that she would have been right about one
hot fudge sundae. A single decision to disregard her doctor's orders would not
have made a difference in her health. The problem is that small decisions have
a way of compounding, and my grandmother made her health issues worse one ice
cream cone at a time.
The buildup of small decisions can be costly, whether you're
trying to improve your health or your finances. Here's how small decisions can
create big problems.
The tyranny of small decisions
In a 1966 essay titled The Tyranny of Small Decisions,
economist Alfred Kahn describes how a well-meaning individual making a series
of small decisions can end up with an unintended and unwanted large
decision.
Kahn used the example of the Ithaca railroad to explain how
small decisions can have devastating consequences. Rail was the only consistent
mode of travel in and out of Ithaca, New York, as it could operate in any
weather. But cars, buses, and planes offered faster and more convenient service
in good weather. Travelers in and out of Ithaca consistently made the small,
individual decision to take the most convenient service when the weather was
fine. Because of these small decisions, the rail service was eventually
discontinued because there were not enough travelers to cover the costs — which
effectively made Ithaca unreachable in bad weather.
Every traveler who made the small decision to take a bus or
plane did not intend for the rail service to dry up, but the cumulative effect
of those small decisions created an enormous, negative and unintended
consequence. (See also: 6 Guilty Pleasures That Are Killing
Your Budget)
The latte factor
Though it has become something of a cliche, the latte factor is
a common example of how the tyranny of small decisions can impact your budget.
Popularized by financial expert and author David Bach, the latte factor describes
how making regular small purchases, such as a daily $4 latte, can add up to a
big payout that you don't intend to make. Make an unnecessary $4 purchase every
day, and you spend over $1,400 per year.
This is what's so insidious about the tyranny of small
decisions. Anyone who spends $1,400 on a single large purchase would at least
have something of worth to show for the hole in their budget. But spending
money a little at a time on small indulgences means you can't even point to
where your money has gone. (See also: Here's How Rich You'd Be if You
Stopped Drinking Expensive Coffee)
Easy payments and small decisions
Another important factor in how the tyranny of small decisions
can destroy a budget is the fact that we now live in a largely cashless
society. When you're making small purchase decisions using cash, the amount of
money you have in your wallet is a natural reminder of how much you have spent.
However, it can be very easy to lose track of how much you've
spent when you're using plastic to pay for everything. Each individual spending
decision you make is a little thing that won't hurt your finances. But in
aggregate, the decisions add up to a total dollar amount that you didn't intend
to spend.
Aligning your choices with your values
Travelers to Ithaca didn't realize that prioritizing convenience
on any one trip would mean the end of the rail travel they valued. Similarly,
someone who isn't paying close attention to how much they're spending won't
realize that their choices are adding up to something they do not want.
To combat this, it's important to align your choices with your
values as often as you can.
For instance, let's say one of your values is to support local
businesses. Any single trip you take to the big box store or any single item
you order from Amazon will not affect the local businesses. However, if you
find yourself stopping at Wal-Mart or ordering online all the time, then you're
prioritizing convenience over supporting local businesses.
There's nothing wrong with valuing convenience, but you need to
remember that you probably can't have both convenience and a thriving local
business district at the same time. So you'll need to make sure you make
choices that show your support for local business at least some of the time.
(See also: 4 Ways Your Money Can Support Your
Values)
Forced value alignment
Of course, it's difficult to align all your small choices with
your values because each small decision feels like it's consequence-free. With
no looming negative consequence on the horizon, it can feel a little ridiculous
to ask yourself if buying this particular cup of coffee and a muffin will help
you reach your overall financial goals. One good way to enforce value alignment
is to take away your ability to make these small choices.
For instance, the standard advice about carrying cash instead of
credit cards is part of the personal finance greatest hits list for a reason.
When you use cash, you're forced to consider your values when making small
decisions, since the resource dwindles before your eyes.
This kind of forced alignment can help defeat the tyranny of any
number of small decisions. Here are a few examples:
·
Consumers who wish to support small local businesses could
enforce that value alignment by signing up for social media updates to make
sure those businesses stay on their radar.
·
Travelers who value an underused service could commit to taking
that service rather than focusing solely on convenience.
·
Folks who would like to eat healthier or lose weight could make
sure the tub of butter pecan ice cream never makes it to their kitchen.
Don't let small decisions pile up
It may be true that the little choices you make won't hurt you,
but it can be easy to lose track of how small choices add up quickly. Rather
than making each small decision out of context, take the time to figure out
what you value and how your small choices will fit into those values. That way,
you can be a master of your small decisions, rather than ruled by their
tyranny.
Retirees lose $3.4 trillion by claiming Social Security too early
Study finds suboptimal timing costs $111,000
per household
Jun
28, 2019 @ 12:06 am By Mary Beth Franklin
Despite all the talk about the value of
maximizing Social Security benefits, it seems few retirees are listening. The
fact that only 4% of retirees wait until age 70 to claim their maximum
retirement benefits is not news. What is noteworthy, however, is how much those
early claiming decisions are costing retirees in terms of potential retirement
income and overall wealth.
Social Security pays over $1 trillion in
benefits to more than 65 million people each year, or about nine out of every
10 retirees. It accounts for about one-third of all retirement income each
year. About 50% of current retirees report that more than half of their annual
income from Social Security while a third report than more than 90% of their
income comes from these benefits.
A new study, "The Retirement Solution
Hiding in Plain Sight: How Much Retirees Would Gain by Improving Social
Security Decisions," quantifies the lifelong impact of
workers claiming benefits before their full retirement age. The study was
co-authored by Matt Fellowes, head of retirement-focused robo-adviser United
Income, and two former top researchers at the Social Security Administration.
U.S. retirees would be able to generate an
additional $3.4 trillion in income during their retirement — an average of
about $111,000 per household — if they optimized their decision about when to
claim Social Security, the study calculated. Nearly all of this income is lost
because one or more retirees in a household claimed Social Security too early,
which means their Social Security benefit is lower than it would be if they had
waited.
Spread out across the population of
individuals who are claiming Social Security suboptimally, those extra dollars
add up to a substantial amount of money and could significantly improve
retirement outcomes for a majority of Americans.
"About 92% of retirees that claimed
Social Security suboptimally would have seen their annual income increase if
they had made the claiming decision that maximized the probability they would
have enough money to afford retirement," the study found. More than half
of those retirees would see their annual income in retirement increase by more
than 25% in their 70s and 80s.
Bottom line: About 21% of those at risk of not
being able to afford retirement would see an improvement in their chances if
they claimed Social Security at the optimal time, the study found.
For some people, the best way to delay
claiming Social Security is to work longer. Wealthier
retirees can afford to draw down their savings while waiting until age 70 to
claim maximum Social Security benefits.
Deciding when to claim Social Security
benefits also has an enormous impact on end-of-life wealth.
While it is true that most retirees will lose
wealth in their 60s and their early 70s if they choose to delay collecting
Social Security, they will be wealthier in their late 70s through the rest of
their lives because of the effect of drawing down more investments in their
earlier years of retirement and less in later years as higher Social Security
benefits kick in.
Current retirees will collectively lose an
estimated $2.1 trillion in wealth because they made the suboptimal decision
about when to claim Social Security, or an average of about $68,000 per
household.
Part of the problem is that it is too easy to
claim Social Security benefits early at age 62. And recipients often aren't
aware that their benefits will be reduced by 25% or more for the rest of their
lives.
The authors made a bold suggestion that public policy should
be changed to nudge people toward more appropriate claiming decisions.
"We believe early claiming should be made
an exception and reserved for those who have a demonstrable need to claim
benefits before the full retirement age," the study concluded.
Jason Fichtner, one of the study authors and
former chief economist at the Social Security Administration, admitted that
there is virtually no political appetite for that type of policy change.
However, he said the same goal could be
accomplished by changing how the Social Security Administration describes
claiming ages to the public. Instead of portraying age 62 as the "early
eligibility age," it could simple be labeled the "minimum benefit
age," and age 70 could
be labeled the "maximum benefit age."
The study authors also suggested that there is
a clear disincentive for traditional wealth management firms, which manage over
$20 trillion in retail assets, to help clients make optimal Social Security
claiming decisions since such decisions are likely to result in investment
account balances declining in the short run.
"Providing cover for executives at these
firm to make the right financial decisions for their clients, and the right
long-term decision for their shareholders, may be helpful at accelerating the
adoption of highly efficacious Social Security advice," the authors
concluded.
Check out Mary Beth Franklin's podcast, Retirement Repair Shop.
https://www.investmentnews.com/article/20190628/BLOG05/190629927?utm_source=Morning-20190628&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=investmentnews&utm_visit=696981&itx[email]=e06b4e645e2af5a8cdf41fd61c641308af802c6a87fcccd9edb043e1408493a3%40investmentnews
Getting to Know Patients with Social Needs
Rashi Venkataraman, AHIP
Executive Director, Prevention & Population Health on June 26, 2019
Efforts to address social determinants of health include better
understanding patient perceptions, support systems
After caring for her husband for 12 years
before he passed away, 86-year-old Joyce Bigelow became homeless and moved into
her truck. Her Kaiser Permanente care team
connected her with housing and community resources. Her story
shows why it’s so important to address patients’ social needs, such as the
ability to have a safe and reliable place to live.
Research shows that conditions such as safe,
affordable housing and access to healthy foods are closely linked to health
outcomes. In fact, some researchers say clinical care may only account for 10%
of overall health. The real drivers of overall health are individual behaviors,
social circumstances, and environmental factors.
Health insurance providers continue to create
innovative programs that address non-medical issues. They’re also investing in
research to better understand how their members think about these needs, so
they can design interventions and resources to reach the right patient at the
right time and in the right way.
One such study from Kaiser Permanente found
that social needs are a significant source of stress for American families,
regardless of their income. And patients recognize that health isn’t narrowly
defined by the clinical care they receive – respondents said stable housing
(89%), balanced meals (84%), reliable transportation (80%), and supportive
social relationships (72%) are important to overall health.
The value of supportive social networks was
also underscored in 2018 research from
global health service company Cigna. It found that nearly half of Americans
report sometimes or always feeling alone (46%) and that Generation Z (adults
aged 18-22) have the highest loneliness scores. Further analysis from Cigna also
looked at what individual factors such as daily behaviors and demographics like
gender, race, and income are most related to loneliness. To help address
loneliness, Cigna is working to connect the dots across health and well-being
services with a new program, Health Accelerated: Life
Connected®. It addresses whole health needs and explores 5
dimensions of well-being:
1. Physical
2. Emotional
3. Environmental
4. Financial
5. Social factors
Through this work, Cigna aims to deliver a
more streamlined, proactive, and coordinated support system to improve health,
productivity, and peace of mind.
How patients view their social needs often
differs from how researchers and journalists cover these issues. For example,
individuals emphasize influences that impact them daily – finding the right
doctor for their condition, whether they have the support of their family,
according to a study from Anthem’s Public Policy
Institute. Researchers and journalists, on the other hand, often
focus on structural factors – education, income level – in part because these
factors are easier to measure.
And not surprisingly, a patient’s diagnosis
affects their perception of social needs. The availability of social and
family support was much more important for people with cancer or mental health
conditions, compared to those patients with diabetes. And concerns about access
to healthy food and diet were more prominent in patients with diabetes.
With all this mind, it’s essential that people
with social needs have support and tools they can rely on. However, according
to the Kaiser Permanente study, 35% of people lack confidence they could
identify the best resource for transportation, food, housing, or social
isolation. This is where the role of health care providers may come in:42%
would turn to their medical services provider when looking for help with their
social needs and 30% would turn to their health insurance provider for this
information. The majority of survey respondents say their medical provider
should ask them about these needs during visits.
Health insurance providers have
long-recognized the role that social factors play when it comes to accessing
clinical care. Moreover, they’re committed to investing in sustainable
interventions that match up with what their members need to live happy, healthy
lives.
These 10 Productivity Techniques Will Make You More Successful
“A year from now you may wish you had
started today.” — Karen Lamb
Eight years ago, I accidentally stumbled upon the topic of productivity — without even
knowing it.
I intended to find the most efficient and
effective ways to finish the things I HAD to do, so I can have more time to do
the things I WANT to do.
The reason I continued to explore
this topic is rather simple — The
skill of using your time efficiently is among the most crucial ones you can
master.
There isn’t anything else in life (unless you
are born with a silver spoon in your mouth) that can give you as much advantage
and ability to design a life you want, so you can achieve the goals you have.
Over the years I intentionally
continued to research and experiment with the best productivity systems
successful people use and became pretty good at it.
By following this mindset and using
various productivity techniques in different areas of my life — health,
university, career, entrepreneurship, social life,
adventure — I was able to get incredible results in each one of them.
However, it wasn’t until 2016, that I
started my blog Zero to Skill, that I started writing on the
topic.
Ever since, I’ve tried to share
and showcase the most useful tips, hacks, rules, principles, systems, so
you can use them on a daily basis to become more productive, and by default more successful — which means to increase your
chance of accomplishing various goals.
Most of them are in The Ultimate Productivity
Cheat Sheet.
But today, I wanted to select 10 of
them which alone could provide you with the biggest leverage in life, as fast as possible.
Here they are, in the exact sequence that will give you compounded results.
1. Live
a 24-Hour Life
“Carpe Diem (Seize the
day).” — Horace
We, humans, are creatures
of instant gratification, which means that we
want pleasure and results as soon as possible.
So, whenever you have a goal, you
immediately start thinking about all of the tasks you need to do, and how long
it will take you to finish each one of them.
You might even start taking action, but it
often happens that you fall off the wagon because you don’t see results that
fast, which additionally demotivates you to give it another go.
Instead of approaching it like this and
having to kickstart your motivation every couple of
weeks, I suggest that you set a goal you want to pursue,
and then break it down into activities and habits that will help you accomplish
said goal.
From then on, every morning you wake up,
you should focus on the day ahead of you, to take action towards your
goal(s), and achieve incremental progress.
Stop pondering about the past, and
the mistakes you’ve made and failed attempts, and stop thinking about
the future, and what will happen the next day, week or a month.
2. Commit to Your Health First
“Take care of your body. It’s
the only place you have to live.” — Jim Rohn
Your day should begin here, but it
doesn’t.
Most people are too busy to sleep well, create
a healthy diet, or move enough.
The main reason we continue to neglect our
health is that we don’t see serious consequences right away, or even in
weeks ahead, and this makes it more likely we’ll continue doing it.
To increase the level of your health, and by
default the level of productivity, because you will be more energetic and
focused, you need to make a deal with yourself.
No matter what happens in your life, HEALTH
COMES FIRST — which means that you need to take care of yourself first
before you engage in anything else.
There are only three things you need to keep
in mind:
·
Get enough sleep
·
Create a healthy diet for
yourself
·
Move more
Make small actions every day, and let
the compound effect do its thing.
3. Develop a Morning Routine
“My morning routine definitely
sets the tone for my day. If I’m rushed and stressed in the
morning, that will carry through my workday.” — Tessa Miller
The moment you open your phone or step outside
of your home, you allow the external stimuli to affect your mental
state and how your day will further develop.
That’s why it’s crucial, and I will repeat it,
it’s CRUCIAL, that you take control and set the tone you want
for the rest of the day.
The best way to do that is by establishing a
morning routine for yourself, which aims to make you alert,
help you take care of your health, intellectual and spiritual growth
and gives you a quiet time to focus on your biggest goal.
You do this by developing two types of habits:
·
Habits that can improve quality
of your life in the present
·
Habits that can improve the
quality of your life in the future
Ideally, you should focus to form habits that
give you both — such as exercising, and by doing so, you will start seeing a
change both in the present and the future.
4. Clarify
Daily Priorities
“The key is not to prioritize
what’s on your schedule but to schedule your priorities.”– Stephen
Covey
Having clarity on what exactly will you be
working on that day, and in what sequence you will complete each
task, is probably one of the most important things that will help you stay
focused and reduce possible distractions.
The main reason why this is important is
because without knowing priorities, or just kinda knowing
them, makes us random and it takes us a long time to get to actual work.
Instead of having to decide on these things in
the morning and losing precious willpower and decision-making
ability, map it out the night before, with these questions:
·
What are my top priorities for tomorrow?
·
In what order will I complete each one of them?
·
How much time do I need to commit to each task?
Then, when you wake up, just look at the list,
and start executing one priority at a time.
5. Block Time
“You will never ‘find’ time for
anything. If you want time, you must make it.” — Charles Buxton
Learning how to protect your time at all cost
from possible time thieves is essential.
That’s why, when you define your
priorities and how much time you need for each one of them, decide when in your
schedule you want to commit a specific chunk of your time, to execute
these priorities.
By dedicating a specific time to just one
task, you “block off” your time (and your mind) from
other interruptions and projects — that would otherwise demand
your attention.
You will find that even three 60 minute blocks
of actual work can deliver more results than a standard 8-hour workday — and
sometimes even two.
6. Gamify the Process With The X Method
“We are what we repeatedly do.
Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit. “— Aristotle
The majority of goals people pursue don’t
require innate talent, or working a 12-hour a day — in most
cases they lack old-fashion consistency.
This is where the X Method comes in handy since it’s probably the easiest,
yet the most effective way to establish new behaviors or eliminate them.
All you need to do is take a big
wall calendar that has an entire month on it, and place it somewhere
visible.
For each day that you do the positive behavior
or stay away from doing a negative one, you get to put a big X on that day.
This works well because, after a week or two, you’ll have a chain, and you’ll like seeing
that chain of X’s, so much so that you will do almost everything you can to
maintain it.
From that point on, your only job then becomes
not to break the chain.
Don’t break the chain!
7. Crush Procrastination by Deconstructing Tasks
“Procrastination is the art of
keeping up with yesterday.” — Don Marquis
Just like me, you probably have a problem with
procrastination, or to be more specific, getting yourself to take action — not
the actual work itself.
So, when you need to do something, and
you start feeling that initial resistance, program yourself to break the
task at hand into smaller pieces immediately, and just get yourself to do the
first one in the sequence.
For example — Going to the gym — becomes:
·
Preparing your gym gear
·
Putting your clothes on
·
Leaving your home
·
Getting to the gym
·
Putting your gear on
·
Warming up
·
Doing each exercise set (this
can be further broken down)
·
Stretching
In most cases, finishing the first task
will trigger a momentum, and that will make it easier to
complete the remaining mini-tasks, and by default
the primary activity you started with — which in this case is a
successful gym session.
And it all started with placing some
gear in the bag.
Now, just take any task you tend to
procrastinate on the most and apply this suggestion.
8.
Fight off Four Types of Distractions
“Distractions destroy action. If
it’s not moving towards your purpose, leave it alone.” — Jermaine Riley
Everything around you is designed to steal
your attention and with it your most valuable resource — time.
That’s why it’s essential to learn how
to shield yourself and develop your ability to focus
on command.
You will need to fight off four types
of distractions, and below are various ways to deal
with each one of them.
Mental
Distractions
Consider mental distractions to be any thought
unrelated to the task at hand.
One of the first ways you can regain mental
clarity is to simply breathe, as it will help you center your thoughts —
no matter how cliche it might sound.
Next to breathing, ask yourself following two
questions:
·
What should my focus be?
·
Is this worth my time?
Questions are a great way to reach the logical
part of our brain and let it find the right answers naturally.
The next thing you can do is meditation,
which is a great way to refresh your mental state, and if nothing, just
to zone out and catch your breath.
Physical/Environmental
Distractions
When we are not as invested in the
task at hand, we often act as CROWS; we look for
anything shiny around us that will distract us from doing work.
That’s why you need to declutter your
environment and make sure that you minimize physical distractions.
First, divide your workspace into a
primary and a secondary work area.
From the primary, remove everything
unessential, all the things you’re not using on a daily basis. All the things
you use on a weekly/monthly basis should go to the secondary work area.
Those can be like books, cables, printer, photos, staplers, and other
items you don’t use as often.
The fewer items are in your
immediate proximity, the less you will be pulled away from the task at
hand.
Digital Distractions
Once again, you can follow the rule
of making it difficult to access something.
For your phone, I suggest you delete
every app that doesn’t contribute any of your goals, and is just a
waste of time. Then place the applications you use on a daily basis
on your first screen, move everything else to the second and third
screen — making it more difficult to access.
Whenever you work, place your phone out of the
arms reach, and turn off the internet, so you don’t get notifications.
For your computer, you can install software
called SelfControl (source) a free Mac application to help you
avoid distracting websites, for Windows the alternative is Cold
Turkey (source).
Or you can install extensions called
StayFocusd (Source) or
Gofuckingwork (source) — both are free and work well.
When it comes to emails and social media, I
suggest you create rules for yourself to check them only at a specific time of
the day.
I try to not to open social media apps at
least first hour or two, and check emails twice a day, responding right
away.
Social
Distractions
Now, this is something you don’t have
that much control over, but you can still do a couple of things that might help you reduce them.
First is to communicate your style of
working to people, and expectations — this usually does the trick.
Secondly, you can use your headphones —
even placing them on your ears will make people assume that you are not to
be disturbed.
9. Trigger the State of Flow
“The happiest people spend much
time in a state of flow — the state in which people are so involved in an
activity that nothing else seems to matter; the experience itself is so
enjoyable that people will do it even at great cost, for the sheer sake of
doing it.” – Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Every person has been in the ZONE.
When you’re in there, nothing else exists,
it’s just you and the task at hand.
What the majority of people seem to miss is
that this state is something you can learn to trigger on command and
develop a habit of using it on a daily basis.
However, first you need to look back and
determine how you’ve entered the state of flow before, so that you can pinpoint
the underlying pattern.
These questions might be useful here:
·
When is the last time I was in the zone?
·
Why was I so deeply focused?
·
What elements helped me reach that level of immersion?
For me, my laptop, a big screen in front of
me, and music with a fast beat are enough to get me into the state of flow.
What works for you?
10. Evaluate Your Day
“Every evening, just before
hitting the bed, I would ask myself: Have I earned the bread for the
day?” — Zdravko, my late grandfather
We are often caught up in the everyday
environment and the dynamic nature of our lives, so the time passes by
faster than ever.
Because of this, it makes a lot of sense to
continuously pull yourself back and evaluate how well you’ve executed your
plan in the previous period, so you can improve it based on the insights you’ve
gathered.
Try to make it a habit just before you go to
bed. Take some time to evaluate your day and see what can you do better in
the morning.
Also, every week you should set aside 30
minutes to analyze the previous week and plan out the next one.
https://www.zerotoskill.com/these-10-productivity-techniques-will-make-you-more-successful/?inf_contact_key=ee7c4cfd7e07de3fb9e55862f83b8e32680f8914173f9191b1c0223e68310bb1
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