Jeff Davidson's Blog, page 20
March 29, 2017
Surveillance Happens all the Time
Here are key issues about surveillance posed by Eugene Volokh, Professor of Law at UCLA, and author of The First Amendment.
In any given surveillance situation, one has first has to determine:
* What concrete security benefits will the proposal likely provide?
* Exactly how might it be abused?
* Might it decrease the risk of policed abuse rather than increase it?
* What control mechanisms can be set up to help diminish the risk of abuse?
* What other surveillance is this proposal likely to lead to?
“Such analysis suggests that traffic cameras are a good idea at least as an experiment. Cameras at public places from ATM machines to convenience stores are probably worth trying.” Each situation needs to be evaluated independently to determine whether Breathing Space is curtailed or enhanced.
In any given surveillance situation, one has first has to determine:
* What concrete security benefits will the proposal likely provide?
* Exactly how might it be abused?
* Might it decrease the risk of policed abuse rather than increase it?
* What control mechanisms can be set up to help diminish the risk of abuse?
* What other surveillance is this proposal likely to lead to?
“Such analysis suggests that traffic cameras are a good idea at least as an experiment. Cameras at public places from ATM machines to convenience stores are probably worth trying.” Each situation needs to be evaluated independently to determine whether Breathing Space is curtailed or enhanced.
March 21, 2017
Deskmanship This Day
Is your desk always piled high with papers? Do you fear that the situation is hopeless? Well, there are ways to make your desk a more efficient work area. Simply follow my "ten commandments of deskmanship"
1. Thou shalt clear thy desk every night.
2. Thou shalt continually Refine what goes on thy desktop.
3. Thou shalt Not use thy desk top as a filing cabinet.
4. Thou shalt predetermine what belongs Inside thy desk.
5. Thou shalt keep 20% of thy drawer space Vacant.
6. Thou shalt Furnish thy surrounding office to support thy desk.
7. Thou shalt take Comfort when at thy desk.
8. Thou shalt keep Clean thy desk and thy surrounding area.
9. Thou shalt Leave thy desk periodically.
10. Thou shalt Honor thy desk as thyself.
1. Thou shalt clear thy desk every night.
2. Thou shalt continually Refine what goes on thy desktop.
3. Thou shalt Not use thy desk top as a filing cabinet.
4. Thou shalt predetermine what belongs Inside thy desk.
5. Thou shalt keep 20% of thy drawer space Vacant.
6. Thou shalt Furnish thy surrounding office to support thy desk.
7. Thou shalt take Comfort when at thy desk.
8. Thou shalt keep Clean thy desk and thy surrounding area.
9. Thou shalt Leave thy desk periodically.
10. Thou shalt Honor thy desk as thyself.
March 12, 2017
Go From Breakdown to Control
Do you find yourself in control for most of the morning and part of the afternoon, but then all of the sudden, like a train derailment, everything seems scattered and out of control?
Take mental pauses throughout the day, particularly as new developments occur. The best laid plans often go astray and those people who are able to maintain control know when to let go of one activity and redirect their focus towards another.
Remember that being in control is more related to how you feel about the situation than the presence of evidence. Keep reminding yourself that you are, in fact, in control. Ten minutes before the end of the day if your boss springs a one-hour assignment on you that must be done immediately, you can regard this as a major intrusion in your day or you can see it as a professional challenge or an opportunity to demonstrate your overall value to your company.
Make a note of the times you have taken on such challenges and bring them up particularly at raise times. Also before, during, and after handling the late assignment thrown on your lap, keep considering the many benefits of completing it. These include learning something new, practicing maintaining grace under fire, and serving as a reminder for you to discuss this type of situation with your boss so that it doesn't happen too frequently.
Take mental pauses throughout the day, particularly as new developments occur. The best laid plans often go astray and those people who are able to maintain control know when to let go of one activity and redirect their focus towards another.
Remember that being in control is more related to how you feel about the situation than the presence of evidence. Keep reminding yourself that you are, in fact, in control. Ten minutes before the end of the day if your boss springs a one-hour assignment on you that must be done immediately, you can regard this as a major intrusion in your day or you can see it as a professional challenge or an opportunity to demonstrate your overall value to your company.
Make a note of the times you have taken on such challenges and bring them up particularly at raise times. Also before, during, and after handling the late assignment thrown on your lap, keep considering the many benefits of completing it. These include learning something new, practicing maintaining grace under fire, and serving as a reminder for you to discuss this type of situation with your boss so that it doesn't happen too frequently.
March 4, 2017
Are We Too Clean?
Stronger Than Dirt : A Cultural History of Advertising Personal Hygiene in America,
1875-1940 by Juliann Sivulka, review by Cahners Business Information, Inc.
“Only a century ago the privilege of washing with soap was a prerogative of the well-to-do, and a bath was something the average person avoided. But by the end of World War I a revolution in the standards of personal hygiene had taken place. Soap was not only more widely used but was suddenly viewed as a powerful symbol of purification, civilization, and progress. What caused this radical shift in attitudes?
In this fascinating cultural history, illustrated throughout with dozens of period illustrations and advertisements, Juliann Sivulka shows that the transformation of soap from luxury product to everyday staple and symbol of success was the result of both the newly emerging advertising industry and large-scale societal changes brought on by the modernization of daily life. The new emphasis on soap translated into more elaborate cleanliness rituals, creating in turn specialized places devoted to care of the body, more complex domestic interiors, and new customers for an emerging consumer society.
Cleanliness came to symbolize a morally superior and civilized individual. Keeping clean, according to advertisements, was not only a healthy habit, it also ensured romance, material abundance, and acceptance into the successful white middle class. Advertisements also reflected women's changing roles as agents of cleanliness, as well as creators of mass cultural images that reinforced narrow stereotypes, which feminists later protested.”
1875-1940 by Juliann Sivulka, review by Cahners Business Information, Inc.
“Only a century ago the privilege of washing with soap was a prerogative of the well-to-do, and a bath was something the average person avoided. But by the end of World War I a revolution in the standards of personal hygiene had taken place. Soap was not only more widely used but was suddenly viewed as a powerful symbol of purification, civilization, and progress. What caused this radical shift in attitudes?
In this fascinating cultural history, illustrated throughout with dozens of period illustrations and advertisements, Juliann Sivulka shows that the transformation of soap from luxury product to everyday staple and symbol of success was the result of both the newly emerging advertising industry and large-scale societal changes brought on by the modernization of daily life. The new emphasis on soap translated into more elaborate cleanliness rituals, creating in turn specialized places devoted to care of the body, more complex domestic interiors, and new customers for an emerging consumer society.
Cleanliness came to symbolize a morally superior and civilized individual. Keeping clean, according to advertisements, was not only a healthy habit, it also ensured romance, material abundance, and acceptance into the successful white middle class. Advertisements also reflected women's changing roles as agents of cleanliness, as well as creators of mass cultural images that reinforced narrow stereotypes, which feminists later protested.”
February 26, 2017
Optimism Matters
Optimistic attitudes and actions support simple living! If you haven't added The Optimism Advantage to your simple living bookshelf of keepers, let me suggest that you buy it today. Dr. Terry Paulson's newest book, The Optimism Advantage: 50 Simple Truths to Transform Your Attitudes and Actions into Results," isn't just about managing your attitudes. It's about shaping your world in a way that promotes optimism, opportunity and simple living.
Taking a stand for simpler living, Dr. Paulson writes, "Far too many people spend years gathering more things to fit into increasingly bigger houses only to spend their later years getting rid of things and craving simplicity and satisfying relationships. Why wait? Claim a little more simplicity now; avoid the wasted cost and stressful aggravation involved in competing for who can own the most toys and the biggest mansion."
The Optimism Advantage deals with putting commitments into action. Optimists live "action imperative" and have a bias towards action. Instead of overanalyzing what to do, optimists get busy doing. He shared a housewife who was overwhelmed by the clutter and her commitment to bring sanity to her living space. She picked a room, set her kitchen timer for 5 minutes, and got started bringing order to her life. After the bell went off, she continued for another ten minutes and was proud of going beyond what she had planned. She was pleased with her results and kept increasing her time commitment. She took back her world one room at a time.
Optimism isn't motivational hype; it comes from a track record of overcoming adversity and challenges one day, one choice at a time. The more challenges you overcome, the more confidence you have that you can do more.
Taking a stand for simpler living, Dr. Paulson writes, "Far too many people spend years gathering more things to fit into increasingly bigger houses only to spend their later years getting rid of things and craving simplicity and satisfying relationships. Why wait? Claim a little more simplicity now; avoid the wasted cost and stressful aggravation involved in competing for who can own the most toys and the biggest mansion."
The Optimism Advantage deals with putting commitments into action. Optimists live "action imperative" and have a bias towards action. Instead of overanalyzing what to do, optimists get busy doing. He shared a housewife who was overwhelmed by the clutter and her commitment to bring sanity to her living space. She picked a room, set her kitchen timer for 5 minutes, and got started bringing order to her life. After the bell went off, she continued for another ten minutes and was proud of going beyond what she had planned. She was pleased with her results and kept increasing her time commitment. She took back her world one room at a time.
Optimism isn't motivational hype; it comes from a track record of overcoming adversity and challenges one day, one choice at a time. The more challenges you overcome, the more confidence you have that you can do more.
February 20, 2017
Can One “Slow Down” Time?
Each minute holds so much potential, but they still race by quickly: The way you experience time passing each day is based on your perception. You can slow down time if you choose. How? Whenever you feel you’re racing the clock or trying to tackle too much at once, try this exercise:
Close your eyes for sixty seconds and imagine a pleasant scene, perhaps one in nature, with a loved one, or something from childhood. Let the emotions of that place and time predominate. Give yourself time for the visualization to take hold. Then open your eyes and return to your present task. You might find that the task and the pace at which you are working no longer seem so stressful.
One effective method for catching up with today is to periodically delete three items from your to-do list without even doing them. Before you shriek, consider that much of what makes your list is nonessential. If you can eliminate three items, it will rarely impact your career or life, and doing so frees up some time for yourself in the present. Nice gift.
Close your eyes for sixty seconds and imagine a pleasant scene, perhaps one in nature, with a loved one, or something from childhood. Let the emotions of that place and time predominate. Give yourself time for the visualization to take hold. Then open your eyes and return to your present task. You might find that the task and the pace at which you are working no longer seem so stressful.
One effective method for catching up with today is to periodically delete three items from your to-do list without even doing them. Before you shriek, consider that much of what makes your list is nonessential. If you can eliminate three items, it will rarely impact your career or life, and doing so frees up some time for yourself in the present. Nice gift.
February 13, 2017
Life a is Desk. Clear Yours
To prehistoric man, life was a spear. Today life is a desk. Joe Sugarman, in his now out of print book, Success Forces, explained that by clearing your desk every evening, you automatically have to choose what to work on the next day. This is a discipline that yields a marvelous sense of breathing space with which to start each day.
To ensure that your desk and office environment supports you, invest in yourself. If you need them, room dividers and sound barriers are available in a wide variety of shapes and sizes and can improve upon any existing sound barriers.
Use the end of the day and slow periods to keep your desk orderly and better prepare yourself for high octane output when you're ready to get started again.
Every evening, after you've cleared your desk, acknowledge yourself for what you accomplished that day. Don't beat yourself up for what you didn't do. If you can do better, you will, maybe not at once, but soon enough.
To ensure that your desk and office environment supports you, invest in yourself. If you need them, room dividers and sound barriers are available in a wide variety of shapes and sizes and can improve upon any existing sound barriers.
Use the end of the day and slow periods to keep your desk orderly and better prepare yourself for high octane output when you're ready to get started again.
Every evening, after you've cleared your desk, acknowledge yourself for what you accomplished that day. Don't beat yourself up for what you didn't do. If you can do better, you will, maybe not at once, but soon enough.
Great Risks of Sleep Debt
"For years, sleep researchers have been preaching the dangers of lost sleep: People who are fatigued can't pay attention to routine tasks, have trouble learning, and are prone to a laundry list of health problems, from depression to high blood pressure," says Kathleen Facklemann in USA Today
"New research suggests an added risk to losing sleep day after day: Humans and animals that have chronic sleep deprivation might reach a point at which the very ability to catch up on lost sleep is damaged, according to Fred Turek, a sleep researcher at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois."
"His research on sleep patterns in rats appeared this summer in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. That, together with findings from a human study, suggests people who lose sleep night after night might not recover the alertness they need to perform well during the day. So far the studies don't tell researchers whether the damage is permanent. The studies do suggest that people who go to work fatigued day after day might perform consistently at a subpar level.
"Going through life with too little sleep is like scuba diving with too little oxygen." Jeff Davidson, author Simpler Living.
"New research suggests an added risk to losing sleep day after day: Humans and animals that have chronic sleep deprivation might reach a point at which the very ability to catch up on lost sleep is damaged, according to Fred Turek, a sleep researcher at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois."
"His research on sleep patterns in rats appeared this summer in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. That, together with findings from a human study, suggests people who lose sleep night after night might not recover the alertness they need to perform well during the day. So far the studies don't tell researchers whether the damage is permanent. The studies do suggest that people who go to work fatigued day after day might perform consistently at a subpar level.
"Going through life with too little sleep is like scuba diving with too little oxygen." Jeff Davidson, author Simpler Living.
Decrease Your Focus on the Future
from The Book of Life by J. Krisnamurfi:
“Expectations are the ego's way of reminding us that the ego is very much alive inside of us. The most effective way to remove expectations and thus eliminate disappointments, shame, upsets and dissatisfaction, is to remove or reduce one's focus on the future.
True, a goal, mission or vision can provide context and motivation for the present, but when you NEED the future to be a certain way, you measure your quality of life against the future and often come up short. It's a radical idea to decrease your orientation on the future, but when done," you have a richer present.
“Expectations are the ego's way of reminding us that the ego is very much alive inside of us. The most effective way to remove expectations and thus eliminate disappointments, shame, upsets and dissatisfaction, is to remove or reduce one's focus on the future.
True, a goal, mission or vision can provide context and motivation for the present, but when you NEED the future to be a certain way, you measure your quality of life against the future and often come up short. It's a radical idea to decrease your orientation on the future, but when done," you have a richer present.
January 25, 2017
Do You Toss and Turn?
As many as 50 to 70 million Americans chronically suffer from a disorder of sleep and wakefulness, hindering daily functioning and adversely affecting their health and longevity.
The cumulative effects of sleep loss and sleep disorders represent an under-recognized public health problem and have been associated with a wide range of health consequences including an increased risk of hypertension diabetes, obesity, depression, heart attack, and stroke.
* Almost 20 percent of all serious car crash injuries in the general population are associated with driver sleepiness.
* Hundreds of billions of dollars a year are spent on direct medical costs related to sleep disorders such as doctor visits, hospital services, prescriptions, and over-the-counter medications.
Yikes!
Here are a few ideas for getting good sleep every night:
* Avoid working out too hard before retiring; it may keep you too keyed up.
* Say no to caffeine at least six hours before retiring and alcohol altogether if you’re interested in having good sleep that night. Alcohol, in particular, is sleep disrupting. Yes, you’ll fall asleep quickly, but invariably you’ll arise too early. Then, you’ll likely have trouble getting back to sleep.
* If the spirit moves you, drink a glass of milk before you sleep. It can help.
* Go to sleep when you’re tired, not because the clock happens to say a particular time.
* Let the people around you know when you want quiet because you are going to sleep!
The cumulative effects of sleep loss and sleep disorders represent an under-recognized public health problem and have been associated with a wide range of health consequences including an increased risk of hypertension diabetes, obesity, depression, heart attack, and stroke.
* Almost 20 percent of all serious car crash injuries in the general population are associated with driver sleepiness.
* Hundreds of billions of dollars a year are spent on direct medical costs related to sleep disorders such as doctor visits, hospital services, prescriptions, and over-the-counter medications.
Yikes!
Here are a few ideas for getting good sleep every night:
* Avoid working out too hard before retiring; it may keep you too keyed up.
* Say no to caffeine at least six hours before retiring and alcohol altogether if you’re interested in having good sleep that night. Alcohol, in particular, is sleep disrupting. Yes, you’ll fall asleep quickly, but invariably you’ll arise too early. Then, you’ll likely have trouble getting back to sleep.
* If the spirit moves you, drink a glass of milk before you sleep. It can help.
* Go to sleep when you’re tired, not because the clock happens to say a particular time.
* Let the people around you know when you want quiet because you are going to sleep!
