Finding Relaxation in a Busy City

Did you know that where you live may be increasing your stress levels, hindering your motivation or even causing depression? Your mental health is an important part of your life, and it is vital that you learn what affects it and how to improve it.

According to the University of Minnesota, living in a busy city in particular can take its toll; the hustle and bustle may increase stress levels and make it more difficult to relax. But that doesn't mean all hope is lost for city-dwellers. If you are looking to move to a new city, here are some tips to finding peace in your fast-paced new life. They may also provide some ideas for how to make the time in your current city more enjoyable.

Choice of City

Before you take the leap and move, do plenty of research on the different neighborhoods in the area, looking specifically for the busy vs. the calm areas. If you love being near the water or find peace surrounded by trees, search out a city that caters to these needs. Helpful resources such as ParkScore, rank the average resident's ease of access to green space by city. Philadelphia, for example, might not have many open spaces, but just a quick train ride out of the city will bring you to more rural areas of Pennsylvania. Love hiking to relax? A place like Denver will provide you with that option just a few minutes outside the city lines.

You can often find reviews of your city online via Yelp!, local community forums, and by connecting with people you've met who live or work there. I have found good connections that can provide a local's perspective through connections on LinkedIn and Facebook, for example.

Location of Home

Once you know where you are going to move, it is time to find an apartment or home in that area that will keep you stress free. Take Chicago as an example. While the city is highly populated and full of action, you can easily find homes that fit your criteria. Start by checking online for available apartments to rent — you may find listings that face Lake Michigan, giving you a scenic view of the water, or overlook one of the many parks in the city. Be sure to read user reviews to find out if complexes attract busy and loud neighbors. If you are someone who needs peace and quiet for your mental well-being, see what the tenants say about the building before making a move.

Think about your commute and other lifestyle elements when you decide where to live - if you like to cycle, living near a good bike path would be helpful. If you plan to commute, make sure you know what you're getting into (distance, time in traffic, options for public transportation or biking / walking to work, for example). This is a good reason to rent for a while before you buy - try they location for a while to see if it is compatible with you.

Peaceful Activities

You can participate in peaceful activities like yoga, meditation or writing in any city. If you don't have a lot of access to the outdoors or quiet places, turn your apartment into a serene oasis. Set aside time each day to meditate to clear your mind and relax. If you are new to the practice, use an app like Calm, which lets you choose the length of your session, voiceovers, background sounds and more. With a pair of headphones and your eyes closed, escape to the peaceful area of your dreams. Try a few different activities and reflect on which makes you feel the most calm, and then stick to a routine to improve your mental state.

Moving to a busy city doesn't mean your mind has to speed up to keep pace. There are plenty of places to relax and find peace if you do your research and set aside time for your mental health.

I like to get out into the country for a hike, horseback riding, or volunteering at charities - all of these are relaxing for me. Your particular relaxation needs might be different, so make a list of "must haves" and "nice to haves" from an activity and amenity perspective, and plan so you have good options for the things that are important to you in your new home city.

Close Multiple OS X Alerts With One Shortcut

If you're like me, sometimes you come back to your Mac screen and find a bunch of alerts hanging around on the screen - a collection of items ranging from "you didn't eject this disk properly!" warnings to calendar alerts, or alerts from other applications. Look familiar?

I know these alerts are meant to be helpful but when you're in a hurry (and sometimes there are many more than 4 of these), it can be annoying to through the process of clicking on each individual alert box to close them all. And, as far as I know, Apple doesn't provide a way to "mass approve" these alerts.

If that bugs you, too - I have a solution that lets you get rid of all the open alerts in one keyboard shortcut!

Applescript Is for Closers

Using a simple Applescript you can close all open items at once (note that it clicks the first button choice on each of these, so it will Close every alert - if there are any you want to Snooze, Accept, etc. make sure you do that before you run or automate this script).

Here is the script:

my closeNotif()
on closeNotif()
    
    tell application "System Events"
        tell process "Notification Center"
            set theWindows to every window
            repeat with i from 1 to number of items in theWindows
                set this_item to item i of theWindows
                try
                    click button 1 of this_item
                on error
                    
                    my closeNotif()
                end try
            end repeat
        end tell
    end tell
    
end closeNotif

This is pretty straight-forward and doesn't do anything scary - it simply automates clicking on the first button in each of the alerts until there are no more alerts on the screen.

Automation Is Your Friend

To make this really useful, we turn to automation, and there are a couple of options:

• You can save this script as a file on your system, create an Automator Service that calls the script, and then assign a keyboard shortcut to run the Service through your computer's System Preferences. I won't describe the full process here, but you can find instructions for creating such a service elsewhere online.
  • Note: I tried this approach first, but found myself stumbling on a bunch of odd problems related to "Accessibility" permissions with Automator Services - they were a pain to work through.
• My preferred option is to automate this with Keyboard Maestro, which is one of the most useful (and often under-rated) utilities I've ever used.

If you have Keyboard Maestro, the process is pretty easy - you just set up a workflow as seen below, and assign a hotkey to run it (I use Command-Option-0 because it is easy and doesn't conflict with anything on my system:

This is one of my most-used shortcuts - I hope you enjoy it!

4 Great Lessons to Be Learned from an Entry-Level Job

College graduation time is here. Around the country, hundreds of thousands of fresh-faced 20-somethings are raring to go out and make a difference in the world. For many, this includes getting an amazing job with a killer salary and lots of benefits.

While this is a great dream and certainly a reasonable goal to strive for, the reality is that most grads will be hired for an entry-level position — one that will pay the rent and not much more. But as it turns out, these basic jobs can provide you with all sorts of invaluable lessons that are worth far more than a beefy paycheck.

My son happens to be graduating in a few weeks, and that gets me in the 'pondering' mode about what's next. He and I have spoken about entry-level jobs, and he is definitely pragmatic about getting into a "grunt work" kind of job in order to prove himself.

So - what are the benefits of an entry-level job anyway?

Entry-level jobs offer a peek into the industry

A low-paying position in an industry that you are interested in offers an insider’s look at the company and the way that the business handles the executive roles. In some cases, you may realize pretty quickly that what you thought would be your dream job is actually a nightmare position. You may hear stories from your boss about 90-hour work weeks, endless business trips and very little time with his or her family. Starting at the bottom rung often helps you realize that you don’t want to climb that ladder any further.

One of the things I've noticed is that there are an awful lot of people who end up doing something totally different than what their degree area - an entry-level job can be a great way to figure out if you really want to focus where you once believed you would.

Additionally, you'll learn a lot about the culture of a company from the way they treat the inexperienced new employee. If you don't like the culture, you can always look for another place.

Entry-level jobs provide great lessons in self-discipline

Entry-level work offers an outstanding opportunity to learn self-discipline and persistence, especially if the job is with a company that you really like. It can be time consuming and challenging to move up in the corporate world, and these first jobs really help hone those skills of striving to do more than is required and putting in extra hours to make a favorable impression on the managers. If you want to take a more self-directed and entrepreneurial route, look for entry-level positions in companies like Amway that offer these types of opportunities.

Entry-level jobs are an excellent vehicle for learning the basics like: showing up on time; listening well before acting; figuring out how to meet and learn from experienced people; determining what you'll tolerate for a commute; and so forth.

Entry-level jobs help you learn “soft skills"

Higher level positions may include some major training and learning significant skills like heavy duty software systems and more, but the “soft skills” one learns in entry-level jobs are also incredibly important. Never discount how crucial it is to learn how to communicate with managers, work in a group, speak with customers and be on time for work every day. In many ways, these basic-yet-invaluable skills will be used far more over your career than a more specific task.

Entry-level jobs help you learn to see the big picture

Sometimes, when young employees are getting started in their careers, they are so focused on making the big bucks that they forget that jobs are about much more than a fat paycheck. In many cases, the happiest people are those earning a small salary doing a job that they genuinely love.

Jobs that people may consider to be menial or not important can be immensely rewarding, and they are also positions that have a lot of merit and are important to the company. The ultimate goal should not be a certain title or annual salary, but rather to find work that makes you feel good about yourself.

When I think about my early jobs, I still remember some key things from my first couple of jobs:

McDonalds: I was lucky enough to work in a franchise owned by the Valluzo family in Louisiana. They insisted on quality, cleanliness, and customer service in their restaurants and drilled it into the employees' (and managers') heads - and their McDonalds locations stood out. If you didn't have high standards, you didn't last in the Valluzo's franchise. I started out mopping floors and ended up doing just about every job at the restaurant over time.

A lot of the things I learned there still stick with me, including how to treat your employees like team members, not subordinates.

In short, embrace the entry-level job - it can be a great foundation for your future.

Making Exercise Part of Your Everyday Routine

If you're anything like the average American, you may not be getting all the exercise you need for a healthy lifestyle. The American Heart Associationrecommends adults get at least 75 minutes of vigorous exercise or 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week. Meantime, the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion recommends undertaking moderate or high-intensity muscle-strengthening activities, like using weights or resistance bands, two or more days a week.

Yet, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports less than half of adults meet these aerobic recommendations, and barely 20 percent get both aerobic and muscle conditioning workouts in regularly. With long hours at work, taking care of the kids and little leftover time to socialize with friends and family, it's no wonder exercise doesn't receive high priority.

Exercise doesn't just help you look fit and firm; it improves mood, sleep, sexual activity and energy levels, in addition to helping prevent the risk of stroke, arthritis, type 2 diabetes, depression, cancer and falls, according to the Mayo Clinic. Use these tips to give exercise the preferential treatment it deserves.

Hold Yourself Accountable

A study by Dominican University of California found that more than 70 percent of participants who updated a friend every week about their exercise and weight-loss goals reported success compared to the 35 percent of those who didn't share their goals or write them down.

While recording your goals could become burdensome, smart devices focused on fitness, like the Apple Watch Sport, allow you to view progress on daily goals related to moving, exercising and standing. Since wearable technology measures your every movement, you can more accurately gauge your fitness progress beyond the scale and be inspired by every victory.

Make Exercise Fun

"Exercise is boring" is not a valid excuse for being a couch potato. Whether you enjoy being one with nature or enjoy pairing music with aerobic movement, exercises such as hiking, dancing and yoga offer plenty of enjoyable ways to burn calories and strengthen muscles. If weight lifting intimidates you, make it more approachable by taking a class at a local gym that plays energetic music and gives explicit guidance. Or, use an app or video featuring a trainer you can relate to for direction.

Grab a workout buddy to get moving. This allows you to still have a social life but participate in an activity that benefits your body, rather than overloading it with harmful calories from fatty foods or alcohol at a meal or happy hour.

This One Trick Makes It Easier To Work Out On The Road

I was talking with a coach of mine about how to get workouts in while traveling. He told me about a mind game he plays, and I have found it to work very well. Instead of writing "Workout" on my task list, I now write "Movement."

The subtle difference? In my mind a "Workout" is a specific kind of activity, and I can often say "I don't have my equipment with me," or "I don't have time to do a full workout," so I end up skipping it. However, "Movement" is very liberating - it could be a 10 minute walk, a longer jog, a hike, or anything else the is convenient at the time. Give it a try and see if this trick helps you.

Exercise Without Knowing It

Making small, incremental changes that get you more active is an easy way to naturally progress to a healthier lifestyle. Think about how you can incorporate more exercise into your daily life, including:

• Bike or walk to the grocery store
• Walk around your office to avoid long periods of sitting
• Stand rather than sit at social gatherings
• Take a 10-minute walk with your dog
• Walk a few blocks to a food cart, or bring your lunch and walk to the park to eat it
• Take the stairs instead of the elevator
• Park far away from the door of the mall or store when you go shopping
• Carry your luggage through the airport instead of rolling it on its wheels

Stay motivated to continue your healthy lifestyle by setting up rewards when you accomplish your goals. Think about the money you will save on future medical bills by avoiding the instinct to super size your fast food meal. Instead, treat yourself to a massage to soothe the muscles you've worked.

Avoid hitting plateaus by trying new fitness routines that keep exercise interesting. Be grateful for taking the time to give your body the respect it deserves, and watch how the extra energy from exercising uplifts you and gives you more time to accomplish goals and pursue hobbies.