Review: Clearer Thinking Time-Money Calculator

Posted by On Filed under Doing Business Differently, Pause for Reflection
Review: Clearer Thinking Time-Money Calculator

How much do you value your time? Answers may vary. Some may say “very valuable,” while another person may get very specific with “$15/hour.” Another person, if asked to give up time doing something they love, might say they’d need $100/hour, which directly contradicts the $15/hour previously. So how much do you really value your time?

I took a survey from ClearerThinking.org and found that I am full of contradictions when it comes to my time AND money. (Although, as you’ll see below, I’m also fairly consistent.)

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Digital Detox: A Modern-Day Sabbath

Posted by On Filed under Health, Pause for Reflection, Voluntary Simplicity / Minimalism
Digital Detox: A Modern-Day Sabbath

A Sabbath is a day of rest, observed by some Jewish people from Friday evening to Saturday evening and by some Christian people on Sundays. Within these religious traditions there’s also a ritual of worship on these days. For the past few years, I’ve created my own Sabbath rituals and I thought it was about time I wrote about them.

Since 2014, I’ve blocked off “Sabbath weekends” every few months. On these weekends, I don’t work, I unplug from the internet and all digital devices, I don’t schedule too many projects for myself, and I focus on restful activities, like reading, meditating, going for walks, and journaling. On a few Sabbath weekends, I’ve even tried not to spend money.

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My Favorite Reflection Resources

Posted by On Filed under Pause for Reflection
My Favorite Reflection Resources

In 2012, I wrote up a post with links to some of my favorite reflection resources. I included more than 300 questions, prompts or affirmations from more than a half dozen websites that I’ve personally used.

As you may know, reflection is an important part of my life. I regularly make time for planning, pondering, reflecting and meditating. In 2012, I even set up my Google calendar to remind me of my favorite reflection prompts every few days.

In the last two years, I’ve come across more resources and thought it was time to provide an updated post with links and suggestions.

Here are some of my new favorites:

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Review: Carbon Footprint Calculators

Posted by On Filed under Pause for Reflection 2 Comments
Review: Carbon Footprint Calculators

Tracking your carbon footprint isn’t the easiest thing to do. There are several online calculators, but a footprint is a moving target, changing with each meal, each type of mile driven and each time we turn up the heat or air conditioning.

In this post, I’ll review some of the biggest or best online carbon footprint calculators I could find. This will be eye-opening for me personally, but I hope it will help you determine which calculator might best serve your needs.

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Review: Life Expectancy Calculators

Posted by On Filed under Bucket List, Health, Money, Pause for Reflection, Voluntary Simplicity / Minimalism
Review: Life Expectancy Calculators

I focus intensely on living a good life. I actively work on my bucket list, which has provided some crazy adventures. I focus on experiences over material possessions and have gotten my finances in order to support my larger life goals.

Sometimes, this focus inevitably leads to thoughts on how much life I might have left.

From a young age, I wasn’t spared the experience of death. I attended the funerals of grandparents and great grandparents, lost a friend in high school, and have lost many more since, unfortunately. I say this because not everyone has been this close to mortality. Some folks have never been to a funeral, for example, or are lucky enough to still have grandparents around.

I’m just laying the groundwork for what this blog post is about. To be blunt, it’s about life expectancy. But, in reality, it’s about living and living well.

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3 Steps to Creating a Social Media Will

Posted by On Filed under Marketing, Pause for Reflection
3 Steps to Creating a Social Media Will

Several friends have passed away over the last few years. For months after their passing, Facebook still told me whether or not they were online. Google+ suggested I add them to my circles. And Twitter suggested I invite them to join.

Most disturbing of all were the Facebook reminders. Birthdays were the most shocking: being asked to wish someone a happy birthday, months after their passing, with their smiling face or familiar profile picture popping up in my feed all day.

This got me to thinking about what was happening with their account and started my research social media wills. Yes, it’s that kind of will: a way to protect and even pass on your (digital) property after your passing.

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