Tag Archives: Health

The Impact of a Stand Desk

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In my November note, I said there would be a piece on my new stand desk. Why did I do it? Fad? Physics? Productivity? Let me take you on a short journey…

My old office arrangement, even when I had cleared most of the clutter still looked, well . . .S's office after 4x6 (copy)

–  – cluttered.

I had recently finished working with a couple who worked from home.  She had build a rigid standing desk and loved it. He was building one for himself.  They were both enthusiastic for them. They had many positive things to say about them.  I became curious.

I saw a Kickstarter campaign to build a reasonably price standing desk that could be both – a sitting desk and a standing one. The campaign was very convincing – lots of studies extolling the benefits of a standing desk.

Research was needed.  

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Sitting is the new smoking.

What began as a curiosity has provoked a great deal of studious inquiry.  Results?

• Reduced risk of obesity

• Reduced risk of Type 2 diabetes and other metabolic problems

• Reduced risk of cardiovascular disease

• Reduced risk for many kinds of cancer

Wow! And that’s just what the Smithsonian Magazine reported. (March 26, 2014)

Sitting six hours a day ups he death rate by 20% for men, 40% for women!

That’s scary while some other research says otherwise, but the consensus indicates we should be standing/walking at least 2 hours a day and then work up to 4.

OK – I got into the Kickstarter campaign and got my desk a couple of months ago.

I had to rearrange my office.

Time to declutter.

Pounds and pounds of files into the trash, Scan others.

4 file drawers to 2.

Fewer printers, fewer everything.

And the result?

StandDesk up sm

What a difference!  Take a look just at the top:

StandDesk down SM

No, I don’t stand all the time, but I’m standing more and more and sitting less and less. I find not only has the simplification made me more focused, but much more productive.  I love the top – it’s bamboo, my favorite building material.

You can jerry-rig a standing desk for yourself and try it. I like mine because I can take it up or down, and stop it any place that suites me or my arms or my chair (all at the touch of a button.) A programmer friend just bought himself one that uses counterweights to go up or down. He has a bit of a weight problem, so this is going to be good for him as well! And a major client I just worked with we designed his office so not only could he have a standing desk, but combine it with a treadmill!

If you want to see the one I bought, (also because I support new companies) go to

https://www.standdesk.co/

If you do try one, or have one, what about sharing? Post a comment. And I’ll stand for it!

Oh – Happy holidays too!

How far is too far?

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Let’s go too far. Let’s trivialize a 4,000 year old art and science. Let’s “brand” feng shui into a new sneaker. Ready? Here it is…but just know there are people who will gladly pay $225 and over for these when they are first introduced because there is a whole cult of collectors out there to rebid the price up. Is that good feng shui? I’ll let you decide.Here’s how “Kick on Fire” puts it. And for good measure, here’s how Jordan puts it.  Now, do they have ANYTHING to do with Feng Shui?  If you can figure it out, please leave me a comment, because I’d like to know!

Part 2 – What to Shred and When

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Shredding is great fun but not if you shred the wrong documents. Here’s your guide:

Monthly

Credit card receipts after reconciliation with the credit card statement. Don’t shred receipts needed for tax purses or warranties. Attach those receipts to either the user manual or the warranty.

Shred cancelled checks and debit receipts [again excepting those needed for taxes or warranties. My bank has a picture, front and back of all my checks, so a paper copy, mailed by the bank is redundant.]

Yearly Shredpaper-shredding-machine1

• Monthly retirement and investment account statements after they are reconciled with their year end statement.

• The monthly bank statement IF you have reconciled with the year end statement.

• Pay stubs after reconciliation with W-2s, 1099s or equivalents, the IRS has their own copy!

• Repeating monthly bill. Check it against last year’s to see that there is not some freak leak. [My utility company gives me a usage graph this year and last year, so I don’t need to do this comparison and I can just shred last years statement.]

After 7 or 10 years:
• Year end bank statements [if  not needed for tax purposes]

• Any titles, deeds, or surveys to any cars and/or property not owned for 7 years.

 NEVER SHRED

• Certificates of birth, divorce, death.

• Military service records [I have been hearing a horror story of a retired serviceman who is trying to get disability, only to have the Army “losing” his records….]

• Wills and Trusts, revocable and non revocable

• Power of Attorney documents

• Social Security reports

• Year- end retirement statements and policies

• Loans and mortgage paid-in-full docs

• Diplomas and transcripts

• Medical records

* Current resume

• Evaluation and receipts of valuables [art, silver, jewels]

Many of these documents really belong out of the home. A Safe deposit box is good. But make sure someone else who you trust is also on the safe deposit list and has a key. Why? If something happens to you, you die or are incapacitated, they can get whatever is needed.

Next up: Organize what you have and lose even MORE paper!

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It’s amazing how serious sickness or surgery can change our lives. I recently had spinal surgery (five weeks ago) and watched my life move in a radical new direction. Email was no longer important. Cleaning the house took a backseat. Many of the things I thought were important, lost their importance. What emerged instead was massive attention to this body that carries  my spirit through this ephemeral world. Connections with friends achieved prominence in my attention and appreciation I have not known before. In other words, priorities got rearranged in a massive way. Not that I won’t return to the business of feng shui, clutter elimination, and reclaiming our lives, but then will have a different order in priority. I invite you, dear reader, to share any stories of this or a similar nature. It may prove to be a valuable lesson for us all.

Health Care & Feng Shui

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The current debate about health care in Washington revolves around how much profit insurance companies can make, how much profit hospitals should make, how much profit the pharmaceutical companies can make.  The fight is not whether or not Americans should get good health care, it’s about how much profit corporations can get into this bill.

So what does that have to do with feng shui?  Quite simply the basis of feng shui is understanding how the energies of nature work and how we human can align ourselves so that we benefit from those energies.  Think of a sailboat out on the sea.  It can either tack back and forth trying to gain ground as the wind pushes the boat backwards, or it could turn around and sail away, being pushed by the wind.  It’s obvious which takes more work and which is easier.  The basis of Feng Shui is to understand which way the wind is blowing and what’s happening in the water – observations of nature.  Much of chinese medicine is built on the same principle.  You only pay when you stay well.  If the doctor has made a mistake and you get sick, you pay nothing.  To my way of thinking that is serving the public good.

Our system of health care has resulted in our being 23rd in infant mortally, and something like 25th in quality of health care IN THE WORLD.  Why? Because we have turned our back on nature and gone for the profit.  In other words where other countries provide a public service, we monetize the industry and hand it over not to the doctors but to corporations.  And by law, corporations are duty bound to make profits for the shareholders – not the public.

So feng shui should remind us to learn about how nature can help us cure any imbalance (sickness) in our body.  And it is up to us, not corporations with their pills and tests, to assist our bodies back to radiant health.

To see what Sugeet does with Feng Shui, check out the web site.