Saturday, March 9, 2013
NYC- Curl Mascara £3.99
NYC- Curl Mascara £3.99- Browse through the latest beauty products online at Glamour.com. Visit Glamour.com for beauty product reviews and advice.Continue reading...
Jake Bugg and Cara Delevingne at Burberry Acoustic Presents Jake Bugg in London
Burberry don’t half cotton on to an up-and-comer quickly. Which is why Christopher Bailey and co decided to dedicate an entire acoustic showcase to boy wonder of the moment Jake Bugg, who played at the label’s flagship Regent Street store in London last nightContinue reading...
MUSIC: This Week We’re Loving…
The Knife’s first track in seven years! Plus, the latest from AlunaGeorge, Kristina Train and introducing PYYRAMIDS…Continue reading...
Kids’ Summer Sun Safety: Sunscreen, Clothes, Hats, and More
Lazy days at the pool or beach are warm weather rituals for many families. But if you're tempted to let your child play outdoors for even a few minutes without the proper sun protection, you’re taking an unhealthy risk.
"It only takes one severe sunburn to potentially double your child's chances of getting melanoma later in life," says Andrea Cambio, MD, FAAD, a board-certified pediatric dermatologist. "We really need to buckle down and protect our young."
Remember how much you marveled at your baby's smooth skin? Don't let the sun destroy that beautiful canvas. Ultraviolet sunlight damages the skin and can lead to wrinkles and cancers later on. There is no such thing as a healthy tan; a tan is a sign of sun damage.
Always put sunscreen on your child before going outside. Make a fun game out of it. Teach your child to spell BEENS to help you remember to cover often-forgotten spots: Back of knees, Ears, Eye area, Neck, and Scalp.
Apply sunscreen 15 to 30 minutes before going outside. Then reapply every 2 hours, or sooner if your child has been swimming. Water-resistant sunscreen wears off -- check the label to see how soon you'll need to reapply.
If your child attends school or daycare, make sure teachers are told to apply sunscreen before any outdoor activities.
Can't decide which sunscreen is best for your child? Cambio and pediatrician Jerome A. Paulson, MD, FAAP, medical director for national and global affairs at the Child Health Advocacy Institute of Children's National Medical Center in Washington, D.C., shared some child-friendly recommendations.
Their No. 1 tip: Choose a sunscreen that contains zinc oxide or titanium dioxide because the compounds are less irritating than others and do not get absorbed into the skin. "These ingredients are probably the safest ones out there right now," Paulson says.
There is some concern that other sunscreen ingredients, particularly oxybenzone and retinyl palmitate (a form of vitamin A), may cause harm. However, both chemicals are FDA approved for use in sunscreens.
Other tips:
Opt for a sunscreen with a sun protection factor (SPF) of 30 or higher.Make sure it's labeled "broad spectrum," which means it blocks both UVA and UVB sunlight.Let your child choose a colored or scented sunscreen. Nix this idea if your child has sensitive skin or an allergic skin disorder, such as eczema.Sunscreen sticks are best for the face because they are less likely to drip.Cambio likes spray-on sunscreens for kids because they are easy to apply. Cover your child's face while spraying, or have him make a funny face or hold his breath for five seconds.Urban Decay High Gloss Lip Colour £14
Urban Decay High Gloss Lip Colour £14- Browse through the latest beauty products online at Glamour.com. Visit Glamour.com for beauty product reviews and advice.Continue reading...
Amy Adams at the Santa Barbara Film Festival
Amy Adams wears a polka dot dress and peep-toe heels to the Santa Barbara Film Festival - vote on celebrity fashion, style and red carpet looks in GLAMOUR.COM’s Dos and Don’tsContinue reading...
Energy Drinks Pose Risks to Teens, Study Finds
By Randy Dotinga
HealthDay ReporterFRIDAY, Feb. 1 (HealthDay News) -- A new report warns that popular energy drinks such as Red Bull and Rockstar pose potential hazards to teens, especially when mixed with alcohol.
The report, published in the February issue of the journal Pediatrics in Review, summarizes existing research and concludes that the caffeine-laden beverages can cause rapid heartbeat, high blood pressure, obesity and other medical problems in teens. Combined with alcohol, the potential harms can be severe, the authors noted.
"I don't think there is any sensationalism going on here. These drinks can be dangerous for teens," said review lead author Dr. Kwabena Blankson, a U.S. Air Force major and an adolescent medicine specialist at the Naval Medical Center in Portsmouth, Va. "They contain too much caffeine and other additives that we don't know enough about. Healthy eating, exercise and adequate sleep are better ways to get energy."
Doctors and parents need to "intelligently speak to teenagers about why energy drinks may not be safe," Blankson said. "They need to ask teens if they are drinking energy drinks and suggest healthy alternatives."
Surveys suggest that as many as half of young people consume these unregulated beverages, often in search of a hefty dose of caffeine to help them wake up, stay awake or get a "buzz."
Sixteen-ounce cans of Red Bull, Monster Energy Assault and Rockstar hold about 160 milligrams (mg) of caffeine, according to the report. However, a much smaller container of the drink Cocaine -- briefly banned in 2007 -- delivers 280 mg in just 8.4 ounces. By contrast, a typical cup of coffee packs a caffeine punch of about 100 mg.
Too much caffeine, Blankson said, "can have troubling side effects." More than 100 milligrams of caffeine a day is considered unhealthy for teens, he noted.
Energy drinks are often served cold and sometimes with ice, making them easier to chug than hot coffee. And many contain additives such as sugar, ginseng and guarana, which enhance the effect of caffeine, the researchers explained.
"We don't know what these additives do to the body after periods of extended use," Blankson said.
Moreover, young people often mix energy drinks and alcoholic beverages, or buy energy drinks that contain alcohol. One-quarter of students surveyed at 10 North Carolina universities said they had consumed energy drinks mixed with alcohol in the past month, the report noted. And 23 university students in New Jersey and nine in Washington state were hospitalized in 2010 after drinking an energy drink spiked with alcohol.
U.S. health officials have sounded alarms about energy drinks as well. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration recently reported that hospital visits related to the drinks doubled, to almost 21,000, between 2007 and 2011. About 42 percent of cases also included drug or alcohol use, the agency said.
Case Study: What Does a Real 4-Hour Workweek Look Like…With a Family?
Now that’s a happy kid. (Photos: Brandon Pearce)
One common challenge for readers of The 4-Hour Workweek is the creation a “muse”: a low-maintenance business that generates significant income. Such a muse is leveraged to finance your ideal lifestyle, which we calculate precisely based on Target Monthly Income (TMI).
Despite the dozens of case studies I’ve put on this blog, and the hundreds elsewhere, one knee-jerk objection always crops up: “That might work for a single 30-something guy, but what about families? I have a mortgage, kids, and…”
The following is a guest post by Brandon Pearce. Brandon has three kids and first appeared on this blog as a muse case study for his business, Music Teacher’s Helper, which generated more than $25,000 a month at the time.
Things are even better now.
He and his family have now been leisurely traveling the world for 1,128 days. They are currently living like royalty and surrounded by palm trees.
This post explains exactly how Brandon spends his time over one week…
Have you implemented The 4-Hour Workweek with your family? If so, please let me know in the comments!
Three years ago, I’d already moved abroad with my family, automated my businesses, and was living the 4-Hour Workweek lifestyle. At one point, I decided to track every minute of every day for one week to help me visualize how much time I was spending on what really mattered to me.
Many people seem to think that if you only have to work a few hours per week, you must be spending the rest of your time relaxing in a hammock drinking piƱa coladas. I mean, what else is there to do? Actually, everything!
As you’ll see, I do spend my fair share of time relaxing, being with family and friends, and even doing “nothing.” But I have plenty else to keep me busy, and I enjoy the freedom to adjust my activities according to my changing interests.
While it takes some effort to track each minute of every day, when I’ve done so, I’ve found it helps me be aware of what I’m doing in the moment, and I feel less pressure while doing tasks I don’t enjoy. I also realize that time will keep moving on, no matter what I do. As long as I’m enjoying life, growing, and helping others where I can, I feel like I’m living my life well.
With that introduction, here is one full week of my life, organized by task.
Disclosure: Even though these tasks are recorded to the minute, they’re not always accurate to the minute. Sometimes I forgot to switch my timer right when I switched tasks, so had to modify it later with a little guess work. Being off by a few minutes for several things has led to being off by a couple hours overall. But it will have to do. For this exercise, I used SlimTimer, a free on-line time tracking tool.
I define “work” as activities done specifically to help produce income. This week I “worked” a little more than usual because I was getting some video tutorials written for one product, and launched a special offer with another. I also planned some important new features to work on next. For me, it’s normal for this category to be under 5 hours per week total.
- Business: Music Teacher’s Helper: 5 Hours, 18 minutes. This includes advertising/marketing (1:35), checking programmer’s work (1:30), customer support (0:48), and the rest in business planning, finances, and checking stats.
- Business: Studio Helper: 2 hours, 1 minute. This includes working on video tutorials (1:27), business planning (24 min), and the rest dealing with feature requests and checking stats.
- Other: 33 minutes. This includes times spent researching a new business idea.
Total Work Hours: 7 Hours, 52 Minutes
Update: I’ve since hired more programmers and support staff, a project manager, and a marketing director, so I’m doing different tasks, but still working about the same amount of time each week.
[Note from Tim: Before you literalists scream "But that's more than four hours per week!" read the book for context. Greatly simplified, the goal is to increase your current per-hour output 10x.]
One of the things I like most about my lifestyle is that I have so much time to spend with my family. We’re together pretty much all day, even if we’re not doing the same thing. Meals, driving, and time with others outside the family are under “Personal Time.”
- Playing with kids: 11 hours, 32 minutes. I try to play with my kids a little every day. Much of this is computer or iPad games with one daughter while my wife is doing homeschool with the other one. But it also includes reading to them, playing hide and seek, “restaurant” and other imagination games.
- Watching Movies: 6 hours, 51 minutes. We watched a few movies with the kids this week, in the evenings, including the 1969 Doctor Dolittle, and Tarzan in Spanish.
- Family Outings: 5 hours, 15 minutes. This includes a little hike up the mountains behind our house, and a trip to the park to ride ponies and bicycles. We also spent time together with our friends, which I’ve included in the Personal: Visiting with Friends section.
- Talking with Wife: 3 hours, 56 minutes. Jen and I enjoy just sitting and talking, as well as reading together.
Total Family Time: 27 hours, 34 minutes
Update: My kids are older now (9 and 7), and we have another baby who is almost two years old. Our two oldest daughters attend a homeschool group most weekdays. And we now enjoy the services of a full-time nanny, housekeeper, driver, and chef. Consequently, my wife and I get more time together, we each get more personal time, and we enjoy different types of activities with our kids.
Even though it looks like I have lots of time left over for myself, I don’t feel like I have much “free time.” I guess that’s because I try to fill my time up with things that I like to do and am passionate about. I still have a full to-do list, and do spend time on things I’d rather not, but I try to work on the most important items first each day. Overall, I’m doing what I love with the majority of my time.
- Sleep: 57 hours, 21 minutes. That’s just over 8 hours per night. This week, we’ve been sleeping in a different room where the sun hits us warmly every morning around 6:30 through the windows. It’s not conducive to sleeping in, but is a very relaxing way to get up.
- Visiting with friends: 11 hours, 22 minutes. We had some friends over for a late lunch one day this week, and we spent an afternoon out with another friend.
- Meals: 11 hours, 2 minutes. We ate out a lot this week (almost every day), and took time to enjoy our food. The meal with our friends is included under “Visiting with friends”.
- Reading: 9 hours, 8 minutes. I have some really interesting books I’m reading right now, although half of this time was spent reading articles and blogs on-line.
- Personal Email: 8 hours, 13 minutes. I had a LOT more time-consuming email than usual this week. I’ve been getting lots of emails from people starting businesses who want advice. I’ve enjoyed being able to help people in this regard. Maybe soon I will have to start charging for consulting and move this into the “Work” category.
- Writing: 4 hours, 31 minutes. This was time I spent working on my new book about how to create an online business. I suppose this could also be considered “Work” since I will eventually sell the book, but that’s not my main purpose in writing it.
- Daily Hygiene: 3 hours, 27 minutes. It’s amazing how much time this takes. But I do love a hot shower.
- Sex: 3 hours, 9 minutes. No, it wasn’t all at once.
- Meditating and spiritual time: 2 hours, 41 minutes. I have a great place to sit for my morning meditation overlooking the hills and the city view. Very relaxing.
- Finances: 2 hours, 3 minutes. This is higher than normal because I’ve been working a lot with my accountant trying to figure out taxes, and have been looking at other investment opportunities.
- Exercise: 1 hour, 47 minutes. This includes my daily stretching and tai chi, and a little weight lifting. This doesn’t include all the hiking and walking we did as a family this week.
- And I spent anywhere from 10 minutes to 1 hour, 30 minutes on each of the following: cleaning and organizing, house maintenance, driving, facebook, games (pool, and angry birds), journal, playing the piano, shopping, time tracking, vacation planning, writing on my blog, and selling stuff on Craigslist.
Total Personal Time: 128 hours, 52 minutes
Update: About a year ago, I started charging $150/hour for consulting and it reduced my email while increasing my income. I’ve also put my book on hold for the time being. And these days, I’d probably count “Finances” as “Work,” since it’s income related. Lately, I’ve been spending more time meditating, reading, and journaling, and am learning more about myself in the process. I’m also taking Qi Gong (Chi Kung) lessons, learning the guitar and ukelele, playing in a small band, studying dreams, and experimenting with connected breathing and emotional awareness techniques to help me be more present to enjoy each moment fully.
Now that I’ve gone through all the effort of tracking my time for a week, it would be a shame to simply write a blog post about it and not use the data to see where I can improve. In the weeks ahead, I would like to make the following changes:
- More time with my wife, especially reading and talking with her.
- More family time together with the kids at home. We spend a lot of time together outside the home, but when we’re inside, we tend to do our own thing. I also want to take a more active role in homeschool, helping the kids with their blogs, music, as well as math and reading, etc.
- More time working on my book. I’m excited to complete this project and hopefully it will help a lot of people looking to create a business.
- Less time reading online. I want most of my reading time to be focused and intentional, not jumping from item to item.
- Less time on email. I had built up a practice of checking email just twice a day and leaving it alone the rest of the time. But I didn’t follow that so well this week, and found my productivity waver because of it.
Update: I definitely spend more time with my wife now, but probably less with my kids. I’ve stopped working on my book, but have put more time into other interests. My reading is more focused now, and I spend less time on the computer. I still think I have too much email, but most days I can get it all done in one sitting.
Have you ever tracked your time? If you’ve ever charged per hour, chances are you’ve tracked your time working, but have you ever measured what you’re doing with the rest of your time? Yeah, maybe it is a bit fanatical. But I think there is value in it at least every once in a while. If a week seems like too much, even tracking your time for a single day can reveal insights and help you see areas you want to improve.
I’m interested to hear your thoughts below, and what changes you’d like to make in how you spend your time.
###
[Note from Tim: An older version of this time table originally appeared on Brandon's outstanding blog. If you liked The 4-Hour Workweek, you'll enjoy his personal stories of entrepreneurship, travel, and more.]
Posted on February 1st, 2013