Daily Archives: February 20, 2017

Commute Driving You Crazy?

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One thing which often drives people mad in the mornings is the daily commute. After all, it can be the same long journey every single day. And it can take around an hour before you even reach the workplace. And the cost of the commute can be, for some people, a quarter of their monthly wage. However, if you have had enough of your morning commute, there are some things you can do. Therefore, here are some ways you can make sure your commute doesn’t drive you crazy.

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Image from Pexels

 

Consider moving closer to your work

 

If you have had enough of the long drive to work, you could consider moving closer so that the commute doesn’t drive you mad. After all, if you are only a few miles from work, it will have a huge impact on your life. For one thing, you can get up later in the morning. Therefore, you won’t be so tired before you set off for the day. Also, you will get home from work earlier so will have more time at home to relax after a stressful day at work. However, it’s only worth moving closer to your work if you see it as a long-term job. After all, you don’t want to regret your decision of moving home if the job ends in a few months!

 

Switch to the bus or train rather than drive.

 

The commute to work can often drive you mad as it’s miles of long roads. And while you can put a good CD on, it can still be a very boring drive. And if you get stuck in traffic, it can make the journey even more terrible. After all, you can’t use your phone safely while you are on the road. Therefore, you should consider switching to the bus or train instead to get to work. For one thing, it requires less concentration than driving. You could even have a nap, as long as you don’t miss your stop! And you can watch films and read books rather than staring into space. After all, there are lots of apps like MovieBox which will allow you to watch films on your device. In fact, you can grab it from here to use on your tablet. And you will find your journey is a lot better if you have something to do on the way!

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    Pexels

 

Invest in a decent car

 

You would be surprised how much a good car can make a difference to your journey. After all, if you are in a small vehicle, you might be uncomfortable during the way to work. And you might have limited options when it comes to features in the car. Therefore, by investing in a decent car, you will have better journeys to work. The vehicle might have extras like heated seats and multiple radio stations to keep you entertained during the trip. Also, a lot of the newer models have a built-in sat nav so that if a road is closed during your commute, it will quickly ensure you find another route before you get stressed out!

 

And talk to your boss about flex working. After all, working from home can give you a better work-life balance. And it will mean you can cut back on those awful commutes every single day.

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Don’t Forget These Less Common Marketing Methods

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If you haven’t realized by now how important marketing is for your business, then you’re in for a pretty rude awakening. After all, you need customer in order to make your business viable, and there’s know what that’s going to happen if customers don’t know that you exist. This means that most businesses are aware of the importance of marketing and have strategies in place for it. However many of them tend to stick with the same old techniques and strategies that every other business uses. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that, but it does mean that it’s going to be harder to stand out in a sea of competitors. Customers have never had so many businesses to choose from, and if you’re not willing to get creative with your marketing, then you’re never going to be able to get their attention. With that in mind, here are some less common marketing methods that your business might well benefit from using.

 

Trade shows

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https://www.flickr.com/photos/john_hall_associates/3012058350

 

Trade shows are an absolutely fantastic way to market your business, but it seems as though a lot of modern startups don’t consider them to be a particularly useful marketing strategies. Far too often they assume that the rise of online technology has meant that digital marketing has completely taken over from getting out into the physical world. Trade shows give you the chance to network with lots of businesses and potential customers. You don’t need some big spectacular presentation either. You can make some genuine connections armed with just some trade show displays, a stack of business cards and a winning smile. No matter how much technology takes over; there will never be a substitute for actually getting to speak to people face to face.

 

Viral marketing

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https://www.flickr.com/photos/132604339@N03/27323699560

 

One of the things that has had the biggest impact on the way that many businesses go about marketing themselves is the fact that younger generations simply don’t respond to traditional advertising. Whether it’s because they were raised on more media than any previous generation or whether it’s because they are the first generation to grow up online, but younger people simply don’t respond to traditional advertising the way that their parents and grandparents did. This means that you’ve got to go about things differently and viral marketing is a great way of doing that. If you can create something that’s going to be shared on social media, then you’re able to take advantage of an extraordinary form of word-of-mouth that can potentially reach and audience of millions.

 

Street art

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https://www.goodfreephotos.com/italy/milan/street-art-in-Milan.jpg.php

 

Going in completely the opposite direction but if you want to reach a large audience outside of the digital world then why not think about something like street art. Plenty of businesses have had huge success with this grassroots marketing method. If you pick the right spot then you’re pretty much guaranteed a lot of foot traffic and if you make it eye-catching enough then it’s going to draw a great deal of attention from passers-by.

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Your Water Could Be Affecting You More Than You Know

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You probably know that water is good for you, and that it plays a huge part in keeping the world going. Drinking 2 litres of the stuff per day is recommended by experts everywhere. We use it to wash ourselves and our dishes, to remove sewage waste, and so much more. However, your water can affect you and your surroundings in other ways too. Here’s how your water could be affecting you and your home more than you know:

 

Fluoride in Tap Water

There are a few things you should know about fluoride. In the past, people used to claim that it was good for the teeth. That it helped to strengthen them, and therefor meant individuals and families should drink lots of the stuff. However, the negative effects of tap water can be far more dangerous. There’s actually no real evidence that shows fluoride having a positive effects on the teeth. It can, however, have negative effects on your physical and mental state. It has been linked with dementia, thyroid disease, muscle disorders, and more. Some places in the world don’t need to worry about fluoride, but some still do. You’ll need to research based on your location, but this form of mass medication that many have no say in should be stopped! In the US, around 67% of the population receive this water, as well as 10% of the UK population.

 

Chemicals When Showering

When taking a hot shower, you could actually be breathing in many different chemicals. Chlorine is one chemical often added to water, so this could mean you’re ingesting lots of it as you shower, and even absorbing it through the skin. The only real way you can combat this threat is by installing a shower filter.

 

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Hard And Soft Water

There are lots of pros and cons to both hard and soft water. The one you have in your home will depend on where you are in the world, and even where you are in the country. Hard water, for instance, can be better for plants, but can be very rough on the hands. Soft water isn’t great for drinking as it doesn’t have any minerals, but it passes through pipes easily without blocking them with limescale. Did you know that if you have hard water, your appliances could also deteriorate faster? Not only that, hard water isn’t as good for cleaning when used with soap. All kinds of things go into how effective your water is for cleaning, including the temperature and mineral content.

There’s tons of good information here that you can use to decide what to do about the water in your home. There are many different filters and softeners you can look at to help keep your home running smoothly.

Different Types Of Bottled Water

Different types of bottled water really do make a difference. Studies on some bottled water showed that they were actually just as bad for you as fluoride filled tap water. Some even come from a tap and are marketed to make you think they were taken from a spring. Even if you buy the right kind of bottled water, you need to be careful of a few different things. If you leave a bottle of water in the car for too long and it is exposed to sunlight, for instance, the plastic bottle can react with the heat and sunlight and have a dangerous reaction with the water. You don’t want to end up drinking this!

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Your Good Habits Are Harmful

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Most people have gotten themselves into a little routine when it comes to their toilet behavior. However, most of the time, these toilet habits of ours are based on zero research and are just the product of our preferences, our lifestyle and, in a lot of cases, our phobias. But your toilet habit probably has a lot in common with Rihanna, in the sense that they are good habits gone bad.

 

It could be that you squat over the seat instead of sitting on it, or you take a little you-time before hitting the bed for a good night’s sleep, or you give your teeth a good old scrub after you eat. Of course, all these habits are based on good intentions and what we all believe to be the best thing, but all too often they aren’t. In fact, your habits, which are based on guesswork, may well be do a whole lot more damage to your body than they are good. Some of them may even be putting you into a problematic place that can be hard to solve later in life.

 

Luckily for you, we have come up with a few myth-busters that will hopefully clear the air a little bit. We don’t want you to go on believing that your healthy habits are healthy when they aren’t. As such, here are a few bits of educated advice.

 

Brushing Post-Eating

It is what we call the Matthew McConaughey habit, whereby you carry a toothbrush around with you at all times so that you can give your mouth a good old scrub the moment you’ve chowed down on a meal or enjoyed a little snack. Of course, brushing your teeth is a very healthy thing to do and a habit that must be maintained. However, your excellent habit may require a little bit of tweaking, by which we mean it is best to wait for roughly thirty minutes before you take a brush to your teeth, especially after consuming acidic foods. The reason for this is the protection of your gorgeous enamel. So if you’ve just chomped on some citrus fruits, or tomatoes, or guzzled some fizzy drinks (including sports drinks), then you should wait for a half-hour because these are notorious enamel-softeners. As such, any scrubbing you do of soft enamel runs the risks of breaking it down more permanently and even cause a significant amount of harm to the layer of teeth beneath the enamel. So, yeah, wait at least thirty minutes, preferably an hour, and then brush. Alternatively, give your mouth a little rinse with some cold water first to wash away as much of the acidity as possible, and then brush. Simple.

 

Squatting And Not Sitting

This is a very common one and that is because no one trusts public loos. It could be a restroom at the side of a motorway, or it could be the bathroom at work, either way, a lot of people get grossed out by the uncleanliness of loo seats. They get grossed out by it and thus decide to squat over the seat and not sit on them. However, this turns out to be extremely bad for your body. First off, squatting requires more straining, which increases your chances of getting piles and thus having to invest in Venapro. The other thing squatting can cause is urinary tract infections, which are extremely unpleasant, uncomfortable and undesirable. The reason this happens is because squatting basically squeezes the area around the urethra, which stops the bladder from doing all of its business, thus failing to flush out all of the nasty bacteria that it needs to flush out.

 

Choosing To Do Chores

This one is probably going to please you somewhat, while also annoying you somewhat. However, when you get back from work, or back from wherever, and you find your house isn’t spotless, we all tend to do our best to counter this. It may even be part of daily routine. Get in, start tidying, start clearing, start ticking chores off the list and start paying overdue bills. But while this is doing your house a little bit of good, it does not necessarily do you any good. In fact, it isn’t at all, and that is because it is increasing your stress levels at a time in the day where you should be relaxing. There is this hormone called cortisol, which increased with stress, and the more it increases the more likely you are to suffer from mental and physical health problems. So, don’t worry so much about your chores, or worrying, but do your worrying in the morning and not the evening. Simple.

 

Eat Less More Often

That is one of the things we always seem to hear, this factoid about grazing on food throughout the day being better for you than three large meals. We’re told it keeps us in better shape and prevents overindulgence and allows us to digest foods better and all sorts of things, most of which are nonsense. The first thing is, don’t eat anything late at night. It will do the exact opposite of helping you lose weight. Why? Well, because our bodies are optimized for eating throughout the day; it is when our metabolic systems are firing on all cylinders, allowing us to harvest all the nutrients we can in the shortest amount of time. This is good. So while grazing has its perks, it usually leaves us hungry deep into the evening, an urge that can be hard to resist, meaning all of your hard work in the day is completely pointless. What do we recommend then? Well, it’s not too much of a sacrifice but eat your breakfast after 7.15am and don’t eat your dinner any later than 6.45pm. This is usually impossible because nine to five jobs are now eight to six-thirty jobs, but if you can follow these eating rules then do. You’ll feel the benefits, and you’ll see them too, both of which will increase your wellbeing and health. Amazing.

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