Tips To Be More Productive

2019-08-272019-08-27 by Steph

What’s up ? This is THE stephane ANDRE !!! I heard Olivier Roland’s tips and I learned some good stuff.

You know, sometimes I worked all day like crazy and at the end of the day, I felt like I haven’t progressed. Maybe you have already experienced this? That’s why I’m always learning new things to be as productive as possible. There are 2 books that help improve productivity and time management, it’s “Getting Things Done” and “Cut To The Chase” .

Here are tips from these 2 books to improve all this.

If a task can be done in less than 2 minutes, do it right away

Immediately make a task that requires less than 2 minutes has several benefits:

Adding a task on your To-do list requires less than 2 minutes, it’s the same number of minutes as for a task that can be done right away.
It’s more efficient to add the task that require more than 2 minutes on the To-do list, otherwise this list will be endless and unmanageable.
Don’t make a task that requires less than 2 minutes right away can have disproportionate consequences in relation to the time needed to achieve it (like sending a confirmation or cancellation message).

So remember, if this task takes less than 2 minutes, do it now.

Warning

Sometimes you have to plan moments to focus only on a task or an important project. These specific moments shouldn’t be interrupted, even by a task than requires less than 2 minutes.

Try it so you don’t have any insomnia

Insomnia reduce productivity. Often the source of insomnia is malaise, bad mood, stress, poor sleep hygiene, etc. Insomnia can have serious consequences in the relation with others and can also cause road accidents, drowsiness, memory loss, absenteeism and the list goes on.

For chronic insomnia, it’s advisable to see a doctor for treatment. For transient insomnia (up to 3 months), there is an tip to free your spirit of thoughts that obsesses you.

Put a paper and a pen next to your bed. When you have a thought that obsesses you, you write it on the paper and beside you write the action you have to do to erase this thought.

Here is 2 example:

If the thought is: “I have to send a quote to this client”. You note on the paper: “Client quote => Look for supplier prices”.
If the thought is: “I have to lose weight”, you note “Lose weight => Look for a personal trainer”.

As you write down your thoughts and the action you should take, you should feel more peaceful.

Have an attitude “Let’s go see”

Sometimes, going on the field can help you learn more than analyze data on your computer. So the next time there is a problem, go see for yourself on the field. This may allow you to have ideas for finding a solution more quickly.

Don’t use a foul language in the workplace

It may sound like grandparent’s advice but it’s common sense. When you use a foul language, you can offend a person without knowing it. A person who doesn’t feel offended in the workplace is a serene and productive person. An offended person doesn’t want to work and wants to find another job. Many entrepreneurs have lost talented people because of their foul language without knowing it.

Not using foul language avoids conflict and difficult situations to manage.

When you do something, ask yourself why you do it

Often we do things out of habit, without wondering if it’s worth doing. This can waste time and energy and it would be better to stop doing this task or delegate it.

So regularly, ask yourself this question: “What happens if I delete this task?”. If the answer is nothing, stop doing this task. If the answer is something else, look if you can delegate this task.

Do it

No matter what dream you have, do it realize in your life. Here is a quote from Goethe: “Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it”.

Close the loop

has anyone ever told you, “Well call you back if there’s a problem”. And 2 week later you have no news and you wonder if everything works well. I know there is this quote: “No news is good news” but it’s frustrating t be in uncertainty. When a person doesn’t close the loop, it leaves others waiting and this can complicate relations. Don’t be like these people, stay in touch to avoid complicated situations.

Don’t let your smartphone become your master

With new technologies, we can stay in touch 24h/24h. But that’s not a reason for every smartphone notifications to be a priority. Sometimes I see people, every time there is a notification, they take their smartphone as if it was the end of the world. No matter where they’re and no matter what they do.

Define time slots and limits for the use of new technologies. Turn them off when you need to be focused for a task or meeting. Let others know that you no longer look at your emails and messages after a certain hour or weekends.

With that, you create a clear border between the moment you work and your private moments. It allows you to destress.

Personally, I turned off the sound for notifications from my smartphone. It’s really cool to do that, I’m more serene.

Save your computer file regularly

There are 2 types of users:

Who often back up
Who don’t back up until the day they lose important data

Losing files on a job you’ve been working on for months is very annoying. So backup often and take advantage to make copies at different locations (such as an external hard drive). With Cloud, you also have access to Google Drive and Dropbox which are very effective. Better to save than not enough.

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-Steph

Sudden Cardiac Death

2019-03-242019-01-30 by Steph

What’s up ? This is THE stephane ANDRE. With my training, I’m interested in biomechanics to avoid injuries. I read « Sport Medicine Media Guide » and I learned some good stuff.

Sudden cardiac death (SCD) is an extremely rare event. The most common reason for cardiac death related to sports is the cardiomyopathy hypertrophic, an abnormal enlargement of cardiac muscle. It’s a rare heart disease that predispose a person of SCD because of physical exertion.

Commotio cordis is another reason for SCD. It’s a direct trauma to the chest at a specific moment in the cardiac cycle and this trauma triggers a dangerous arrtyhmia (abnormal rhythm) of electrical system of the heart. A commotio cordis usually arrives in sports where a blunt projectile, such as baseball ball or hockey puck, hits the athlete’s chest.

Treatment

Cardiac arrhythmias that threaten the lives of young athletes are very difficult to treat. The immediate use of AED (automated external defibrillator) can provide an advantage.

Prevent

sudden, cardiac, death, sport, hearth, athlete, scd

Unfortunately, the only way to prevent death from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is to identify the disease and recommend the athlete avoid any strenuous activities. Cardiac ultrasound can diagnose this condition. Some experts have called for the screening of athletes with ultrasound or electrocardiograms (EKG), although this screening is controversial because of the high cost and scarcity of this condition.

However, athletes with cardiac symptoms such as dizziness, fatigue, shortness of breath in relation to physical activity, palpitations, convulsions and especially syncope (fainting) must stop the competitions and must do deeper tests.

In addition, a family history of cardiac abnormalities justifies a complete cardiac evaluation. Especially a known parent with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy or a history unexplained sudden death in a family member.

There is the creation of different forms of protection for the chest and pads, but unfortunately no method has prevented this tragic event. The rules regularly change in the sport and some times to try to avoid commotio cordis. For example in baseball and softball, it’s the limitation of the use of aluminium bat. This rule can protect the pitcher by decreasing the speed of the ball after contact with the bat. There are other rules too, such as using a softer ball and teaching players to turn their chest when the ball is hit by the bat.

Stats

Fortunately, SCD is extremely rare in the sport. For the majority of people do sports to cardiac benefits.
In young athetes, the most common causes of SCD are 25-30% hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and 20% commotio cordis.
Coronary artery abnormalities are the cause of 14% of SCD in athletes.
Marc-Vivian Foe, a Cameroonian soccer star had a sudden cardiac death during a match in 2003.

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-Steph

P.S. If you’re in Miami and you like Caribbean food, go to my cousin’s bistro to eat Haitian food, click here .

Machine Trunk Rotation

2019-03-242018-08-07 by Steph

What’s up ? This is THE stephane ANDRE ! I read a Frederic Delavier’s book « Strength Training Anatomy » and I learned good stuff.

Attention

Torso’s rotation in the machine are proscribed for people suffering from lower back or having already had a herniated disc, as they might aggravate or reappear this lumbar pathology.

Standing on the turntable with your hands on the handles :

Rotate your pelvis from one side to the other, keeping your shoulders fixed and controlling the rotation. Your knees are slightly bent to avoid the risk of ligament stretching.

This exercise works mainly external and internal obliques and a little less rectus abdominis. Sets with high reps give better results.

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-Steph

Broomstick Twists

2019-03-242018-06-14 by Steph

What’s up ? This is THE stephane ANDRE ! I read a Frederic Delavier’s book « Strength Training Anatomy » and I learned good stuff.

Standing with your legs apart and the stick placed on your trapezius above your posterior deltoids. Your hands are on the stick but don’t press on it :

Make a torso rotation on one side then the other, keeping your pelvis motionless with an isometric contraction of your glutes.

This exercise works when your right shoulder is forward : the right external oblique, left internal oblique and a little bit rectus abdominis, quadratus lumborum and extensor spinae on the left side.

For more intensity, it’s possible to slightly round your back. A variant is to do this movement sitting on a bench, which will block your pelvis and focus the effort on your abs.

It’s with sets of several minutes that you get the best results.

Attention

Torso rotations are prohibited for people suffering from low back or having had a herniated disc as this may aggravate or resurgence of this lumbar pathology.

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-Steph

General Stretching Of The Upper Body

2019-03-242018-06-07 by Steph

What’s up ? This is THE stephane ANDRE ! I read a Frederic Delavier’s book « Strength Training Anatomy » and I learned good stuff.

Stand with your feet a little wider than your pelvis width and you back is straight :

Hold your ams vertically with your hands clasped and your fingers crossed. Your palms directed upwards :
Inhale to inflate your lungs to the maximum and stretch your intercostal muscles. Push your palms up keeping your back and head upright.
Exhale slowly by relaxing and starts again.

This stretching exercise stretches intercostal, rectus abdominis, latissimus dorsi, teres major, triceps. When you incline your torso laterally, you stretch more your external oblique and internal oblique, quadratus lumborum and the internal and medium part of your erectors spinae.

Note

This stretch is great for relaxing the body after a training with heavyweights like leg press, squat, deadlift because the ribcage and spine have been compressed.

This movement may occasionally replace or supplement the stretching at the bar to rebalance the pressure and tensions of the intervertebral joints.

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-Steph

Incline Bench Sit-Ups

2018-05-07 by Steph

I read a Frederic Delavier’s book « Strength Training Anatomy » and I learned good stuff.

Sitting on the bench with your feet under the pads and your hands behind your neck. Inhale and tilt your torso without ever exceeding 20° :

Move your torso back up by slightly rounding your back to better target the effort on recuts abdominis

Exhale at the end of the movement.

This exercise work the entire rectus abdominis muscles and iliopsoas, rectus femoris and tensor fasciae latae (these last 3 muscles help pelvis anteversion). This movement is to do with high sets.

Variant

When you back up, you can do a rotation of your torso to transfer a part of the effort to the obliques.

Example

A rotation to the left work more intensely right abdominal external oblique, left abdominal internal oblique and rectus abdominis on the right. Twists can be done alternately or unilaterally. The goal is to focus on the muscular sensation and it’s unnecessary to incline the bench too much.

Diagram showing the senses of action of abdomen muscle and the system of viscera’s compression

Rectus abdominis
Abdominal external oblique
Abdominal internal oblique
Transverse abdominal

With quadrupeds, the entire rectus abdominis muscles passively support the viscera (like a hammock ) and help a little in locomotion.

With human being in bipedal mode, the entire rectus abdominis muscles have hugely strengthened so that the torso and pelvis is upright and prevent the pelvis from tipping excessively during walking or running. They became powerful muscles of contention and they built a strong core to maintain viscera in an active way.

Share this article if you think it can help someone you kow. Thank you.

-Steph

Gym Ladder Sit-Ups

2018-05-01 by Steph

I read a Frederic Delavier’s book « Strength Training Anatomy » and I learned good stuff.

Hook you feet in the gym ladder with your thighs vertically. Your back to the floor and your hands behind your head :

Inhale and raise your torso as high as possible by rounding your spine.
Exhale at the end of the movement.

This exercise mainly works rectus abdominis and a little bit internal and external obliques.

It’s good to know that farther is your torso from the gym ladder and hook your feet lower, this increases the mobility of the pelvis. This allows a greater range of motion and works more flexors muscles of the hips (iliopsoas, rectus femoris and tensor fasciae latae).

Share this article if you think it can help someone you know. Thank you.

-Steph