Another apartment post.

Aloha.

Finally have a desk set up with the appropriate equipment needed to be a social, contributing member of society. As you can see, I have my tall mug of coffee, my required water for the day, and my lovely MacBook Pro. Useful for me because I do a lot of media editing, not great for others though.

I am sporting some very old-school dell speakers. They may be old, but they produce better sound that most modern speakers.

Anyway, just updating you on my current home status. As a frequent and favourite blogger, you are surely aware that the better state my home is, the better quality these posts will be.

(Inside joke. If you haven't been following from the start, disregard that.)

Anyhow. Hope these aren't boring you guys, I'm almost finished unpacking and what not, so I can fall back into routine soon.

Floor mattresses are so comfortable, I don't know why I bother with bedframes.

Take care of yourselves.

- Oscar.

Magic Food.

Evening gentlemen.

(I will refer to all my wonderful, amazing, and might I add devilishly attractive followers as gentlemen. Don't feel bad if you don't fit in to the male demographic, simply put on a top hat and you're in.)

Tonight, a short list of what I like to call Magic Food. I personally find these to be energy boosters or high in important vitamins and what not. Take it or leave it, just like to make it known.

As always, don't eat them if you're allergic or not hungry. I won't be held responsible if somebody dies. I love you all.

The Magic List

Lentils. Lentils are small dried foods similar to nuts, that are rich in protein and full of delicious-ness. Best served in soup or dry if you can handle them. That former statement made them sound like a hardcore food. Lentils - can you handle them?


Green Vegetables. A broad term used for anything and everything green and vegetable-like. These are rich in most vitamins such as A, B1 and B2. Add to any meal or sandwich to get the boost you need.


Bananas. Natures energy bar, these are full of vitamin C, potassium, and the necessary fuel to help protein synthesis. These little super-fruits also contain the highest amount of healthy carbohydrates than any other fruit.

"When the time comes, you'll know what to do." - Adam West, as he hands Quagmire a banana.


Yoghurt. As I've already mentioned, yoghurt is a high-quality and delicious food. Ranking in my top 3 favourite foods, yoghurt contains high-amounts of good bacteria, vitamin B, potassium and all the benefits of dairy products. Pot set is my favourite, but any greek is also good. Don't but the sugary stuff, it's no good.


Oats. Oats are whole-grain napalm, with important dietary fibre and slow release energy, these are found in many foods, but concentrated in oatmeal (No way, really?). A great way to start your day.


Avocado. A source of healthy fats and other good stuff, it's an amazing addition to any sandwich, and can be used as a substitute for butter. It's green, it's good and it's sometimes gold depending on how old it is.

Wholemeal Bread. This should be a given. White bread is just so terrible for you. Whole grain tastes bad in my opinion, so I settle for wholemeal, which is free from most nasty chemicals, full of fiber and tastes great.

Well, that's it for now. I hope some of you start to enjoy some of this food, as I find my diet affects my life greatly.

All the best.

- Oscar.

Power of Assosciation.

Ahh, it's nice to have my beloved laptop back in use.

Good Evening folks. After relentless banter, packing and unpacking and a night spent in a car, I have finally moved into my new apartment! Seeing as this is my first accommodation bought outright, I feel rather elated. Seeing as I've only unpacked two of 9 boxes of stuff, and all my furniture lies in disassembled heaps, I have much work to do tomorrow. I am also lucky enough to have moved right next to a Thai restaurant and general chinese shop. I love St Lucia already.

Above: The grand total of furniture assembled in my flat.

Anyway, enough about my excruciatingly mundane life. Tonight is a night for adventure into the depths of the human mind. Not really, but we can learn to trick ourselves into feeling good when exposed to certain things. A common occurence is when we feel sexual thrill with certain women, or when our stomachs twist when we hear of gruesome death. Our mind learns from experience, and with this, we can train it to create certain associations and forget old ones.

Similar to false memory implantation, an the old string-on-the-finger trick, association helps our sub-conscious remember what it likes and what it dislikes. I'm sure you can make an educated guess as the where this post is going. However, mind over, well, mind, is not such an easy task. As is more often than not the most powerful way to overcome a task, subtly is required to trick yourself into a better mood.

Anyone who has ever suffered from minor insomnia or sleep deprivation will know of the constant exposure strategy. Leaving small notes around the house reminding you to sleep and what not will plant seeds of fatigue within you. This tactic can be implemented for a number of problems such as minor eating disorders, lack of discipline, memory loss or for simply learning things. I'm sure we can all recite the dominoes pizza number by wrote, but how many of us sat down and tried to remember it? Lines from movies, prices for food, street names and locations, these are all generally due to constant exposure. Which is why you'll find that locals know much more than you do. I can barely find my way out of the suburb and yet, fellow students could find their way to a packet of noodles blindfolded.

Strict diet? Then why add fuel to the fire. By playing your favourite music, putting on a movie or simply enjoying the scenery, you may find that your mind wanders from the taste of endless salads and connects the green goodness with an enjoyable activity. Turning routine to habit is the key. It should come to the point where if you hear your favourite track, you automatically reach for an invisible apple, or call up information from the depths of your knowledge.

Physical reminders are, I find, the most potent associative tool in your arsenal. Whether it be a wristband put on for the sake of a promise, or a necklace worn to remind you of self-discipline, the constant physical reminder serves a great purpose in keeping us aware of our obligations. Again, you will find repetition a powerful ally in creating external memories.

If you're interested i the science behind fake memories, a quick search will render many informative sites which show evidence for either which way. Associative Psychology is a course in it's own and cannot be summed up in a simply blog post by a mere student. However, I hope this has helped you create the oppurtunity to overcome forgetfulness & lack of discipline.

A trained mind is not a caged one, rather, it is free of servitude to impulsive notions and desires.

Have a great day. I mean it, this blog brings me happiness and I am warmed to simply be able to share my ideas with such audience.

- Oscar.

Well, fuck.

Good morning,

So I'm posting this thanks to my esteemed neighbours lending me their laptop to just fix up some "office stuff".

Basically, I went to move into my new apartment, with all my boxes and luggage outside. And the landlord has had the locks changed. Apparently he had ordered it for the previous tenants before they moved out, and he didn't know the order still went through.

Apologies for not having a lengthy post, trying to find a place to sleep tonight.

Hope you're having a better day than I.

Keep healthy and what not.

- Oscar

CoQ10

Good afternoon ladies and gents.

Just another short post, I know, but I've been rather busy lately. Moving into a new apartment. You never realise how much stuff you have until you need to fit it into boxes.

Anyway, I'd just like to talk about the lovely powdered product, CoQ10.
(You can get it in pill form, however, I love the little scoops you obtain within the powdered ones.)

Coenzyme Q10 is the fancy name for a dietary supplement that can be bought in most chemists. It occurs naturally in some foods, however, not enough of it is ever absorbed so that you can reap the benefits of this magic powder.

To view all the health benefits, you can go to the wikipedia page ->http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coenzyme_Q10#Supplementation_benefits

CoQ10 promotes cellular energy by improving the efficiency of the mitochondria in your cells. This, in turn, helps to maintain a healthy heart and cardiovascular system. It's a great all round booster, improving your energy and overall health. As with all supplements, the effects are gradual but noticable. I've been taking this for 6 months now and I can tell you with sincere honesty, it is the best supplement I've ever taken (and I've tried a lot).

Anyway, the price for said powder varies depending on where you are. I picked my little tub up for 15 dollars, and one tub usually lasts around 1-2 months. If you do end up trying it, let me know how it works for you.

As always, this is based on my personal experience (apart from the science-y part.) All things in moderation, always follow the label and what not.

Take care of yourselves, next post will be a rant.

- Oscar.

Energy Efficiency.

Just a short post tonight,

From the moment we wake up to the moment we fall asleep, we have limited amounts of energy. This is determined by our health, our diet, our mood, and hundreds of other variables. And the more and more energy we use up, the harder it is to use what's left. The key to maximizing the efficiency of this limited energy is understanding where most of it is used.

Don't waste your time and energy with fruitless and tiresome activities. Not to say don't enjoy yourself, but we can't dodge our responsibilities forever, so best to do them well I say.

Just another point. When you miss your recommended eight hours of sleep, you build up what's called sleep debt. This literally means you're going to have to pay those off someday. So try not to gamble with your hours, you can't beat city hall.

Enjoy yourselves, stay healthy.

- Oscar.

Procrastination & Consequential Avoidance.

Hello,

I would say good evening/afternoon, except the pleasantry may be lost due to A) It's shite weather or B) The majority of people reading this are most likely not living in Brisbane. If you are however living in Brisbane, and the weather is better where you live, don't feel bad, your day is nearly over so it can't be ruined. I hope.

Tonight I'd like to address the topic of procrastination. I happen to know for a fact that all of us here are extremely familiar with it. I know I am. Yes, the all too common "I'll do it later", "Just after this" "I CAN'T SAVE THE GAME, HANG ON!" (It's important to note that if you had never experienced the water temple in Legend of Zelda, you have no idea how applicable this is). Procrastination is simply delaying something you don't want to do, to continue something you do want to do. Put like that, it doesn't sound so bad, right? But I'm sure we're all aware it doesn't work like that. Procrastinating often leads to poor work output, poor quality of work, horrible time management and an overall lack of organization in ones life. (Noted in previous posts, I am not trying to say you should live by a schedule. Rather, I advocate the building of the self-discipline required to apply yourself to a schedule when needed. )

Separated from procrastination, is Consequential Avoidance. A fancy name I came up with that simply means avoiding something because it will suck. For the purpose of clarity, in the post, Consequential Avoidance falls under Procrastination, but Procrastination IS NOT Consequential Avoidance. If that makes sense. An example of consequential avoidance would be not going rock-climbing with your significant other because it makes you nervous. Not the best example, but my mind is rather cloudy today (ironic, right?). In total, CA is because there is a consequence affecting you, Proc. is because you just can't be bothered, or are enjoying what you're doing now.

Overcoming Procrastination.

I'll tell you later. (I would sincerely like to apologise for that joke, it was terrible taste and you didn't deserve that kind of treatment. Take me back, please?)

There is literally a never-ending list of tips & tricks to developing the motivation needed for getting up and doing something. The steps I will list are, as always, my opinion, and can be tinkered with as needed. The situation I will use as an example would be getting yourself to stop browsing/gaming/watching and to start studying/exercising/cooking.

Self-laid traps.

When you walk through your bedroom/office/front door, what do you see? If you see any of these, you have laid traps for yourself to over-indulge and procrastinate.

- Unmade bed. We all know beds are most comfortable when they're a tangle of sheets and duvets, and it's a great sensation to get home and just crash on your bed. But often you'll find you may fall asleep, or simply spend too much time lying there, letting your thoughts wander. It's great on holidays, but not when you have tasks to do. Make your bed when you get up, not only is this better for keeping you focused, it's also more hygienic (I think) and keeps your room looking good.

- Musical Instruments. Easily accessible and incredibly entertaining. If you keep it out of sight (in the cupboard or somewhere, not shipped anonymously to your friend) you are far less likely to "jam".

- If you leave your computer/tv on during the day, and come through the door, guess what has your attention first? Turn it off, it saves your work and your power.

- Neat freak? Do you tidying in the morning, it will help stimulate brain activity for the rest of the day, and you'll get your tidying fix.

- If you plan to shower when you get home, make sure you keep it short, and not too warm. Blasting yourself with cold water snaps you awake, among other things.

- KEEP YOUR GAMES AND MOVIES IN A SEPERATE PLACE FROM YOUR COMPUTER. I can't stress this enough. Especially if you're male, we're biologically hardwired to fit stuff together. Not joking, why do you think you play minecraft.

Motivation

Most procrastination is due to lack of motivation. Everyone has a vice, so if you know it, use it. Otherwise, here's a short list of things that might get you going.

- Reward yourself afterwards. I don't care how. A cookie, a car, time to read your favourite blog, it doesn't matter.

- Think about the repercussions. Your mind is a creative tool of unimaginable power. I'm sure it can put 2 and 2 together, get four, and then multiply that tenfold. Just think. If you don't cook that meal, you'll have to order pizza, which will then cost money, which comes out of your saving for the new special edition Gibson ES with the faded finish, which leaves you feeling guilty, which leads you to remember other times. So on so forth. Exaggeration is not a crime.

- Plan out your work during the day. If you have a rough idea of what you're doing, you'll obviously do it better, and with more enthusiasm.

And lastly, don't be a child about things. Life is hard, arduous, and plain boring at some times. But if we went skydiving all day every day, it wouldn't be the shriek-inducing adrena-fest it is. (My friends and I are going skydiving for my birthday this year. I'm terrified. If anyone's skydived before, let me know what it's like, I'll be jumping at 10 000ft.)

Tip. Once you've started working, it is much easier to continue it. If you just give yourself the necessary push to start, you'll find it's easy from there.

Consequential Avoidance.

Truth be told, there isn't much you can do about this. But I will say this.

If you're going to hate doing something, but you do it anyway, make damn sure you do it right. You don't want to have to repeat things that can be avoided.

I know that response is short, but I really don't have the answers for that one. I would just like to acknowledge it in this post because it is somewhat different to plain old procrastination.

To finish up, it's important to know what needs to be done and what can wait. If you're on top and efficient with your tasks, you'll find that the more time you spend on them, the more time you open up for indulging activities.

I would also like to leave you with this quote. I can't remember where I saw it, but I'm sure I'll see it tomorrow. It's a little strong, but the principle is still there.

"Life's a bitch. Make it your bitch."

- Oscar.