Post written by Leo Babauta. Follow me on Twitter.

New York Times techonology writer David Pogue, a writer I admire, recently listed some of his best productivity tips — and it’s a good list. One thing I noted with interest is that he uses his email inbox as a to-do list, which is a fairly common practice.

And while there’s certainly nothing wrong with that, and I’ve done it myself, I wanted to make a quick counterargument.

An email inbox isn’t the best to-do list, and here’s why:

1. You can’t change the subject lines. This means your to-do list is made up of subject lines that often have nothing to do with the action you need to take. An email that says “today’s meeting” might really be an action to call someone or send a file to someone. You’ll need to open each email to find the actions, which is very inefficient. Or, you’ll need to remember what actions are associated with each email, and that defeats the point of a to-do list … the list is supposed to remember for you, and take the stress away from your brain.

2. There might be multiple actions in each email. What if an email contains 10 to-do items? You can’t delete or archive the email when you’ve done one or two of the actions. It’ll remain in your inbox until all 10 are done, as if nothing has been done. Also, you might forget that there are multiple actions in an email and file or delete it when you’ve done one of the actions — either that or you’ll be forced to remember that there are multiple actions in the email, again defeating the purpose of a to-do list.

3. You can’t re-order the emails (usually). Many email programs (such as the wonderful Gmail) just show the emails in the order they come in. Which means if you want to put the most important items at the top, you can’t. If you want to group all the items for errands, you’ll have to create a label for that and look there. It’s not as flexible as even the most simple to-do program.

4. You can’t prioritize your to-dos. Most readers know that I’m a fan of choosing your top 3 Most Important Tasks each day (see The Power of Less and Zen To Donefor more). But you can’t list just your top 3 Most Important Tasks in email — you have to list them all. In the order they come in. It’s possible to do a workaround for this, and create a label or folder just for important tasks, but then why use your email as a to-do list? Why not use an actual to-do list that works the way it’s supposed to?

5. An email inbox contains distractions. This is probably the worst thing on this list: if you’re looking at your to-dos in email, you’re in very big danger of new emails coming in and distracting you. I think it’s a bad idea to have email on all the time — it makes it difficult to focus. I’d prefer a simple to-do list that allows you to shut off email while you’re trying to get important work done.

So what’s a better method? Simple: choose a simple to-do list and as you process your email inbox, pull out the actions to the to-do list. A notebook or index card works fine, as does a simple program such as Taskpaper (my current favorite) or even a text file in Notepad or TextEdit. If you set up a keyboard shortcut for your to-do app or file, it just takes a second to copy and paste a to-do from an email.

I’m not saying you can’t work well and get great things done using an email inbox as a to-do list. David Pogue obviously manages to get a lot done this way, and I’ve done it from time to time. But it’s not the best way, at least for those who like a simple way to find individual, actionable items, to prioritize tasks, and to work without distractions.

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If you liked this article, please share it on del.icio.us, StumbleUpon or Twitter. I’d appreciate it. :)

Post written by Leo Babauta. Follow me on Twitter.

One of the most striking things about my trip to Japan was how thin everyone was. I kept saying to my family, “There are no fat Japanese!”

That’s not entirely true, of course. Aside from sumo wrestlers, there are some Japanese people who are fat — but at least in my two-week trip to Tokyo, they were pretty hard to find.

Seriously: in America (including my hometown of Guam), you could walk around and half if not most of the people you see will be at least a little overweight. Many are outright obese. But in Japan, everyone is thin it seems. I could go a whole day without seeing a fat person, unless it was a tourist.

This is not groundbreaking news, I know — it’s long been known that the Japanese are among the healthiest people on Earth, with one of the lowest rates of obesity among developed nations and one of the longest average lifespans. But when you actually see it in person, it’s almost shocking.

During my stay in Japan, I formed some theories — and these won’t be groundbreaking either, but I think they’re worth reflecting on. Be aware, of course, that I’m not an expert in any related field here, and my observations are based on a two-week stay in Tokyo, and therefore are very, very limited. But here are the reasons the Japanese are not fat, in my opinion:

1. They eat a lot of seafood and veggies. It’s true that they eat red meat, and sometimes it’s fried. But red meat or poultry doesn’t seem to be the main staple of their diet as much as seafood, rice and veggies are. Meat seems to be eaten in smaller amounts (usually as a seasoning, not a main dish), or if it’s eaten in bigger amounts, it’s not an everyday occurrence. This is a generalization, of course, as is everything in this article, so there are many exceptions. Not everyone in Japan eats the same way.

2. They eat smaller portions. This is very striking, actually. While in American (and Guam) restaurants, the food is piled high in huge portions, or supersized in fast food restaurants, in Japanese restaurants the portions are … sensible. Not tiny, but definitely not large. You might get a bowl full of soup with some noodles and seafood (or meat), but if you take just the solid part it’s not a huge amount. Or you might get some seafood with rice and pickled veggies and miso soup — small amounts for each of those foods. The smaller portions is probably more important than the type of food they eat, in my opinion.

3. They walk and bike more than we do. This was pretty striking as well. It seems like everyone uses the subway stations and walks, every day. Their kids walk a good part of the way to school, instead of being dropped off by parents. And a LOT of people ride bicycles, everywhere. Usually not the kind you ride for exercise or training for races, but everyday, riding-around-the-city type of bicycles with baskets for a bag or two of groceries. This is all in contrast to us Americans, who ride cars everywhere, even to the corner store. (This is a generalization, of course — you my lovely readers are exceptions.)

It’s a combination of the walking, biking, eating smaller portions, and eating more seafood and veggies, that leads to the Japanese being pretty darn healthy in general. Any one of these changes would be a big improvement for most of us in America.

How I Lost 5 lbs. on My Summer Vacation
In just two weeks in Tokyo, without dieting or fasting, I lost 5 pounds and slimmed down.

I’m still not quite at my Leo vs. Bellyfat Challenge goal yet, but I’m getting there — I’m 17 lbs. lighter than I was when I started my challenge, all told. But the fastest fat loss during this challenge came in those two weeks.

And here’s the kicker: I wasn’t trying to lose weight!

Here’s how I did it:

1. I walked. For hours. Every day. My family and I walked all over Tokyo for two weeks — that’s me and Eva and the six kids, including one who rode around in a stroller. We walked about 15-20 minutes every morning to the subway station, then up and down stairs within the subway system (often transferring trains once or twice), then would walk for hours and hours exploring a new part of Tokyo. Then we’d repeat the subway trip and walk home, exhausted. Sometimes we’d walk for 10-12 hours in a day. Of course, we rested in between walking — stopping to enjoy a park or have a meal or a snack, or browse through a bookstore — but most of the time, we were walking. Great distances. Often hauling a 3-year-old toddler, a stroller, or a bag or two. Up and down lots of stairs and hills. It was an amazing amount of exercise, and by the end of the two weeks, my family and I were in great walking shape.

2. I ate moderate amounts. I didn’t stick to a meal plan, as I did early on in my Bellyfat Challenge, nor did I fast, as I started to do just before my Tokyo trip. I think both methods work great. But I decided to take a break from those methods during my vacation, and I didn’t worry about what or when I ate. My only thing was to eat until I was just full — to never stuff myself. I had desserts, I ate French fries (once in awhile), I ate white rice (I usually eat brown). I still ate fairly healthy most of the time, as I enjoy fruits and veggies a lot and fried foods kinda make me queasy, but I didn’t watch what I ate. I just ate moderate amounts.

These are really just my two Simple Fitness Rules, but the Tokyo tourist version of them, but they work. I didn’t have to worry as much about what I ate because I burned a ton of calories each day.

I hope to continue the walking, now that I’m back on Guam. As I’ve written about before, I’ve been walking more now that I’ve moved to a more central location here on Guam. I can walk to meetings, to restaurants, to see my sister, to the beach or playground. I’m going to step that up a little. There’s no way I can walk the ridiculous amounts I walked in Japan — I have a life, after all. But I hope to walk just about every day.

And not just for exercise — it’s important to walk with a purpose. While many of us will go walking for 30-45 minutes, for exercise, I’ve found that it’s better to walk somewhere, to do something. For example, when we walked all day around Tokyo Disneyland (which is obligatory if you have as many kids as I do), we didn’t think about walking — we were trying to get to the rides! And it was a fun (if tiring) day. On Guam, I hope to walk to places to do my work, walk with my kids to beaches and parks, go on hikes, walk on dates with my wife to restaurants and movies, walk to go on errands, and so on.

I encourage everyone to consider doing the same — you’ll be amazed at how great it feels.

Read more: Our Japan travel blog, and all our Japan photos.

Article by Zen Habits contributor Jonathan Mead; follow him on twitter.

Have you ever thought about why you get stuck?

I’m sure you have. There are entire industries built around productivity. There are multitudes of books, seminars, webinars, podcasts, blog posts, desktop apps, email apps, mobile apps, and physical products centered around helping you get things done. They are supposed to help you get unstuck, right? Because if you weren’t stuck, you wouldn’t need any of those things to keep you going.

But what if you didn’t need any of those things? What if you could solve all of your “problems” with getting things done with one simple question?

So the question is: Do I care?

Sure, sometimes you may have to do things you don’t really care to do. You probably don’t care much for cleaning litter boxes and filing your taxes. That’s a given. But we’re talking about the big things here, like the work you devote your life to.

Do you care about it? Be honest with yourself. Do you really care?

If you don’t care, allow that to be okay. At least you’re acknowledging the fact that you don’t care. Now you know that it’s not a water-tight productivity system you need to get you motivated. What you need is work that you give a damn about.

The first step is allowing yourself to not care and being honest with what you do care about it. That’s where most people get stuck. A lot of people spend their lives working on things they don’t care about, because they think it doesn’t matter that they don’t care. They think they’re supposed to suck it up and deal with it. Are you one of these people that believes it doesn’t matter if you don’t care about your work? It’s okay if you are. I used to be this way, too.

Then I realized something.

I discovered that not only is it valid to care about the work you do, it’s absolutely necessary. I used to think that you didn’t have a choice, or that doing work you love was some kind of luxury for the retired or gifted. And you know why? Because we’re taught that we can’t get paid to be ourselves. We’re taught that we need to become something in order to earn a paycheck.

Here’s some refreshing news: That’s an assumption.

More refreshing still: Just because a huge number of people believe in an assumption, doesn’t mean it’s true.

A lot of people once assumed the world was flat. And a lot of people now assume that work and play are not meant to coexist, that life must be a struggle. But the simple fact is, your life is a gift. To spend that gift in drudgery and grim duty is a waste.

So here’s the question you might want to ask now: How can I do what I care about?

Here are a few suggestions:

• Do something amazing.
• Start a revolution.
• Learn to give up caring about all the unimportant things.
• Pull out all the mental weeds to allow room for the things you care about to grow.
• Create a legacy project.
• Do something Epic.

If you allow yourself to stop caring about the things you don’t really care about, something amazing will start to happen. Once you move out all that attentional garbage, you finally create room for the things you love to take up residence in your life.

This article was written by Zen Habits contributor Jonathan Mead of Illuminated Mind.  For more unconventional ideas, grab a subscription to Illuminated Mind.

Post written by Leo Babauta. Follow me on Twitter.

If there’s an underlying theme throughout Zen Habits, besides simplifying your life, it’s finding happiness.

I’ve written dozens of articles on different ways to be happy, but it all boils down to one thing: be happy now — don’t wait for it.

Still, for those who want more depth, I’ve compiled a couple dozen of my favorite happiness articles from the archives. I hope you enjoy them! (If not, you’ve missed the point.)

• 18 Practical Tips for Living the Golden Rule
• Feeling Down? 7 Ways to Pick Yourself Back Up
• Savor the Little Things
• Peaceful Simplicity: How to Live a Life of Contentment
• The Art of Doing Nothing
• Calm as a Monk: How Equanimity Can Save Your Sanity
• A Guide to Escaping Materialism and Finding Happiness
• Why Living a Life of Gratitude Can Make You Happy
• A Guide to Cultivating Compassion in Your Life, With 7 Practices
• 75 Simple Pleasures to Brighten Your Day
• How to Accept Criticism with Grace and Appreciation
• A Simple Method to Avoid Being Judgmental (yes, that means you!)
• How to ‘Let It Be’ When You’re Upset
• 10 Great Ways to Show You’re Grateful Today
• 10 Simple, Sure-fire Ways to Make Today Your Best Day Ever
• Faith in Humanity: How to Bring People Closer, and Restore Kindness
• 17 Unbeatable Ways to Create a Peaceful, Relaxed Workday
• 10 Tips for Life’s Greatest Challenge: Love Thy Enemy
• 20 Things I Wish I Had Known When Starting Out in Life
• 12 Practical Steps for Learning to Go With the Flow
• Flip Your Karma: 8 Tricks to Turn the Bad Into the Awesome
• The Incredible Power of Contentment
• 15 Tips for Becoming as Patient as Job
• Life’s Enough: Stop Comparing Yourself to Others
• 32 Ways to Make Someone Happy Today
• Sound of Silence: How to Find Some Quietude in Your Life

Share your favorite posts with friends and family!

And more “Best of Zen Habits” posts on different topics:

1. Everything You Wanted to Know About Simplifying Your Life, and Way More
2. The Unsurpassable Productivity List: A Handy Guide to Getting Important Things Done
3. All The Best Tips on Getting In Shape, In One Handy List
4. The Golden Money List: Hundreds of Tips for Turning Your Financial Life Around
5. The Beginner’s Guide to Zen Habits

Note: I’m still in Japan but I’m missing you all. Also, Japan is awesome. - Leo

Post written by Leo Babauta. Follow me on Twitter.

We all make excuses.

But the successful ones are those who can kill the excuses like the miserable maggots they are.

I’m too tired. I don’t have the time. I don’t feel motivated. I’d rather do nothing. I don’t have the money, equipment, space. I can’t because …

We’ve all made the excuses. Here’s how to kill them.

1. See the positive. Excuses are usually made because we don’t feel like doing something — we’re accentuating the negative. Instead, see the fun in something, the joy in it. And maintain a positive attitude, or you’ll never beat the excuses.
2. Take responsibility. Excuses are ways to get out of owning up to something. If we don’t have the time, money, equipment, etc., then it’s not our fault, right? Wrong. Take responsibility, and own the solution.
3. Find a solution. Just about every problem has a solution. Don’t have time? Start with just 5-10 minutes. Make the time. Wake earlier. Do it during lunch. Don’t have a gym membership? Workout at home or in the office. Don’t have the energy? Do it when you have higher levels of energy. You’re smart. Figure out the solution.
4. See your goal. This is your motivation — your reason for doing it. Sure, you could just lay on the couch, but if you think about why you really want to pursue a goal, you’ll be motivated. Visualize that goal and just get started.
5. Be accountable. Have a workout partner, a project partner, a team, someone to report to. If you have to meet a coach or partner, you’re more likely to do something.
6. Go ahead and make your excuses. Then do it anyway.
7. Watch this. Then go an do it.

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If you liked this article, please share it on del.icio.us, StumbleUpon or Twitter. I’d appreciate it. :)

Post written by Leo Babauta. Follow me on Twitter.

While I enjoy the simple beauty of Japan, and all the awesomeness it contains, I thought I’d leave you guys with some of my favorite posts from the archives. Many of you haven’t dug through the massive archives (nearly 800 posts, at least half of them pretty decent), so I decided to cull through them and find a few nuggets you might have missed.

And if you’ve already read them, here’s a chance to enjoy them a second time. I’ve always believed we should get the most enjoyment out of things as possible. :)

1. How to Doggedly Pursue Your Dreams in the Face of Naysayers
2. 10 Benefits of Rising Early, and How to Do It
3. The Magical Power of Focus
4. Autopilot Achievement: How to Turn Your Goals Into Habits
5. Email Zen: Clear Out Your Inbox
6. How to NOT do everything on your to-do list
7. Handbook for Life: 52 Tips for Happiness and Productivity
8. How to Actually Execute Your To-Do List: or, Why Writing It Down Doesn’t Actually Get It Done
9. Haiku Productivity: Limit Your Work Week
10. Unproductivity: 8 Fantabulous Ways to Make the Most of Your Laziest Days
11. 5 Amazing Mac Apps for Getting Things Done (Plus a Custom-Rigged Setup)
12. Lazy Productivity: 10 Simple Ways to Do Only Three Things Today
13. The Art of Doing Nothing
14. What is truly necessary? A guide to living frugal
15. 20 Ways to Get Free or Cheap Books, and Give Away Your Old Ones
16. How to Find Peace Living With a Packrat
17. 15 Ways to Create an Hour a Day of Extra Time … for Solitude
18. The Zen of Running, and 10 Ways to Make It Work for You
19. 21 Tips on Keeping a Simple Home with Kids
20. A Guide to Creating a Minimalist Home

And more “Best of Zen Habits” posts on different topics:

1. Everything You Wanted to Know About Simplifying Your Life, and Way More
2. The Unsurpassable Productivity List: A Handy Guide to Getting Important Things Done
3. All The Best Tips on Getting In Shape, In One Handy List
4. The Golden Money List: Hundreds of Tips for Turning Your Financial Life Around
5. The Beginner’s Guide to Zen Habits

Article by Zen Habits contributor Jonathan Mead; follow him on twitter.

Have you ever really wanted to do something, but you just weren’t motivated enough to do it?

This is always my number one reason for not taking action, as I’m sure it’s probably yours too. If you’re not motivated, you just don’t have the energy or the drive to do what you need to do, right? Simple enough.

But here’s three of the biggest problems with relying on being highly motivated all the time:

1. Maybe you don’t really care about what you’re doing. Maybe it doesn’t really matter and you’re trying to force yourself to do something you don’t want to do. In this case, your lack of motivation is your subconscious telling you “this is not important” or “this does not align with my values.”
2. Energy comes in waves. And just as each wave has a crest, it also has a trough. Sometimes your level of motivation will be like a rushing tsunami. At other times, it will be a steady flow. These are natural rhythms and following these rhythms are important, because if you don’t, you will burn out.
3. Sometimes you won’t be excited before you take action, but you will feed good after you’re done. Take exercise for example. A lot of people dread or loathe working up a sweat. They are not motivated beforehand, at least not enough for them to break through the mental resistance to the work that will be done. But, they feel awesome when they’ve finished exercising. Therefore, sometimes you can’t rely on being highly motivated before, sometimes you have to rely on being motivated after.

Does that mean that motivation is unimportant? No, it’s still important and it does play a role. But too often, it’s easy to get caught up in relying on being totally psyched about something before you do it.

You will not always be totally psyched.

And that’s okay. Does water get anxious when it reaches a depression in the earth? No, it is completely content in its state of acquiescence. When it reaches a hill it does not worry that it now has to travel faster and pick up its pace. It simply flows down the hill.

The way water flows is called following your natural rhythms.

The reason I first started looking at this different way of approaching my goals was because typical motivation hacks didn’t work for me. Sometimes they would work, and sometimes they wouldn’t. Sometimes visualizing success would be highly motivating and sometimes it would simply flunk with a dull thud. It was only when I allowed myself to let go, that I success started to come more easily for me.

I admit, this may seem hard to at first, but it’s a matter of trust. You have to trust your authentic self to guide you in when it’s time to take action and when it is time to just be.

Here are a few ways to practice this non-striving way of manifesting your desires:

1. Practice listening to your intuition. A lot of us have a tendency to question the validity of our intuition. We favor our rational mind and its sure, logical method of explanation. Our intuitive mind, however, is just as valid. As Einstein once said “The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.” Learn to honor your intuitive gift by practicing asking yourself questions and listening to the response you give yourself without trying to logically deduce the answer.
2. Take time to ask yourself what you really want. We often get so caught up in the attachment to achieving our goals that we forget to listen to what we actually want. Instead of us creating goals as a means to fulfill our desires, we become enslaved by them. Whenever you feel that your goal is weighing you down, ask yourself “What do I really want?” and listen silently to the answer you receive.
3. Accept that you won’t always be insanely motivated. If you’re waiting to take action until you’re incredibly motivated, you’re putting a lot of pressure on yourself. It’s better to ease the strain by allowing yourself to be mildly interested or even in a state of dread. Allowing yourself to be in this state makes it easier to move past it because you’re no longer resisting it. When you resist the state you’re in, you perpetuate it.
4. Tap into your flow. We all have times when we’re more creative or more energized, and we all have times where we feel like resting and recharging. For some of us, these ebbs and flows may happen at certain times of the day, for others it may be completely random. The point is to pay attention and exploit these fluxes of energy. By taking massive action when you are full of energy and by allowing yourself to relax when you are in a state of calm, you respect and honor yourself. You will accomplish more by following your natural rhythms than you would trying to force yourself.

There is a time for being productive and there is a time for resting. Just as in nature there is a time for activity and new life in the spring, and there is a time for rest and turning inward in the winter.

Just as nature knows that its perpetual growth is unsustainable, we must realize that expecting to be productive all the time, leads to burn out and being less productive.

Maybe it’s time we start listening to our bodies. I think the more we follow the way of nature, the more intelligently we live.

This article was written by Zen Habits contributor Jonathan Mead of Illuminated Mind.  For more unconventional ideas, grab a subscription to Illuminated Mind.

Post written by Leo Babauta. Follow me on Twitter.

A recent commenter here on Zen Habits (unfortunately I forget which one) mentioned he tries to keep his possessions so simple he can fit them all into the trunk of his car.

He loves the idea that at a moment’s notice, he could pack up and leave.

That’s either minimalism to an admirable extreme, or someone on the lookout for the law. Let’s assume the former.

So, while I doubt my possessions would fit in the trunk of any vehicle that didn’t have “U-Haul” written on it, and I’m not suggesting you should either, this got me to thinking. (That’s never a good sign.) And it led me to wonder what your responses would be.

So here’s the reader question:

Could you simplify your possessions to fit in the trunk of a car? Which ones would you take?

The interesting thing about this question is that it forces us to consider which possessions are most essential. And if we can’t simplify to that extreme, we should be asking ourselves, “Why not? Why are these possessions so important I wouldn’t get rid of them?”

I’d love to hear your thoughts! Share in the comments.

Note: I’m still in Japan at the moment. I will check in on your comments either while I’m in Japan, or first thing when I get back! - Leo

Post written by Leo Babauta. Follow me on Twitter.

Health and fitness are usually made to seem too complex.

If you read a lot of fitness magazines and blogs (as I often do), you’re told a confusing variety of complex advice. It makes your head spin.

You’re told that eggs, butter and meat are bad for you. Then another crowd will tell you those same things are actually good. Then you’ll hear running is good for you, and the bodybuilding and primal crowds will scoff at longer-distance running. You’ll hear that lifting weights is the best way to get into shape, and others will laugh at that. You’ll hear a million variations of the best workouts, of when to time your nutrition, of how to periodize your workouts, of how to measure fitness, of what supplements you need to take … ad naseum.

It’s enough to make you want to give up.

Fortunately, fitness doesn’t have to be that complex.

In fact, you can boil it down to two simple rules:

1. Get your body moving on a regular basis; and
2. Eat a moderate amount of real, whole foods (with occasional indulgences).

I believe if you stuck to those two rules, and stuck with them for awhile, you’d get fit. Doing one but not the other will result in an improvement in health for many people (not all), but it would be an incomplete health. Do both most days of the week and you’re on your way to health and fitness.

But what about specific macronutrient ratios (fancy way of saying the breakdown of protein, carbs and fats)? What about meal frequency and timing? What about workout frequency, splits, timing, reps, and more? You could add all these types of rules and many more, but the truth is, all the complexities are usually a way of masking some simple truths: if you want to lose fat or weight, you have to have a calorie deficit, and if you want to build muscle, you’ve got to use exercise to get stronger. The other stuff is mostly guesswork, and while these complicated programs probably work, they usually work because they promote one or more of the principles in this post, not because of their complexities.

The two rules above are all you need … however, most of us need a little more detail, so here’s a more complete set of simple fitness rules. As always, remember that 1) I’m not an expert — this is just stuff that’s worked for me; 2) this is for healthy adults — people with health problems should seek the advice of professionals.

1. Get moving. Try to do some kind of physical activity most days of the week (4 or more days if possible). If you have an aversion to exercise, don’t think of it as exercise. Just think of it as a way to get your body moving in some fun way. It can be dance, yardwork, hiking, a nature walk, a swim, basketball, rugby, cycling, even housework if you do it vigorously enough. And it doesn’t have to be the same thing each day. I recommend, just for the sake of simplicity, that you do find a regular time slot you could do your daily activity, most days of the week. I prefer mornings but others enjoy lunchtime or after work.

2. Enjoy yourself. Whatever activity you choose, it has to be fun. If you don’t like it, move on to something else. Focus on the fun part, not the hard part. Or learn, as I have, to enjoy the hard stuff! Again, make it fun, or you won’t keep it up for very long. To make sure it’s not too hard, start easy. Focus on just getting moving and enjoying the activity. Start small, and build up with baby steps.

3. Slowly add intensity. Once you’ve been doing an activity for a little while, and you’re in decent shape, it’s good to add some intensity. But slowly — if you add intensity too quickly you’ll risk injury or burnout. So let’s say you’ve been doing some walking for a couple months — you should be ready to add a little jogging or fast-paced walking, in small little intervals. If you’ve been running, try some faster-paced intervals (take it easy at first) or hill workouts. If you’ve been strength training, be sure to add weights (safely) or decrease rest time or add more reps or sets. If you’re playing a sport, really speed things up, or focus on explosive movements. Intensity is a great way to get yourself in shape and have an effective workout in only 20-30 minutes. Here’s a great way to do bodyweight exercises with intensity: do a circuit of bodyweight exercises (such as pushups, pullups, squats, burpees, Hindu pushups, lunges or others) and do as many circuits as you can in 10 or 15 minutes. Next workout, see if you can do more circuits. It’s great!

4. Minimal equipment. There are a million different exercise gadgets out there, from ab machines to elliptical trainers to a whole slew of weight machines at the gym. My rule is: keep it simple. You can do amazing things with bodyweight exercises — in fact, if you are a relative beginner, you should start with bodyweight exercises for at least 6 months before progressing to weights. You don’t need cardio machines — just go outside and walk, run, bike, do hills, climb stairs, sprint. Even if you do weights, a barbell or dumbbells are all you need — stay away from the machines that work your body at angles it’s not meant to use (although cable machines aren’t bad). Even better, get outside and do sprints, pushups, jump over things, pick up big rocks and throw them, do pullups from a tree, climb up rocks, swim, do a crabwalk or monkeywalk, take a sledgehammer or pick and slam it into the ground, flip tractor tires, and generally get a great workout with very little equipment.

5. Just a few exercises. Bodybuilding routines will have you doing 3-4 different exercises per body part. That’s too complicated for most people. Keep it simple in the weight room: squats, deadlifts, presses, chinups or pullups, rows. You can do a lot with just those lifts. Of course, you’ll want to mix it up eventually with some variations, but no need for 10 different ab exercises or things that focus on your rear deltoids or use swiss balls. If you’re doing bodyweight exercises, I love things like pushups, burpees, squats, lunges, pullups, dips, planks. Pick a few and do some circuits with little rest.

6. Eat real foods. One of the most important rules on this list, because if you don’t eat right (most of the time), it doesn’t matter how much exercise you do — you’ll get fat and unhealthy. Aim for real, whole foods that are as close to their natural state as possible. That means stay away from processed, refined, fatty, sugary foods. Veggies, fruits, lean meats, dairy, nuts, beans, whole grains, eggs, seeds. Prepare them yourself if possible — convenience foods often have added ingredients, as well as extra salt, fat, sugar and preservatives. If you follow this diet — with the plant foods making the bulk of the diet — it’s hard to go wrong.

7. Eat less. Most people eat too much, and eventually it shows up as fat. To lose that fat, we need to eat less — it’s really that simple. Of course, if you eat the real foods mentioned above, you’ll probably consume fewer calories, but even so, it’s smart to reduce how much you eat overall, at least until you reach a healthy level of body fat (and even then, you shouldn’t let it all go). One way to do that is by eating slowly and mindfully until you’re just satiated (not stuffed). Another way is to eat smaller meals and watch the portions. A third way, which I’ve been experimenting with lately, is intermittent fasting (see Brad Pilon’s Eat Stop Eat ebook for a great explanation of the science behind fasting). However you do it, be sure to consume the real food in moderate amounts, and reduce your calorie intake if you’re looking to lose fat.

8. Give it time. This is what gets many people — they expect to see results immediately, within the first month or so, because the magazines they read make it seem so instantaneous. But real fitness rarely happens this way — it’s a process and a lifestyle change. I started out in really bad shape, really overweight, and all I did in the beginning was to quit smoking and start running. A year later, I ran a marathon and was a vegetarian — but I was still kinda fat. A year after that, I was still exercising regularly, and had made a lot of progress, but I still had a ways to go. Now, 3.5 years later, I’m in great shape — slimmer and more muscular and much healthier — but I still have a little stubborn belly fat I’m working on. I’ll get there, but I have accepted the fact that it takes time. You didn’t gain the fat overnight, and you won’t lose it that way either. Learn to enjoy the process, enjoy the activities, enjoy the healthy, real food, and you’ll get healthy and fit almost as an afterthought to this new, amazing lifestyle.

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If you liked this article, please share it on del.icio.us, StumbleUpon or Twitter. I’d appreciate it. :)

Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Sean Platt of the Writer Dad blog.

Nature and nurture are in a never ending battle to claim the disposition of our children. While it’s true that the apple rarely tumbles too far from the tree, it is also true that there are a multitude of things we as parents can do to safeguard the childhoods of our children, limit their exposure to the more damaging elements the world will see fit to introduce in time, and do our best to raise a healthy and happy child.

We might not be able to help the variety of our branches, but we are the ones who control the nutrients in their soil and the sunlight in their sky.

In addition to the obvious things such as making sure your child is consuming the right nutrients, staying hydrated, and getting the quantity of sleep and exercise a growing body needs, here are 7 secrets that can help you raise a happy child.

1. Let your child know you are excited to see them when they enter the room. Let them see the light dance inside your eyes when their gaze drifts into yours. Be mindful of their presence by showing them your smile and greeting them warmly. Say their name out loud. Not only do children love to hear the sound of their name, they also long to feel validation from their loved ones. Think about it from an adult perspective - wouldn’t you love it if the face of the person you loved most lit like a holiday parade every time you entered the room? Your child loves you the most, imagine the returns after a childhood filled with such affection.

2. Teach your child it’s okay to be bored. As parents, it’s often our instinct to entertain our children each and every waking hour. When we don’t possess the time or energy, it is all too easy to allow the glowing blue babysitter in the living room to do the heavy lifting. But when we rely on television, or any other form of autopilot attention, we succeed only in limiting our child’s development. Children have vivid imaginations that flourish upon nurturing. But without the opportunity to coax their creativity, it will only whither on the vine. Allow your child idle minutes to develop their creativity with hands-on activities to stimulate their thought. A few sheets of paper and a box of crayons can keep a well rounded child busy for far longer than an episode of Dora.

3. Limit your child’s media. Related, but not limited to number two. Limiting your child’s exposure to media isn’t only a positive move for promoting their creativity, it is an excellent method to broaden their attention span while grooming their ability to stay calm. Your child will have plenty of exposure to more than you want soon enough. During those precious years when you are the designer of their decisions, you must make sure they are learning to live a life independent from the over-exposure that is often too easy to rely on. Yes it is difficult, but we owe it to the next generation to search for the right road rather than the easy one.

4. Let your child know they are more important than work by giving them eye contact and attention. Your child doesn’t just need you around, they need you present. Play with your child, interact with them, find out what is important to them by asking questions and listening to their answers. Your child deserves at least a little bit of you each and every day, at least a few minutes where you are not considering your email or allowing your thoughts to wander over what’s been left sitting on your desk. Letting your child know they are important is like giving them an insulin shot of happy.

5. Let your child make a few of the rules. You don’t have to make them the boss to let them feel empowered. Often, power struggles with our children are the direct result of them feeling a loss of control. You can easily curb these instances by allowing your child to feel like they are part of making up some of the protocol. By at least appearing to give your child some of the control, you are helping them understand household law inside and out. This will lead directly to a willingness to follow.

6. Teach your child - don’t assume it’s all happening outside the house. Home schooling is every parent’s job. Whether your child attends public or private school, or receives all their schooling at home, it is essential to the world’s best future that parents are the ones to fill in the blanks. There are plenty of skills not taught in school that play a massive role in determining who your children will grow up to be. Children are not raised in tupperware, and when they finally leave us to enter the world far away from our watchful eyes, they must have the sharpened tools that will help them be the best that they can be.

7. Model appropriate behavior. In my opinion, this is the most important item on the list. Children do as they see, not as they’re told. If you want your child to be mindful of others, you must be mindful of others yourself. If you want your child to by happy, you must smile without hesitation. There is no one more influential to your child than you. At least for now.

Raising a happy child is hard work, but it is something that can and must be done.  Once you focus on the needs of your child and ensure you are doing all you can to meet them, your efforts will be rewarded. You will have a healthy and happy child, fortunate to have been raised in a family where childhood wasn’t permitted to simply fade away.

Sean Platt is a diligent dad and creative blogger who also tweets.

Post written by Leo Babauta. Follow me on Twitter.

It’s an irony of our modern lives that while technology is continually invented that saves us time, we use that time to do more and more things, and so our lives are more fast-paced and hectic than ever.

Life moves at such a fast pace that it seems to pass us by before we can really enjoy it.

However, it doesn’t have to be this way. Let’s rebel against a hectic lifestyle and slow down to enjoy life.

A slower-paced life means making time to enjoy your mornings, instead of rushing off to work in a frenzy. It means taking time to enjoy whatever you’re doing, to appreciate the outdoors, to actually focus on whoever you’re talking to or spending time with — instead of always being connected to a Blackberry or iPhone or laptop, instead of always thinking about work tasks and emails. It means single-tasking rather than switching between a multitude of tasks and focusing on none of them.

Slowing down is a conscious choice, and not always an easy one, but it leads to a greater appreciation for life and a greater level of happiness.

Here’s how to do it.

1. Do less. It’s hard to slow down when you are trying to do a million things. Instead, make the conscious choice to do less. Focus on what’s really important, what really needs to be done, and let go of the rest. Put space between tasks and appointments, so you can move through your days at a more leisurely pace. Read more.

2. Be present. It’s not enough to just slow down — you need to actually be mindful of whatever you’re doing at the moment. That means, when you find yourself thinking about something you need to do, or something that’s already happened, or something that might happen … gently bring yourself back to the present moment. Focus on what’s going on right now. On your actions, on your environment, on others around you. This takes practice but is essential.

3. Disconnect. Don’t always be connected. If you carry around an iPhone or Blackberry or other mobile device, shut it off. Better yet, learn to leave it behind when possible. If you work on a computer most of the day, have times when you disconnect so you can focus on other things. Being connected all the time means we’re subject to interruptions, we’re constantly stressed about information coming in, we are at the mercy of the demands of others. It’s hard to slow down when you’re always checking new messages coming in.

4. Focus on people. Too often we spend time with friends and family, or meet with colleagues, and we’re not really there with them. We talk to them but are distracted by devices. We are there, but our minds are on things we need to do. We listen, but we’re really thinking about ourselves and what we want to say. None of us are immune to this, but with conscious effort you can shut off the outside world and just be present with the person you’re with. This means that just a little time spent with your family and friends can go a long way — a much more effective use of your time, by the way. It means we really connect with people rather than just meeting with them.

5. Appreciate nature. Many of us are shut in our homes and offices and cars and trains most of the time, and rarely do we get the chance to go outside. And often even when people are outside, they’re talking on their cell phones. Instead, take the time to go outside and really observe nature, take a deep breath of fresh air, enjoy the serenity of water and greenery. Exercise outdoors when you can, or find other outdoor activities to enjoy such as nature walks, hiking, swimming, etc. Feel the sensations of water and wind and earth against your skin. Try to do this daily — by yourself or with loved ones.

6. Eat slower. Instead of cramming food down our throats as quickly as possible — leading to overeating and a lack of enjoyment of our food — learn to eat slowly. Be mindful of each bite. Appreciate the flavors and textures. Eating slowly has the double benefit of making you fuller on less food and making the food taste better. I suggest learning to eat more real food as well, with some great spices (instead of fat and salt and sugar and frying for flavor).

7. Drive slower. Speedy driving is a pretty prevalent habit in our fast-paced world, but it’s also responsible for a lot of traffic accidents, stress, and wasted fuel. Instead, make it a habit to slow down when you drive. Appreciate your surroundings. Make it a peaceful time to contemplate your life, and the things you’re passing. Driving will be more enjoyable, and much safer. You’ll use less fuel too.

8. Find pleasure in anything. This is related to being present, but taking it a step farther. Whatever you’re doing, be fully present … and also appreciate every aspect of it, and find the enjoyable aspects. For example, when washing dishes, instead of rushing through it as a boring chore to be finished quickly, really feel the sensations of the water, the suds, the dishes. It can really be an enjoyable task if you learn to see it that way. The same applies to other chores — washing the car, sweeping, dusting, laundry — and anything you do, actually. Life can be so much more enjoyable if you learn this simple habit.

9. Single-task. The opposite of multi-tasking. Focus on one thing at a time. When you feel the urge to switch to other tasks, pause, breathe, and pull yourself back. Read more.

10. Breathe. When you find yourself speeding up and stressing out, pause, and take a deep breath. Take a couple more. Really feel the air coming into your body, and feel the stress going out. By fully focusing on each breath, you bring yourself back to the present, and slow yourself down. It’s also nice to take a deep breath or two — do it now and see what I mean. :)

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Read more about simplifying and focus in my book, The Power of Less.

Post written by Leo Babauta. Follow me on Twitter.

I’m excited to announce that I’m taking my family to Tokyo for the next couple of weeks for vacation. My wife and I and the six kids are all going together — it’s our first trip all together — so it should be a fun adventure.

But be assured, my loyal readers, that Zen Habits won’t shut down while I’m gone. I’ve set things up so that this blog will continue to run smoothly (knock on wood) while I’m enjoying sushi and sake.

Here’s the plan:

• I’ve written some posts that will run while I’m gone — I hope you’ll enjoy them!
• I have guest posts from some excellent writers and from regular contributor Jonathan Mead — I know you’ll enjoy them.
• I also have a couple of “Ask the Reader” features as well as two posts with some of the “Best of Zen Habits”.

I think the content will be as good as ever, so please stick around.

I’ll be popping my head in every now and then to read your comments, but for the most part Zen Habits will be in the trusty hands of my friend, Glen Stansberry of LifeDev. He’ll be moderating comments and generally making sure some of you behave yourselves. You know who you are. :)

Oh, and if all goes well with my Internet connection in Tokyo, we’ll be posting a blog about our trip each day (or thereabouts). Yippee!

Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Karl Staib of Work Happy Now!

Most of our work happiness comes from our relationship with ourselves. For example, I’m working on a program to help people work happier. As I’m putting all the research together, writing each section and making it all coherent, I hit walls that stall my progress.

A few months ago I actually flopped on the floor, let out a loud groan and died from exhaustion. Luckily, my wife was home, sprinkled some magic kisses upon me and I came back to life. :) My creativity was stalled by my own thoughts of inadequacy, fear, and anger. The person from whom I needed the most encouragement was myself, and I was being my own worst enemy.

I analyzed the internal problems I was having and their effect on my work. Each one represents a weakness of mine. I will show you how I deal with each one and how I’ve learned to use my weaknesses to my advantage.

1. Stay Focused on One Project at a Time
Most of the time, I have several things that I am trying to do at once. I could be writing an email and at the same time I am thinking about an upcoming meeting. This split distraction puts strain on my focus and affects the quality of my work.

I’ve noticed that my attention darts from thought to thought because there is no looming deadline. I’m not forced to produce. So when I need to focus, I set a timer to create a little stress. Stress can be good when it brings focus to a person’s life.

Depending on the task, I may set the timer for 30 minutes and try to knock the work out in that time frame. If I need more time, I let the timer beep at me and then I reset it for the appropriate amount of time. This allows me to focus on this one task without letting my ADD distract me.

2. Break The Project Down Into Tiny Chunks
The length of my list on any given day would scare even Warren Buffett. I expect too much and never feel satisfied.

Instead of getting a whole bunch of stuff done, my brain often shuts down in response to my overwhelming list. I need to figure out a way to reduce those negative thoughts by listening to them and reasoning with them. I have tried being a big bully and forcing myself to do work, but this technique always lacked results.

I’ve created a routine that allows me to handle my work load. When I realize that I have overextended my “to do” wish list, I stand up, breathe deep, and let out the air as I take a moment to refill my glass with water.

I then break down my first big task into twenty minute chunks. When the project seems more manageable, I pick an easier 20 minute chunk and accomplish it. By doing this I boost my confidence and get my emotions back into a positive state.

Once I’m feeling good again I don’t feel so overwhelmed by a mountain of work.

3. Split Your “To Do” List
I often feel overwhelmed as a result of my expectations. I expect to get too much work done. I’ve never been able to accomplish one of my massive “to do” lists in one day. So when my list gets too big I will sometimes split it into two lists.

I create a list that’s easy to complete. If I have four hours for work, I make the list equal to about two hours. The second list I call my bonus list.

Whenever I get to my bonus list I feel good about my accomplishments. A sense of accomplishment is the main reason for a list, so make your list achievable.

4. Take a “Weird” Break
I often get mentally locked up because I can’t focus on what is right before me. There are too many options. If I have to write an email, generate a report, and work on a marketing plan then I feel hot and cloudy. My overwhelmed mind just wants to shut down. I usually get up and take a “weird” break to clear my head.

During my break I do something a little weird like take a short walk and hang from a tree branch. I find that it’s tough to worry while hanging from a beautiful tree. Plus, my creativity almost always starts flowing again.

There are so many ways we can pull ourselves out of a stressful state if we just take a moment to be creative.

5. Connect Your Goals with Your Needs
“Each individual should work for himself. No one wants to sacrifice himself for the company. People come to work in the company to enjoy themselves.” - Soichiro Honda

There are times when I’m working on a big project and I get halfway through when I run out of steam. I’ve lost the motivation.

This is the point when I take a break and try to realign my needs and goals. If I find myself wondering why I’m working my butt off, then I’m the one creating this doubt. Maybe I want to find a new job or start my own business because I’m not receiving the gratitude that I feel I deserve. Whatever the reason for my doubt, I have to internally talk through these feelings. Of course I can talk through these problems with someone else, but it’s best to rely on myself first.

Once you figure out what your underlying needs are that aren’t being met, you can either let go of them and try to remotivate yourself or take action to make a change.

For example, maybe I want to become a better writer, get more organized, and lose 10 pounds.

I try to attach these needs to my work. Trying to become a better writer is easy to attach to my needs since I have to write for the program I am building. I’ll read a writing blog like Write to Done to get myself pumped up to write an awesome chapter.

Trying to become more organized is a little more difficult. I usually choose the obvious path and take fifteen minutes to straighten my desk. This helps me clear my head, feel positive about my surroundings and get back to the task at hand.

Trying to lose 10 pounds is the most difficult to connect with my work. A little creativity is a must. I created a quick reward system. Every time I finished writing one page, I would do 15 push-ups. This keeps me feeling positive about my writing accomplishments and my body.

If you are going to kick start your motivation, you need to find a way that your current work is helping out the future you.

6. Review the Positive
I often get too caught up in how the present moment makes me feel. I create a torturous thought process by magnifying the bad things that are happening to me at my job instead of focusing on all the good things that are there if I just take the time to notice them.

When I’m feeling particularly blue at the end of the day, I turn off my radio and make a mental list of all the things that I’m learning from the stressful project.

My job always pushes me outside of my comfort zone, causing me unrest. Managing stress, implementing big projects, writing clear emails, developing my social skills and all the other interactions that I have force me to become a better person.

I am getting paid to learn these lessons. That’s a gift.

By shifting my perspective to the positive, I’m able to let go of my negative thinking cycle and realign myself with the good things in my life.

What do you do to stay happy during a stressful project?

Karl Staib writes about unlocking and kicking open the door to working happy at his own blog: Work Happy Now! If you enjoyed this article, you may like to subscribe to his feed, follow him on Twitter or read one of his most popular articles, 30 Days of No Complaining – Wisdom Multiplied.

Post written by Leo Babauta. Follow me on Twitter.

While many readers seem to like my minimalist approach to a home, especially clutter-free counters and tabletops and floors, it seems to be a constant trouble area for some people.

Keeping counters (and other flat surfaces) clear, clean and clutter-free doesn’t have to be difficult.

Here’s a common scenario that I get from readers — and I should note, this was me only a few years ago: you get home, you toss onto a counter or table things such as your keys and purse/briefcase, papers and mail, shopping bags and anything else you might be bringing home.

This clutter is compounded over the course of weeks, as things accumulate. Over the course of years, you’ll end up with a mess the likes of which I don’t even want to imagine.

And no amount of decluttering will change the clutter problems caused by this habit, because as soon as you declutter, things will start to get cluttered again in a matter of days.

Some simple changes to your routines can clear this all up. Let’s look at how to do that.

How to Get Started
If you’re starting with a cluttered home full of cluttered counters and tables and floors, things can be overwhelming. Let’s not try to declutter everything at once. We’re going to start small, as always.

I suggest choosing just one countertop or tabletop. Something perhaps near your doorway, or in your dining room or kitchen if you like. I happen to enter my house through my kitchen, so they’re both the same for me.

Now let’s get that one tabletop or countertop decluttered. Start by taking everything off the counter (or table). This includes appliances or whatever else might be there. Put it all in one pile.

Now sort through the pile quickly: things you love and use, things you don’t need or use, and a “maybe” pile if you can’t make up your mind about some items. Wipe the counter nice and clean, and put the “love and use” items back. As few as possible — keep things nice and clutter-free. If you have too many items and it ends up cluttered, find a new home for some of them out of sight, such as in a drawer or cabinet. Or make some tough choices and get rid of more things.

For the pile of things you don’t need or use, recycle or trash them, or put them in a bag or box to be donated to charity or to a friend who might need them. For the “maybe” pile, put them in a box, mark today’s date, and store it somewhere out of sight for 6 months — open it up after 6 months and if you never needed any of the items, get rid of them. This is a good way to deal with things you’re on the fence about.

At any rate, you should now have a nice and decluttered counter or table. If it still looks cluttered, edit the things you have, getting rid of some items and finding a new home for others until you have a nice decluttered counter.

This is your starting point. Your goal from now on is twofold: to keep this counter decluttered, and to expand your decluttered zone one counter and table at a time, using the same method as above. Once you have these surfaces decluttered, move on to the floors and then to drawers, shelves, and closets. But start with these flat surfaces.

Let’s look at how to keep them decluttered.

Keeping Counters and Table Clutter-free
This is the trick. Decluttering isn’t too difficult, but to keep things clutter-free, you have to form some new habits.

Let’s start with two simple rules:

1. Everything you bring into the home must have a home, and it can’t be on a flat surface such as a counter, table or floor.

2. When you get home and unload your stuff, or if you’re already home and are finished with something, you must put it away in its home.

These are age-old rules you might have heard from your mother: “A place for everything and everything in its place.” It’s a classic because it works.

So here’s how to implement those two rules:

1. Examine everything you bring home, and everything you’re tempted to put on your clutter-free counter (or other flat surfaces for that matter). Find a home for these things. For example, if you normally bring home mail and other papers, have an inbox for incoming papers. For many items, it’s best to find a drawer or other similar storage so they’re out of sight.
2. Have a spot for your keys, wallet, purse, briefcase and other similar items you always bring home. I prefer a spot near the doorway so I’ll never forget the items — I simply load up on the way out the door.
3. Now form this habit: as soon as you get home, put your keys and other items in the spot you’ve chosen. Do this always. Also put the papers in the inbox and other items in the spots you’ve chosen.
4. If you find yourself putting things on your clutter-free counter(s), figure out why. Usually this means you don’t have a good home for these types of items. It takes just a minute to find one. Another reason is just that you haven’t formed the habit of putting things where they belong. It’s simply a matter of focusing on this and reminding yourself until the habit forms.
5. Have a system for dealing with the mail and other papers so they don’t pile up. I like to deal with them immediately: open all the mail, toss the junk and envelopes, pay bills or otherwise take any needed actions immediately,  scan (or file) the ones I need on record. It takes a few minutes. Another good system is to do it once weekly. Whatever the system, do it regularly so you don’t get a big pile of papers.

These simple steps, if you can stick with them and make them a habit, will keep your counters and tables clutter-free.

Once you get into this habit, you’ll really enjoy the clean and clear counters and tables. It’s incredibly soothing and makes for a much nicer environment. Again, expand your clutter-free zone into the rest of the house and soon you’ll have a nice minimalist home.