Procrastination, and how to pay off the to-do list debt

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Procrastination, and how pay off the to-do list debt

Sometimes we procrastinate because we feel overwhelmed by the mountain of things we are supposed to be doing. If you look at your to-do list and it shows 60 overdue items, it’s little wonder if you want to bury your head in the sand!

“What difference does it make if I do one of these things now; I will still have 59 which feels as bad as having 60”

So, treat it like you might a financial debt, and make a repayment plan. Now, instead of 60 overdue items today, you have 1/day for the next 60 days, or 2/day for the next 30 days, or 3/day for the next 20 days, etc. Obviously, you may need to work out whether some are greater temporal priorities and if so, bump those to the top of the list. But don’t sweat the minutiae; your list doesn’t have to be perfectly ordered, just broadly have more urgent things to the top and less urgent things to the bottom.

Note: this repayment plan means having set repayment dates.

Up front, sit down and assign each item a specific calendar date on which you will do that thing.

This is not a deadline! It is your schedule. You’ll not try to do it sooner, and you won’t postpone it for later. You will just do that item on that date.

A productivity app like ToDoist can help with this, but paper is fine too.

What’s important here, psychologically, is that each day you’re looking not at 60 things and doing the top item; you’re just looking at today’s item (only!) and doing it.

Debt Reduction/Cancellation

Much like you might manage a financial debt, you can also look to see if any of your debts could be reduced or cancelled.

We wrote previously about the “Getting Things Done” system. It’s a very good system if you want to do that; if not, no worries, but you might at least want to borrow this one idea….

Sort your items into:

Do / Defer / Delegate / Ditch

  • Do: if it can be done in under 2 minutes, do it now.
  • Defer: defer the item to a specific calendar date (per the repayment plan idea we just talked about)
  • Delegate: could this item be done by someone else? Get it off your plate if you reasonably can.
  • Ditch: sometimes, it’s ok to realize “you know what, this isn’t that important to me anymore” and scratch it from the list.

As a last resort, consider declaring bankruptcy

Towards the end of the dot-com boom, there was a fellow who unintentionally got his 5 minutes of viral fame for “declaring email bankruptcy”.

Basically, he publicly declared that his email backlog had got so far out of hand that he would now not reply to emails from before the declaration.

He pledged to keep on top of new emails only from that point onwards; a fresh start.

We can’t comment on whether he then did, but if you need a fresh start, that can be one way to get it!

In closing…

Procrastination is not usually a matter of laziness, it’s usually a matter of overwhelm. Hopefully the above approach will help reframe things, and make things more manageable.

Sometimes procrastination is a matter of perfectionism, and not starting on tasks because we worry we won’t do them well enough, and so we get stuck in a pseudo-preparation rut. If that’s the case, our previous main feature on perfectionism may help:

Perfectionism, And How To Make Yours Work For You

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  • Peony Against Inflammation & More

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    Yes, this is about the flower, especially white peony (Paeonia lactiflora), and especially the root thereof (Paeoniae radix alba). Yes, the root gets a different botanical name but we promise it is the same plant. You will also read about its active glycoside paeoniflorin, and less commonly, albiflorin (a neuroprotective glycoside present in the root).

    It’s one of those herbs that has made its way out of Traditional Chinese Medicine and into labs around the world.

    It can be ingested directly as food, or as a powder/capsule, or made into tea.

    Anti-inflammatory

    Peony suppresses inflammatory pathways, which thus reduces overall inflammation. In particular, this research review found:

    ❝Pharmacologically, paeoniflorin exhibits powerful anti-inflammatory and immune regulatory effects in some animal models of autoimmune diseases including Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) and Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE)❞

    The reviewers also (albeit working from animal models) suggest it may be beneficial in cases of kidney disease and liver disease, along with other conditions.

    Source: The Regulatory Effects of Paeoniflorin and Its Derivative Paeoniflorin-6′-O-Benzene Sulfonate CP-25 on Inflammation and Immune Diseases

    Here’s a larger review, which also has studies involving humans (and in vivo studies), that found it to effectively help treat autoimmune conditions including rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis, amongst others:

    ❝Modern pharmacological research on TGP is based on the traditional usage of PRA, and its folk medicinal value in the treatment of autoimmune diseases has now been verified. In particular, TGP has been developed into a formulation used clinically for the treatment of autoimmune diseases.

    Based on further research on its preparation, quality control, and mechanisms of action, TGP is expected to eventually play a greater role in the treatment of autoimmune diseases. ❞

    (TGP = Total Glucosides of Paeony)

    Source: Total glucosides of paeony: A review of its phytochemistry, role in autoimmune diseases, and mechanisms of action

    Antidepressant / Anxiolytic

    It also acts as a natural serotonin reuptake inhibitor (as per many pharmaceutical antidepressants), by reducing the expression of the serotonin transporter protein:

    Gut Microbiota-Based Pharmacokinetics and the Antidepressant Mechanism of Paeoniflorin

    (remember, most serotonin is produced in the gut)

    Here’s how that played out when tested (on rats, though):

    Effects of Paeonia lactiflora Extract on Estrogen Receptor β, TPH2, and SERT in Rats with PMS Anxiety

    Against PMS and/or menopause symptoms

    Peony is widely used in Traditional Chinese Medicine to reduce these symptoms in general. However, we couldn’t find a lot of good science for that, although it is very plausible (as the extract contains phytoestrogens and may upregulate estrogen receptors while dialling down testosterone production). Here’s the best we could find for that, and it’s a side-by-side along with licorice root:

    ❝Paeoniflorin, glycyrrhetic acid and glycyrrhizin decreased significantly the testosterone production but did not change that of delta 4-androstenedione and estradiol. Testosterone/delta 4-androstenedione production ratio was lowered significantly by paeoniflorin, glycyrrhetic acid and glycyrrhizin❞

    Effect of paeoniflorin, glycyrrhizin and glycyrrhetic acid on ovarian androgen production

    (note: that it didn’t affect estradiol levels is reasonable; it contains phytoestrogens after all, not estradiol—and in fact, if you are taking estradiol, you might want to skip this one, as its phytoestrogens could compete with your estradiol for receptors)

    Want to try some?

    We don’t sell it, but here for your convenience is an example product on Amazon 😎

    Enjoy!

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  • The Art of Being Unflappable (Tricks For Daily Life)

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    The Art of Being Unflappable

    From Stoicism to CBT, thinkers through the ages have sought the unflappable life.

    Today, in true 10almonds fashion, we’re going to distil it down to some concentrated essentials that we can all apply in our daily lives:

    Most Common/Impactful Cognitive Distortions To Catch (And Thus Avoid)

    These are like the rhetorical fallacies with which you might be familiar (ad hominem, no true Scotsman, begging the question, tu quoque, straw man, etc), but are about what goes on between your own ears, pertaining to your own life.

    If we learn about them and how to recognize them, however, we can catch them before they sabotage us, and remain “unflappable” in situations that could otherwise turn disastrous.

    Let’s take a look at a few:

    Catastrophizing / Crystal Ball

    • Distortion: not just blowing something out of proportion, but taking an idea and running with it to its worst possible conclusion. For example, we cook one meal that’s a “miss” and conclude we are a terrible cook, and in fact for this reason a terrible housewife/mother/friend/etc, and for this reason everyone will probably abandon us and would be right to do so
    • Reality: by tomorrow, you’ll probably be the only one who even remembers it happened

    Mind Reading

    • Distortion: attributing motivations that may or may not be there, and making assumptions about other people’s thoughts/feelings. An example is the joke about two partners’ diary entries; one is long and full of feelings about how the other is surely dissatisfied in their marriage, has been acting “off” with them all day, is closed and distant, probably wants to divorce, may be having an affair and is wondering which way to jump, and/or is just wondering how to break the news—the other partner’s diary entry is short, and reads “motorcycle won’t start; can’t figure out why”
    • Reality: sometimes, asking open questions is better than guessing, and much better than assuming!

    All-or-Nothing Thinking / Disqualifying the Positive / Magnifying the Negative

    • Distortion: having a negative bias that not only finds a cloud in every silver lining, but stretches it out so that it’s all that we can see. In a relationship, this might mean that one argument makes us feel like our relationship is nothing but strife. In life in general, it may lead us to feel like we are “naturally unlucky”.
    • Reality: those negative things wouldn’t even register as negative to us if there weren’t a commensurate positive we’ve experienced to hold them in contrast against. So, find and remember that positive too.

    For brevity, we put a spotlight on (and in some cases, clumped together) the ones we think have the most bang-for-buck to know about, but there are many more.

    So for the curious, here’s some further reading:

    Psychology Today: 50 Common Cognitive Distortions

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  • When should you get the updated COVID-19 vaccine?

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    Updated COVID-19 vaccines are now available: They’re meant to give you the best protection against the strain of the virus that is making people severely sick and also causing deaths. 

    Many people were infected during the persistent summer wave, which may leave you wondering when you should get the updated vaccine. The short answer is that it depends on when you last got infected or vaccinated and on your particular level of risk. 

    We heard from six experts—including medical doctors and epidemiologists—about when they recommend getting an updated vaccine. Read on to learn what they said. And to make it easy, check out the flowchart below.

    A flowchart that helps you answer the question of when to get the 2024-2025 updated COVID-19 vaccine based mainly on whether or not you were infected with COVID-19 or received a COVID-19 vaccine in the last three months. The chart also says that if you're over 65, immunocompromised, or high risk you should consider getting vaccinated as soon as possible.
    A flowchart to help you decide when is the best time to get the 2024-2025 updated COVID-19 vaccine.

    If I was infected with COVID-19 this summer, when should I get the updated vaccine?

    All the experts we spoke to agreed that if you were infected this summer, you should wait at least three months since you were infected to get vaccinated. 

    “Generally, an infection may be protective for about three months,” Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly, chief of research and development at the Veterans Affairs St. Louis Health Care System, tells PGN. “If they got infected three or more months ago, it is a good idea to get vaccinated sooner than later.”

    This three-month rule applies if you got vaccinated over the summer, which may be the case for some immunocompromised people, adds Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. 

    If I didn’t get infected with COVID-19 this summer, when should I get vaccinated?

    Most of the experts we talked to say that if you didn’t get infected with COVID-19 this summer, you should get the vaccine as soon as possible. Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, emphasizes that if this applies to you, you should get vaccinated as soon as possible, especially given the current COVID-19 surge.

    Al-Aly agrees. “Vaccine-derived immunity lasts for several months, and it should cover the winter season. Plus, the current vaccine is a KP.2-adapted vaccine, so it will work most optimally against KP.2 and related subvariants [such as] KP.3 that are circulating now,” Al-Aly says. “We don’t know when the virus will mutate to a variant that is not compatible with the KP.2 vaccine.” 

    Al-Aly adds that if you’d rather take the protection you can get right now, “It may make more sense to get vaccinated sooner than later.”

    This especially applies if you’re over 65 or immunocompromised and you haven’t received a COVID-19 vaccine in a year or more because, as Chin-Hong adds, “that is the group that is being hospitalized and disproportionately dying now.”

    Some experts—including epidemiologist Katelyn Jetelina, author of newsletter Your Local Epidemiologist—also say that if you’re younger than 65 and not immunocompromised, you can consider waiting and aiming to get vaccinated before Halloween to get the best protection in the winter, when we’re likely to experience another wave because of the colder weather, gathering indoors, and the holidays. 

    “I am more worried about the winter than the summer, so I would think of October (some time before Halloween) as the ‘Goldilocks moment’—not too early, not too late, but just right,” Chin-Hong adds. Time it “such that your antibodies peak during the winter when COVID-19 cases are expected to exceed what we are seeing this summer.”

    My children are starting school—should I get them vaccinated now? 

    According to most experts we spoke to, now is a good time to get your children vaccinated. 

    Jennifer Nuzzo, professor of epidemiology and director of the Pandemic Center at the Brown University School of Public Health, adds that “with COVID-19 infection levels as high as they are and increased exposures in school,” now is a particularly good time to get an updated vaccine if people haven’t gotten COVID-19 recently. 

    Additionally, respiratory viruses spike when kids are back in school, so “doing everything you can to reduce your child’s risk of infection can help protect families and communities,” says epidemiologist Jessica Malaty Rivera, science communications advisor at the de Beaumont Foundation.

    For more information, talk to your health care provider.

    (Disclosure: The de Beaumont Foundation is a partner of The Public Good Projects, the organization that owns Public Good News.)

    This article first appeared on Public Good News and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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  • Play Bold – by Magnus Penker

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    This book is very different to what you might expect, from the title.

    We often see: “play bold, believe in yourself, the universe rewards action” etc… Instead, this one is more: “play bold, pay attention to the data, use these metrics, learn from what these businesses did and what their results were”, etc.

    We often see: “here’s an anecdote about a historical figure and/or celebrity who made a tremendous bluff and it worked out well so you should too” etc… Instead, this one is more: “see how what we think of as safety is actually anything but! And how by embracing change quickly (or ideally: proactively), we can stay ahead of disaster that may otherwise hit us”.

    Penker’s background is also relevant here. He has decades of experience, having “launched 10 start-ups and acquired, turned around, and sold over 30 SMEs all over Europe”. Importantly, he’s also “still in the game”… So, unlike many authors whose last experience in the industry was in the 1970s and who wonder why people aren’t reaping the same rewards today!

    Penker is the therefore opposite of many who advocate to “play bold” but simply mean “fail fast, fail often”… While quietly relying on their family’s capital and privilege to leave a trail of financial destruction behind them, and simultaneously gloating about their imagined business expertise.

    In short: boldness does not equate to foolhardiness, and foolhardiness does not equate to boldness.

    As for telling the difference? Well, for that we recommend reading the book—It’s a highly instructive one.

    Take The First Bold Step Of Checking Out This Book On Amazon!

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  • Acid Reflux Diet Cookbook – by Dr. Harmony Reynolds

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    Notwithstanding the title, this is far more than just a recipe book. Of course, it is common for health-focused recipe books to begin with a preamble about the science that’s going to be applied, but in this case, the science makes up a larger portion of the book than usual, along with practical tips about how to best implement certain things, at home and when out and about.

    Dr. Reynolds also gives a lot of information about such things as medications that could be having an effect one way or the other, and even other lifestyle factors such as exercise and so forth, and yes, even stress management. Because for many people, what starts as acid reflux can soon become ulcers, and that’s not good.

    The recipes themselves are diverse and fairly simple; they’re written solely with acid reflux in mind and not other health considerations, but they are mostly heathy in the generalized sense too.

    The style is straight to the point with zero padding sensationalism, or chit-chat. It can make for a slightly dry read, but let’s face it, nobody is buying this book for its entertainment value.

    Bottom line: if you have been troubled by acid reflux, this book will help you to eat your way safely out of it.

    Click here to check out the Acid Reflux Diet Cookbook, and enjoy!

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  • What’s the difference between heat exhaustion and heat stroke? One’s a medical emergency

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    When British TV doctor Michael Mosley died last year in Greece after walking in extreme heat, local police said “heat exhaustion” was a contributing factor.

    Since than a coroner could not find a definitive cause of death but said this was most likely due to an un-identified medical reason or heat stroke.

    Heat exhaustion and heat stroke are two illnesses that relate to heat.

    So what’s the difference?

    Studio Nut/Shutterstock

    A spectrum of conditions

    Heat-related illnesses range from mild to severe. They’re caused by exposure to excessive heat, whether from hot conditions, physical exertion, or both. The most common ones include:

    • heat oedema: swelling of the hands, feet and ankles
    • heat cramps: painful, involuntary muscle spasms usually after exercise
    • heat syncope: fainting due to overheating
    • heat exhaustion: when the body loses water due to excessive sweating, leading to a rise in core body temperature (but still under 40°C). Symptoms include lethargy, weakness and dizziness, but there’s no change to consciousness or mental clarity
    • heat stroke: a medical emergency when the core body temperature is over 40°C. This can lead to serious problems related to the nervous system, such as confusion, seizures and unconsciousness including coma, leading to death.

    As you can see from the diagram below, some symptoms of heat stroke and heat exhaustion overlap. This makes it hard to recognise the difference, even for medical professionals.

    Heat exhaustion vs heat stroke venn diagram
    CC BY-SA

    How does this happen?

    The human body is an incredibly efficient and adaptable machine, equipped with several in-built mechanisms to keep our core temperature at an optimal 37°C.

    But in healthy people, regulation of body temperature begins to break down when it’s hotter than about 31°C with 100% humidity (think Darwin or Cairns) or about 38°C with 60% humidity (typical of other parts of Australia in summer).

    This is because humid air makes it harder for sweat to evaporate and take heat with it. Without that cooling effect, the body starts to overheat.

    Once the core temperature rises above 37°C, heat exhaustion can set in, which can cause intense thirst, weakness, nausea and dizziness.

    If the body heat continues to build and the core body temperature rises above 40°C, a much more severe heat stroke could begin. At this point, it’s a life-threatening emergency requiring immediate medical attention.

    At this temperature, our proteins start to denature (like an egg on a hotplate) and blood flow to the intestines stops. This makes the gut very leaky, allowing harmful substances such as endotoxins (toxic substances in some bacteria) and pathogens (disease causing microbes) to leak into the bloodstream.

    The liver can’t detoxify these fast enough, leading to the whole body becoming inflamed, organs failing, and in the worst-case scenario, death.

    Who’s most at risk?

    People doing strenuous exercise, especially if they’re not in great shape, are among those at risk of heat exhaustion or heat stroke. Others at risk include those exposed to high temperatures and humidity, particularly when wearing heavy clothing or protective gear.

    Outdoor workers such as farmers, firefighters and construction workers are at higher risk too. Certain health conditions, such as diabetes, heart disease, or lung conditions (such as COPD or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), and people taking blood pressure medications, can also be more vulnerable.

    Adults over 65, infants and young children are especially sensitive to heat as they are less able to physically cope with fluctuations in heat and humidity.

    Firefighters holding hose, aimed at bushfire
    Firefighters are among those at risk of heat-related illness. structuresxx/Shutterstock

    How are these conditions managed?

    The risk of serious illness or death from heat-related conditions is very low if treatment starts early.

    For heat exhaustion, have the individual lie down in a cool, shady area, loosen or remove excess clothing, and cool them by fanning, moistening their skin, or immersing their hands and feet in cold water.

    As people with heat exhaustion almost always are dehydrated and have low electrolytes (certain minerals in the blood), they will usually need to drink fluids.

    However, emergency hospital care is essential for heat stroke. In hospital, health professionals will focus on stabilising the patient’s:

    • airway (ensure no obstructions, for instance, vomit)
    • breathing (look for signs of respiratory distress or oxygen deprivation)
    • circulation (check pulse, blood pressure and signs of shock).

    Meanwhile, they will use rapid-cooling techniques including immersing the whole body in cold water, or applying wet ice packs covering the whole body.

    Take home points

    Heat-related illnesses, such as heat stroke and heat exhaustion, are serious health conditions that can lead to severe illness, or even death.

    With climate change, heat-related illness will become more common and more severe. So recognising the early signs and responding promptly are crucial to prevent serious complications.

    Matthew Barton, Senior lecturer, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Griffith University and Michael Todorovic, Associate Professor of Medicine, Bond University

    This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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