Achieve this
Results up. Time down.
(via Measure Results, Not Hours, to Improve Work Efficiency – NYTimes.com)
Tag: nyt
Raising Successful Children
Madeline Levine writes in the New York Times about the challenge parents face in determining how involved to be in their children’s lives. The problems with helicopter parenting is a suffocated kid. But a child whose parents are too permissive will face their own set of problems. Figuring out the right level of praise and feedback to give a child’s accomplishments is a difficult task. Can calling a kid smart make him dumb?
Tackling more difficult puzzles carries the risk of losing one’s status as “smart” and deprives kids of the thrill of choosing to work simply for its own sake, regardless of outcomes.
The key, it seems, it to make sure the child’s success is his own. Parents can do this by giving appropriate attention to their own success.
Parents also have to make sure their own lives are fulfilling. There is no parent more vulnerable to the excesses of overparenting than an unhappy parent. One of the most important things we do for our children is to present them with a version of adult life that is appealing and worth striving for.
A lot of people enjoyed Tim Kreider’s, The ‘Busy’ Trap, but I really enjoyed this illustration by Brecht Vandenbroucke’s that perfectly captured the feeling of being busy.
31 Step Financial Tuneup
This is old but still useful. The New York Times has a personal finance check list with tons of useful links, calculators, videos, and other tools and media.
Taking time out to put your personal finances in gear can reap both immediate and long-term benefits, from cashing gift cards to reallocating investments. This checklist can help you formulate a strategy, providing tips, the time needed to achieve them, and links to additional resources. For each category, Ron Lieber, the Your Money columnist, offers his insights on video. You can customize your list by removing items to suit your strategy, and then print a personalized list of the items you plan on tackling today.
A great thing about this check list is that it answers more than just the what. It also breaks down why each item is important, how to go about taking care of it, and about how long it should take.
