We are both currently FitBit users, but are looking to upgrade to the Jawbone UP (which unfortunately does not yet have an Android version – which is a deal killer for us) or the next iteration of the FitBit. However, since we want to get deeper in the Quantified Self movement, the Basis looks really interesting. We’ll let you know what we’ve decided to go with and give you all a review…

The holidays wreak havoc on our bodies, with their mandatory over-indulgence in food as well as family and reminiscences. As we reflect on the year past — its victories and losses — we also begin looking ahead to the next, and in big ways or small, making plans to keep our momentum going.For many, this involves taking health more seriously, whether it’s losing a few pounds, training for that first marathon, or just being more active. In turn, there’s been a lot of activity in the health space over the last year, as we’ve seen a number of apps and startups launch — or continue iterating — in the quest to help us make healthier choices, get in shape and conquer the world.

via The Ultimate Guide To The 50+ Hottest Health And Fitness Apps, Gadgets And Startups Of 2012 | TechCrunch.

 

Anyone who has been responsible in keeping his employees happy knows how challenging it can be. Different things inspire different individuals and the same goes to what makes people happy, enthused, and more eager to perform. employees to be more productive.

If you want to create a good working environment that supports your workers as much as you want them to support your objectives, below are 10 ways that will help you create a healthy office environment.

1. Clean working environment

Professional office cleaning or commercial cleaning can provide you with effective cleaning services that will ensure all your employees arrive to the office that is fresh and set for every new day. Keeping your office clean will also cut down germs, minimize the number of unpredicted sick days your staffs will need to use.

2. Provide added benefits

Many companies that employ full time employees offer benefits such as vocation days as well as health insurance. For any company to lure the best and the brightest workers to their company, additional benefits such as well being bonuses are imperative.

3. Get comfortable chairs

Since your employees are likely to spend most of their eight hours on the chair, you need to ensure they are comfortable. Most companies choose swivel chairs as they have the ability to adjust their height, backstreet as well as the height of the arms.

4. Lighting

Many studies have suggested that employees’ productivity can be increased with good lighting, and many have concluded that good light play a central role in productivity as it minimizes fatigue, anxiety and stress. You can do this by replacing fluorescent lights with softer lights.

5. Create family and flexible working hours

In today’s fast paced society, busy employees are trying to manage their careers with family duties. Provide your employees the opportunity to take one or two hours off at least once in a while to take care of family issues. This will create a happier, loyal and productive workforce.

6. Update technology

Your employees will become frustrated and annoyed if they have to work with slow and outdated software. This restricts their efficiency and productivity. It is also essential if files can be accessed easily from anywhere as this creates a sense of freedom and will leave your employees happier.

7. Trust your employees and coworkers

Trusting your employees to be accountable for their time and decisions is also crucial. While there should be some limits in which to work, most employees are responsible enough to ensure work is done appropriately and in a timely manner.

8. Music

A little bit of music can have some soothing effect on your workforce and can also help motivate them. Music can affect physical health, communication abilities, well-being and cognitive skills. People adopt smooth, uplifting music to keep the office charming.

9. Colors scheme

Scientific studies suggest that colors can bring emotional reactions in people. Reactions and attitudes to color vary from person to person, and it is vital to make sure you change your office color scheme from regularly in order to keep all your employees refreshed.

10. Say thank you

Do not hesitate to show your gratitude for an employee when he has done something well. A friendly gesture can beyond doubt go along way.It is important for companies to create pleasant working environment for their employees, so that they will look forward to coming to work each day. Moreover, a comfortable working environment will increase your company’s productivity.

 

Article inspired by  Cosmos Clinic , Australia 

I have a cold. A pretty bad one actually. And I’ve been to the doctor and got my prescription of antibiotics in order to attempt to get better. But in the meantime, while the anti-biotics are doing their magic, I still need some kind of immediate relief. OTC to the rescue!

Ever since the taxman took a big chunk of our savings 🙁 , we’ve been going to Walmart more often, and this remedy fits the bill and is a good price – last we checked it was $2.34 – its got all the usual suspects:

• Acetaminophen – (Tylenol) for pain
• Phenylephrine HCI – for sinus pressure
• Gualfenesin  – for chest congestion

Yes, it has the dreaded G word in there – you know that horrible tasting thing. They put “Cool Blast” flavor into the capsules but it still like Airwick over garbage.

This was a good choice for my cold, congestion and pain – but we aren’t doctors, so please talk to your medical practitioner before you take anything. Just saying it worked for me – as long as you keep to the schedule of 2 caps every four hours as per the directions.

PS: There’s only about 600Mg of Tylenol in a dose so we throw in a 500Mg Tylenol to help me out on that front. Add that to my antibiotic and put it all in a little cup, I’m getting flash forwards that I’m in some kind of old folks home already!

I tell you, if I has a nickel every time I went to the doctor and he prescribed antibiotics, I’d have, well, a whole lot of nickels.

It seems to me that it’s a no brainer to start to move some of these treatments out from under the “prescription” category, give adults a little bit of credit that they would be able to self medicate when it comes to antibiotics.

But no, we can’t have these over the counter now can we? Seems to me that this is more of a job creation and maintenance strategy than a healthcare strategy. Is there any real reason why we couldn’t take some of the older antibiotics which require a daily dose for 10 days and let people just take them on their own when they sense that they may have some kind of infection?

Just saying that its far past time that we took control of our health, including self medication on this front – it’s a bit sad that instead of moving towards more medical freedom, we are moving towards less medical freedom.

I have friends in the quantified self movement who self medicate all the time – if anything we should be moving towards more self control in medication as opposed to less. The only thing that is holding us back is the current political landscape – do we truly prefer to give us control of our bodies to some nameless bureaucrat?

What about doctors, you say? Sure, very important to be able to consult with a physician if you wish to – but having them as the arbiters of whether or not you can get medication or not, I feel that is simply wrong.

Simply put: we should have ultimate control over our own health – including medicine. Therefore we should be able to legally self medicate ourselves with whatever drug we see fit to.

If you think about it, we are better informed now than ever before – and due to the explosion of information and the ability to sort the best information – and come up with the optimum solution, there really is nothing but regulation holding us back from from optimum health.