The healing power of baking soda

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/12/15/Baking-Soda-Used-to-Treat-Swine-Flu-85-Years-Ago.aspx

Overlooked 150 Year Old Household Cleaner a Remedy for Swine Flu?

Posted by: Dr. Mercola
December 15 2009 | 37,354 views

In today's modern world of medicine the FDA just will not let companies that sell products make medical claims about them unless they have been tested at great expense, and approved as a drug. But this was not always the case.

In a 1924 booklet published by the Arm & Hammer Soda Company, the company starts off saying, "The proven value of Arm & Hammer Bicarbonate of Soda as a therapeutic agent is further evinced by the following evidence of a prominent physician named Dr. Volney S. Cheney, in a letter to the Church & Dwight Company:

"In 1918 and 1919 while fighting the 'Flu' with the U. S. Public Health Service it was brought to my attention that rarely any one who had been thoroughly alkalinized with bicarbonate of soda contracted the disease, and those who did contract it, if alkalinized early, would invariably have mild attacks."

Recommended dosages from the Arm and Hammer Company for colds and influenza back in 1925 were:

• During the first day take six doses of half teaspoonful of Bicarbonate of Soda in glass of cool water, at about two hour intervals
• During the second day take four doses of half teaspoonful of Bicarbonate of Soda in glass of cool water, at the same intervals
• During the third day take two doses of half teaspoonful of Bicarbonate of Soda in glass of cool water morning and evening, and thereafter half teaspoonful in glass of cool water each morning until cold is cured

Sources:

  Sodium Bicarbonate November 30, 2009

Dr. Mercola's Comments

Baking soda (also known as sodium bicarbonate), popularized by Arm & Hammer some 155 years ago, is derived from a natural occurring mineral, and is one of the safest and most versatile substances around. In fact, if you search for "baking soda" on my site, you'll find a number of articles detailing its potential uses, including using it as a:

• Household cleaner
• Sunburn remedy
• Alternative to toxic antiperspirants
• Sports performance enhancer

Few people realize, however, that baking soda also has potent medicinal properties. Taken internally, it helps maintain the pH balance in your bloodstream. This is likely the basic premise behind its recommended uses against both colds and influenza symptoms, and even cancer.

Baking Soda as an All-Natural Cold Remedy

In their booklet "Arm & Hammer Baking Soda Medical Uses," published in 1924, Dr. Volney S. Cheney recounts his clinical successes with sodium bicarbonate in treating cold and flu:

"In 1918 and 1919 while fighting the 'flu' with the U. S. Public Health Service it was brought to my attention that rarely anyone who had been thoroughly alkalinized with bicarbonate of soda contracted the disease, and those who did contract it, if alkalinized early, would invariably have mild attacks.

I have since that time treated all cases of 'cold,' influenza and LaGripe by first giving generous doses of bicarbonate of soda, and in many, many instances within 36 hours the symptoms would have entirely abated.

Further, within my own household, before Woman's Clubs and Parent-Teachers' Associations, I have advocated the use of bicarbonate of soda as a preventive for "colds," with the result that now many reports are coming in stating that those who took "soda" were not affected, while nearly everyone around them had the "flu."

According to the Materia Medica by Walter Bastedo, sodium bicarbonate taken internally can soothe your mucous membranes and dissolve thick mucus.

It's worth noting that I have personally never tried this cold remedy, but I wouldn't be surprised if it worked, as maintaining proper acid-alkalinity balance in your body will have a beneficial impact on your natural immune system function.

If any of you have experience using baking soda as a cold remedy, I'd love to hear about it.

The administration is easy enough, and is harmless even if you should not experience relief from your cold symptoms. Simply dissolve the recommended amount of baking soda in a glass of cold water and drink it.

Recommended dosages from the Arm & Hammer Company for colds and influenza back in 1925 were:

• Day 1 -- Take six doses of ½ teaspoon of baking soda in glass of cool water, at about two hour intervals
• Day 2 -- Take four doses of ½ teaspoon of baking soda in glass of cool water, at the same intervals
• Day 3 -- Take two doses of ½ teaspoon of baking soda in glass of cool water morning and evening, and thereafter ½ teaspoon in glass of cool water each morning until cold symptoms are gone

Further dosing recommendations and instructions for taking sodium bicarbonate can be found in Mark Sircus' book Sodium Bicarbonate – Rich Mans Poor Mans Cancer Treatment, which is also available in Kindle edition.

According to Arm & Hammer's dosing instructions, do not exceed seven doses of ½ teaspoon per day, or three doses of ½ teaspoon daily if you're over the age of 60. In addition, do not use the maximum dosage for more than two weeks.

The Potent Healing Power of Baking Soda

Dr. Tullio Simonici and Mark Sircus, Ac, OMD both advocate using baking soda for even the most serious of diseases – cancer!

Unfortunately, despite all the evidence showing that baking soda indeed has enormous potential as an effective and non-toxic cancer treatment, conventional medicine is refusing to take notice, as baking soda will never be a huge profit center for any drug company.

Even worse, the industry tries to discredit or downright destroy those who dare bring inexpensive treatment options like baking soda to the forefront. Make no mistake about it, cancer treatment is big business, and for all the promises to find a cure, there seems to be an unwritten law somewhere stating it will only be studied and accepted if there's big profits to be had.

Dr. Simoncini, who is an oncologist (cancer specialist), was ousted from the medical community when he refused to use conventional cancer treatment methods and elected instead to administer sodium bicarbonate.

This despite the fact that he's been able to show that 99 percent of breast- and bladder cancer can heal in just six days, entirely without the use of surgery, chemo or radiation, using just a local infiltration device (such as a catheter) to deliver the sodium bicarbonate directly to the infected site in your breast tissue or bladder!

You can watch actual before and after footage of the treatment working in this video.

In his book Winning the War on Cancer, Dr. Sircus writes:

"Sodium bicarbonate is the time honored method to 'speed up' the return of the body's bicarbonate levels to normal. Bicarbonate is inorganic, very alkaline and like other mineral type substances, supports an extensive list of biological functions.

Sodium bicarbonate happens to be one of our most useful medicines because bicarbonate physiology is fundamental to life and health."

Many chemotherapy treatments actually include sodium bicarbonate to help protect the patient's kidneys, heart and nervous system. It's been said that administering chemotherapy without bicarbonate could possibly kill you on the spot.

Could it be that while mixing chemo poisons with baking soda, any improvements seen are the result of the baking soda, and not the toxic poisons? Dr. Sircus believes that may be the case.

"There are no studies separating the effects of bicarbonate from the toxic chemotherapy agents, nor will there ever be," he says.

Final Thoughts

If you keep an open mind, you will quickly learn that there are numerous ways to support your body in healing that have nothing to do with toxic drugs, vaccines, or surgery, even when it comes to a serious condition like cancer.

For my Top 12 all-natural cancer prevention strategies, please review my previous article, Winning the War on Cancer.

As for preventive measures against cold and flu, please read through the three articles listed below. They're all chockfull of helpful tips and guidelines to make cold and flu symptoms a thing of the past.

Rules of honest journalism: Jim Lehrer [INTEGRITY], [TRUTHFULNESS], [HONOR], [JUSTICE]

Jim Lehrer's Rules of Journalism

Posted: 05 Dec 2009

The NewsHour's "retired" logo

The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer on PBS Television – one of the most respected daily news programs in television history – will have a high tech facelift this coming Monday. Everything I've seen that they are doing is spectacular. The updates will make the best even better, in my opinion.

Not only will NewsHour continue its legacy and reputation for superb coverage of major stories, everything on the air will be mirrored and expanded online in ways the other TV news programs never dreamed of.

In announcing the changes, the program's host, Jim Lehrer, took a moment to underscore his rules of journalist that act as a beacon for excellence at his program. I'm very proud to share his remarks here:

I practice journalism in accordance with the following guidelines:

• Do nothing I cannot defend.
• Do not distort, lie, slant or hype.
• Do not falsify facts or make up quotes.
• Cover, write and present every story with the care I would want if the story were about me.
• Assume there is at least one other side or version to every story.
• Assume the viewer is as smart and caring and good a person as I am.
• Assume the same about all people on whom I report.
• Assume everyone is innocent until proven guilty.
• Assume personal lives are a private matter until a legitimate turn in the story mandates otherwise.


Jim Lehrer

• Carefully separate opinion and analysis from straight news stories and clearly label it as such.
• Do not use anonymous sources or blind quotes except on rare and monumental occasions. No one should ever be allowed to attack another anonymously.
• Do not broadcast profanity or the end result of violence unless it is an integral and necessary part of the story and/or crucial to its understanding.
• Acknowledge that objectivity may be impossible but fairness never is.
• Journalists who are reckless with facts and reputations should be disciplined by their employers.
• My viewers have a right to know what principles guide my work and the process I use in their practice.
• I am not in the entertainment business.

~ Jim Lehrer

Source: David Henderson - consultant, author, journalist

"The 100% commitment experiment" in marriage [LOYALTY], [TRUST], [TRUTHFULNESS]

The Secret to a successful marriage is...

If you're married, your primary relationship in life is with your spouse. And of course, the strength of that relationship will go a long way to determine your happiness in life.

Vic Conant, the president of Nightingale Conant, has been a good friend for over twenty years. Not long ago he wrote an article called, The Keys to Successful Living that focused on things we can do to improve our marriages. It was terrific!

Vic acknowledged that a few years ago, he had some problems with his marriage to the point where he was considering other alternatives. But he wanted it to work and decided to try what he called "the 100% commitment experiment," (not 99%, but 100%). He said in doing so, something magical happened. He began to look for the positives and began to enjoy his wife more each day. She naturally responded by being much nicer to him. He said it began an amazing transformation; and today, after 36 years of marriage, they've never been happier.

As Vic discovered, there is a remarkable difference between a commitment of 99% and 100%. At 100%, you are seeing your problems all the way through to their solutions. At 99% we can still find a way to take the path of least resistance...and usually do.

And guess what? "The 100% commitment experiment" not only works for marriage...it also works for life.

This is one of 50 ideas to motivate yourself in my book Charging the Human Battery. So many times, it's not what you say, but how you say it that turns the switch from "off" to "on." And that's what happened to me when I first read Vic Conant's story about the remarkable difference between a commitment of 99% versus 100%. The light bulb went on!

Idea incubation comes in seemingly unproductive times [CREATIVITY], [DETACHMENT], [PATIENCE], [CONFIDENCE]

Break Through by Taking Breaks

Posted: 17 Sep 2009

From Matthew E. May, In Pursuit of Elegance:

Ever wonder why our best ideas come when we're in the shower, driving, daydreaming, or sleeping? Most people know the story of Archimedes' shouting "Eureka!" upon suddenly discovering volume displacement while taking a bath and of Einstein's theory of special relativity coming to him in a daydream. But there are many others:

• Friedrich von Stradonitz's discovered the round shape of the benzene ring after dreaming about a snake biting its tail.

• Philo Farnsworth was plowing a field gazing at the even rows when the idea for projecting moving images line by line came to him, leading him to invent the first electronic television.

• Richard Feynman was watching someone throw a plate in the air in Cornell University's cafeteria when the wobbling plate with its red school medallion spinning sparked the Nobel Prize-winning idea for quantum electrodynamics.

• Kary Mullis, another Nobel winner, was driving along a California highway when the chemistry behind the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) came to him, stopping him in the middle of the road.

• Car designer Irwin Liu sketched the innovative new lines of what became the shape of the first Toyota Prius after helping his child with an elementary school science project involving the manipulation of hard-boiled eggs.

• Author J. K. Rowling was traveling on a train between Manchester and London, thinking about the plot of an adult novel, when the character of child wizard Harry Potter flashed in her mind.

• Shell Oil engineer Jaap Van Ballegooijen's idea for a snake oil drill came as he watched his son turn his bendy straw upside down to better sip around the sides and bottom of his malt glass.

When you look deeper into these ingeniously elegant solutions and brilliant flashes of insight you can see that they came at strange times and in random locations. They didn't occur while actually working on the problem but after an intense, prolonged struggle with it followed by a break. A change of scene and time away seems to have played a part.

Most "creatives"—artists, musicians, writers, etc.—instinctively know that idea incubation involves seemingly unproductive times, but that those downtimes and timeouts are important ingredients of immensely productive and creative periods. But until fairly recently the how, when, and why of being kissed by the muse was something of a myth and mystery, explained only by serendipity.

But now there's some hard science that shows it's not just coincidence.

Neuroscientists examining how the human brain solves problems can confirm that experiencing a creative insight—that sudden aha!—hinges on the ability to synthesize connections between seemingly disparate things. And a key factor in achieving that is time away from the problem. New studies show that creative revelations tend to come when the mind is engaged in an activity unrelated to the issue at hand; pressure is not conducive to recombining knowledge in new and different ways, the defining mark of creativity.

Neuroendocrinologist Ullrich Wagner has demonstrated that the ultimate break—sleep—actually promotes the likelihood of eureka! moments. He gave volunteers a Mensa-style logic problem to solve, one containing a hidden rule enabling the solution. The subjects were allowed to work on it for a while, then told to take a break. Some took naps, some didn't. Upon returning to the experiment to continue working on the problem, those who had taken a nap found the hidden rule quicker and much more often than those who hadn't.

Wagner believes that information is consolidated by a process taking place in the hippocampus during sleep, enabling the brain to clear itself and, in effect, reboot, all the while forming new connections and associations. It is this process that is the foundation for creativity. The result is new insight and the aha! feeling of the eureka! moment.

While no one yet knows the exact process, there's an important implication for all of us: putting pressure on ourselves to try and make our brains work harder, more intensely, or more quickly, may only slow down our ability to arrive at new insights. In other words, if you're looking to engineer a breakthrough, it may only come through a break. Your brain needs the calm before its storm.

Matthew E. May is the author of In Pursuit of Elegance: Why the Best Ideas Have Something Missing, and blogs here. You can follow him on Twitter here.

 

From OPEN Forum Articles

The Ability to Prioritize - Making room for what really matters [DETACHMENT], [EXCELLENCE], [WISDOM]

 

The Stop-Doing Strategy

Posted: 16 Sep 2009

From Matthew E. May, In Pursuit of Elegance:

In this recent interview, Campbell Soup CEO Douglas Conant defined his mission in taking the helm eight years ago as being, "to take a bad company and lift its performance to extraordinary by 2011." His strategy was simple enough: developing or keeping only products that ranked first or second in three major categories. That meant, among other things, selling the Godiva chocolate brand in 2008.

Jim Collins, best-selling author of Good to Great, commented on Conant's sale of Godiva by saying, "That gets my attention, when someone has the discipline to let go of what doesn't fit."

Collins firmly believes in the power of a "stop-doing" discipline, a practice that began taking shape during his early post-Stanford Business School career at Hewlett-Packard. On a return visit to the school early in his career, Jim's favorite former professor, Rochelle Myers, reproached him for his lack of discipline. An expert in creativity and innovation, she told him his unbridled energy was riding herd over his mental clarity, enabling a busy yet unfocused life.

Her words rang true: At the time, Jim's life was crowded with the commotion of a fast-tracking career. Her comment made him pull up short and re-examine what he was doing. To help, she did what great teachers do, constructing a lesson in the form of an assignment she called "20-10": Imagine that you've just inherited $20 million free and clear, but you only have ten years to live. What would you do differently—and specifically, what would you stop doing?

The exercise did precisely what it was intended to do: make Jim stop and think about what mattered most to him. It was a turning point for three reasons.

First, he realized he'd been racing down the wrong track, spending enormous energy on the wrong things. In fact, he woke up to the fact that he hated his job. He promptly quit and headed back to Stanford to launch a new career of research, teaching, and writing.

Second, the assignment became a constant reminder of just how important his time is. He now starts each year by choosing what not to do, and each of his to-do lists always includes "stop-doing" items. Collins preaches his practice, impressing upon his audiences that they must have a "stop-doing" list to accompany their to-do lists. As a practical matter, he advises eliminating the bottom twenty percent of your goals... forever.

Third, the strategy helped him identify what factors led the companies he was studying to become "great" while others remained merely "good." The great companies routinely eliminated activities and pursuits that did not significantly contribute to the following criteria: profit, passion, and perfection. All three criteria had to be met in order for any activity to remain in these great companies' repertoires.

In this editorial piece Collins said, "A great piece of art is composed not just of what is in the final piece, but equally what is not. It is the discipline to discard what does not fit—to cut out what might have already cost days or even years of effort—that distinguishes the truly exceptional artist and marks the ideal piece of work, be it a symphony, a novel, a painting, a company, or most important of all, a life."

In an economic environment where time, money and attention are fixed or decreasing, where we must achieve maximum effect with minimum means, having a good stop-doing strategy may hold the key. At the very least, it will allow us to make more room for what really matters by eliminating what doesn't.

Matthew E. May is the author of In Pursuit of Elegance: Why the Best Ideas Have Something Missing and blogs here. You can follow him on Twitter here

 

From OPEN Forum Articles

 

TIps for College/University students

Starting College? Words of Wisdom

Published: September 12, 2009

To the Editor:

Ted McGrath

Re "College Advice, From People Who Have Been There Awhile," a collection of nine Op-Ed essays on Sept. 6:

Create opportunities for yourself — this is my advice to college students. Be proactive and seek mentorship from professors whose research interests are closely aligned to your own.

Immerse yourself fully in this field of study and find ways of making your research relevant to society at large. In this era of globalization, it is vital to keep asking the question: how is my work relevant on the international stage?

Do not be afraid to take risks by stepping outside your personal and academic comfort zones. Apply for competitive international scholarship programs. The application process, while long and arduous, is a valuable learning experience that will help to clarify your goals.

College is a rigorous, exhilarating process. As you set off to forge your own path, make it your mission to seek out research and fellowship opportunities along the way. The rewards are tremendously fulfilling, and in the end you will become a more adaptable and globally minded citizen of the world.

Lindsay Chura
Cambridge, England, Sept. 6, 2009

The writer, a Mount Holyoke graduate, is a Gates Scholar at Cambridge University and was a Fulbright Scholar in Australia in 2006-7.

•

To the Editor:

I was disappointed that not one member of your panel of sages advised incoming freshmen to take a course in art, music or both.

While no one would dispute that all college students should absorb and understand works by Homer, Virgil, Dante, Shakespeare, Milton and other members of the "indispensable canon," the understanding and appreciation of the works of Leonardo, Michelangelo, Brueghel, Rembrandt, Bach, Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven (among others) are no less important.

The American scholar and author Thomas Merton got it exactly right when he wrote, "Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time."

Richard Kavesh
Nyack, N.Y., Sept. 7, 2009

The writer teaches social studies at the Bronx School of Law and Finance.

•

To the Editor:

I enjoyed the sage advice for first-year students offered by my esteemed colleagues from many of our nation's premier four-year colleges and universities. Yet I can't help but juxtapose it to the message given upon admission to community college students: do something practical; declare a career major right away; the liberal arts won't prepare you for a job.

Reading the classics, becoming politically engaged and casting a broad intellectual net by learning to think critically are essential messages that are just as important to present to the poor, working-class and students of color enrolled in community colleges.

Lisa Hale Rose
Brooklyn, Sept. 6, 2009

The writer is an associate professor in the department of social science and human services at the Borough of Manhattan Community College, CUNY.

•

To the Editor:

I taught biology for about 55 years and was interested to read the good advice that was offered by college faculty.

One piece of advice that I didn't see was that students should take a course and gain as much experience as possible in public speaking. No matter what career students pursue, they will have to stand up and speak to a group of people sometime, and they are usually not well prepared to do so.

Also, I would emphasize the importance of experiences. We learn from everything that we do, and everything that we do becomes part of who we are.

Each student is unique. I have always emphasized that someone can be taller, smarter or richer, but nobody is better than someone else. A college education should help students identify and nurture his or her special talents.

The broad mission of teachers is to provide meaningful, motivational experiences that enrich the lives of students and help them identify their unique traits and where they fit in life. To me, that's what a college education should be all about.

Marvin Druger
Syracuse, Sept. 6, 2009

The writer is professor emeritus in biology and science education at Syracuse University.

•

To the Editor:

The advice from Stanley Fish about composition courses ("The Hunt for a Good Teacher") is right on the mark for incoming college students.

Forty-nine years ago this month, I enrolled in a required first-year composition course. My instructor, a senior member of the English department, conveyed a sense of deeply investing himself in teaching composition.

Inspired by this experience, I made my way in the next semester into an optional course best described as intermediate English composition. I found it rewarding and fulfilling.

What I learned in my English composition courses I have distilled into advice that I subsequently imparted, over and over again, to my own first-year students during nearly 40 years as a professor of American history: if you will not devote yourself to learning to write, you will discover yourself hampered and frustrated by your inability to think effectively.

Writing and thinking stand among the keys to learning.

Michael H. Ebner
Lake Forest, Ill., Sept. 8, 2009

The writer is professor emeritus of American history at Lake Forest College.

•

To the Editor:

Re "Get Lost. In Books.": However much I appreciated Harold Bloom's advice to college freshmen (read Homer, Plato, the Bible and so on), I was disappointed at how few female authors he had included in his indispensable canon.

In addition to Jane Austen, Emily Dickinson and George Eliot, I'd suggest that Virginia Woolf, Daphne du Maurier, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Iris Murdoch, Harper Lee, Toni Morrison, the great biographer Nancy Milford and Margaret Atwood, among others, have more than earned places on a 21st-century reading list.

Alison Corbett
Boulder, Colo., Sept. 6, 2009

The writer is pursuing a master's degree in English at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

To network: Connect in a respectful and personal way with those in your same situation

The Truth About Networking (Do you Build or do you Bet?)

Posted: 02 Sep 2009

Editor's Note: I rarely accept guest posts on my blog. But Carlos Miceli from OwlSparks is an exception because his writing is elegant and poignant. So I actually reached out to him for this guest post, and he was happy to oblige. Enjoy!

Image from marcandrelariviere via Flickr

Networking is a common goal for most people involved in social media. We know it takes time and effort, but the payoffs can be quite gratifying.

The thing about networking is that value is king. You show your value and connect with those that you think will be valuable to you. It's logical then that valuable people get targeted more than others. It's Pareto all over again.

Considering this, I see two ways for successful online networking:

#1 – Building.

This is the hard one, statistically speaking.

If you do something remarkable, they will come. Not because they are suddenly nicer, but because it's good for them too. Spreading your story enhances their reputation as well. Value goes both ways.

There are two problems with this approach:

First, building something remarkable enough to get their attention is not easy at all. Odds are against you.

The other problem is that they are all set. They don't need you. The irony is that if you build something truly remarkable maybe you won't need them either…

#2 – Betting.

(I love this approach, it has given me fantastic results).

Catch the next wave.

Don't play the safe path, reach out to other beginners.

All winners were rookies at some point, connect with them in that stage.

Everyone begins with 50 subscribers and 100 followers.

Go after them before it's too late.

And believe me, the worthy ones leave the first stage very quickly.

So, there you go. Don't waste your efforts talking to those that are just too busy to listen. As appealing as reaching out to the Chris Brogan's and Gary Vaynerchuk's may sound, you're investing a lot of effort for very little return.

Instead, take risks; you have almost nothing to lose when you are starting. Connect in a respectful and personal way with those in your same situation.

I would take connecting with the future Seth Godin over being just another follower of today's one any day.

Editor's note: I reached out to Carlos when he was in his beginning stages because I do think he's the next Seth Godin. I highly recommend his blog, OwlSparks. Subscribe here for daily insights.

 

From Twenty Set

 

Structuring one's day

The Answer to Less Stress? More Structure.

Posted: 01 Sep 2009

From Tony Bacigalupo: As small business owners, we all know the feeling of being 5 hours into the day and not having accomplished anything on our to-do list. Or looking up at the clock and realizing that you've just worked for 15 hours straight without a bite to eat.

The fact is, by being your own boss, you take on full responsibility for your time. Without someone to tell you when or where to work, it's up to you to discipline yourself.

The problem? Most people are lousy at holding themselves accountable – at work and at home. And particularly when it comes to balancing the two. For instance: How long is your list of really important personal things that you haven't done in weeks?

It's all about structuring your day and creating accountability. And there are ways to do this both big and small:

Structuring Small: Personal Reminder Services
There's no shortage of productivity-focused services. Tools like Remember The Milk can help you stick to a schedule and not forget the important things on your list, while the well-titled HassleMe simply nags you about anything you like, at any interval, over email. The more sophisticated iPing will actually call you.

If these, or similar services, sound like something that can help you, Mashable has a rundown of 30 different reminder services here.

Of course, while reminder services are a useful supplement, really building the discipline needed to structure your day productively might take a more concerted effort.

Structuring Big: Group Co-working
A few years ago, Brad Neuberg, a freelance developer in San Francisco, found himself working around the clock with too little time for personal maintenance. He consulted a life coach, and they together came up with the idea of "coworking"—which, in its original incarnation, was a special event where participants would share a structured workday.

In his words: "Unlike a traditional office, in the Spiral Muse Coworking Group we begin the day with a short meditation and circle to set our personal and work intentions, and check in physically and emotionally with where we are. Then, we work in the amazing Spiral Muse house, sitting at tables or relaxing on couches as we do our work. Even though each of us is doing separate work, perhaps programming or writing a novel, we can feel each others presence, run ideas by the community, or take breaks together at the "watercooler." We take lunch as a group, and then later in the day have a 45-minute break where we do a different healthy activity every day, such as guided yoga, meditation, a nice walk, or perhaps a bike ride in the sun. We end the day at 5:45 PM sharp, supporting each other in both starting a good work day at 9 AM and ending our work in a healthy, balanced way at the end of the day."

While the structure Neuberg set up might not work for your particular needs, it's an interesting model to draw inspiration from. What could you do within your business to lend better, healthier structure to your day? If you adopted a version of Neuberg's example above into your company's culture, what would it look like?

 

From OPEN Forum Articles

 

Blogging: 5 Tips For How to Start and Grow a Successful Blog

5 Tips For How to Start and Grow a Successful Blog

Posted: 02 Sep 2009

From Jill Fehrenbacher, Inhabitat: Blogs are becoming the ubiquitous calling cards of cyberspace, and it seems like everyone is starting one: from your sister, to the mom next door, to corporate marketing professionals trying to carefully cultivate their brand's public image.  I've been blogging for the past five years, and my green design sites Inhabitat and Inhabitots rank in the Technorati top 100 - and I'd like to pass on some of the tricks of the trade I've learned through relentless trial and error.  Hopefully my tips will allow you to skip some of the trial and error part and get started in the right direction. In order to be successful at blogging, one must follow certain criteria, while also blazing a unique trail. Here are five surefire tips to help you pave a successful path to growing a relevant and profitable blog.

1. Choose your niche wisely Decide on a topic for your blog and then deliver your news and information in a fashion that will entice and engage readers. Select your theme well, and make sure it's something you're passionate about, as you'll be married to it day in and day out, constantly sourcing information for content. Also, consider the competition in your genre. The more unique your chosen topic is, the more chance of success you will have.  If your topic is well-covered on the Internet, find a way to set your blog apart with unprecedented delivery or a larger than life personal perspective. 

2. Find a unique perspective Set your blog apart by making it a first hit, go-to resource for people interested in its subject. Conformists needn't apply to the blogging realm. The most successful blogs are the ones that offer a highly unique, specialized perspective that can't be found anywhere else on the Web. Be the first to break stories, publish noteworthy posts frequently, say something original, and provide unique, compelling content.

3. The medium is the message Blog visitors are a new breed of readers who value their time and are looking for instantaneous access to information. They want information to be chopped into bite-sized, palatable pieces that are interwoven with eye-candy imagery. Pictures really are worth a thousand words in the blogging world, and punchy, well-written, concise text will always be preferred over long, explanatory prose.

4. Network, Network, Network The backbone of a blog's success is that people know about it. Get the word out about your blog by establishing meaningful, reciprocal connections with other bloggers in your field. Feature link roundups on your blog to showcase the efforts of other bloggers, putting you on their radar. Build a community among the readers of your blog by asking questions in your posts, soliciting feedback, holding contests and giveaways, and encouraging involvement.

5. Become a student of other successful blogs Check out Technorati's list of the Top 100 Blogs, and study them to learn what makes a successful blog tick. Blogging is a relentless state of trying to outperform not only your competitors, but yourself. The more you know what works and why, the more you can tweak your blog and shape it into an ultimate success story.

 

From OPEN Forum Articles

More diverse habitat creates more ways for the many forms of life to survive and evolve

Diversity: A Lesson from Mother Nature

Posted: 25 Aug 2009

From Haily Zaki, Inhabitat: Diversity is a pretty simple concept.  In nature, biodiversity is the standard measure for a healthy habitat.  The more diverse the habitat, the more ways there are for the many forms of life to both survive, and more importantly, evolve.   The same can be applied to your life and work.

For small business owners whose businesses are naturally more nimble and agile, the changing landscape of the economy – while challenging - can also offer up different opportunities to expand, collaborate, and innovate if you can cultivate and encourage diversity in both life and work.

In work, some businesses are turning to their competitors to band together to go after bigger projects.  Competitors can also make great collaborators, as it turns out.  Others may rely on creative business incubators, like BAKERY, that bring together a collection of complementary 'ingredients' to help each other bake up more business.  Maybe it also means you start sharing your insight and experience in other ways.  As the Wall Street Journal reports, there are more Americans making their living today as bloggers than there are lawyers.  This doesn't necessarily mean you should trade in your day job, but exploring different venues of increasing visibility and communicating with others in your industry and beyond can never hurt.

In life, staying diverse can mean any number of things.  If you've got a few extra days a week on your hands with reduced work weeks, then now might be the time to go back to school to take a refresher course, or learn that second language once and for all, or rekindle a passion for a long lost hobby.  There are innumerable cases of pink-slip survivors who have turned personal ventures into new and successful businesses.

We're all part of an economic eco-system of sorts, if you think about it.  And the more creative and proactive we all are in our individual ways, the stronger our collective chances are for continued evolution.  (If diversity is the spice of life, then undying optimism is the sugar!)

From OPEN Forum Articles

Skills involved in setting priorities

How To Set Priorities

Posted: 10 Aug 2009

From Henry Blodget, The Business Insider: In a recent post, I argued that the key to success in a small business is to focus on doing one thing extremely well.  A small company simply doesn't have the resources to compete with bigger, richer companies if it's trying to be all things to all people.

While trying to do one thing extremely well, however, you still need to figure out how to set priorities and allocate your company's limited resources.

If you're like most entrepreneurs, you'll have a dozen things you could be doing at any one time, as will everyone who works for you.  If you and your employees all behave like billiard balls, bouncing in a hundred different directions, you'll be toast.

So here's how to set priorities:

• Figure out the one product or service that is working the best (customers like it).
  
• Put 90 percent of the company's energy and resources into expanding that product or service and making it better.
  
• Tell every employee to prioritize their time by doing only the things that are most likely grow that product and make it better.
  
• Outsource or ignore everything else.

Everyone in the company should know that everything they do should be focused on making that one key product or service a success.

In many cases, this will mean letting go of minor details and focusing on what really matters. And ultimately, in a small business, only three things really matter:

• producing a good product,
  
• selling the product,
  
• not running out of money

Salespeople should not call "everyone."  They should only call their most promising prospects.  Engineers should not try to make the product "perfect." They should focus on making it GOOD.  And so on.

If you can get everyone in the company focused on producing and selling one good product and not getting distracted by a thousand opportunities and details, you'll give yourself the best chance of success.

And do you do with the remaining 10 percent of your time?

Think about what to do next.

 

Source: OPEN Forum Articles

 

How to design - gain clear, thorough understanding of the user, collaborate multi-disciplinary, experiment rapidly via prototyping

Design Thinking 101

Posted: 03 Aug 2009

From Matthew E. May, How to Change the World: "Design Thinking" has rapidly moved to the forefront of the current management zeitgeist as a fresh take not just on how to rethink key products and services, but also how to reframe everyday processes and projects. In an effort to create a cross-company culture of innovation and collaboration, businesses all over the world are taking a page from design firms, and realizing the rewards.

Graduate schools including Stanford's Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (aka d. school) and the Rotman School of Management are helping to lead the way, taking the broad view that the designer's approach to solving problems goes far beyond the traditional role of design in "making pretty." Rather, they believe the designer's blend of creativity and logic is applicable to all aspects of business, and that irrespective of job title, everyone can be a designer of sorts.

What's driving the move is the very real pressure to innovate in a fiercely competitive marketplace, fueled by a down economy. That pressure falls on the individual, who is asked for higher commitment, more adaptability, quicker progress, better execution, stronger decision-making, and freer thinking. At the same time, they're told to manage risk, meet short-term objectives, and only bet on sure things. All within the confines of environments that are often anything but free: powerful systems, rigid structures, conflicting agendas, privileged information, political posturing, and limiting rules. The truth is that uncertainty, risk and failure are all part of innovation, and the ability to meet business objectives doesn't always square with the personal capabilities needed to innovate as required.

The solution? Think like a designer, work like a designer.

Great design is a result of a clear and thorough understanding of the user, creative resolution of competing tensions, multi-discipline collaboration, rapid experimentation via prototyping, with continuous modification and enhancement of ideas and solutions. The best designers leverage their expertise, pursue possibility, reject the status quo as a matter of course, view opposition to their ideas as an inventive challenge, refuse to let bureaucracy and hierarchy stifle their creativity, and use cutbacks and resource constraints drive new ideas and methods.

So what is "Design Thinking"?

Citing a 1969 book by Herbert Simon called The Sciences of the Artificial, Wikipedia defines it this way:

Design thinking is a process for practical, creative resolution of problems or issues that looks for an improved future result. It is the essential ability to combine empathy, creativity and rationality to meet user needs and drive business success. Unlike analytical thinking, design thinking is a creative process based around the "building up" of ideas.

This raises the question of just what that process looks like. When design firm IDEO agreed in early 2005 to help Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City make their chemotherapy process more patient-friendly, the first thing the IDEO design team did was to take Sloan-Kettering staffers along with them as they followed patients throughout the entire treatment process, including the round trip from home to clinic. That allowed the discovery of a patient stress point: anxiety over treatment, the cause of which was the fact that patients didn't know what to ask, and the huge information binder was far too daunting.

Understanding the situation allowed designers to ofer up a number of possible solutions, some of which were then carried out in much the same fashion as a scientific experiment. In design lingo, that meant "rapid prototyping." One pilot entailed simply handing out index cards with "frequently asked questions," such as "Where can I fill my prescription?" A few trial runs indicated that reviewing the cards during a quick guided tour of the clinic eased patient anxiety tremendously. The experiment quicly became standard operating procedure.

That's a pretty clear strategy: Investigate, Design, Experiment, Adjust. What a great I.D.E.A.

For more insights from Matthew E. May, visit his past blog posts at here and follow him on Twitter here.

 

From OPEN Forum Articles

Efficient innovators plan less, act more; do research before design

New Managing Article: Plan Less, Act More

Posted: 26 Jul 2009

From J.K. Glei, Behance: Conventional wisdom privileges the notion of coming up with a well-thought-out plan over taking incremental action and learning as we go along. Of course, the real truth – and the best method – falls somewhere along the "shades of gray" spectrum between the two approaches. Dwight D. Eisenhower may have stated the challenge and the solution most succinctly when he said: "In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable."

In countless conversations with business people and creatives, Behance has found that the most efficient innovators balance planning and research with a healthy appetite for taking action early and often. London-based industrial designer Philippe Malouin, who was recently featured in the New York Times Magazine, is a good case in point. "A good way to get an idea off the ground is to try it," says Malouin. "As simplistic as it sounds, many people don't bother to explore and experiment as much as they should; too much time is spent on the computer; model-making is a great problem solver."

He goes on, "I believe that the best way to stay organized is to start working on the first conceivable aspect of any project as soon as they occur, even if that particular aspect isn't the most fun to start working on. I think the bits of work that are the least fun to work on should always be thoroughly finished and out of the way before you start working on the creative side of things. In other words, research before design."

With so much information available to us these days, it's easy to lose momentum by spending an excessive amount of time planning. As Malouin points out, the best balance is a healthy dose of research followed swiftly by lots of trial-and-error testing.

Not surprisingly, our ideas (and our plans) don't usually spring from our heads perfectly formed. By taking action sooner rather than later, we can quickly bring our ideas down to earth, and have hard data to measure the distance between our original plan and a real-world execution. As productivity guru Merlin Mann, the blogger behind 43folders.com, said in a recent interview: "My wife reminds me sometimes: 'You have all the information you need to do something right now.'"


***The Behance team researches productivity and leadership in the creative world. These entries are adapted and edited by Jocelyn K. Glei from the Behance team's past articles and research. Behance runs the Behance Creative Network, the Action Method project management application, the Creative Jobs List, and develops knowledge, products, and services that help creative professionals make ideas happen.

From OPEN Forum Articles

Ingredients for a successful advertising recipe

New Marketing Article: The Never-Fail Recipe for Ads That Work Like Crazy

Posted: 23 Jul 2009

From Elizabeth Walker, Duct Tape Marketing: It's always surprising to us to see so many pieces of advertising, especially in print, that don't work. They simply don't contain the ingredients needed to successfully communicate with customers.

If you make a cake, you don't leave out any ingredients, right? Then why leave out an important part of your advertising message?

With a small budget and not a lot of space, many people run so called "business card" ads. The ad consists of the same elements that are on a typical business card: business name (usually a logo), your name, telephone numbers, and address, email address and website. Sometimes a catchy slogan too!

But where's the offer? Where's the call-to-action? Business card ads simply don't do anything but take up space.

Think of your ad as a "salesperson in print." What would happen if your salesperson dropped by a prospect and said, "Hi, I'm Ned from the ABC Company. Here's my phone number and address. Hope you call sometime. Bye!"

Would that work? Nope, and it's the same with ads.

If you want your ad to get results it must contain some key elements. Here's the recipe:

First, make it crystal clear who you are talking to, e.g. "Small Business Owners" or "Sports Enthusiasts" or "Golfers" or whoever your prime target group is  - get their attention by putting this at the top of the ad.

Second, use emotionally strong words to outline a concern, need or frustration this group has that your product or service satisfies, e.g. "Tired of staying up late doing your bookkeeping?" or "Are you worried about data loss, security, viruses, and keeping your network safe from hackers?"

Third, offer a solution: "Our easy-to-use bookkeeping system lets you keep track of your business without losing sleep." Or "We can analyze your computer network, diagnose any problems you are currently having, and look for hidden problems."

Fourth, offer something they can get free or an action they can take immediately with no risk attached â€" go to the web site for a downloadable sample, a report, tips and tricks, or drop by the store for our free checklist.

Fifth, end the message with your contact info: name, phone, fax, email and web address, and, of course, your logo and tagline.

Sixth, have you got a good picture of the product, or something showing the service, or conversely, the situation prospects are facing because they do not have your product or service? Here's a secret: often the most powerful picture is one of you! Now readers can put a face on your company.

There, that was easy wasn't it?

Next time you are putting an ad together for your business, follow the six steps in this order. If you do this, and if your ad appears where your Ideal Clients can find it, you will be communicating your product or service far more effectively than you've ever done, and yes, the phone will ring.

 

From OPEN Forum Articles

 

The motivational aspect of small, tangible achievements

New Managing Article: Tangible Microcosms of Achievement

Posted: 24 Jul 2009

From Scott Belsky, Behance:

There is something deeply gratifying (and motivational) about small, tangible achievements during long-term projects. Whether you are in a client service-based industry like consulting or advertising or if you are involved in a long-term pursuit to develop a new product, we can all benefit from internal short-term projects designed to produce something tangible. These microcosms of achievement provide us with interim rewards that help us maintain focus and momentum for the long term.

One firm that harnesses the rewarding power of tangible achievements is New York agency Brooklyn Brothers.  At the same time as they act as a creative agency serving clients, they also produce Fat Pig Chocolate, PMS vitamins, and a series of children's books. The team at Brooklyn Brothers believes that making a product lends invaluable insights into the life cycle of pushing a product to market. From these internal projects, the agency gains an understanding of the logistics behind developing, executing, and distributing a product, and that knowledge, in turn, gives them an edge on the client side.

And perhaps, in a world stuffed to the gills with digital and virtual products, there is a benefit to creating something tangible that can be held and felt - something entirely physical. At Behance, we were surprised by how much we learned through the process of creating our own line of paper products based on our organizational methodology, the Action Method. The product line forced us to simplify what we do with technology and knowledge. And it has served as a tangible, completed outcome that we can hold in our hands and consider as we undertake massive new projects with no end in sight.

Every team should venture to create something for themselves. If only as a refreshing team development exercise to experience what goes into the pursuit of making ideas happen with full control. The completion of smaller projects provides a sense of reward and confidence that can help you push larger projects through the sometimes demoralizing project plateau. And you also never know if your internal project may shed light on a larger opportunity that you hadn't anticipated. Many successful products such as Twitter and Gmail started out as unofficial side projects.

***This article is adapted from the research and writing of  Scott Belsky and the Behance team. Behance runs the Behance Creative Network, the Action Method project management application, the Creative Jobs List, and develops knowledge, products, and services that help creative professionals make ideas happen.

 

From OPEN Forum Articles

 

Being systematic in 5 steps

Social Media Business Plan in 5 Easy Pieces

Posted: 23 Jun 2009

So social media (Facebook, Twitter, and blogging, for example) is fun; but is it business? If you're wondering, then it's about time to take a step back, breathe deeply, and revisit the fundamentals. Ask yourself some basic questions, like:

Does this this fit into your business? Where is it in the business plan? Does it stand alone, or as part of strategy? Is it good in and of itself, or in business context? How much time (and time is money) and money does it take?

After all, things you do in business have to serve business goals. Right?

Here's how to apply the basic principals of business planning to your social media activities. Start with a plan, then follow it up with plan review, course corrections, and, ultimately, management. Here's how to do that:

1. Set the review schedule

Never do any business planning without a review schedule. What matters is the planning, not just the plan. Your first step should be to set a regular time — the third Thursday of every month, for example — to track your progress towards goals.

Given that we're all just human, we need to have that schedule set up to make this really work for business. Reminders, ticklers, and, if more than just you are involved, commitments from the their people.

2. Set the business objectives

What would social media success look like, for you and your business? Would it be lots of friends, followers, and connections? More web traffic? More blog subscribers? Perhaps you're looking for getting early warning about new trends, or a window into what your customers say about your business?

It's not just social media for its own sake, right? It's a business activity, with a business purpose?

Define the objectives. Don't sweat the writing, the text format, or the tools. It's business, so form follows function. Leave it in draft-easy form as bullet points on your computer, just enough so you can track it later. But get it down so you can review it later.

3. Set specific concrete steps

So how do you achieve those objectives? Think about breaking the longer process down into shorter steps, so you can track those steps and your progress towards goals. Part of the benefit of planning is being able to think through the sequence, and coordinate related tasks.

Setting the steps in order doesn't mean you're necessarily going to follow them, no matter what. The advantage of having a plan, even in the rapidly changing world of social media, is being able to mark how things change as they change, and still keep track of the related steps.

It also helps you pull the plan down into practical reality, avoiding the danger of the blue sky plan with vague good ideas and platitudes, but no real way to track success or failure.

4. Match tasks to owners.

Hint: when you think of what has to be done, do you see the face of the person responsible? Is there a single person responsible? That's what we call ownership, meaning the clear assignment of specific responsibilities to specific people.

Without ownership, the likelihood of implementation goes way down. When it's to be done by a group or a committee, it's just not as likely to be done.

So for twitter, for example, who is responsible for which accounts? Who is doing what searches to find tweets related to those topics? Or in Facebook, who is responsible for page updates, and trolling the web for mentions? Who is doing which blog, and how often?

5. Develop useful metrics.

Planning by itself is not the object, it's the execution that matters; and that means metrics. Measurement. Metrics means specific, concrete numbers so you can track whether you're on plan or not. Avoid generalities, and look to specifics that will speak for themselves. Try to set your objectives in specific numbers.

How to measure results? For social media, it might be followers or connections, but it might also be new clients, presentations, leads, unique visitors to a website, or some other factor you can measure. It will be different for every business, but it will always have a connection to your objectives.

And even if it's just you, the one-person business, you still want metrics. And a dose of realism is a real good idea too. Think about bites you can chew. The good news, though, is that if you follow through with step one above, realism will happen over time.

Ready, set execute!

Having a plan is just the beginning. Review, correct, review, correct: it's called steering. With this social media plan as well as everything in business planning: don't fall into the trap of the mythical business plan document, singular, noun, probably lost and getting dusty somewhere.

All business plans are wrong, but nonetheless vital; because if you didn't have the plan, you wouldn't know how to correct, and how assumptions have changed. The result is steering, and management.

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