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Stop That Thought, Part II: Managing Important Worries

DearSugar — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 11:00:00 -0700

If you worry too much, you're not alone. But it's important to consider what kinds of worries are plaguing you. Some worries are totally unproductive, meaning that thinking about them won't change anything, and I have some tips for banishing those from your brain. But what about things you actually need to worry about, like paying the bills, making travel plans, whatever?

For these concerns, you need to make sure you're worrying at the right time. Fretting about giving a presentation when you're stuck on the train or trying to plan a dinner party when you should be working just makes you more stressed out. You should manage those worries and compartmentalize them so they don't dominate your day. For some coping mechanisms, read more.

Make a list. Who doesn't love making a list? If you find that something is occupying your thoughts, take a moment to make a list of things you need to do later, or write a note to yourself listing the things that are on your mind. Now that you've written the worries down, put the list aside along with your thoughts.
Pick a worry time. This may sound a bit silly, but it works for many people. Pick a specific time in your day - maybe 15 minutes when you get home from work - that is reserved for worrying. You aren't allowed to worry any other time, so use those 15 minutes to sort out what's on your mind and come up with a plan of action.
Accomplish something else. If you're worrying about something you have to do later, you may not be able to take care of it right away, so occupy your mind by doing something else that will give you a sense of accomplishment. Respond to some emails, clean your desk, or get some exercise. Just accomplishing one thing will help you feel better about your worries.

Got any other tips for taming worries? Share them below!

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Stop That Thought, Part I: Taming Unproductive Worries

DearSugar — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 10:00:00 -0700

We all worry from time to time, but worrying is often totally unproductive. We have to sweat a lot of details and dilemmas in life, but getting stressed about things when you can't actually do anything about them isn't very helpful.

For instance, worrying about your upcoming dentist appointment won't make your filling hurt any less. Similarly, when you're at work, thinking about all the things you need to do when you get home will just stress you out. If you need a little help taming your worries, why not try a technique called "thought stopping"? The method can help you dismiss unproductive worries all together and save the important ones for another time.

For a few tips on pushing unproductive thoughts out of your mind, read more.

Some worries have a purpose - say, planning a dinner party or remembering to pay your bills. But other worries, like anxiety over a dentist visit, aren't doing you any favors. So why not push them out of your mind entirely? Try these tips and see what works for you.

Count to 10. When an unproductive worry enters your head, count to 10 and tell yourself you'll stop thinking about it when you're done counting. In your mind, shout "stop!" when you hit 10.
Go somewhere else. In your mind, that is. Pick a place that makes you happy - maybe curled up in bed or somewhere on your last vacation - and imagine yourself there every time a nasty thought plagues you.
Replace the unhealthy with something healthy. Instead of dwelling on something that's only going to stress you out, replace your worry with a healthy thought. Remind yourself about something you're happy about or thankful for.

What about the things you really need to worry about? Stay tuned for my tips on saving the important worries for another time. Meanwhile, share your tips below.

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Season One of Bored to Death: Yay or Nay?

BuzzSugar — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 08:30:00 -0800

This week marked the finale of Bored to Death's debut season, and I'm wondering what you all thought of the show. It took me a few episodes to warm up to the comedy, but my love for Jason Schwartzman can't be stopped.

We already know that Bored to Death will be back for a second season, but what do you think of the first - yay or nay?

Powerhouse Hit the Deck Workout System

FitSugar — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 03:00:17 -0800

Powerhouse Hit the Deck ($20) is a new workout system that you can do "anywhere, anytime, with no fitness equipment needed." It's made up of 35 color-coded cards and an interval timer. Each card has a strength/cardio exercise on it, and its color denotes the exercise's level of difficulty. The levels are broken down in a cute way - no sweat (easy), I'm glistening (medium), and sweating buckets (hard) - and there are five warmup/cooldown cards too.

Using the Powerhouse deck is pretty simple:

Set the interval timer to how long you want to do an individual exercise - I set mine to 30-second intervals.
Always start each workout by drawing the yellow cards; these are the warmup exercises.
Read over the first card, hit the timer, and do as many repetitions of the exercise on the card as possible until the timer beeps.
Stop the timer, draw the next card and repeat.
After getting through the warmup exercises, draw from the rest of the deck and continue the process for as long as you like.

To see what I thought of the system, read more.

I liked the Powerhouse deck and thought it was a great cross-training workout. There are all sorts of variations you can do to change it up: go totally random and draw cards regardless of difficulty, keep your workout limited to one difficulty level, or build on difficulty as the workout progresses. You can also decide how much time you want to spend on your workout by pulling a certain number of cards before you begin. I liked shuffling the cards I pulled before starting so that my workout would always be a complete surprise.

The pace of the workout is a lot like the Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred DVD, but the drawback is you don't have Jillian's motivation or anyone there to explain proper form. Given that it's just you and a deck of cards, you really have to rely on yourself for motivation. Also, you have to make sure you're following the cards as closely as possible so you don't injure yourself.

Though I wouldn't use the deck in place of my gym or even a workout DVD, this is a great set to have for traveling or if you need a quick way to relieve some stress.

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Animated Anthony Bourdain Stars in Cartoon Show

YumSugar — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 10:15:19 -0700

If you can't get enough of Anthony Bourdain, know that there'll soon be even more to love. The food industry's most opinionated figure is now getting his own cartoon series.

The six-part animated web series, titled Anthony Bourdain's Alternate Universe, will reveal Bourdain's "personal and unique view of the world that lives in his imagination." It's arrived out of thin air, even beating Gordon Ramsay's animated show to the punch. The first line in the trailer below? "If you've ever wondered what really goes on inside his head, you can stop."

Actually, I haven't. I already know the bad-boy chef's tiresome schtick, and it's not nearly as esoteric as everybody thinks it is. In some sort of . . . well, alternate universe, perhaps this cartoon would make more sense. Watch the trailer and share your thoughts after the break.

Desperate Housewives Rundown, "Everybody Ought to Have a Maid"

BuzzSugar — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 07:30:30 -0700

This week's episode of Desperate Housewives is all about judgment (though it's also a little bit about monkey attacks, but more on that later). The Bolen family continues with their shady behavior, while Julie is having some trouble adjusting to life on Wisteria Lane after her attack. Meanwhile, Gaby is accused of being a bad mom and Bree has a showdown with a motel housekeeper.

Ready to talk about it? Just read more.

Gaby: Gaby gets the comic relief once again this week as she tries to prove her mothering skills to the other snippy ladies at school. In order to regain their trust, she lures their children to Juanita's birthday party by pulling out all the stops. Of course things go awry when the trained monkey starts attacking the clown while Gaby is busy having drinks with Susan. In the end Carlos comforts her, but I have to admit - Gaby isn't exactly the greatest mom in the world. That said, Carlos isn't exactly a model parent either - where was he during his daughter's birthday party?

Susan: Susan and Katherine's rivalry reaches new heights this week, when the ladies have a mini-showdown at their neighborhood watch meeting. Susan is paranoid about Katherine coming on to Mike, and it culminates when Susan accidentally shoots Katherine through a window. Susan wouldn't be Susan without her usual clumsy antics, but couldn't she just ignore Katherine? Katherine seems so desperate, but Susan is kinda sinking to her level. Not to mention that calling Katherine a "loon" isn't exactly the best method of telling your friend that she probably needs to see a professional.

Angie: Most of Angie's problems take place without her even knowing it this week, as Danny gives the family gun to Julie for protection. Danny also confronts Dominic about his affair with Julie, and Dominic responds in a typically creepy manner, telling Danny to go ahead and spill to Angie. Angie keeps her distance for most of the episode, but then she plays a big factor in keeping Katherine crazy, to keep Katherine from turning in the Bolen family gun. I know Angie is a tough cookie, but somehow I feel like she may be the moral member of her family.

Lynette: Lynette's "twins" situation (both of 'em) is put on hold this week as she tries to help out her friend Mrs. McCluskey. First of all, McCluskey talking about her sex life - eeew. Lynette agrees to hire McCluskey's boyfriend Roy as the Scavo family handyman, but Roy won't stop going over Lynette's head and turning to Tom for ultimate decision-making. When Roy basically tells Lynette that she's emasculating her husband, Lynette loses it and fires him. But how sweet is Tom explaining to Roy that he lets Lynette have control so that she can feel safe? By far my favorite moment of the episode.

Bree: I thought Bree's storyline was kinda lame this week. The maid at the motel starts judging Bree's cheating ways, so of course Bree does all she can to defend herself. In the end, the housekeeper is just trying to warn Bree that she was once in her shoes, and that everything went awry. (Lesson to all: cheat on your husband and you'll end up a maid?) The maid does get one awesome one-liner: "Cheating's not a sin when you do it in pearls?"

What'd you think of this week's episode? Are Katherine and her crazy antics starting to bug you? Are you more creeped out by Dominick than ever? Let's dish in the comments!

Does Foursquare Equal Overshare?

GeekSugar — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 09:30:10 -0700

I recently realized that my days spent planning an evening out with friends seem to be fewer and far between. Our ability to stay in constant communication with each other via text, Twitter, Facebook, and more means there's no need to plan ahead. Instead I find myself saying, "Just text me when you get there," and creating our plan on the fly.

The latest addition to the ever-growing lists of constant-contact facilitators is Foursquare, recently profiled by The New York Times. Users of the social networking site can share their current location with friends in real time. The free service is designed for use on the go, and in addition to its web-based presence has BlackBerry and iPhone applications available for download. To read how Foursquare works and to share your thoughts, read more.

The service is based on check-ins: when you arrive at a location (a restaurant, store, bus stop, wherever), you "check in," disclosing your location to friends. Check-ins earn you points; a series of check-ins at certain places (three places with a photo booth or 50 unique venues, for example) earn you coveted merit badges. Add tips and to-do lists with any location, and read other Foursquare users' tips and lists when checking into a new place. This isn't a new concept - Foursquare founders built the idea from Dodgeball, a now-defunct service that used SMS messaging to alert friends of your whereabouts. And services like Latitude and Loopt provide similar location-based services.

Foursquare launched in March and is now available in 35 cities from New York to Vancouver to London.

Do you use Foursquare? Do you think it encourages oversharing, or is it a helpful way to keep tabs on friends?

House Rundown, "Brave Heart"

BuzzSugar — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 08:30:12 -0700

Wasn't this week's House incredibly satisfying? There was no sign of Thirteen - bring her back! - but House helped resurrect a man from the dead, heard voices in his head (crazy), and made goo-goo eyes at Cuddy. It doesn't get much better than that. I especially enjoyed the sweet friendship moments that played out between the hard-hearted doc and Wilson.

I'm ready to dissect it all - how about you? Let's start with the question portion (and a few spoilers) when you read more.

I loved seeing Wilson and House interact as roommates. (How about that scene where Wilson catches House fishing underneath the blankets, and he uses the excuse, "I'm picking lint out of my belly button"? Hilarious.) They're sort of like a warped version of Oscar and Felix from The Odd Couple. How long do you think until House moves out?
This week's case of the cop with the heart phobia really kept my interest, but I think my jaw literally dropped when they cut him open on the autopsy table and he opened his eyes. It was freaky in a fun, scary movie way. Did you see it coming?
Chase continued to harbor regret for killing off Dibala two weeks back, but this time it manifested itself in constant flashbacks, followed by a trip to a priest. I'm worried that he's going to sink into a major depression/insanity - and obviously destroy his marriage in the meantime. Do you think Chase will heed the priest's advice and turn himself in for the dictator's murder? I think he might - the guy's about to crack.
You probably feel mixed on this, but I'm sort of excited about the Cuddy-House romance that's a brewin'. The hints were everywhere this week - I especially liked his line about getting "hot for teacher!" Looks like those sexy hallucinations from last season may turn into something real after all. What do you make of the setup?
House started to wonder if he was going crazy (again), because he heard voices coming from Wilson's house. While I don't exactly wish insanity upon House, I thought the is-he-or-isn't-he question was fun to watch play out - except for the part where he has to admit to Cuddy that he may not be ready to be a doctor again. He looked so sad and defeated. This begs the question, do you think House really is 100 percent healed?
Chase has to stop being such a jerk to Cameron. No wonder she's leaving him soon.
Foreman really stood up to House in the episode by telling him that he couldn't perform the autopsy "without a medical license." Ouch. Still, I think it may actually earn House's respect in the long run, and I'm curious to see if their dynamic starts changing.
The final scene where House listens for Wilson's voice and then calls out to him from bed was so great. We really got to see House's soft side. Mainly, I just hope that the writers introduce someone for Wilson, don't you? He's so distraught over his girlfriend's death, and I want to see him happy.

Think you can shed light on any of these thoughts? What do you make of the whole Cuddy-House romance? Let me know in the comments, and to gossip more about the show, check out the House! group in Community.

Photos courtesy of Fox

Mad Men, "The Color Blue": This Week's 5 Maddest Moments

BuzzSugar — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 06:30:34 -0700

I have often found myself forgetting that Mad Men began with its leading man's Big Dirty Secret - and that not everyone knows the truth. That may be about to change, as we saw on this week's episode, "The Color Blue."

As usual, I've recapped the episode by its maddest moments, so to see them, just read more.

Fits: So Don finds himself in the middle of another affair, and this time, the object of his affection seems far more emotionally invested than his previous mistresses. Don seems like he could be as invested as her, driving Susie's brother to his new job, but I think it has more to do with "doing the right thing," whatever that means to Don. Susie, on the other hand, is looking more like a live wire to me - her showing up on the train is pretty stalkery, and I didn't believe her when she denies calling Don's house.
The Box: My heart stopped when Betty found Don's desk key and the box that contains all relics of Don's existence as Dick Whitman, including a divorce certificate with Don's name on it. She may have been confused by the scrawled "Dick" on his photos, but the divorce paperwork is unquestionably damaging. Betty is frightened to bring it up and what she may learn, but her pained looks at Don at the Sterling Cooper party comprise some of January Jones's finest work on the show.
Faded ink: I really felt for Paul when he failed to write down his amazing idea for Western Union. I felt even more for him when he watched Peggy summon up a winning pitch in front of Don using his misfortune as inspiration. The look on his face was that of realizing he's not talented the way Peggy is, and to me - I thought it meant Paul may be reconsidering his career.
Mad Woman: Despite my pity for Paul, I couldn't have been more proud of Miss Peggy. Even though Paul initially tries to deride her success as being a woman on female-centric campaigns, Peggy's talent is clearly more than that (or simple spontaneity). Paul sees it, Don sees it - will Duck's competing agency Grey see it, too, if Sterling Cooper fails to recognize it on the whole?
For sale by owner: Sterling Cooper is set to be sold again, the British owners reveal. At least one person is happy about the possibility - Pryce's London-lorn wife. The agency has been thrown into upheaval in is first sale, what will happen in its next?

Do you think Betty will begin questioning Don about his box of secrets? What do you make of the title, "The Color Blue?" I took it as a moral ambiguity reference, after it came up in Don and Susie's pillow talk. Let me know what you thought of this week's episode below, and to talk more Sterling Coop, join the Mad Men group in the community!

Photo courtesy of AMC

Taste Test: Häagen-Dazs Tart Natural Frozen Yogurt

YumSugar — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 14:13:35 -0700

I'm one of the masses who's taken great advantage of the ballooning tart frozen yogurt trend. I make a pit stop at downstairs darling SoGreen at least once a week. But when Häagen-Dazs sent me its latest tart natural frozen yogurt flavor, I wanted to see if swapping it out for SoGreen was a possibility. Could it be the new replacement for my expensive frozen yogurt habit? The answer, after the jump.