Want To Know What Song's Playing Whenever And Wherever?

I’m sure you’ve found yourself in one of the below scenarios…

You’re watching a movie, walking on the streets, eating at a restaurant or shopping at the mall when suddenly a catchy tune comes on – yet you have no idea what’s playing. Or worst still, you vaguely recognize the song, and find that it gets stuck in your head for the rest of the day.

You’d love to download or stream the song, but you have no idea how to do this, as you don’t know either the title of the song or the name of the artist performing it.

Worst feeling ever? Perhaps not. But it can definitely put you on a downer.

Wouldn’t it be amazing if there was a way to immediately find out the name of the song or artist? Well, I have good news, as there is a free tool available that does exactly that.

Introducing Shazam

Shazam is an app that identifies any music and TV around you in literally seconds. Put another way, it lets you discover, explore and share the music and TV you love.

Shazam is one of the most popular apps of all time, and has been downloaded over one billion times! People in over 190 different countries use the app, and on average, they Shazam over 20 million times each day. The incredible popularity of the app is testimony to how well it works.

Building on its cutting-edge music identification technology, Shazam now also lets music fans follow their favorite artists to share in the thrill of discovery.

And if that wasn’t enough, the millions of users of the app help to shape Shazam’s influential weekly charts.

So, how does the app work?

A Brief Look at Shazam’s Features

Let’s say you’re in a shop, and you like the music you’re hearing. Start the app on your phone or smartwatch and simply tap the Shazam button.

A digital fingerprint of the audio is created, and within seconds, this is matched against Shazam’s database of millions of tracks and TV shows.

You’re then given the name of the track and the artist and information such as:

• Lyrics.
• Videos.
• Artist biography.
• Availability of concert tickets.
• Recommended tracks.

Where possible, you’ll also be given the option to buy or listen to the song using the services of one of Shazam’s partners.

They say that a picture is worth a thousand words, so let’s follow that timeless advice and take a look now at some screenshots of Shazam in action:

The above shows the app when you first open it. Simply ‘Tap’ the Shazam button and Shazam will start scanning.

Above, Shazam is in listening mode. This is where the app is sampling the available audio in order to match it to a known song or TV show.

The screenshot above shows the artist and title of the song that you were searching for. You can even share the song or watch the music video on Youtube. Interested in giving Shazam a go? Then head over to either the Apple or Android stores, where you’ll be able to download Shazam for free.

Meet Shazam’s Perfect Partner

The next time you’re stuck trying to figure out what that song is, just hit the Shazam button and chances are you’ll find the answer to what you’re listening for. However, once you’ve gotten the name of the song (and the name of the artist), you might be wondering where to get a hold of that song.

Well, Shazam has now handily partnered with Spotify, one of the most popular music, podcast and video streaming services in use today. With one click in the Shazam app, you’ll be directed to Spotify where you can listen to the song you just Shazam-ed.

Like Shazam, Spotify is available through the Apple and Android stores as a free download.

Enjoy discovering new songs and videos!

Featured photo credit: Shazam via brandfolder.com

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3-Minute Easy Workout Routine for Neck and Shoulder Pain Relief

Have you ever caught yourself slouching at work? You realize, seemingly out of nowhere, that you could lift your upper body about four inches just by straightening your back and think, “hmm, is that why my neck is so sore?”

Tight muscles are a fact of life; we try to massage a knot out of our shoulder while we watch TV after a long day at work, but the pain just doesn’t go away.

The pain affects your life from day to night

Most of us have desk jobs that require a lot of screen time. All that computer work can lead to some real discomfort with shoulder and neck pains. No matter how much you shift around in your chair, you can’t quite find a long-term solution, and you’re not being productive any longer because you’re so focused on your muscle pain.

Other times the pain can become so severe that you may try to take a painkiller to alleviate it. But that’s only a short term solution, and certainly not a very healthy one. And after all that discomfort through the day, it’s challenging to then rest peacefully because you can’t find a suitable position to alleviate the soreness. You wake up the next morning feeling tired and even more sore…it’s a vicious and miserable cycle.

Exercise for neck and shoulder pain

Thankfully, Dr. Marshall Bronstein, DC, a chiropractic provider, has recommended a three minute workout routine to reduce neck and shoulder pain. Not surprisingly, this exercise is best for professionals who find themselves cooped up in an office day in and day out, using computers and keyboards for extended periods of time. Existing in the same position for extended hours can really lock up and contract certain muscle groups. These exercises can help to relieve it.

1. Shoulder rolls ten times back

Make circles with the shoulders, 10 times backward and 10 times forward.

2. Palms up palms up

Roll your shoulder where your hands are pointing up 10 times.

3. Scarecrow

This brings in a little bit of round Boyd’s. Notice the elbows are in the same position and the arms rotate 10 times.

4. Stretching for the neck

A forward sustained hold. The chin goes to the chest, hand helps pull turn your head and when you get the tender areas, stop and work those.

5. Back forward stretch

In a seated position, fold your hands behind your head as if about to do a crunch. Curl forward, rounding out the back.

Check out Dr. Marshall Bronstein, DC full video about the 3-minute neck and shoulder pain relief here.

Featured photo credit: Unsplash via unsplash.com

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Why You Should Do What Kit Kat Tells You

When it comes to our careers and work in general, thriving and growing within our job means we need to be as productive as possible. Getting results means getting things done but when we’re in this mindset we usually end up sacrificing breaks in order to create more time.

While this can bring about results in the short term, over time it can lead to burnout and feeling mentally drained. Our productivity will eventually take a nosedive simply because we haven’t taken time out to switch off and take a breather.

Tiredness and fatigue is a result of our bodies not getting enough time to restore energy plus adding skipped meals into the mix means running on empty with no sufficient nutrients and energy to be the productive person you want to be. It’s a vicious cycle that many of us jump into.

Why Don’t We Take Enough Breaks?

It’s a catch 22 that we skip our breaks in order to be more productive yet the more we do this the less productive we actually become. So why do we do it?

No time. Feeling like we have more work than time to complete it is common. Constant emails and meetings means when we step into the office in the morning time can fly into mid and late afternoon. Yet you feel you never get anything finished – there are even more emails and meetings piling up for the next day.

Afraid of what others think of you. Even if your boss isn’t that demanding, you don’t want to seem like you’re skiving at work by taking too many breaks. This is worse when you work in an open-plan office where people can see your every move. You can start to feel paranoid when you take your third 10 minute break of the day feeling that your colleagues or managers are judging you.

You don’t think breaks are necessary. Many people find breaks inconvenient and think sitting down and relaxing for 10 minutes is a waste of time. It can feel unenjoyable when you know you have so much work to be getting on with that many just don’t take that needed break.

You don’t know how to take a break. Many places of work encourage people to take breaks away from their desks but if this isn’t the case for you, sitting at your desk can lead to scrolling through your Facebook or Instagram feeds. While this may feel like a break, it doesn’t relax your mind or really give your mind the mentally productive break it needs.

What Actually Happens If We Don’t Take Those Needed Breaks?

Performance decreases. Research has shown that working on a task for long periods of time without a break creates a decrease in performance overall. While taking regular breaks increases performance on the task at hand.

Procrastination increases. Getting into the flow while working is a great feeling but this doesn’t last forever. As humans, we get bored and this usually leads to procrastination. Our brains aren’t designed to focus for long periods which is why taking a break is more beneficial and gets us back on track when boredom sets in. It’s all about “deactivating and reactivating”^[1] our goals to stay focused.

Attention span is shortened. The average attention span for an adult is between 15 and 40 minutes. This can decrease even more if you continually never take breaks. In other words, we end up running on empty in terms of cognitive function which can be resolved by taking time out for our brain to reboot.

Fatigue and burnout. A burnout is usually the last thing to happen but it’s the collective routine of not pausing to take time out. Tiredness and fatigue is usually the precursors and indicates that our body is getting worn out. This can result in the task taking longer to complete or getting sick resulting in tasks not being completed at all.

Take Breaks to Increase Your Productivity and Wellbeing

Track and limit the time you spend on tasks. Do you know how much time you actually spend on daily tasks? Research suggests^[2] that only around 17 percent of people know the amount of time that goes by when they’re tackling a task. Be aware of how much time you spend so you can gauge a better understanding of a productive schedule and when to interject breaks.

Shift your mindset. Often our biggest hurdle is not accepting that breaks are for our benefit. Start to view taking breaks as a necessity rather than a hindrance.

Never skip meals. Scheduling lunchtime meetings or using your lunch hour as a way to keep up with mounting work is extremely detrimental to your productivity. Skipping meals or rushing them will only harm your health and long term productivity. Use this time to relax and think of things unrelated to work as this reboots the brain as you nourish it.

Throw away excuses. ‘I don’t have enough time’ may have crossed your mind numerous times but we have to bin the excuses. Help yourself by making a list of what you need to get done for the day to help declutter your mind but remember to include breaks in this list as they’re just as important. This will help speed up the process of getting things done.

Consider exercise. Sitting down away from your work or taking a nap are great ways to rejuvenate. But research published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine^[3] has found that incorporating exercise into your work day may help improve productivity. Try joining a gym near your work, go for a lunchtime run or a simple walk to get your brain energised and ready to tackle work again.

Just Take That Break!

Try not to convince yourself that working for long stretches is the optimum productivity strategy. It’s clear from research that our brain isn’t designed to concentrate for long periods and needs time to switch off in order to work at its best.

One study found the secret to the optimum routine for productivity: working for 52 minutes and breaking for 17 minutes^[4]. This created the best work flow for highest performance.

So ditch the excuses, don’t work through lunch, take time to eat and refuel, and even consider going for a workout. Whatever it is you do, make sure you carve out important time to reboot your brain and watch your productivity levels rise!

Featured photo credit: rawpixel.com via pexels.com

Reference

[1]	^	Fast Company: Why you need to stop thinking you are too busy to take breaks
[2]	^	This Vs That Show: People are awful at estimating time
[3]	^	JOEM: The Relationship of job Performance to Exercise Adherence in a Corporate Fitness Program
[4]	^	The Atlantic: A Formula for Perfect Productivity: Work for 52 Minutes, Break for 17

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Feeling Hectic to Manage Across Different Email Accounts? Use "Alto" to Gather and Organise Them All At One Place

Many of us have more than one email account. If you have a desk job, you probably have to manage a work email as well as your personal email. Or maybe you’re in school, so you have an “.edu” email address as well as an older personal one. Perhaps you juggle several jobs, plus school, so you have three or more accounts.

Whatever the reason, it’s hard to stay on top of many email accounts at once, especially when we need to reference a particular email and can’t remember which address it was sent to! What’s more, it’s unfortunately easy for an important email or two to slip through the cracks.

Gather and Manage all your email accounts at one place

Enter Alto. Made by AOL, Alto works with any email provider, including Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, AOL Mail, Exchange, and more. With this highly-rated app, you can stay completely on top of all of your accounts, and make sure to respond to every important message: from friends, family, your boss, colleagues, and customers.

Connect all of your accounts to Alto, and the app will place all the emails you receive into a single inbox. As Alto’s general manager writes, “Alto lets you add all your different accounts, but aggregates all the important time-sensitive and location-sensitive stuff in a way that lets the user get to it easily.”

All the upcoming events come at the top of your inbox

Additional features make Alto even more useful than putting emails in a single place. One of the more helpful features is the Dashboard (see above). Alto will automatically generate cards and place them at the top of your inbox: recent charges, flight info, package tracking information, or upcoming meetings. What Dashboard does is automatically aggregate this information into a single location. This is a far cry from digging through emails in the airport, half an hour before your flight, with several open tabs.

Visualise your emails so you can read and search based on media attachments

Alto also immediately filters and organizes your emails based on content, a feature called “Stacks.” So if you want to find emails with photo attachments, or all emails with file attachments, all of those are grouped together into individual stacks. You can even personalize stacks based on the categories most useful to you, such as “starred” or “unread” emails.

When composing emails within Alto, you can choose which email address you’d like to send it from. If you allow the app to access your contacts, you should have no trouble pulling up addresses of people who you frequently send messages to. A beautiful and intuitive interface makes Alto a pleasure to use. It’s easy to switch between the “All Accounts” inbox and your individual ones: using the mobile app, you can just swipe left and right between them.

You can also access your calendars (Google, Outlook, etc.), weather, email archives, and more within the app for all-in-one easy access. Integration with Slack and Amazon Echo make it easy to seamlessly connect work and home life.

Available on Google Play for Android, iTunes for iPhones or iPods, and for your web broswer, you can download Alto immediately for free. Try it out and see how streamlined you can make your life!

Featured photo credit: Rawpixel via unsplash.com

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The Endless Battle Between School Works and Play for Children

Children are being overworked in school and over-scheduled after school at a young age, and in turn their creativity is slowly being killed. This is not only affecting their joy in childhood, but it is also affecting their ability to succeed in the workforce when they mature. The World Economic Forum cited that by the year 2020, creativity will be the second most sought after skill in the workforce. They further cited research that shows kids have become dramatically less creative since 1990.^[1]

Keeping Children Busy Makes No Room for Creativity

Parents who are pushing their kids toward success are unfortunately harming their kid’s creativity. It happens when there isn’t enough time in the day to allow kids to simply play. Many adults are continually over scheduling children and keeping the lives of these kids so structured that free play is an afterthought. But the need for play to ignite creativity in children is real. Children need time to play freely and this allows their creativity to flourish.

Imaginative play becomes scarce when children aren’t given the opportunity and are instead in the classroom all day long beginning at toddler ages. The consequence of this loss of creativity is a society of educated people who lack creativity.

A study by Live Science discussed research on this subject and stated,^[2]

Since 1990, children have become less able to produce unique and unusual ideas. They are also less humorous, less imaginative and less able to elaborate on ideas.

Losing creativity in childhood is attuned to losing part of childhood imagination and the fun that goes along with pretend and creative play. Children lose their ability to be unique individuals when they lose their ability to be creative. When children lose their ability to become creative, they are losing part of their childhood.

Standardized Answers Are Tombs for Imagination

Also contributing to a decrease in childhood creativity is, the way mainstream education forces kids to suppress their creativity because what is rewarded is standardized test scores. This is not all schools, but this is the current trend in our mainstream education systems. The World Economic Forum discusses the problem of creativity being suppressed in the classroom and stated the following,

Worryingly, these skills are often not featured prominently in children’s school day where the norm still is the chalk-and-talk teaching approach that has prevailed for centuries.

Are we merely teaching our kids to be good test takers or are we encouraging their own individual creative thought and ingenuity? Unfortunately, standardized tests are utilized in mainstream educational settings and they do not foster creative thought. These kinds of tests teach our kids that they need be reservoirs of information that has been taught to them in the classroom. They learn early in life that they need to be good test takers in order to be successful in school.

Survival in education and being promoted to the next grade is based on their ability to perform on a test. This may not sound that harmful, but when you think about how we are shaping our children’s expectations for the real world it is not realistic or beneficial. True genius is found in the creative individual. These are the people who continue to use their creativity into adulthood to invent products and solutions for the world.

Let Kids Be Bored and a Little Rebellious

Children need down time. When they say “I’m bored”, it is time for the parent to say “great, find something to do”.

Allow for children to think creatively and find ways to entertain themselves. It is a shame that some children are growing up without the ability to learn to entertain themselves. Is a TV, computer, or structured activity always necessary to keep your child entertained? Of course not, they can be by themselves and learn to overcome boredom. Psychology Today states the following about children and boredom,^[3]

Children who experience a lack of programmed activity are given an opportunity to demonstrate creativity, problem solving, and to develop motivational skills that may help them later in life.

Children will also learn what they like it in life when they are provided the opportunity for boredom and to be free to do the things (anything) they can think of. When electronics are taken out of the equation and your child is left to decide what they would like to do on their own, they discover themselves. It gives them the opportunity to reflect on what they like and dislike. They will reflect on what they want to do with their spare time and how they would like to spend that time. Most kids are not going to decide to clean their room or complete a list of chores. They are going to seek something that gives them enjoyment, pleasure, or a sense of accomplishment. Most of these activities will involve creative play, as the child has to be the initiator of the activity and how it is conducted.

I will talk more about what parents can do to just let their kids play and let them get more creative. Look out for my next article tomorrow: The Most Difficult Lesson for Parents: Let Children Play

Featured photo credit: Pixabay via pixabay.com

Reference

[1]	^	World Economic Forum: This is the one skill your child needs for the jobs of the future
[2]	^	Live Science: Are Today’s Youth Less Creative & Imaginative?
[3]	^	Psychology Today: Let Kids be Bored (Occasionally)

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Why Is It Okay For You To Be Alone

Life today is hectic. You work at the office, work from home and even on your vacation. Not forgetting the effort it takes to maintain your personal and social life.

As technology advances and the world moves faster and faster, many people find themselves overwhelmed with trying to keep pace. You, like countless others, may find that you are drained mentally, physically and emotionally. You try to sleep but you just can’t seem to get enough rest or feel refreshed for an extended period of time.

It’s common practice and a popular theory that the best way to de-stress is by doing things we enjoy such as shopping, going on vacation, playing a sport or participating in a hobby-all of which can be beneficial.

Often times, being with friends and engaging with others, even in a “fun” environment can pull from our energy stores. Being alone and reflecting, connecting with and turning our attention inward is one of the best ways to not only recharge but to also identify and eliminate the unnecessary stressors in our lives.

Don’t be afraid to be alone sometimes.

Actively being Alone

Time alone or engaging in “me time” for many people means sleeping all day or engaging with others via social media or “Netflix and chillin’.” However there is a difference between merely being alone and actively being alone.

One is intentional and purposeful while the other is a matter of circumstance.

When we are choosing to actively be alone, we consciously set time for reflection and to simply be with our thoughts. This means unplugging from all social media, television and any form of external stimulus.

Journaling (by either writing down or audio recording) our thoughts is one of the most beneficial things we can do for ourselves during our “me” time. It allows us to focus on things that have caused us stress recently and to find a way to mitigate that stress moving forward. When journaling, we want to:

• Identify specific incidents that caused us to be upset or feel stressed.
• List all of the feelings we had associated with each incident – such as anger, disappointment, embarrassment, feeling unappreciated, etc.
• Write down how we overcame those negative feelings. What did we do to calm ourselves down, cheer up or move on? Were we able to resolve the situation? If so how?
• Write down ways that we can avoid the stressor altogether (whenever it is realistically possible) and steps we can take to resolve the situation and appease ourselves when we do become stressed.
• And last but most importantly, always end with a list of things you are grateful for. Research^[1] shows that maintaining an attitude of gratitude promotes and sustains good mental and emotional health.

Engaging in reflection and then journaling, provides clarity and de-clutters our thoughts. It allows us to sort, process and make sense of our feelings. It also helps us to create a plan for attacking negativity when it rears its ugly head.

Actively being alone allows you to be fully present in the now

Actively being alone helps us eliminate distractions. It allows us to be fully present and in tune with the now. It makes us conscious of what we are doing, feeling and thinking.

Worrying about the future, and being consumed with whether or not we will achieve our goals or create the life we’ve dreamed about makes us miss out on the beauty and opportunity that is in front of us, right now.

Learn how to be alone, and purposefully decide to love yourself enough to spend time with your thoughts. Once you’ve spent time processing your thoughts, you will find that your state of mind changes. Your mood improves and your outlook is better. Your loved ones will thank you for it and you will be a refreshed, better version of yourself.

Setting the stage for active alone time

In order for the refreshing to truly begin, we have to remove distractions. A great way to do this is to go to a quiet spot or sit amongst nature. Go to a beach, a wooded area or a quiet park tucked away and leave your phone in the car or turn it off, to eliminate the temptation.

If you can’t take an afternoon to get away, set aside the hour before you go to bed as your active alone time. Shut off all of your electronics, get in touch with you and record your experience.

If you have plans to go to lunch or shopping with friends during your free time, carve out time before or after to disconnect from the outside world and turn your attention inward. In time to come, it will be come a habit of nature.

Being alone is not synonymous with being lonely

There are always going to be moments where we are simply over saturated, and getting away for a week in the Bahamas to rest and recharge is not always an option. This is where we learn to make do, and create our own little oasis right where we are. We have to make time for ourselves. This should not be seen as a form of weakness where being alone equates to being a lonely person. It does not mean you cut off from your social circle and keep to yourself. Instead, it is a form of mental exercise that will not only refresh our minds, but help restore our spirits to give us the type of true rest that can keep us moving towards greater heights in life.

Reference

[1]

^

Harvard Health: Giving Thanks Can Make You Happier

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Find Your Optimal International Meeting Time Using "Time and Dates"

Our world is more interconnected now than in any period in history. This article, can be read by anyone in the world at the same time (assuming they are connected to the internet). I have friends on the other side of the planet who I can message, and the messages can be received instantly.  People in business meeting can communicate with partners w ho are thousands of miles away. When things work well, they can be great. Borders and huge distances become meaningless, and communication is easy.

Time is the ultimate invisible border

However, this is not always the case. Though we can get in touch with people instantly, it is another thing entirely for them to be there.  This is simply due to time zones. What might be mid afternoon for me, can be very early in the morning, or late at night for others.

I have a friend who recently had a Skype job interview with people in a different country, to do it, he had to stay up until 1am.
Often we don’t consider the affects of time zones, so organizing a meeting at time best for everyone can be extremely difficult.

What we need is a system to organize meetings that is designed around time zones. Something that helps you work out a timoe that suits everyone, no matter where they are in the world.
I used to do this manually with a calculator and pen, but this proved to be complicated and hugely ineffective.
Then I learned a smarter way, I learned to use the site Time and Date and it’s fantastic meeting planner tool.

With the help from the meeting planner, you don’t have to worry about finding the best meeting time

The tool works by helping you find the perfect time to communicate between two or more locations and timezones. For example: Lets say I am in New York and want to have skype meeting with someone in London.
All I need to do is select the cities (or any others I want), the timezones are pre-loaded according to the destination.
Check out the picture below for more info.

The tool will help you pairing up the meeting time 

After I’ve chosen the cities/time zones, all I need to do is click “show timetable” and this will immediately take me to a list of different times, showing both my time in New York, and their related times in London.
What’s even better, is that it color codes each hour according to usual sleeping hours, traditional working hours, and day time weekend hours. This helps me choose the ideal time.

For example: Look at the photo above. I want to have the meeting on Sunday. The person I want to speak to is free in the morning
or early afternoon. However from 9am to 11am their time is too early for me as I’m four hours behind.
However with this tool, I can look at the time zones, and see immediately that 8am is 12pm their time, and this suits us both.

Without this tool, finding the perfect time for us both would have been needlessly complicated.

Bonus Feature: Announce Your Event Time Worldwide

The timezone planner isn’t the only useful feature of the site. Far from it.  I’m a big fan of their “Event time announcer ” feature.  This is perfect if you are planning to release something or host an event on a specific time, and want to show the world what time it will be according to their local time whatever their time zone.

Setting this up is remarkably easy.  All you need to do is fill in the correct details as seen below.

Once you’ve filled it all in correctly, all you need to do is click on the button “Show Result” and the site will immediately get to work, doing all the hard stuff for you.

Once it has loaded, you’ll get a list like the one above saying the local times of your event all around the world.
What I like about this is the sheer ease of use. Using conventional methods, or even other websites, setting up a similar table would be difficult. With this, it is done in less than a minute.

So, thanks to this website, any potential difficulties arising from time differences can be easily resolved. It doesn’t have to be for business either, I used this site once for working out my plans for a vacation.
It’s the ultimate planning tool.

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