Comments on: Making Bad Things Hard

By: LJ

LJ — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 17:05:52 +0000

Mark: sticky tape or aluminum foil. My cats hate the feel of both of those.

It never seemed to matter how easy I made it for them to scratch appropriately. They still will scratch wherever their little feline hearts desire. I’ve also had some luck covering things with balloons, but the smarter cat figured out how to detach them.

Water sprays can also work if you want to spend your time defending your beams. But as soon as your back is turned or you leave the house, they will go right back. Good luck.

By: Mark Shead

Mark Shead — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 21:04:19 +0000

@LJ – I would like to see televisions that are hardwired into an exercise bike. If you want to watch, you have to pedal.

Do you have any suggestions on how to keep cats from sharpening their claws on cedar beams? I just noticed ours are doing this. :)

@coconutstudio – Having your computer shut down automatically is a good idea. I wonder if it woudl be easier to focus knowing that it was going to shutdown.

By: LJ

LJ — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 18:12:22 +0000

This makes me think about other bad things that could be made hard. I’m starting to notice I check email too frequently when I am procrastinating about other things; a site blocker would probably help this. Keeping the cat off my desk chair became really easy when I switched from a chair to an exercise ball… :)

On the flip side, I need to make the good things easy.

Healthy eating is easy when I have bags of veggies ready to grab from the fridge. My daughter gets things put away faster when everything has a place (and they’re labeled!) Practicing music got easier when I started to leave my music out and in a ready-to-go position. Technical reading got easier to do when I stashed the book in the kitchen to read while eating.

Thanks for the thoughts. I’ll think about how to make bad things hard and good things easy!

By: coconutstudio

coconutstudio — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 16:11:04 +0000

I’ve quit drinking soda pop completely. Instead, I drink green tea and a nice hot tea in the morning sets off a good mood and is incredibly cheap.

I love the cutting off the internet idea. One thing that makes me sleep late everyday is internet. Also I’m thinking of making my computer shut-off automatically after 10pm as well (using Scheduled Tasks in Windows)

By: Armen Shirvanian

Armen Shirvanian — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 05:15:32 +0000

Hey Mark.

Although my diet has always been in good shape, I can agree with #4 there because outside influencing factors like that can do a lot. Sometimes I have set an alarm clock to ring at a certain hour to remind me of something, and every time it goes off, I realize how fast time has passed by. We need signals like these.

Solid examples there.

By: Karen

Karen — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 15:19:40 +0000

@Doug
Most people who carry more weight than they prefer have some foods that they have little impulse-control over. Emphasis on ‘some’, because there are usually several ‘junk’ foods that they have excellent self-discipline regarding.

I am overweight and trying to lose. I keep 7-Up and Root Beer in my basement, and because they are out of sight and take more work to get to, I end up drinking about one 16-oz bottle per month, as a treat. On the other hand, I don’t bring Dr. Pepper or doughnuts into the house. I have difficulty moderating my consumption of those items.

By: Mark Shead

Mark Shead — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 02:15:31 +0000

@Doug – I don’t know, but it is pretty common!

By: Doug Ransom

Doug Ransom — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 01:24:45 +0000

Why would anyone who carries more weight than they would prefer have soda pop in their homes at all?

By: David Turnbull

David Turnbull — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 22:33:50 +0000

This is partially one of the reasons I love the idea of vagabonding so much. Just leaving my computer behind and wandering the world would kill so many of my bad habits. And only working out of internet cafes would mean I’d have to be effective and know exactly what work I want to do – no time for procrastination. :)