Review: essentialism by Greg McKeown

Last summer, our friend Naomi recommended the book essentialism: The Disiciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown to myself and Jamie in the middle of a period where we were looking at ways to simplify and streamline our life. The book has a simple and compelling cover showing just exactly what happens to our bodies, minds, hearts, and lives when we choose to fill our life with nonessential things. The book is a quick read, and super helpful for anyone who is looking to get back to basics, and build from a solid foundation

The book is a fun read, and the way the book is set up helps to think through simplifying from the highest priority. Each chapter not only lays out an example of someone who is focused on essentials as well as someone focused on non-essentials, but also gives a path to get to what’s really important.

If each of us is honest, we spend a significant amount of our time and energy focused on things that are urgent, but not necessarily important. We give up our sleep for getting a few more emails out, or we give up on our exercise so we can surf the internet or watch tv. It’s like our thinking has gotten completely backward.

With Fear Of Missing Out (FOMO) on the rise, and a strong illusion that we can “do all the things” we find ourselves wanting to include more and more habits, skills, responsibilities, and tasks in our lives. As two people who have historically tried to figure out how to say yes to just about every opportunity, Jamie and I have really benefitted from this book’s encouragement to say no to things that are less important, and to determine what is of prime importance.

The book offers some great tools and reminders to each of us with regard to keeping our life simple, and rather than trying to determine how to add activities to our already busy lives, essentialism by Greg McKeon encourages us to take stock and take away some of the flurry of busyness, to subtract things and say no to what is not essential. May we each live more simple and fulfilling lives and bring our very best selves to this world for the good of those around us, and for the good of those whose time has not yet come.

Review: On Becoming Babywise by Gary Ezzo and Robert Bucknam

During this season of anxious anticipation of the arrival of Baby Williams, Jamie and I have been reading a wide variety of books on all that we are embarking upon. The most recent of these books has been On Becoming Babywise by Gary Ezzo and Robert Bucknam.  The book was recommended by a good friend, and while my book queue has been growing longer, I figured it was a worthwhile move to bump this text up on the priority list. It was a fairly easy and straightforward read.

Living in a time when there are probably about as many schools of thought on caring for an infant as there are infants, Jamie and I have kept a mindset of “Test everything and hold on to that which is good” in our reading and applications. We feel like our parenting will likely be as unique as our child, but we are grateful to be building on best practices from a few thousand years of bringing up children.

The focus of the book is working to get an infant on a consistent sleep schedule early on because that will increase rest for both parents and the infant, and that, in turn leads to a healthier baby, healthier parents, and a mom who is well rested and able to produce food for the child. I found the tips to be pretty practical, and the outline seemed to reinforce what we had already been learning from watching a few of our friends working with the rhythm of their infants.

One of the best pieces of advice in the book other than its emphasis was this note. Our child does not need to be the center of your world, it needs to see a family that loves each other, and that as parents, our best gift to our child is demonstrating that they are a part of something greater, that, while they are important, they are no more important than Mom and Dad are to each other, and I would add, that both of those relationships need to be secondary to our primary relationship with God.

Much like any book on child rearing, parenting, or even pregnancy, the book seems  to hold some strong positions, but rather than get caught up in those positions and any sense of guilt or disappointment that could arise over how individuals raise their infants, I find it easy to take a step back and apply those pieces that seem to make sense, and again, to ‘test everything and hold on to that which is good.’ Looking to learn? I recommend giving this book a read, but also taking time to explore other major schools of thought on helping an infant develop, and discussing these different concepts with pediatricians and other parents, but by all means give the book a read.

Review: Jawbone Up Activity Tracker

As the Apple Watch becomes the latest in a long list of wearable technology, I thought I would write a brief review of the wearable technology I have experimented with, and some pros and cons I see.

I was at a software developer's conference called UberConf in 2013 when I heard one of the speakers, Stuart Halloway, hold up his wrist to display a Jawbone UP activity tracker, and talk briefly about how far we have come in the realm of technology. Stu is an incredibly intelligent dude, a brilliant developer, a compelling communicator, and an avid runner. His display of the UP piqued my curiosity. So, as per usual, I began exploring different trackers and the pros and cons of each. I finally landed on the up band for a few reasons.

It was one of the first activity trackers developed and it worked well with older smart phones at the time (iPhone 4 and beyond), and I had an older phone. I thought the fact that I could plug it into my headphone jack to upload data to its partner app was pretty cool. It also seemed to have a less "tech device" look to it compared to other devices.

Now why was I interested in a tracker in the first place? Well, for starters, roughly from the beginning of Nuru, I had developed a habit of getting 4.5-6 hours of sleep a night instead of the recommended 7.5-8. I thought that a device that sort of "held me accountable" and helped me track toward a goal of a normal sleep pattern would be helpful. In addition, Jamie and I were training for our first marathon, and I also had a goal of mobility each day. The UP has a cool app that tracks sleep patterns as well as running and walking, and it syncs up with other apps I like such as Runtastic and My Fitness Pal. For folks who want to track things like drinking at least eight glasses of water, or keeping a digital food journal, the UP is helpful as well. In addition, you can set smart alarms, so if you have been staring at your computer too long, binge watching netflix, or just plain lounging, it will vibrate and remind you to not sit still. More and more studies are showing that a sedentary lifestyle is incredibly unhealthy.

So what were the results of my UP? Well, I was able to become more disciplined about sleep. I started getting the recommended amount of sleep, and I was able to develop a habit of 7.5-8 hours a night. The UP was incredibly helpful. I was also able to track steps taken, whether I was walking or running, and that helped me cultivate greater discipline in being active. Additionally, a few of my friends also had UP bands along with the app, so we could encourage each other when we hit our goals. Finally, the app provides articles related to health, motivational quotes, and a really cool visual display of activity and sleep patterns. I would highly recommend the UP for anyone who needs a kickstart to a healthy lifestyle.

But, I don't wear an UP or any other wearable tech these days. Why not? Well, my UP started "warping" (The rubber exterior came unglued from the device) a few months after purchase. Warping caused the button on the UP to not be able to be pushed, and I couldn't charge my UP or upload data to my phone. This happened to me twice in my first year of owning the UP. When it happened a third time this spring, I was 1) outside of warranty and 2) the version of UP band I had was no longer being produced. The folks at Jawbone were really nice and sent me a discount code for purchasing a new product, but I haven't been able to bring myself to purchase another. I had hoped Jawbone would produce a water-proof device--my wife is a swimmer, and I thought it might be a cool gift, and we could both have one.

But then I had this realization. The UP band had been an accountability partner, a coach, and a tool to get me moving and more disciplined with regard to my health, but now I had developed better habits. I didn't need the extra nudge for sleeping eight hours because I knew how great it felt to get enough sleep. I didn't need to to know how many steps I took during a day, because I knew I was being consistent with moving. So the activity tracker had served its purpose. In addition, activity trackers are not cheap, and if I just don't know if it is worth replacing one of these devices every 1-2 years, unless, you need the accountability and the nudge. Then, these devices are WAY cheaper than a personal trainer or something similar. Of course I am still a fan of the UP band, and super impressed with Jawbone's willingness to replace my band twice, and I would recommend their device to anyone in the market for an activity tracker.

Are you looking to push yourself toward a health or wellness goal? Maybe the UP or another tracker would be a good device to get you started. Regardless, may you rest well and get out and move toward a healthier life.