Justin Spencer

20170211

"A Briefer History of Time" by Stephen Hawking

In one second, a beam of light will travel 186,000 miles, so a light-year is a very long distance.
The nearest star, other than our sun, is called Proxima Centauri (also known as Alpha Centauri C), which is about four light-years away.
The fact that a ship’s masts, rising high above the hull, are the first part of the ship to poke up over the horizon is evidence that the earth is a ball.
A theory is a good theory if it satisfies two requirements. It must accurately describe a large class of observations on the basis of a model that contains only a few arbitrary elements, and it must make definite predictions about the results of future observations.
Any physical theory is always provisional, in the sense that it is only a hypothesis: you can never prove it. On the other hand, you can disprove a theory by finding even a single observation that disagrees with the predictions of the theory.
The eventual goal of science is to provide a single theory that describes the whole universe.
Today scientists describe the universe in terms of two basic partial theories--the general theory of relativity and quantum mechanics.
The general theory of relativity describes the force of gravity and the large-scale structure of the universe.
Quantum mechanics deals with phenomena on extremely small scales.
One of the major endeavours in physics today, and the major theme of this book, is the search for a new theory that will incorporate them both [general relativity and quantum mechanics]--a quantum theory of gravity.
The real effect of a force is always to change the speed of a body.
Whenever a body is not acted on by any force, it will keep on moving in a straight line at the same speed.
The body will accelerate, or change its speed, at a rate that is proportional to the force.
Every body attracts every other body with a force that is proportional to the mass of each body.
Newton’s law of gravity also tells us that the farther apart the bodies, the lesser the force.
The concept of motion makes sense only as it relates to other objects.
The kinetic energy of a moving object is identical to the energy you must expend in causing it to move.
Only light, or other waves that have no intrinsic mass, can move at the speed of light.
Maxwell’s equations predicted that there could be wavelike disturbances in the electromagnetic field and that these waves would travel at a fixed speed, like ripples on a pond. When he calculated this speed, he found it to match exactly the speed of light!
Waves with wavelengths shorter than those of visible light are now known as ultraviolet light, X-rays, and gamma rays. Waves with longer wavelengths are called radio waves (a meter or more), microwaves (around a centimeter), or infrared radiation (less than one ten-thousandth of a centimeter but more than the visible range).
Maxwell’s theory implied that radio or light waves would travel at a certain fixed speed.
Einstein’s fundamental postulate of the theory of relativity, as it was called, stated that the laws of science should be the same for all freely moving observers, no matter what their speed.
The requirement that all observers must agree on how fast light travels forces us to change our concept of time.
The theory of relativity requires us to put an end to the idea of absolute time! Instead, each observer must have his own measure of time, as recorded by a clock carried with him, and identical clocks carried by different observers need not agree.
We must accept that time is not completely separate from and independent of space but is combined with it to form an object called space-time.
In the spacetime of relativity, any event--that is, anything that happens at a particular point in space and at a particular time--can be specified by four numbers or coordinates.
Another well-known consequence of relativity is the equivalence of mass and energy, summed up in Einstein’s famous equation E=mc^2.
The equation also tells us that if the energy of an object increases, so does its mass, that is, its resistance to acceleration, or change in speed.
The kinetic energy of a moving object is identical to the energy you must expend in causing it to move. Therefore, the faster an object moves, the more kinetic energy it possess. But according to the equivalence of energy and mass, kinetic energy adds to an object’s mass, so the faster an object moves, the harder it is to further increase the object’s speed.
As an object approaches the speed of light, its mass rises ever more quickly, so it takes more and more energy to speed it up further. According to the theory of relativity, an object can in fact never reach the speed of light, because by then its mass would have become infinite, and by the equivalence of mass and energy, it would have taken an infinite amount of energy to get it there.
Only light, or other waves that have no intrinsic mass, can move at the speed of light.
Einstein’s theory of general relativity is based on the revolutionary suggestion that gravity is not a force like other forces but a consequence of the fact that spacetime is not flat, as had been previously assumed. In general relativity, spacetime is curved, or “warped,” by the distribution of mass and energy in it. Bodies such as the earth are not made to move on curved orbits by a force called gravity; instead they move in curved orbits because they follow the nearest thing to a straight path in a curved space, which is called a geodesic.
In general relativity, bodies always follow geodesics in four-dimensional space-time. In the absence of matter, these geodesics in four-dimensional spacetime correspond to straight lines in three-dimensional space.
Light rays too must follow geodesics in spacetime.
General relativity predicts that gravitational fields should bend light.
Another prediction of general relativity is that time should appear to run slower near a massive body such as the earth.
In the theory of relativity there is no unique absolute time; instead, each individual has his own personal measure of time that depends on where he is and how he is moving.
The nearest star, Proxima Centauri, is about four light-years, or twenty-three million million miles, away. Most of the other stars that are visible to the naked eye lie within a few hundred light-years of us. Our sun, for comparison, is a mere eight light-minutes away!
We now know that the Milky Way--our galaxy--is about one hundred thousand light-years across and is slowly rotating; the stars in its spiral arms orbit around its center about once every several hundred million years. Our sun is just an ordinary, average-sized yellow star near the inner edge of one of the spiral arms.
We can see about five thousand stars, only about .0001 percent of all the stars in just our own galaxy, the Milky Way. The Milky Way itself is but one of more than a hundred billion galaxies that can be seen using modern telescopes--and each galaxy contains on average some one hundred billion stars.
Any material body, such as a star, will give off light or other radiation when heated. The light such glowing objects give off is due to the thermal motion of the atoms within them. It is called blackbody radiation. The spectrum of blackbody radiation is hard to mistake: it has a distinctive form that varies with the temperature of the body. The light emitted by a glowing object is therefore like a thermometer reading.
Since we know that each chemical element absorbs a characteristic set of very specific colors, by matching these to those that are missing from a star’s spectrum we can determine exactly which elements are present in that star’s atmosphere.
To physicists, the shifting of color or frequency is known as the Doppler effect.
The different wavelengths of light are what the human eye sees as different colors, with the longest wavelengths appearing at the red end of the spectrum and the shortest wavelengths at the blue end.
The further a galaxy is, the faster it is moving away!
It is in fact expanding; the distance between the different galaxies all the time.
The discovery that the universe is expanding was one of the great intellectual revolutions of the twentieth century.
Even if at some time the universe had been static, it wouldn’t have remained static because the mutual gravitational attraction of all the stars and galaxies would soon have started it contracting. In fact, even if the universe was expanding fairly slowly, the force of gravity would cause it eventually to stop expanding, and it would start to contract. However, if the universe was expanding faster than a certain critical rate, gravity would never be strong enough to stop it, and it would continue to expand forever.
The amount of dark matter greatly exceeds the amount of ordinary matter in the universe.
There appears to be far less matter in the universe than would be needed to halt its expansion.
The universe will continue to expand at an ever-increasing rate.
All our theories of cosmology are formulated on the assumption that spacetime is smooth and nearly flat. That means that all our theories break down at the big bang: a spacetime with infinite curvature can hardly be called nearly flat! Thus even if there were events before the big bang, we could not use them to determine what would happen afterward, because predictability would have broken down at the big bang. Correspondingly, if, as is the case, we know only what has happened since the big bang, we cannot determine what happened beforehand.
Atoms are made of smaller particles: electrons, protons, and neutrons. The protons and neutrons themselves are made of yet smaller particles called quarks. In addition, corresponding to each of these subatomic particles there exists an antiparticle. Antiparticles have the same mass as their sibling particles but are opposite in their charge and other attributes.
When an antiparticle and particle meet, they annihilate each other.
Light energy comes in the form of another type of particle, a mass-less particle called a photon.
The strong force is a short-range attractive force that can cause protons and neutrons to bind to each other, forming nuclei.
Absolute zero, -273 degrees Celsius, is the temperature at which substances contain no heat energy, and thus the lowest possible temperature.
Paradoxically, the more fuel a star starts off with, the sooner it runs out. This is because the more massive the star is, the hotter it needs to be to balance its gravitational attraction. And the hotter the star, the faster the nuclear fusion reaction and the sooner it will use up its fuel.
When a star runs out of fuel, it starts to cool off and gravity takes over, causing it to contract.
By the wave/particle duality of quantum mechanics, light can be regarded as both a wave and a particle. The descriptors wave and particle are concepts humans created, not necessarily concepts that nature is obliged to respect by making all phenomena fall into one category or the other!
The speed required to escape from the gravitational field of a large body is called the minimum escape velocity. The escape velocity of a star depends on the strength of its gravitational pull. The more massive the star, the greater its escape velocity.
If the star is massive enough, the speed of light will be less than the star’s escape velocity, and all light emitted by the star will fall back into it.
A star that was sufficiently massive and compact would have such a strong gravitational field that light could not escape: any light emitted from the surface of the star would be dragged back by the star’s gravitational attraction before it could get very far. Such objects are what we now call black holes, because that is what they are: black voids in space.
According to the theory of relativity, nothing can travel faster than light. Thus if light cannot escape, neither can anything else: everything is dragged back by the gravitational field. The collapsed star has formed a region of spacetime around it from which it is not possible to escape to reach a distant observer. This region is the black hole. The outer boundary of a black hole is called the event horizon.
Because mathematics cannot really handle infinite numbers, by predicting that the universe began with the big bang, a time when the density of the universe and the curvature of spacetime would have been infinite, the theory of general relativity predicts that there is a point in the universe where the theory itself breaks down, or fails. Such a point is an example of what mathematicians call a singularity. When a theory predicts singularities such as infinite density and curvature, it is a sign that the theory must somehow be modified. General relativity is an incomplete theory because it cannot tell us how the universe started off.
The higher the frequency of light, the greater its energy content.
The uncertainty principle tells us that, contrary to Laplace’s belief, nature does impose limits on our ability to predict the future using scientific law.
The more accurately you try to measure the position of the particle, the less accurately you can measure its speed, and vice versa.
Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle is a fundamental, inescapable property of the world, and it has had profound implications for the way in which we view the world.
One of the most important implications of Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle is that particles behave in some respects like waves.
An important consequence of wave like behaviour in quantum mechanics is that one can observe what is called interference between two sets of particles.
Quantum theory has been an outstandingly successful theory and underlies nearly all of modern science and technology. It governs the behavior of transistors and integrated circuits, which are the essential components of electronic devices such as televisions and computers, and it is also the basis of modern chemistry and biology.
If you can travel faster than light, the theory of relativity implies you can also travel back in time.
A wormhole is a thin tube of spacetime that can connect two nearly flat regions far apart.
So wormholes, like any other possible form of travel faster than light, would allow you to travel into the past.
In quantum mechanics, the forces or interactions between matter particles are all supposed to be carried by particles.
Each force is transmitted by its own distinctive type of force-carrying particle.
The force-carrying particles exchanged between matter particles are said to be virtual particles because, unlike real particles, they cannot be directly detected by a particle detector. We know they exists, however, because they do have a measurable effect: they give rise to forces between matter particles.
Before string theory, each of the fundamental particles was thought to occupy a single point of space. In string theories, the basic objects are not point particles but things that have a length but no other dimension, like an infinitely thin piece of string.
There are two version of the anthropic principle, the weak and the strong.
The weak anthropic principle states that in a universe that is large or infinite in space and/or time, the conditions necessary for the development of intelligent life will be met only in certain regions that are limited in space and time. The intelligent beings in these regions should not be surprised if they observe that their locality in the universe satisfies the conditions that are necessary for their existence.
The strong anthropic principle: According to this theory, there are either many different universes or many different regions of a single universe, each with its own initial configuration and, perhaps, with its own set of laws of science.
Sometimes, when a very massive star collapses, the outer regions of the star may get blown off in a tremendous explosion called a supernova.
In a supernova, some of the heavier elements produced near the end of the star’s life are flung back into the galaxy and provide some of the raw material for the next generation of stars.
We certainly cannot predict future events exactly if we cannot even measure the present state of the universe precisely!
One of the revolutionary properties of quantum mechanics is that it does not predict a single definite result for an observation. Instead, it predicts a number of different possible outcomes and tells us how likely each of these is.
If you can travel with unlimited speed, you can also travel backward in time. One cannot be possible without the other.
An antiparticle can be regarded as a particle traveling backward in time.
With the advent of quantum mechanics, we have come to recognize that events cannot be predicted with complete accuracy: there is always a degree of uncertainty.
The fact that gravity is always attractive implies that the universe must be either expanding or contracting.

"A Brief History of Time" by Stephen Hawking

A theory is a good theory if it satisfies two requirements: it must accurately describe a large class of observations on the basis of a model that contains only a few arbitrary elements, and it must make definite predictions about the results of future observations.
The eventual goal of science is to provide a single theory that describes the whole universe.
In the theory of relativity there is no unique absolute time, but instead each individual has his own personal measure of time that depends on where he is and how he is moving.
A theory is a good theory if it satisfies two requirements: it must accurately describe a large class of observations on the basis of a model that contains only a few arbitrary elements, and it must make definite predictions about the results of future observations.
Any physical theory is always provisional, in the sense that it is only a hypothesis: you can never prove it. On the other hand, you can disprove a theory by finding even a single observation that disagrees with the predictions of the theory.
The eventual goal of science is to provide a single theory that describes the whole universe.
Today scientists describe the universe in terms of two basic partial theories--the general theory of relativity and quantum mechanics. They are the great intellectual achievements of the first half of this century.
The general theory of relativity describes the force of gravity and the large-scale structure of the universe.
Quantum mechanics deals with phenomena on extremely small scales.
The fundamental postulate of the theory of relativity was that the laws of science should be the same for all freely moving observers, no matter what their speed. This simple ideas has some remarkable consequences. Perhaps the best known are the equivalence of mass and energy, summed up in Einstein’s famous equation E = mc^2, and the law that nothing may travel faster than the speed of light.
As an object approaches the speed of light, its mass rises ever more quickly, so it takes more and more energy to speed it up further. It can in fact never reach the speed of light, because by then its mass would have become infinite, and by the equivalence of mass and energy, it would have taken an infinite amount of energy to get it there.
We must accept that time is not completely separate from and independent of space, but is combined with it to form an object called space-time.
Einstein made the revolutionary suggestion that gravity is not a force like other forces, but is a consequence of the fact that spacetime is not flat, as had been previously assumed: it is curved, or “warped,” by the distribution of mass and energy in it.
Another prediction of general relativity is that time should appear to run slower near a massive body like the earth.
In the theory of relativity there is no unique absolute time, but instead each individual has his own personal measure of time that depends on where he is and how he is moving.
We live in a galaxy that is about one hundred thousand light-years across and is slowly rotating; the stars in its spiral arms orbit around its center about once every several hundred million years. Our sun is just an ordinary, average-sized, yellow star, near the inner edge of one of the spiral arms.
The different frequencies of light are what the human eye sees as different colors, with the lowest frequencies appearing at the red end of the spectrum and the highest frequencies at the blue end.
If the source [of light] is moving away from us, the frequency of the waves we receive will be lower. In the case of light, therefore, this means that stars moving away from us will have their spectra shifted toward the red end of the spectrum (red-shifted) and those moving toward us will have their spectra blue-shifted.
The further a galaxy is, the faster it is moving away!
The distance between the different galaxies is growing all the time.
All our theories of science are formulated on the assumption that spacetime is smooth and nearly flat, so they break down at the big bang singularity, where the curvature of spacetime is infinite.
Using the way light cones behave in general relativity together with the fact that gravity is always attractive, he [Roger Penrose] showed that a star collapsing under its own gravity is trapped in a region whose surface eventually shrinks to zero size. And, since the surface of the region shrinks to zero, so too must its volume. All the matter in the star will be compressed into a region of zero volume, so the density of matter and the curvature of spacetime become infinite. In other words, one has a singularity contained within a region of space-time known as a black hole.
Heisenberg Principle--the more accurately you try to measure the position of a particle, the less accurately you can measure its speed, and vice versa.
Heisenberg showed that the uncertainty in the position of the particle times the uncertainty in its velocity times the mass of the particle can never be smaller than a certain quantity, which is known as Planck’s constant.
Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle is a fundamental, inescapable property of the world.
In general, quantum mechanics does not predict a single definite result for an observation. Instead, it predicts a number of different possible outcomes and tells us how likely each of these is.
We now know the neither the atoms nor the protons and neutrons within them indivisible.
Quantum mechanics tells us that all particles are in fact waves.
We now know that every particle has an antiparticle, with which it can annihilate.
By the wave/particle duality of quantum mechanics, light can be regarded as both a wave and a particle. Under the theory that light is made up of waves, it was not clear how it would respond to gravity. But if light is comprised of particles, one might expect them to be affected by gravity in the same way that cannonballs, rockets, and planets are.
The whole history of science had been the gradual realization that events do not happen in an arbitrary manner, but that they reflect a certain underlying order, which may or may not be divinely inspired.
With the advent of quantum mechanics, we have come to recognize that events cannot be predicted with complete accuracy but that there is always a degree of uncertainty.
The rate of progress is so rapid that what one learns at school or university is always a bit out of date.
anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were any different, we would not be here to observe it.
general relativity: Einstein’s theory based on the idea that the laws of science should be the same for all observers, no matter how they are moving. It explains the force of gravity in terms of the curvature of a four-dimensional space-time.
Planck’s quantum principle: The idea that light (or any other classical waves) can be emitted or absorbed only in discrete quanta, whose energy is proportional to their frequency.
quantum mechanics: The theory developed from Planck’s quantum principle and Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle.
special relativity: Einstein’s theory based on the idea that the laws of science should be the same for all freely moving observers no matter what their speed.
uncertainty principle: One can never be exactly sure of both the position and the velocity of a particle; the more accurately one knows the one, the less accurately one can know the other.

"63 Documents The Government Doesn’t Want You To Read" by Jesse Ventura

There are an astounding 16 million documents being classified top secret by our government every year! Today, pretty much everything the government does is presumed secret.
Wiki Leaks exists because the mainstream media haven’t done their job! Instead of holding government accountable as the “fourth branch” the founders intended, I guess the corporate media’s role today is to protect the government from embarrassment.
The First Amendment is about freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and the right to assemble. The Patriot Act says that the government is free to monitor religious and political institutions without any suspicion of criminal activity.
The Forth Amendment speaks to our right to be secure “against unreasonable searches ans seizures.” The Patriot Act says the government can search and seize Americans’ papers and effects without probably cause.
The Sixth Amendment says an accused person has “compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.” The Patriot Act says the government can monitor conversations between attorneys and clients in federal prisons and even deny lawyers to Americans accused of crimes.
The Sixth Amendment also says an accused criminal must “be confronted with the witnesses against him.” The Patriot Act says Americans can be jailed without even being charged, let alone face any witnesses.
What troubles me more than anything is how Congress can simply vote to supersede the Constitution. They’re not allowed to do that, to vote in new rules arbitrarily.
The CIA has an assassination manual: “A Study of Assassination”
The CIA has conducted behavior-control (mind-control) experiments (ARTICHOKE and MKULTRA)
Operation Northwoods: conduct terrorist operations inside the U.S. to justify war with Cuba.
The Gulf of Tonkin incident was a lie to get us into Vietnam
The Government granted asylum to Nazi scientists and later let them “escape.”
A great deal of the CIA’s job seems to be to “spin” whatever happens in the best light they can. And for the most part, spinning is done to cover up the truth: If we’ve done it, then is has to be right.
The Government has (and probably still does) conducted involuntary secret human experimentation on U.S. soldiers.
The FDA doesn’t have the manpower to really inspect anything. Most food goes un-inspected.
Koch Industries holds a seminar twice a year to consolidate their message with others and further their agenda.
The CIA can deny a request from the President, and they have (Nixon tried and failed to get information regarding Vietnam, JFK, and the Cuban Missile Crisis)
The year 2000 election was fixed. Volusia county Florida had a computer error that caused 16,022 votes for Gore to be subtracted from his total.
Hillary Clinton requested that our foreign diplomats (ambassadors) spy on their host nations and their officials (shoulder surf for passwords, government websites, obtain biographical data, DNA samples, etc.)
Government can’t allow anything to exist that it does not control.
A think tank called the Project for a New American Century (PNAC) published a report called Rebuilding America’s Defenses: Strategies and Resources for a New Century that states that a Pearl Harbor like incident would have to occur to carry out recommended changes.
The FBI was aware that a large amount of terrorists were enrolled in U.S. flight schools.
President Bush had received a memo prior to 9/11 that said that Bin Laden was going to attack us.
An FAA policy regarding authorization to act against hijacked airplanes was changed months before 9/11 to require authorization from the SECDEF (Rumsfeld at the time)
The third building to fall on 9/11 (Building 7) fell at the same rate of gravity which is inconsistent with the given explanation of heat failure because the structure of the building itself would have slowed it’s decent. Falling at the speed of gravity seems to indicate explosive demolition.
Their was evidence of insider trading prior to 9/11. Several countries were looking into it, but they all stopped because there were no ties to terrorist groups. This pre-supposes that only terrorist groups would be involved in 9/11.
Generally if you want to find out who knew what, the money trail will lead you to the knowledge you desire. And 9/11 seems to be a classic example of that.
Medical experiments are being conducted on Guantanamo detainees without their consent (mega doses of mefloquine, for malaria, in detainees with no exposure to or risk of exposure to malaria)
The CIA destroyed 92 videos of them torturing (interrogating) terror suspects.

"5/3/1: The Simplest and Most Effective Training System to Increase Raw Strength" by Jim Wendler

The bench press, parallel squat, deadlift, and standing press have always been staples of any strong person’s repertoire.
Sometimes, the simplest is the best.
The 5/3/1 philosophy is more important than the sets and reps.

Emphasize big, multi-joint exercises
Start too light
Progress slowly
Break personally records

Multi-joint lifts are lifts that involve more than one muscle--i.e., not an isolation exercise like leg extensions--and allow you to build the most muscle. These lifts are the most efficient for building muscle and strength.
Starting too light allows for more time for you to progress forward.
Slow progress might not get you the best results today, but it will tomorrow. The longer you can progress, even if it’s by one rep or 2.5 pounds, the more it means that you’re actually making progress.
If you keep setting and breaking rep records, you’ll get stronger.
Breaking personal records is a great motivator, and it’s a great way to add some excitement to your training.
The 5/3/1 program:

Train 2-4 days per week.
One day is devoted to each lift: standing military press, parallel squat, deadlift, and bench press.
Each training cycle lasts 4-6 weeks.
The first week you do 3 sets of 5 reps.
The second week you do 3 sets of 3 reps.
The third week you do 1 set of 5 reps, 1 set of 3 reps, and 1 set of 1 rep (5/3/1).
The fourth week you do 3 sets of 5 reps. This is an easy deload week.
After the fourth week, you start over with 3 sets of 5 reps.
Each week and each set has a percentage to follow, so no more guessing what weight to use.

I believe in big compound lifts, keeping the set and rep scheme simple, and deloading every fourth week.
Squat:

Eyes should be focused. Your eyes should be directed straight ahead or just slightly downward. Don’t take your eyes off the point you choose. Pick something and stare at it intently.
Place the bar where it allows you to reach depth with good form.
Keep your elbows down and try to force them under the bar.
When you begin your descent, push your knees out to the sides and your glutes back.
Arch your back hard for the entire lift.
Once you hit parallel, drive your elbows under the bar and explode up.
Before you take the bar out of the rack, fill your diaphragm with air, place the bar on your back, then confidently push it out of the rack with your back and legs.
Any more than two or three steps back is a waste of time and energy. Be efficient.
Squeeze the bar hard during the lift.
Your descent should be slow enough to permit you to maintain good form, but it should be fast enough not to waste energy or kill the stretch reflex at the bottom.
Your toes should be pointed out at about a 30-45 degree angle.

Press:

As the bar is pressed overhead, bring your head and chest through. Don’t push the bar back.
Keep your lower back arched and your chest up throughout the entire lift.

Bench press:

Your shoulder blades must be pushed back, and your chest must be spread throughout the bench press.
Your lower back should be arched and kept that way.
Do not lift your butt off the bench.
Foot placement is up to you, but make sure they’re in a solid and strong position.
Over the years, I’ve found that a narrow grip is a little healthier in the long run than a wider grip.
As soon as the bar is in your hands, make sure your lower and upper back are arched, your feet are firmly on the floor, and your hands are wrapped tightly around the bar.
I like to take a large breath and force it into my diaphragm before lifting the bar off.
Don’t use a lift-off partner when you train. Use this only for maximal attempts.
Keep your elbows tucked on the way down.
Once you touch your chest, keep your elbows tucked and drive the bar back slightly. About halfway up, allow your elbows to flare out, and keep pushing up and back.

Deadlift:

To figure out the best stance for your deadlift, pretend you’re about to perform a vertical jump. Now, look down and move your feet in slightly. This is your starting position.
Your toes should be pointed slightly outward.
Your weight should be on the middle of your foot or toward the rear.
Start with the bar just in front of your shins, but not touching them.
Your upper back should be pulled together with your shoulders over the bar.
Your lower back should be arched and held static in whatever position you’re in.
Your hands should be placed just outside your feet--wide enough to allow you to get your hips through at the top of the lift.
Before lifting the bar, fill your diaphragm (not your chest) with air.
Begin the ascent by easing pressure into the bar. Do not jerk the bar off the ground.
Before the bar is lifted, I always think, “Butt down, chest up.”
The first movement of the deadlift should be initiated with the legs, not the back.
Once the bar begins moving up your shins, start pulling back and onto your heels.
Once the bar passes your knees, push your hips through to complete the lift.
You can either lower the bar slowly to the starting position or drop it.

Don’t buy a cheap [lifting] belt. A good belt will last you a lifetime, and once you have it broken in, you’ll consider it the best lifting partner you’ve ever had.
I recommend wearing a belt for your work sets in this program.
A good pair of shoes is essential, especially for squatting and deadlifting
[Chalk] use it. If your gym doesn’t allow it, sneak it in. This is one of the most important things for your strength and safety, so be wary of gyms that don’t allow it.
Your maxes are the weights you can lift right now.
Estimated 1RM = weight x reps x 0.0333 + weight
Once you have your maxes for each lift (bench, squat, deadlift, and standing military press), I want you to take 90% of this number and use this as your “max” for the first 4 weeks of the training cycle. This will allow you to use sub-maximal weights to get stronger, and since you won’t be handling heavy weights all the time, it’ll keep your body fresh and you won’t plateau or regress.
You don’t need to operate at your real max to make gains with this program.
You don’t have to train maximally to get strong. You just have to train optimally.
There are two options you can use with the 5/3/1 method. The sets and reps are the same. Only the percentages differ.

Option 1:

Week 1: 65%x5, 75%x5, 85%x5+
Week 2: 70%x3, 80%x3, 90%x3+
Week 3: 75%x5, 85%x3, 95%x1+
Week 4: 40%x5, 50%x5, 60%x5

Option 2:

Week 1: 75%x5, 80%x5, 85%x5+
Week 2: 80%x3, 85%x3, 90%x3+
Week 3: 75%x5, 85%x3, 95%x1+
Week 4: 40%x5, 50%x5, 60%x5

I’ve used both options,and both have worked very well very me. Right now, I use option 1 exclusively and would recommend this for just about everyone. Most people prefer doing it this way because it allows you to be fresher for the last big set of the day. The second options is very tiring, especially on squat and deadlift days.
The last set of the day is the all-out set. You’ll be going for as many reps as possible. I highly recommend having a goal in mind for these last sets.
I’ve always thought of doing the prescribed reps as simple testing your strength. Anything over and above that builds strength, muscle and character. Doing the prescribed reps shows you and your body that you’re strong enough for the workout. The extra reps are your way of dominating the workout and getting better.
In the 4th week (your deload week), you should not be going for max reps. This is a week to get some light work in and prime yourself for the next month of training.
In the second four week phase, the lifter will increase his maxes no more than 5 pounds per upper body lift, and 10 pounds for lower body lifts. These increases are to the max that you’re basing your percentages on. You’re not increasing the weight for each set.
Keep in mind that you’re always trying to hit more reps on your last set of each workout.
These are small, steady progressions over time that will lead to big gains, and that’s what lifting is all about.
You keep on increasing the max you’re working from every four weeks until you can no longer hit the prescribed sets and reps.
When you stall, simple take 90% of your max and start all over again.
You may stall out with one lift before you do with the others. When this happens, you only need to decrease the one stalled lift.
If you’re really starting out with 10% less than your actual maxes, you can expect to go through 5-7 cycles at a minimum before you stall out.
Warming up prior to training is important. I usually recommend the following:

1x5 @ 40%
1x5 @ 50%
1x3 @ 60%
work sets

The purpose of the warm-up is to prepare yourself for a great day of work sets--not an average one. You really shouldn’t need too many warm-up sets to prepare yourself for your work sets.
You’re not going to have great days all the time. When this happens, I recommend going into the weight room with one purpose: getting your prescribed weights and leaving.
Assistance exercises accomplish four main tasks. They:

strengthen weak areas of the body
compliment and help increase the four basic lifts
provide balance and symmetry to your body and your training
build muscle mass

When you’re choosing your assistance exercises, do yourself a favor and justify why you’re doing them. You must have a strong reason for doing an exercise. If you don’t, scrap it and move on.
Sometimes, instead of what you do in the weight room, it’s what you don’t do that will lead to success.
You must keep training economy in mind. Training economy means getting the best bang for your buck from each exercise. That’s why squats are better than leg extensions.
Good exercises:

dips
chins
push-ups
dumbbell rows
barbell rows
barbell shrugs
dumbbell bench
dumbbell military
dumbbell incline
lunges
step-ups
leg-press
back raise
good morning
glute-ham raise
sit-ups
dumbbell side-bends
hanging leg-raises
abdominal wheel

Dips are one of the most efficient ways to build your triceps, chest and shoulders. Do 50 total reps if weighted, or 100 if just using body weight. If you’re ever at a loss for what to do on upper body day, do dips. Lots of them.
Chins are one of the best upper back, lat and biceps exercises you can do. They’re great to do between sets of bench and military press (and squat and deadlift)--you can do them in between any pushing exercise. Do no less than 100 per week.
Though not as manly as the dip, the pushup still has it’s place in training. One drawback, however, it that push-ups are hard to load.
[Dumbbell rows are] one of the best ways to build upper back and lat strength. Kroc Rows--high reps (20-40) with the heaviest dumbbell you can handle--are my favorite variation.
There’s no denying the awesomeness of the barbell row. The key to doing these properly is to figure out what you want to accomplish with the exercise. Then, you perform it in a way that accomplishes this goal.
Barbell Shrugs. Don’t be the guy who rolls his shoulders from front to back when shrugging. This is a sign of low IQ. I like doing these for high reps with as heavy a weight as possible. Shrugs are great for building trap size and grip strength--two things most people suck at.
The dumbbell bench is a great assistance exercise to strengthen the upper body pressing muscles and work each arm independently. I’m often asked if the dumbbell bench can be used as a core exercise (to replace barbell benching or military), and the answer is no.
[For dumbbell incline] any angle will do, so don’t sweat the small stuff.
Lunges are great for building leg strength and mass. Take big strides, maintain an upright torso and do them right.
[For step-ups] a general guideline is to use a box that puts your leg at about parallel to the ground.
[Leg press isn't] squatting, but it’ll help strengthen and build your legs.
Done on a back raise bench, a glute-ham bench or a 45-degree back raise bench, this movement [back raise] is a simple and effective way to strengthen your lower back and hamstrings. Extra resistance can be added by putting a bar across your back.
The first mistake people make with good mornings is treating the exercise as a movement and not as a muscle builder/strengthener. The good morning is used to build your lower back and hamstrings, so perform the exercise in a way that hits these muscles correctly. This means pushing your butt way back, trying to keep somewhat of an arch in your back, and using as full a range of motion as you can.
Nothing works the hamstrings like glute-ham raises. Add in a full range of motion--from the bottom to the top--and you have an exercise that works the low back, hamstrings and calves. If you suck at these, do them every day until you don’t.
Please don’t be that guy who does them [sit-ups] while holding a plate on his chest. Hold the weight behind your head and prepare to be humbled
[Dumbbell side-bends] are good for your abs, low back, and obliques. I recommend heavy weight and sets of 15-20.
Hanging Leg-Raises. Hang from a bar with straight legs, bring your feet to the bar. Return to the starting position, come to a complete stop, and begin the movement again.
Do these [ab wheel] on your knees for some reps, and on your feet to test yourself out. If you’re on your knees, I recommend sets of 25-50.
When I tell you to train like a bodybuilder, I just want balance in your training.
Don’t get overzealous with one are for too long. If you do, expect to spend the same amount of time getting neglected areas up to par.
Assistance work #1: Boring But Big. This is probably the most popular assistance work to accompany this program, and it’s really simple. After you perform the sets and reps of the program, you simple follow it up with the same exercise for 5 sets of 10 reps.
Quit farting around with a million things for your lower back and settle on the one that will you strong.
Assistance work #2: The Triumvirate. Limit your workout to the three most effective exercises for you.
Assistance work #3: I’m Not Doing Jack Shit. I don’t recommend it, but it’s useful for non-beginners who have a limited time to train. The program entails walking into the weight room, doing the big lift for the day, and then walking out. The disadvantages here are obviously the lack of both volume and balance, but it can work for a while.
Assistance work #5: Bodyweight. I recommend no less than 75 reps per exercise for each workout.

Day 1: Military Press (5/3/1), Chins, Dips.
Day 2: Deadlift (5/3/1), GHR, Leg Raise.
Day 3: Bench (5/3/1), Chins, Push-ups.
Day 4: Squat (5/3/1), One-leg Squat, Sit-ups.

One of the things people need to learn is that you don’t have to kill yourself during every workout to make progress. You should always leave something in the weight room (i.e. you should feel tired, but not dead after a workout).
Training for strength is a marathon, not a sprint.
If you want to perform power cleans, please do so first on any of the lower body days (squat and deadlift). You would program this just like a regular 5/3/1 lift.
For the additional assistance work for the upper body (lats, upper back, triceps, biceps) and lower body (hamstrings, lower back, abs), I recommend picking one exercise for each of these body parts and simply doing 3 sets of 10-20 reps.
If anything, do more back and upper back work on your upper body day; you can never really do too much of it.
Let the big lifts stress the joints and mind; let the small lifts stress the muscles.
I still recommend doing chins/pull-ups between every pressing set (including warm-ups for the pressing movement).
Because you are already warmed up from the main lift of the day, you will only need to do 1 or 2 warm-up sets for the assistance lift (if at all). Keep the warm-up sets to no more than 5 reps.
Don’t change the big assistance lifts. Stick with one for at least 3-4 cycles and change if you like. You have to stick with them in order to see progress.
Big Assistance Exercises:

Squat

front squat
safety-bar squat
box squat
leg press
hack squat

Pulling

straight-leg deadlift
good morning
trap-bar deadlift
rack (or block) deadlift
snatch-grip deadlift
deficit deadlift
block deadlift
rack deadlift

Pressing

log press
log bench press
close-grip bench press
football bar (Swiss bar) bench press
football bar (Swiss bar) press
incline press
floor press
2-board press
DB bench press
DB incline press
DB press

For those that don’t know what rest/pause training it, here is an example. A lifter will perform a movement, let’s use the press as an example, and perform an all-out set at a given weight. After this all-out set, he will take 10-15 breaths and perform the press again with the same weight, obviously for less reps, to failure. He will rack the bar, take another 15-20 breaths and do another set to failure. (Note: You do not rest/pause the deadlift and squat.)
North of Vag:

Warm-up: foam rolling, static stretching and jumping rope (or similar).
Lift weights: 5/3/1; keep it basic and strong.
Condition: Run hills, push Prowler.
Do this 3-4 times a week and you won’t fall into the trap of being normal.

People ask you how you train, and you answer, “I look at what you do, and then I do the exact opposite.”
Kicking ass and training consistently--and with some balance--will do wonders for both your body and your mind.
Get rid of all the meaningless crap in your life and your training.
Stop all the things that make you a pussy and steal your energy.
Warm-Up:

Foam Roll. Perform 30-50 rolls per leg for the following areas of the body. I also recommend a PVC pipe (this is very uncomfortable but effective). The PVC pipe should be 6” in diameter and 3 feet long. Wrap it in athletic tape so it doesn’t slip.

IT Band/Hamstring/Quad
Lower and Upper back
Piriformis

Stretching. Do 3-5 sets of 10 seconds for each stretch.

Hamstrings/low back
Hip Flexors/Quads
Shoulders/Chest

Jump Rope. Take only as much rest as you need between each exercise and perform it correctly.

100 double leg
50 left leg
50 right leg
100 alternating legs
50 high knees
100 double leg

The two best things to do [for conditioning] are Prowler pushes/sprints, or sprinting hills.
Nobody ever got strong or got in shape by thinking about it. They did it.
If you can only train twice a week do the following:

Day 1:

Squat 5/3/1
Bench 5/3/1
Assistance:

Chins 3x10
Back Raises 3x15
Dumbbell Bench Press 3x10
Rear Laterals 3x20

Day 2:

Deadlift 5/3/1
Press 5/3/1
Assistance:

Dumbbell Rows 3x10
Dips 3x10-15
Good Mornings 3x10
Curls 3x10

I firmly believe that the squat is the basis for all strength. Not only does it require tremendous leg and hip strength, but it requires a pair of balls to squat hard and heavy.
Good intentions when combined with ignorance and lack of experience are a recipe for bad form, limited results and injury.
Barbell training is a lost art in today’s fitness world.
I believe that any great training program has two things at the top of the training pyramid: strength training and mobility. This two factors will greatly determine how you perform more than anything.
You don’t have to be fancy to be great.
Fitness enthusiasts rely on gadgets because they are easily bored and easily swayed by the sparkly of the latest and greatest. Lifers (not lifters) know where the results come from.
Full body strength routines are the best way for novice lifters to quickly get strong, provided the program is non-retarded (i.e. adheres to an intelligent progression system).
Nothing is more confusing than diet.
The bottom line is that if you want to be big and strong, your diet has to be big and strong. You can’t expect to eat like a mouse, and lift like a lion.
If you want to move some weight, you are going to have to gain some weight.
Lean, slow weight gain. Eat 4 meals a day in the following order:

50g protein shake
30-50g protein from eggs, chicken, or beef (Don’t eat anything else until this is done.)
One serving of fruit or vegetables.
Any clean carbs you want until full.

Quick weight gain.

30-50g or protein from eggs, chicken, or beef.
100g of carbs.
1 serving of fruit or vegetable.
50g protein shake mixed with milk and/or peanut butter.
Wake up in the middle of the night and eat a meal or have a huge protein shake with milk or water.

All diet books have gimmicks; it is how they appeal to the reader.
You read enough [about a subject] and suddenly things begin to make sense. You just have to read a lot and learn how to read and think critically. These two things will serve you for life.
Eat a ton of protein. Squat heavy. Push heavy objects. Have sex. Love life.
The strength curve for athletes/regular guys is heavy at the bottom and light at the top, so they need more low end work. The strength curve for geared lifters is light at the bottom and heavy at the top, so more high end work is needed.
The key to assistance work is doing enough to stimulate the muscle. Your assistance work should not affect your recovery and overall performance.
The most important thing is to get the work of the main lifts in.
The smaller the jumps you can make, the better you’ll be in the long run. Trust in the “small jump” system and reap the benefits long term.
For overall muscle growth, it’s best to train without the aid/support of equipment.
Ditch the straps as soon as you can and train minimally for maximum results.
If you’re deloading, deload! Cut back on everything and let your body rest and recover.
Steady, slow progression will never go out of fashion, and neither will the big exercises.
To get big and strong: I would recommend the 5/3/1 program, with the Boring But Big assistance work. Then have that person drink a gallon of milk a day. Three things that are very easy and simple to do.
I do chins and dips because they are the most efficient upper body assistance exercises.
Training Rules of Being Awesome:

I will strength train 2-4 days/week.
I will commit myself to increasing my strength in the basic lifts (squat, press, bench press, deadlift and power clean) as I believe that these lifts have a great carryover to all areas.
I will condition like a man 2-4 days/week: prowler, hills, weighted vest, sprints or stadium steps will always trump hamster-cages like treadmills and ellipticals.
I will stretch hard.
I will keep strength training in the weight room and conditioning on the track. I don’t take a barbell to a marathon so keep your mouth breathing out of my squat rack.
I don’t need fly-by-night gadgets to get strong; a barbell, rack/squat stands, platform and a bench press is all I need.
I will strive to have a great workout on the main lift--and a good workout on my assistance. I recognize which lifts really matter and which are done for support.
I don’t get sidetracked by the latest or greatest training program or an article or a post on a forum. Programs may change but principles remain forever.
I strive to eat well: beef, eggs, chicken, fish, milk, protein powders, fruits and vegetables make the bulk of my diet. I will eat protein. And then eat some more.
I recognize the importance of patience in the quests for strength. This is a lifelong pursuit which will serve me in all areas of my life.
A sad state of “looks before performance” is plaguing the world.
Stand up and show the world who you are and what you can do.
Bleed success.

5/3/1 Boring But Big:

Day 1:

press 5/3/1
bench 5x10
lats 5x10

Day 2:

deadlift 5/3/1
squat 5x10
abs 5xF

Day 3:

bench 5/3/1
press 5x10
lats 5x10

Day 4:

squat 5/3/1
deadlift 5x10
abs 5xF

Only substitute the 5x10 assistance exercises.
There are two variations: use the same main & assistance lift or alternate the main & assistance lifts.
It's better to start too light for the lower body assistance work. (Newbies should use ~30% of training max)
Use ~50-60% of your training max for assistance work.
The goal of the assistance work is to get 5 sets of 10 reps. You can use whatever weight progression you want (i.e. ascending, descending, pyramid).
Don't try to program DB work. Just pick heavier or lighter DBs.
For newbies try using 30% for cycle 1, 45% for cycle 2, and 60% for all other cycles.
Once you're using 60% of your training max for assistance work stay there. As you increase your training weight each cycle, your assistance work weight will increase with it.
When deloading still do the 5x10 work. Or if it's too much, drop to 3x10.
If 5x10 deadlifts is too much for you, substitute it with good mornings or straight-leg deadlifts.
You can superset the 5x10 work to shorten the workout.
Don't use a belt for the 5x10 work on squat and deadlift.
You can substitute curls or shrugs for the lat work.
Do not add more to the program. If you can add more, than you aren't working hard enough.
You can push the final sets of the 5/3/1 work to as many reps as possible.
Conditioning work should reflect your goals while on the program.
For the first cycle, underestimate your weights by 10%.
Do as many reps as possible on the final set of the 5/3/1 work.
Upon completion of a cycle: add 5 pounds to your upper-body lifts and 10 pounds to your lower-body lifts. Then recalculate your weights based on this new training max.
You must have a strong reason for doing an exercise. If you don't, scrap it.
Sometimes, instead of what you do. It's what you don't do in the weight room that will lead to success.
I recommend adding two or three conditioning sessions per week, using hill sprints, Prowler pushes, or whatever else works for you.
Rest 3-5 minutes between sets of the core lift, and 1-2 minutes between sets of the assist
The final set of your core lift is the one that produces mass and strength, so give it everything you have, and get as many reps as you can with that weight.
Don't train more than two days in a row.
1RM formula: weight x reps x 0.0333 + weight = estimated 1RM
warm-up sets: 5x40%, 5x50%, 3x60%
Mistakes to Avoid:

Don't customize. You must do the program as it's written.
Take it easy with the assistance work. Do one or two exercises for 5 sets of 10, or maybe do a few more exercises for fewer sets.
Start with the right weights.
Progress slowly.

"101 Tips for Graduates" by Susan Morem

In the real world, arriving late for work is never acceptable, nor is leaving unannounced, despite the reason.
Paychecks and pay raises replace report cards and become the only tangible measure of success.
We are evaluated throughout our entire lives.
In the real world, we are graded on our skills: work skills, communication skills, leadership skills, and social skills. We also are graded on our behavior: We’re expected to practice self-discipline, work well with others, and have a positive attitude.
People expect you to look, act, and dress professionally and appropriately.
Strive to improve yourself professionally and personally every single day.
Decide what you want. Every decision you make will either move you toward your goals or push you away from them.
If you aren’t enthusiastic about what you’re doing, consider doing something else.
Failure is temporary and is nothing to be embarrassed about.
Don’t spend more than you earn; spend less. Stay out of debt and invest in yourself.
Become a lifelong learner; be a student of life.
The more you know, the more you know you don’t know.
Seek knowledge and learn something new every chance you get.
Everyone makes mistakes.
Strive never to repeat the same mistake.
Know when and how to say no and mean it.
Take risks, seize opportunities, and create your own good fortune.
Put a stamp of quality on everything you do.
Live a quality life.
Success is what you make of your life. If you compare yourself to others, you will always fall short. Compare yourself to your goals and desires; you have everything you need to succeed.
No job is beneath you. Any job that’s legal is honorable and probably pays you more in a month than people in many parts of the world make in a year.
Treat everyone with respect, regardless of status or position.
Identify your values; know what’s important to you in life, and never compromise the things you value most.
Your success (or lack of it) is up to you, and if things don’t go well, there's no one to blame but yourself.
The secret to a successful job search is to take it seriously and treat it like a job by devoting a significant amount of time to it each day.
When you find yourself waiting for the phone to ring, pick it up and make a call, then another and another.
You must pursue the job you want and set yourself apart from others who are vying for the same position.
You do need to have at least one good suit to wear to interviews and a few additional pieces to mix and match.
Always dress a little better than you need to; it will help you establish yourself as a person the company should hire.
Purchase the best-quality clothing you can afford.
Always consult a tailor to ensure your clothing fits properly.
If you don’t look as though you take yourself seriously or your career seriously, no one will take you seriously either.
Never, ever, underestimate the power of your image.
You need to research the industry and company prior to every interview.
Proofread all your emails, memos, and letters before sending them.
The most common reason for procrastination is perfectionism. We tell ourselves that if we can’t do it right, or perfectly, we’ll put it off until we can.
If you try to please everyone, you’ll end up pleasing no one.
You are always better off asking than assuming.
The way you sound will overshadow the words you say.
Everyone makes mistakes. Admit yours when you make them.
Say what you mean and mean what you say.
Powerful people give the impression they are powerful and know how to command attention.
Don’t be too proud to ask for help or advice.
The more you focus on a goal, the more likely you are to accomplish it.
Tell people what you need and ask for what you want.
If you want something, it’s up to you to get it.
Successful people view failure as a temporary setback rather than a permanent resolution.
When all else is equal, the person who looks most professional and successful almost always wins.
Don’t dress for the position you have. Dress for the position you want.
The best way to learn is by doing.
Success isn’t a result of the amount of time you put in each day; it’s what you do with your time when you’re working that counts.
It may be easier to avoid your problems, but they never really go away unless you face them.
You’ll never find time to do the things you want to do; you must schedule time for the things that are most important to you.
Setting goals is important; you need to identify the things you want and create a plan for your future.
Your long-term success is a result of the things you do every day.
What you do each day will either move you closer to your goals or prevent you from reaching them.
Be honest with yourself and others; don’t sugarcoat the truth.
Your reputation is a result of everything you do -- or don’t do.
What you do is what people remember.
Your actions reveal your true feelings. Do more and say less. Actions really do speak louder than words.
You are better off not committing than offering to do something but failing to follow through.
If you frequently fall behind or fail to accomplish what you set out to do, either someone is expecting too much of you or you are expecting too much of yourself.
You are more likely to succeed when you believe you can. Your beliefs create your reality; you choose what you believe.
Some of the most important things in your life are right before your eyes. Take the time to notice and appreciate what you have. Consider yourself fortunate.
Sometimes the best response to a person or situation is no response.
Accept the compliments you receive, and be generous in giving compliments to others.
Its important to live intentionally. You need to know who you are and where you are going.
Making mistakes is one of the crucial ways that people learn.
Admit mistakes as soon as possible.

20170206

Trans-American Trail

I rode my motorcycle across America last summer. It was expensive. I crashed about a hundred times, and I broke one of everything. It was also an amazing experience. You can read about it on the Adventure Rider forums here: Trogdor rides the TAT

Time, Focus, Schedule

I organized a Mastermind group last summer with a couple of coworkers. We met each week to help and discus our plans with one another. During one of our meetings the problem of "not enough time" came up. I'd been reading a ton of self-help books and taking copius notes, so I offered to type up a summary of some of the best advice I'd come across and share it.

Here are those notes.

Matt,

You mentioned “time, focus, and schedule” several times as the thing blocking your progress, so I’ve advice for you below regarding each of those points. Most of it comes from notes I’ve taken from books, but there are also some links to web articles, and a little bit of my own philosophizing. Let me know if you need anything else.

~ Justin

Time

In training and coaching thousands of professionals, I have found that lack of time is not the major issue for them (though they themselves may think it is); the real problem is a lack of clarity and definition about what a project really is, and what the associated next-action steps required are.
Being busy is most often used as a guise for avoiding the few critically important but uncomfortable actions.
Slow down and remember this: Most things make no difference. Being busy is a form of laziness--lazy thinking and indiscriminate action.
You feel overwhelmed because (A) you have agreed to/taken on/planned to do too many things, and (B) you’re not making progress on the things that matter to you.

The solution to A

“It is not daily increase, but daily decrease. Hack away the unessential.” -- Bruce Lee
Learn to say “no”. This should be your default response to all requests. It’s stops new things from coming in.
Cut out the things you’re doing that aren’t important. Use the Eisenhower Decision Matrix to evaluate things.
The key to having more time is doing less, and there are two paths to getting there, both of which should be used together: define a to-do list and define a not-to-do list.

The solution to B

You don’t actually do a project; you can only do action steps related to it.
Break large tasks down into chunks that you can actually complete in a single pomodoro (or under 1 hour).
Consider the Pareto Principle (80/20 rule) to identify and focus on those tasks that give you the most “bang for the buck”. Go for the “big ticket” tasks that will actually move you closer to your goal.
Parkinson’s Law dictates that a task will swell in (perceived) importance and complexity in relation to the time allotted for its completion, so put time limits on everything.
It’s easy to get caught in a flood of minutiae, and the key to not feeling rushed is remembering that lack of time is actually lack of priorities.

Focus

Don’t ever arrive at the office or in front of your computer without a clear list of priorities.
If you don’t prioritize, everything seems urgent and important. If you define the single most important task for each day, almost nothing seems urgent or important.
Being busy is not the same thing as being productive.
Use the Pomodoro Technique to knock out your tasks.
Do not multitask. If you prioritize properly, there is no need to multitask.
Separate your working space from your living space and eliminate distractions (phone, email, tv, etc.). Despite popular opinion, the human mind really can’t multitask.
Don’t confuse the complex with the difficult. Most situations are simple--many are just emotionally difficult to act upon.

Schedule

Choose three tasks for each day -- really important, high-impact tasks. These three Most Important Tasks (MITs) should be your focus each day, and ideally you should do them before working on any tasks of lower importance.
If an action will take less than two minutes, it should be done at the moment it is defined.
Batching is the solution to our distracting but necessary time consumers, those repetitive tasks that interrupt the most important.

Example: email. Stop constantly monitoring and responding to email throughout the day. These interruptions and context switches kill your productivity. Instead, only check email once per day, set a time limit and respond to everything at once. Process your inbox to zero, then move on.

Find a scheduling/planning system that works for you. Check out Zen to Done.

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