Tip: Eat Lunch Away from the Computer

• By Casey O'Hanlon
• May 14, 2013
• comments

Greatist is the fastest-growing fitness, health and happiness media start-up. Check out  more wellness news at Greatist.com.

Playing Scrabble online with friends or stalking an old flame on Facebook can be totally addicting. But recent research suggests zoning out in front of the computer during lunch might actually lead to overeating. So stop checking those status updates (c’mon, fess up!) and consider focusing on that yummy salad or sammy instead!

Gimme a Break - The Tip

Americans spend an average of 8 ½ hours a day staring at their computer screens, TVs, and cell phones. So take a break at lunch! Research suggests that extra screen time could wreak havoc on the eyes— and maybe even the waistline. In one study, subjects who played Solitaire on a computer while chowing down reported feeling less full than non-distracted participants. The computer gamers also ate nearly twice as much when presented when a post-lunch snack.

Need another reason to focus on food and only food during lunch? In another study, researchers found that food-focused diners showed enhanced “meal memory,” (damn, that turkey sandwich was good!), which kept them feeling satisfied longer. Subjects who were asked to read a newspaper while eating, by ...

It’s Okay Not To Know: 3 Keys to Leveraging Uncertainty In Your Organization

• By Glenda Eoyang
• May 14, 2013
• comments

In every corner of government, we are forced to do more and more with less and less. This might not be so bad if only we had a handle on what we should be doing in the first place!  Yes, in government, as in the private sector, uncertainty is the new normal.  The rules of public policy—whether they center on evidence-based practice or quality requirements or community engagement—change often and in unpredictable ways. What’s more, it’s impossible to predict when or where the next change will emerge.

I’m not trying to scare or depress you.  Uncertainty isn’t “bad.”  It just is…and once we accept that, we can work with it.

In Adaptive Action: Leveraging Uncertainty in You Organization, which I wrote in partnership with Royce Holladay, we explain how organizations can “dance” with uncertainty to improve performance, innovation, satisfaction and efficiency.

Our approach centers on a process, called Adaptive Action, that helps organizations overcome complex challenges. It includes three simple questions:  What? So what? Now what? 

When you are drowning in a sea of chaos, Adaptive Action can be a lifesaver. It helps you tune out the noise and confusion and get focused ...

Why I Quit Email—and You Should, too

• By Lucien Engelen
• May 14, 2013
• comments

At our Radboud University Medical Center (RUMC), we send out some 750,000 e-mails, every month. Monthly we send these from our approximately 18,000 email addresses. Conversely, on a monthly average of 1.2 million e-mails are being send to ús. (Numbers cleared for spam and based on 2013.)

If every mail from/to consisted of one sheet of paper, that would be seven pallets of 200 packages of printing paper every month—and that’s even only assuming emails without attachments.

Imagine that every incoming email read by ‘someone’ took 60 seconds: That would quickly add up to as much as 12-1/2 hours per month. Every month that’s about 8 FTEs, in other words 96 people per year, mind you: one minute a mail for one person! Imagine if we could add that time to spend more with patients and their family.

Read more at Quartz. 

(Image via Lichtmeister/Shutterstock.com)

Astronaut Makes Most Expensive Music Video Ever

• By Mark Micheli
• May 13, 2013
• comments

In 1995, Michael Jackson and his sister Janet made the music video “Scream” set aboard a fictional space station. On Sunday evening, Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield released a music video set aboard a REAL space station. An even bigger difference? Jackson’s video, the most expensive in history, cost about $10.5 million in 2013 dollars. Hadfield’s, if you include all the shuttle missions it took to build the International Space Station, cost about $150 billion.

(Related: The 10 Most Amazing Videos Created by Chris Hadfield)

Worth it? Well, if you take into account the ISS was built for, you know, a few other reasons than filming a music video, I’d say definitely. Hadfield, who is set to return to Earth today, created this incredible cover of David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” as a capstone on his five months in space. Hadfield became an Internet sensation for his highly entertaining, and educational, videos as well as his pioneering use of social media.

Below, enjoy the most expensive music video ever made:

The 10 Most Amazing Space Videos Filmed Aboard the ISS

• By Mark Micheli
• May 12, 2013
• comments

If you’re not familiar with Chris Hadfield, the Canadian astronaut and Internet sensation aboard the International Space Station, you should be. Hadfield, who was the commander of the ISS until Sunday evening, has created some incredibly simple—and super cool—videos about life in space. The videos, often created in response to questions by Canadian grade school students, have become great educational tools as well as examples of citizen engagement done right.

As he prepares to return to Earth on Monday, we wanted to highlight his most popular videos, as determined by YouTube views, created during his five months travelling at 17,500 mph aboard the ISS.

But, before we start, if you haven’t had a chance to see the video Hadfield released last night, you must watch his cover of David Bowie’s “Space Oddity.” Some might say it’s the most expensive music video ever made—yes, AND the coolest.

10. How Do You Clean Up Spills in Space?

Ever wondered what happens when you spill something in space? It’s trickier than you’d think because, as Hadfield says, “it’s not gonna fall on the floor.” 

9. How Do Astronauts Shave in Space?

“Your ...