HAVE A BEAUTIFUL LAWN WITH LESS WORK Greener Pastures
Mow smarter, not harder. For most people, mowing is their most time- consuming outdoor maintenance task. Since you spend so much time on it, you need some hacks. First, don’t bag or rake your lawn clippings; use the mulch setting instead. It’s easier and better for your lawn. Second, if you mow in rows, it’s time to switch up your routine. Instead, work in a spiral, starting at the edges of the lawn and working inward. You’ll save both time and energy when you don’t have to wrestle the mower into sharp 180-degree turns. Love it or hate it, lawn care needs to get done. These tips will help you get the process finished quicker, so you can get back to doing the things you love — whether that’s watching TV or planting even more flowers.
As we head into spring, it’s time to fire up the mower and break out your hedging shears. But that doesn’t necessarily mean you want your yardwork to take all day. If you’d rather be doing anything else, these tips will help you put away your gardening gloves all that much faster. And if maintaining the lawn and garden is your Zen time, they’ll give you time for new projects to beautify your home. Vanquish weeds naturally. Dandelions are ugly, but weedkillers are pricey and bad for the environment. If you’re battling weeds, attack them naturally with a pot of boiling water. The heat will kill the plants instantly, so this tip works best for isolated weeds growing between cracks in the pavement. If you’re planting your garden, lay down old
newspaper before mulching. It will prevent weeds from popping up, and the separate sheets make it easier to work with than landscaping fabric. Make watering easier. If you want a lush lawn and garden, watering is essential. But doing it too frequently can be wasteful — and that’s if you manage to remember. Try only watering your lawn twice a week, but for lengthier periods. About 20 minutes should do the trick, and you’ll save water overall. Meanwhile, if you struggle to remember to water the garden, automate the process cheaply. Take water bottles, poke two or three holes in the cap with a needle, and bury them upside-down around your plants. The slow trickle will keep them watered for a week or more.
WITH TIPS FROM ‘CHATTER’ Take Your Internal Pep Talks Up a Notch
You probably know about the benefits of positive self-talk, but have you mastered it? If not — or if you’ve never heard that phrase — “Chatter: The Voice in Our Head, Why It Matters, and How to Harness It” by Ethan Kross may be the most important book you read in 2022. Positive self-talk is something most of us engage in daily. It’s the “you can do this” nudge you give yourself to combat dark thoughts like “I don’t know what I’m doing” and “no one will take me seriously” before a big presentation. But few resources give you precise strategies for how to engage in positive self-talk effectively so you can make those negative impulses go away. “Chatter” is an exception to the rule, perhaps because it was written by an actual psychologist! Leaning heavily on scientific research and engaging case studies, Kross offers concrete tips for reducing negative thoughts (what he calls “chatter”) and giving your self-confidence a boost. One of his biggest tips, which drives a big chunk of the book, is the importance of creating “mental distance” during your internal pep talks.
goes over several ways to do this, including trying to “look back” at your current situation from one, five, or 10 years later; comparing this hurdle to tougher ones in your life; and shifting your internal monologue to third person so you can try talking to yourself as if you were your own friend. With these strategies, we can transform our thoughts, rather than avoid them.
Of course, those suggestions just scratch the surface of what’s offered in the book. Kross also goes over
how to help your friends, colleagues, and employees eliminate chatter, and how mastering your inner voice will help you thrive under pressure. The magazine Inc. named “Chatter” one of the “4 Business Books That Will Accelerate Your Success In 2022” — don’t miss it.
Mental distance is exactly what it sounds like — stepping back mentally from your worries and problems so you can gain a new perspective. Kross
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