Best Sports Stories of 2005 from ESPN.COM

Scoop Jackson from the Page 2 section of ESPN.COM has written an insightful article on what he feels are the most important sports stories of 2005, some which have flew under the radar of the everyday sports fan. I will pull out the more interesting parts of this article, and comment on them in the days to come.

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Best of 2005 - The Stingy Scholar

This is the beginning of a review of the most significant events that occured in 2005.

The Stingy Scholar has just handed out its annual awards for the best internet sources to find free educational resources such as on-line classes and textbooks. This is a site worth checking out, especially if you want to increase your knowledge without extending your pocketbook.

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Plan to Manage Holiday Stress

This article from ADD Coach Jennifer Koretsky suggests ways to manage holiday stress

Plan to Manage Holiday Stress
By ADD Coach Jennifer Koretsky© Copyright 2004

Everyone finds themselves stressed out during the holiday season. But for adults with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), November through January can feel like a whirlwind of tasks and responsibilities. Lack of time management will result in undue pressure and overwhelm for the ADD adult. One way to take the stress out of the holidays is to plan for them. These simple steps can help the ADD adult manage their time and tasks during the holiday season, thereby relieving unnecessary stress. Create one hour this week to plan your holiday preparation schedule, and follow these steps:

Step 1 - Make a List of all the Things You Need to Do to Prepare for the HolidayThis probably includes gift shopping, writing and mailing holiday cards, decorating your home, planning your travel, etc. After you have made this list, put a star next to each of the items that you don't like to do. (Maybe you get bored writing out the holiday cards, or maybe you detest shopping.)

Step 2 - Use a Calendar or PlannerUse something that gives you ample space to write for each day. This could be a wall calendar, a daily planner, or planning software. Begin by writing in all your holiday appointments, such as parties and scheduled shopping trips. Next, write in all the other activities that you have going on during the month, like meetings and appointments. When you're done, you should have a good idea of where your free time is. Now, take a look at the items on your holiday to-do list that are not marked with a star, and schedule them in. Do you have a free evening next week in which you can write out your cards? Schedule it on your calendar! Do you have a free Saturday to get your shopping done? Schedule it on your calendar!

Step 3 - Make the Dreaded Tasks EasierTake a look at all those tasks you marked with a star. These are the tasks that you hate to do for one reason or another. Take a moment to look at each one, and figure out how to make that task a little easier or more bearable. If you hate writing cards because it's a tedious and boring task, you can make it easier on yourself by inviting a friend over to chat, catch up, and write out cards with you. Hate decorating? Perhaps you can buy a new CD you've been wanting and allow yourself to crank it up while you put up the holiday decorations. Investing just a small amount of time in planning can save you from undue stress and overwhelm during this holiday season.

About the Author:Jennifer Koretsky is a Professional ADD Management Coach who helps adults manage their ADD and move forward in life. She is the Leader of Experience ADDvantages, a popular online membership community that offers information, support, and coaching for adults with ADD. To learn more about Experience ADDvantages, please visit http://www.experienceADDvantages.com

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In The Days Before Christmas

Since there is about two weeks before Christmas, I thought that it may be a good idea to highlight web sites and blogs that have a holiday focus and dig up some useful facts that you may not have been aware of about the holiday season. For example, did you know that 1.9 billion Christmas cards are sent around the world every year, which makes Christmas the largest card-selling occasion? Guess what the second largest card-selling occasion is? Valentine's Day, with 192 million cards sent. It is little coincidence that the holiday shopping season picks up around these times too. Especially with husbands like me who still have to figure out what he his giving his wife for Christmas. What a big hint, huh?

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The IVR Cheat Sheet

The IVR Cheat Sheet is maintained by Paul English to help the average consumer deal with the annoying problem of trying to get a live person to talk to you when you need to resolve an issue with your bill. I have experienced it myself. When you call into a company's customer service response system (commonly called an IVR), you get routed through a series of prompts usually accompanied by a delay between prompts. If you are as impatient as I am, you want to bypass the automated prompts and get quickly to a live person. This sheet, which is constantly updated allows you to do that. I can't imagine that you will need to contact all of the companies on this list, but for the few you may have to deal with, this sheet will sure come in handy.

The instructions on how to use the sheet are at this link:
http://www.paulenglish.com/ivr/info.html

He actually gives credit to companies that try to make life easier for consumers at this link:

http://www.paulenglish.com/ivr/kudos.html

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