Elaine

One of the challenges of working from home is how to draw the line between your personal and professional life. Family members (especially young children) may not understand that youre busy when youre just in the house, and may distract you right in the middle of an important call or letter. It may also be near impossible to stay organized and focused when your work station also happens to be the kitchen table, your bedroom, or the living room.

The most important thing to remember is that you are still working. Like all office environments, you need structure and space. Find a room (preferably with a lock) and equip it with a desk, a comfortable chair, appropriate lighting, a phone, and computer equipment. You may also need a printer, fax, and depending on your business, a scanner. There are some hybrid products that combine these functions, and you can install software that will allow you to receive faxes on your printer. Be sure to invest in cable or DSL as well, especially if your business is web-based.

You should set up a business email account; it looks more professional than sending or receiving business correspondence through your personal address, and at least protects your privacy. Your phone line should also be kept separate from your residential line; the last thing you need is your children tying up the phone or even answering it (some clients are put off by this).

Do invest in a filing system. Depending on your available space, you can get a small cabinet or even a wicker basket where you can place folders with important documents, receipts, and other records of your business. Go through these at least once a month so you can throw out any papers that you no longer need.

Now for office hours. It is recommended that you strictly follow a schedule: the specific times in the day, or days in the week, that you will focus on your work. Why? First of all, you want to have the discipline to shift into work mode, and the habit of sitting at your desk at those times will steel you from the temptation to put it off until later. It also helps manage the expectations of other people, who may think that since you follow your own hours that you are at their disposal. You can always say, Oh, Im sorry I cant go with you, since that falls within my office hours. But Im free from (name a time).

Many people who work from home say that it helps them to actually dress up when theyre ready to get down to business. Its psychological. Its hard to take yourself seriously when youre sitting in front of the computer in your pajamas; your mind still thinks that youre on a break. You dont have to wear a suit, but at least take a shower, brush your teeth, and put on a comfortable shirt and jeans. If you want, put on makeup as wellif you feel you look good, the confidence and enthusiasm will show in your voice.

Philip Nicosia is the webmaster of Resources.eu.com an online resource centre covering many topics including work at home.

The most basic point of any good gout prevention diet is to reduce gout symptoms. This is achieved by lowering the levels of purine rich foods in the diet as these often trigger gout by raising the amount of uric acid in the blood, which in turn makes the pain worse.

Though a doctor can help with the quest for a good gout prevention diet, there are some things a person can learn on their own. The problem with this type of diet is that it eliminates many of the foods that men typically love to eat, and gout is something that occurs almost exclusively among the male population. A gout dies doesnt have to mean the end of good eating however, but it might mean learning to love some new foods and finding new ways to enjoy time tested favorites.

One great thing about concocting a gout friendly diet is that medications help more than ever, and the diet does not have to be quite as restrictive as they used to be. However, that does not mean a person can eat whatever they want, whenever they want, without risking a flare up.

The diet will help, and when medication is taken as directed, someone with gout might enjoy long periods of remission before they have to deal with the pain and flare ups that are associated with this condition.

Meats are known to be higher in purines, and they should be avoided. However, you dont have to do without them. The ones that are the biggest problems are the organ meats, and a lot of people dont like them anyway. These include liver and kidney meats.

Other high levels of purines can be found in fish like herring, and mackerel, and some dry beans are also troublesome. Other meats are not as bad, but they still have higher numbers of purines. It is a good idea to limit meat, fish, and poultry foods to about six ounces a day.

When it comes to drinking alcohol your best bet is to drink in moderation, and you may feel the best when avoiding alcoholic beverages completely. Abstinence is essential when a gout attack is ongoing, as alcohol can slow the release of uric acid from the body.

Water is great for almost any health situation, and this is no exception. Drink as much as possible to feel as good as possible. Though many vegetables are good for the body, those with gout should avoid things like asparagus, mushrooms, lentils, peas, and many dark green varieties of veggies during flare ups. Eat these in moderation at other times. Processed foods and foods that are heavy in oils or that have been deep-fried are also not a good idea for gout sufferers.

Here are five tips to keep a gout diet fun:

1. Enjoy color: Keep your diet fun and interesting by keeping it colorful. Foods like tomatoes, cherries, blueberries, strawberries, bananas, fruit juices, tangerines, potatoes, oranges, and peppers.

2. Dairy: Dairy is great as long as you stick to the low-fat variety. Thankfully, most of these taste just as good as the normal varieties, and after a while youll probably develop a preference for low fat anyway.

3. Chocolate: One thing no one wants to hear when they have a special diet is that chocolate is out. The good news is that chocolate is just fine for someone with gout.

4. Fish: Though some types of fish are out, a person on a gout diet can still have tuna and salmon. Both of these are very versatile and can be enjoyed in many different ways.

5. Caffeine: A gout prevention diet does not have to exclude coffee and tea. Carbonated beverages are okay as well, but go for the sugar-free if recommended by a doctor. If caffeine turns out to be a problem for you opt for decaf instead.

Grab your free copy of Lisa McDowell's brand new Gout Newsletter - Overflowing with easy to implement methods to help you discover more about gout recipe and for information on gout symptom please visit Cure Gout Now.

You have probably been reading all the recent news about Brain Fitness, such as this one in the Washington Post: "Recent research shows that the brain remains plastic, or basically trainable, throughout life. In a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 2002, significant percentages of the 2,802 participants age 65 and older who trained for five weeks for about 2 1/2 hours per week improved their memory, reasoning and information-processing speed."

We will be reading more and more articles like that-which is good news for a nascent field. If you are considering such a program, please always ask the questions:

1) What does the specific program look like: how many hours a week, how many weeks, and to accomplish what outcomes? some programs we have seen leave it so open that it is unclear for us how users are supposed to get what benefits. When we go to the gym, and we tell the coach what our objectives are, we typically get a good structure and program to follow

2) What research has been published, or has been submitted to publication, that supports that if a person follows that precise program he or she will likely obtain those promised benefit?

3) How do any benefits transfer to real life and to our cognitive abilities/ skills? by definition, by playing a game we get better at a game. Which is great in itself, because we learn something new, and it builds self-confidence. Now, how do I know that transfers into an expanded "mental muscle" or cognitive ability, that will also help me in domains outside the game itself?

In the 90s, eating well and exercising were shown to be crucial to our well-being and healthy aging. We join physical fitness gyms to work out our bodies, expand cardiovascular capacity and develop good muscles. Trainers teach us that novelty and variety are important and that having some structure helps us achieve our physical fitness goals. Now, the need to keep exercising our brains is starting to become understood, and Brain Fitness, or Mind Fitness, will grow to one day become as widespread as physical fitness, for kids, adults, and seniors. "Brain gyms" will complement today's gyms.

Posit Science has a great program focused on training auditory processing. Let me now announce some Brain Fitness Programs that the media will, I believe, start talking about over the next months. Neither the concept of Brain Fitness is relevant only for seniors, nor its only benefit is to prevent cognitive decline and, potentially, help delay conditions such as Alzheimer's.

ACE4sports has developed IntelliGym, a software based product to train the "game-intelligence" skills of professional and amateur basketball players. More and more top teams, such as NCAA tournament winner Memphis, have been using the program given its results on individual and team performance.

Cogmed offers a software-based working memory training product, RoboMemo. The Swedish researchers behind Cogmed, led by Karolinska Institute's Torkel Klingberg, MD, PhD, have shown that any person can improve his or her working memory by correctly designed and intense training. For people with serious attention deficits, improved working memory translates to tangible and measurable improvements in daily life.

A Vigorous Mind represents the product MindFit developed by CogniFit, using the latest scientific research to develop easy to use software that enhances human cognitive performance and health in a variety of applications, from improving driving skills and abilities to preventing cognitive decline.

The Institute of HeartMath (IHM), a California-based research institute founded in 1991, has been conducting clinical studies and basic research on emotional physiology and heart-brain interactions, and on the physiology of learning and performance. As a result of such research, IHM offers technology offerings for stress management such as emWave Stress Relief (previously called Freeze-Framer).

And there are more. We will keep you informed. And we will support you in your decision-making process.

Copyright (c) 2007 SharpBrains

SharpBrains, http://www.sharpbrains.com, provides the best science-based information, programs and support for Memory and Brain Fitness. Dozens of publications, such as CBS, Forbes, MSNBC, Seattle Times, Birmingham News, San Francisco Examiner, New York Post, Oakland Tribune, and more, have highlighted our organization and offerings.

It's difficult enough for an experienced boater to find the perfect boat, but for a first time boater it can be even more difficult. However, there are a few key areas that can help your quest to find the perfect boat.

Types of boats

Boats will typically fall into five categories:
- fishing boats,
- power boats,
- sailboats,
- personal watercraft,
- self powered boats

When searching for the perfect boat, we need to look at what each of the categories offers. We will go through the first three major categories; fishing boats, power boats and sailboats.

Power boats
Power boats are the most popular types of boats sold, which contributes to the varied designs that can be sought. Power boats with seating in the front are called bowriders, and are mainly used for towing skiers or rafts. They can also be used for fishing as well. To do this there are many ski and fish combined power boats available.

Fishing boats
The designs that are available for fishing boats vary quite a bit, as are the places where they can be used. Fishing boats that are meant for shallow waters of inland lakes and rivers are not the same boats that are meant for deep seas and great lakes. There are many designs available even for boats that serve no other purpose besides fishing. These boats usually have stowage and holders for bait, fishing poles, tackle, and sometimes have special tanks for holding live fish.

Sailboats
Sailboats are probably the most difficult boat to pilot. It can be very challenging, although also very rewarding once mastered. A lot of skill and knowledge is required to operate a sailboat in comparison to other boats.

Again, as with other types of boats, sailboats have several varied designs although the single masted sloop is the most popular.

Decide what is important

When deciding on your perfect boat you need to decide what is important to you. This will include deciding upon the use of the boat - private use, fishing, or cruising. Your family may also contribute to what is important when deciding on a boat if they are interested in boating themselves.

Once you have decided upon a selection of boats that you are interested in, take a look at what each one offers and how you plan to use it. There are plenty of boats out there and you are sure to find one that is perfect for you, you just need to discover your most important aspects in a boat.

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Once upon a time there was no choice when it came to your phone service. Not only did you have to get your service through Bell Systems, you had to rent the equipment from them too. Yes, you had to actually rent the phone that was plugged into the RJ-45 on your wall. A 1968 case where Carter Electronics took on Bell Systems resolved that problem when a judge ruled that third party equipment can be plugged in and used on the network that Bell Systems maintained and provided service on. A whole new communications industry was born and consumers were free to choose which equipment they wanted to use for communications.

The Bell System companies dragged their feet for many years after the Carterphone decision, still requiring customers to rent their equipment up until consumers fought them well into the late 70's. Even through that battle, we are still retreating back to the era where our communications options are becoming increasingly controlled in other arenas. Consumers are forced into contracts they don't want to be locked into, and to use phones only supplied by our wireless providers, Shouldn't the 1968 Carterfone decision make a difference in the wireless industry? Because of this case, shouldn't I as a consumer have the ability to use whatever equipment I want on a wireless network? How about a cable network? The Internet?

In the Carterfone case, the FCC cited their decision which stated that a subscriber's right to use the network in ways which are "privately beneficial without being publicly detrimental" applied to ALL TYPES OF EQUIPMENT. What does this mean? It means that everybody who subscribes to a service is able to use their own equipment in a way that benefits the subscriber as long as no other subscribers are affected. Without the Hush-A-Phone or Carterfone decisions, companies like AOL may have tried to rent us "the only computer that will work on the Internet." Electric companies could make a case for dictating which light bulbs you use. Gas companies might force you to buy their brand of furnaces.

Still today, most cable companies require their subscribers to rent a cable box you could buy your own. SIM card technology provides the ability to switch wireless phones whenever a person wants to, yet providers such as Verizon and Alltell fail to embrace this technology, forcing consumers to sign a new contract or spend exorbitant amounts of money to simply switch

As consumers we need to start demanding better of our service providers. AT&T and Sprint allow us to use SIM cards with most of their phones. We can go online and purchase a phone off Ebay, pop in the SIM card from an old phone and you're ready to go! There is alternative equipment that can be used on cable networks, but nobody really challenges cable companies when it comes to actually using it. We all just keep our mouths shut, dig in our pockets and fork over the extra $5 a month to rent the box. We have come along way since 1969. There are multiple phone carriers, wireless companies, and cable companies to choose from. But we can do better than being roped into paying a subscription fee on items we can buy ourselves or signing 2 year contracts just to get the latest smartphone. Remember it's supply and demand. Ultimately it should come down to the consumers wants and needs. Not what the provider is willing to give us.

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Long-term care insurance policies have a variety of features and it pays to shop around. It is quite easy in the final years of your life to run up extremely large care bills which could threaten your life savings, home and your childrens inheritance. Okay some people do not care about their offspring so much as is evident by looking at the bumper stickers of the deluxe Recreational Vehicle Motor Homes; we are spending our childrens inheritance!

You need to ask yourself not only; How much long-term care insurance should I buy? You need to think on how much you might potentially need. For instance you need a policy, which has an adequate daily allowance. The current average for in home nursing is $135.00 per day. But the norm for coverage ranges between $100 and $150.00 per day.

The waiting and elimination periods also can greatly affect the policy costs and premiums. People usually wait 30, 60, 90 days, as medicare usually pays in the beginning. You will have a slight duplication of coverage. The waiting period concerns the amount of time before you can begin receiving coverage. These are significant factors indeed.

Benefit triggers are also important in these policies. They usually occur when you need assistance with two or three daily living activities such as using the bathroom, getting dressed, taking a shower or eating. Generally benefits are triggered when a doctor has certified you that you in fact need this assistance to function in these daily living necessities.

Benefit or payment stoppages are also crucial which often occur when you are over a severe illness or become a cancer survivor, as is now the norm. Or when you leave a nursing facility and go home. Many good policies remain activated for another ten days to insure you can function again at home if needed. Many policies have a provision which allows you to stop paying premiums once you begin benefit coverage, but not all and some require you to start paying again once you are out of the care facility or you no longer need in home care for your daily living activities.

Most importantly do not buy coverage if you feel pressured, think about it first.

"Lance Winslow" - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance in the Online Think Tank and solve the problems of the World; www.WorldThinkTank.net/