Author: Debra Watkins

Time to Un-Plug?

Empathy, intimacy, learning to read body language and understanding how to talk face-to-face are crucial parts of being human, but now that we spend hours in front of our tiny glowing smartphone screens, scientists fear we are losing our ability to communicate.  According to MIT sociologist Sherry Turkle, these hours devoted to Facebook, games and texts are hurting our capacity to be present with other humans.

When was the last time you chose a walk with a friend over a text or PM chat?

What are we teaching all the children who are playing on phones instead of interacting with those around them?

How Smartphones Are Killing Conversation

Money Matters

Think about the last time you shook your head or rolled your eyes at another’s financial decisions.

Ever felt like your parents spent too much on one of your siblings?

Money has a special way of bringing out our sense of fairness and our frustrations.

Michelle Singletary for The Washington Post points out that we have two choices when dealing with our feelings about others money decisions, and both require acceptance.  Family and money: A lesson in accepting what you cannot change

Childhood Trauma = Chronic Illness?

Studies have shown that childhood trauma may lead to chronic illness in adulthood.  Even with this information available, most medical schools elect not to incorporate these findings into their curriculum.

“But shouldn’t physicians consider the whole patient–body and mind…” Donna Jackson Nakazawa asks in her article, Childhood trauma leads to lifelong chronic illness–so why isn’t the medical community helping patients?

Nakazawa lost her father at age twelve and began experiencing health issues at fourteen. These increased and followed her throughout adulthood.  Finally, at 51, a physician mentioned various studies that suggested childhood trauma could lead to cancer, heart disease and autoimmune disease later in life.  Two-thirds of Americans report some form of childhood trauma.  Could we be overlooking a huge factor in adult illness, one that is treatable or even preventable earlier in life?

Work Hard, Be Nice

IMG_6606What is the key component to professional teams who work well together?  Turns out it’s the ability to ‘be nice’ and truly care for one another.  When co-workers like and trust each other, it creates the feeling of a supportive family.  One that each member is willing to work their hardest for.  This sounds like just the kind of advice that would come from the Disney Institute!

What’s The Secret To Successful Teamwork? Just Be Nice

Save Money

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You can still eat steak, but cooking it at home saves at least 50%.

Ever read an article with tips for saving money and thought how easy it could be to reign in your budget?  This couple saved over $50,000 in 2014 by downsizing, eating at home more often, canceling unused subscriptions and going car free.  Although the last one is feasible only if you live in an area with public transportation, the rest are simple and applicable to all.


8 strategies for saving money from a couple that banked $50,000 last year

“We stopped a nasty habit we had of reading about great tips and then failing to implement them,” Matt writes. “Avoid our mistakes. … Literally, do something today from this list and start saving money.”

 

Pink Collar?

wordcloud As more and more traditionally male, “blue-collar” jobs disappear, a new trend of “pink-collar” work is on the rise.  This is causing an interesting divide in the workplace where unemployed men are not willing to move into these jobs such as health aide.  One that takes soothing and calm, a “woman’s touch,” one man quipped in the article, Why Men Don’t Want the Jobs Done Mostly by Women.  Even as factories continue to close or automate, men are not seeking these types of middle-skill jobs.  Although lack of training and need for extra schooling play a part, researchers and sociologists are finding that the biggest reason is how the jobs are viewed.  At this point, many employers are turning to rebranding to encourage more men to apply.  One such ad in a hospital compared the excitement of being a surgery nurse to the rush of mountain climbing.

Resolution: Budget

10406828_10204323318941932_2429536167767405500_nIs one of your New Year’s goals to better manage your money?  Do you often find yourself stressed about your budget, or lack there of?  Want to make a real go of saving, paying-off debt and creating financial solvency?  Stephen B. Smith for Young Money offers nine suggestions to better manage your finances and to achieve your goals.  9 Nifty New Year’s Resolutions .

May you have health, wealth and happiness in 2017. 

Sharing the Gift of Sharing

Tis the season for giving…

FullSizeRender-27Want to help your teenager or younger child learn more about sharing what they have?  Ron Leiber for the New York Times has great recommendations for talking to children about your family’s legacy of both giving and receiving, a history of why you feel it is important to share what you have with others and he offers a simple plan for explaining exactly how you divide the money between various charities.

Six Ways to Give the Gift of Generosity to Children and Teenagers

Hidden Monopolies?

antique-monopoly-game-hdi0aidsThe attempted merger of AT&T and Time Warner has drawn a lot of attention lately.  So much that a Senate hearing was held last week to investigate the possibility of the combined companies forming a monopoly.  During the meeting of the Senate Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee, Mark Cuban, internet entrepreneur, made the comment that people should not be concerned with the waning phone business but internet giants, Google and Facebook.  Jonathan Taplin, Op-Ed contributor for the New York Times, investigates this further in, Forget AT&T. The Real Monopolies Are Google and Facebook.