Fangsong : Release - Relax

So, no one commented on my last post about not working so much. But from conversations with people who read it it seems that 1. most people do agree that you need many hours of not doing work to do work, and 2. that no one wants to write that online (#3 of the link). Funny thing though, because your boss also needs 20 hours (or probably more) of doing nothing to get the 20 hours of production.

Everyone will agree that we think better with a clear mind. When stressed, we hardly get anything done, because the mind if full of utterly random thoughts. I usually think like this (when stressed): OK, I need to get this done, because I need to do this that and the other today, but I can't spend too much time on this, because I do have to do that, and I have a meeting at 11, which we know will screw up my whole day and I wont get anything done. Around 4 I'm beat and haven't gotten anything done.

Heike and I are taking Tai Chi. There are 5 basic principals of Tai Chi, but here we will concentrate on one: Fangsong. Fangsong literally means release, but release in the meaning of relax. Make a fist and hold it tight....tighter...tighter...now let it go, relax it..relax more. This is Fangsong. Laoshi (tai chi teacher) told us that he used to work in sales and would hold the phone so tightly and push it against his ear when on the phone. There is no need for this. It just adds unneeded stress to the day (Does your ear ever hurt after being on the phone? I bet it does). When you go through your day, I bet you will find areas where you need to Fangsong, let go. When you sit at your desk are you completely relaxed? Are you squinting? relax the face. Do you make fists with your hands? relax the hands. My favorite is to make "fists" with the feet. Relax....let go...

This, I think, is a quick hit for more production with less stress (#3 on New Years resolutions). Relax the mind so you can think (my job is all thinking), relax the body to conserve your energy (for when you get out of work).

Extra Credit: Name the Seinfeld episode that introduced us (kind of) to the idea of Fangsong.

How much do you really work?

I don't mean how many hours are you at work, but how many productive hours do you have a day? Over the last few weeks (we haven't been busy) so I started to think about this at work. I get to work around 9:30 and usually leave about 5:30, which sounds like an 8 hour day, but it is really only 3-4 hours of production. A day in the business world (for those of you in academia) goes like this.
9:30-10 - Read emails and drink coffee
10-11 - Errant meeting that goes over by 30 minutes
11:30-12 - Don't want to start doing anything because I'll be interrupted by lunch
12-1 Lunch
1-1:15 - Digest, read the paper and have another coffee (or other hot caffeinated beverage)
1:15-2:30 - Respond to emails and get some real work done
2:30-3:30 - Errant meeting.
3:30-5:15 - Do work
5:15 - 5:30 - Shut down computer

Say we count the meetings as productive work ... then we get a total of about 5 hours. If we ignore the meetings we get around 3 hours. Again, this is just a sample day. Most of my days, I have many more than 2 meetings, so you can imagine how the productivity decreases.

Now my question is, what if I wasn't required to be there 40 hours a week, and could only show up say 20 hours a week. Would I get as much done? or do I need the 20 hours of reading the paper at work to do the 20 hours of real work?

Resolution Review

Ok, so we're a couple of weeks into the new year. Let's see how I'm doing on my new year's resolutions. In order of how motivated I am to write about them. First of all I'd be interested to hear what you have resolved for the new year. It doesn't have to be anything spectacular, but it seems that every year we should try to focus of something. Anyway, back to me.

Facebook. So the first week, I checked it like once, second week like twice, but last week I think I was on almost every week. I have relaxed my "friend" criteria a little and have become "friends" with people from high school that I never particularly cared for (and still don't really). I let facebook go through my Gmail addressbook and find friends for me. Now I have 50ish friends. Woohoo.
Facebook itself is interesting. It's a great form of impersonal communication. Impersonal communication, according to HighDef, is any form of communication that allows you to separate yourself from actually physically or verbally interacting with someone. eg. Email, and text messaging. This impersonal communication somehow makes it easier to talk to people whom you have not talked to in a long time (or maybe don't particularily like). While I feel that something is lost in impersonal communication, I think a lot is gained. Any communication is better than no communication, right? I don't particularily like talking on the phone, so whenever possible, I make plans via Text messaging and email. Instead of telling my friends what I think about Facebook, I post it on my blog....you get the idea.

Baked Flounder with Fennel and Capers

This week we tried to eat all vegetarian. We almost did it, but on Friday we went with some fish. Flounder was on sale at Whole Foods and they said it was locally caught (I think Flounder is a New England fish.) so we thought we'd try it. It was delicious. Here is the recipe. More posting later...

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Baked-Flounder-with-Tomato-Caper-Sauce-105592

New Year's Resolutions

2008 is coming to an end. With under a week left I think it's time to start thinking about what to resolve to in 2009. 2008 was a good year highlights can be found by looking through the prior posts of this blog. 2 weddings no funerals a couple of births by close friends, all you could hope for in a year. What will 2009 hold for us? I don't know, but let's try to make it a good one.

Resolution 1: Get healthy
Some of you might know that I've been suffering a little more than usual lately. In 2009 I resolve to get healthy. Heike and I have signed up for Tai Chi classes, taught by our friend Bede. Tai Chi is supposed to aid both mind and body, so we're going to give it a shot. On the lines of healthy mind, I'm going to try to make a concious effort to be more positive. I was reading somewhere that there is a connection between thinking positively and being healthy.

Resolution 2: Try out this whole Facebook thing
I don't know why I'm so anti-facebook. I think it has something to do with the lack of positive thinking in 2008. But in 2009 we're going to try this thing out. I like chatting, and I like seeing what my friends are up to, so maybe this whole facebook thing isn't that bad. What I don't like is when people from high school, who I didn't like then, and never want to talk to again, ask me to be their "friend" on facebook. Too bad facebook doesn't have a "Be my aquaintance" or a "Be someone I met once but want to see what they're up to" invitation.

Resolution 3: Less stress more production at work
So over the last 5 years at work I have found a way to be very productive: put in lots of hours and lots of stress and a lot will get done. Thinking towards the future I don't think that this working strategy will be sustainable. I started reading this book by David Allen, Getting Things Done. It talks about a way to be more productive AND being less stressed. Wouldn't this be great? Working fewer hours and getting more done?

Christmas Eve

This year no destination Christmas for us. Last year we were in Sedona and this year we are enjoying the peaceful tranquility of Latham. Latham just got pummeled by an ice storm which was then followed by a regular old snowstorm. The result is a wonderful white Christmas.

Christmas eve tradition in the Boisvert household is usually a cajun Tortiere. This year however we didn't make the spicy one (to save my stomach) and went with the traditional French Canadian Tortiere. Delicious.

Merry Chistmas to all, and to all a good night.

Roast Chicken

So, no we didn't make Fiesta Lime Chicken last night to go head to head with Applebee's. But we'll look at the cost of last night's meal too. We made Roast Split Chicken with Mustard Crust. A Jacques Pepin fast food meal. There are some things that are really fun to do in the kitchen. One is to purposely burn your food, like in this recipe (which I thought I blogged about, but must not have.) And another, is to split a chicken. Cris, you might want to stop reading... Here you get to cut, with scissors, the backbone right out of the chicken. Then with a big knife crack the sternum (from the inside) and press it down flat with your hands. Good old caveman fun!

TIP
There was a great tip in this recipe. You know how, when you roast a chicken, the whole thing is cooked except for that one joint in the thigh? This always happens. Then to cook that joint you probably over-roast the breast...drying it out. To overcome this obstacle, you just need to make an incision in the uncooked bird in that part of the thigh to allow the heat to get in. Genius!

Approximate Cost:
1 whole organic chicken from Russo's: $9.55, out of which we only ate half
Mustard Crust: ~$1.00
Salad: $2.00
2 pieces of bread: $1.00

HighDef Grand Total: $13.55
Applebee's Grand Total: $25.00

HighDef 2, Applebee's 0
HighDef is up $14.49

Mustard Crust

• 2 tablespoons chopped garlic
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons dry white wine
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon Tabasco hot pepper sauce
• 1 teaspoon herbes de Provence
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 chicken (about 31/2 pounds)
• Fluffy Mashed Potatoes

For the crust: Mix all the ingredients in a small bowl.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Using kitchen shears or a sharp knife, cut alongside the backbone of the chicken to split it open. Spread and press on the chicken with your hands to flatten it. Using a sharp paring knife, cut halfway through both sides of the joints connecting the thighs and drumsticks and cut through the joints of the shoulder under the wings as well. (This will help the heat penetrate these joints and accelerate the cooking process.)

Put the chicken skin side down on a cutting board and spread it with about half the mustard mixture. Place the chicken flat in a large skillet, mustard side down. Spread the remaining mustard on the skin side of the chicken. Cook over high heat for about 5 minutes, then place the skillet in the oven and cook the chicken for about 30 minutes. It should be well browned and dark on top.

Let the chicken rest in the skillet at room temperature for a few minutes, then cut it into 8 pieces with clean kitchen shears. Defat the cooking juices. If you like, mound some Fluffy Mashed Potatoes on each of four warm dinner plates and place 2 pieces of chicken on each plate. Pour some juice on the mashed potatoes and chicken and serve.