| How to Improve Your Health by Gardening Posted: 07 Jun 2017 05:00 PM PDT Working in and eating from a home garden can do a lot to improve your overall health. Not only can you get much needed daily exercise, you can also create healthy meals thanks to your daily labor. If you are interested in improving your health, you should focus on getting out into your garden regularly. Learning how to grow plants and doing the physical activity required to grow them can add variety and quality to your diet, as well as to your physical routine.[1] EditGetting Exercise in the Garden - Warm up before gardening. Like you would with other types of exercise, it's important to warm up before you start exerting yourself in the garden. Stretch your legs, arms, and hands before you start so that they will be prepared for the work ahead.[2]
- You should spend at least 5 to 10 minutes warming up before gardening.
- Work in the garden regularly. In order to improve your health by getting exercise in the garden, you should do it regularly. Working in your garden for several hours over the course of the week, for instance 30 minutes daily, can give you some much needed regular exercise.[3]
- Getting 30 minutes of moderate exercise every day can lower your blood pressure and cholesterol. It can also help prevent diabetes and heart disease, as well as slowing the development of osteoporosis.
- Vary your movements. As with other types of exercise, it's a good idea to vary the types of movements you do while getting exercise in the garden. If you have a variety of tasks to do in the garden, set a specific amount of time you will do each and then rotate between them, even if you don't complete a task in your set amount of time.[4]
- This variation in tasks can be especially helpful if you have one that is hard on the body, such as kneeling to weed garden beds. Weeding for 15 to 20 minutes at a time and then taking a break to do another activity will help to avoid pain or overexertion.
- Do controlled bending and lifting. When working in the garden you need to be careful and intentional about how you lift and stretch. For example, use proper lifting technique when moving heavy bags of soil or fertilizer. This entails using the strength of your legs instead of depending on your back muscles.[5]
- Additionally, you should squat instead of kneeling when possible, maintain the natural curve of your back, and avoid twisting while lifting heavy loads.
- Put in some effort. In order for gardening to count as exercise, you need to raise your heart rate and put out some physical effort while doing it. This means that just standing around watering doesn't really count as exercise.[6]
- Some things to do in the garden to raise your heart rate include digging, raking leaves, weeding, mowing, and turning a compost pile.
- If you want to increase your effort while mowing, try using a push mower instead of a gas or electric one.[7]
EditEnjoying Fresh Food From the Garden - Pick a variety of plants to grow. When planning out your garden, you should pick out a variety of plants that will increase your health and vary your diet. Having a lot of different fruits and vegetables to choose from will allow you to have a varied healthy diet throughout the year.
- Some vegetables that are relatively easy to grow, depending on your climate, include tomatoes, lettuce, peas, beans, squash, and cucumbers.[8] Begin with a few of these if you are new to gardening.
- Growing some herbs, such as chives and thyme, can be very easy as well. These herbs can really enhance the flavor of the vegetables that you grow.
- When planning out your garden, you also need to take your soil, the sun exposure of your garden, and your climate into consideration.
- Plan for different growing seasons. In addition to growing a variety of plants, you need to plan out when certain plants should be planted and grown. There are specific times when fruits and vegetables need to be put in the ground so that they grow most effectively. This means that you will have several cycles of planting every year, usually in the early spring and the early fall.
- For instance, many plants need to be planted after the last frost in the spring, such as tomatoes, squash, and corn. However, some plants can withstand those late winter and early spring frosts, such as spinach, lettuce, radishes, and beets.[9]
- If you plant out your growing season correctly, you can have fresh fruits and vegetables throughout the year.
- When to plant certain plants depends greatly on what climate you live in. Do some research about your specific climate zone, what grows best there, and when certain plants should be put in the ground.
- Cook home-grown food in a healthy way. Once you have grown your fruits and vegetables, it's important to cook them in the right way. Cooking them correctly will both retain the nutrients inside of them and will help you avoid adding unhealthy ingredients into the meal. In general, cooking vegetables lightly and avoiding adding a lot of fat to them will help you to get the most out of your vegetables.[10]
- Avoid adding a lot of fat to your vegetables when cooking them. Instead of frying or sauteing them with added oil, try steaming them to bring out their wonderful flavor without incorporating a lot of unhealthy fat.
- Some vegetables provide more nutrients when raw and some provide more nutrients when cooked. For instance, cooking asparagus lightly releases more nutrients into your body. However, beets give you more nutrition when served raw. Do some research to figure out how your vegetables are best served.[11]
EditFocusing on Your Mental Health - Increase happiness and contentment. Not only does gardening help your physical health, it can help your mental health as well. Working in the garden can be a deeply satisfying project that gives you a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction. In fact, gardening has been shown to improve your overall outlook and life satisfaction.[12]
- Working in the garden can even cause your body to release specific hormones that increase happiness and contentment.
- Relieve stress. Spending time working in the garden allows you to clear your mind and let go of stress. It can be especially helpful for those that need time to recover from mental fatigue and those that find satisfaction from the nurturing and care that gardening requires.[13]
- Because gardening helps to relieve your stress, it can actually lower your blood pressure.
- In fact, just looking at plants has been shown to reduce anger and muscle tension.[14]
- Help your long-term brain health. Not only does gardening help your mental health right when you are doing it, it can help your brain health in the long run. For example, gardening has been shown to prevent dementia in seniors, as it exercises the parts of the brain that are connected to learning and creativity.[15]
- Even for those that have dementia, gardening can improve mental health. It has been shown to reduce problems with aggression associated with dementia.[16]
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| How to Advance Your Main Career with a Side Business Posted: 07 Jun 2017 09:00 AM PDT Running a side business can help you stand out from the crowd. When employers see you're a go-getter who can operate without supervision, they will be more willing to cede responsibility to you in your main career. Look for opportunities to transfer the skills and experiences you obtained in your side business into your main career. Use the side business as a chance to develop a personal brand and try things you otherwise wouldn't. EditDemonstrating Qualities Gained Through Your Side Business - Prove that you're driven. It's obvious to any employer that if you're working a side business, you're a self-starter. So simply by founding your side business, you will appear more attractive to employers.[1]
- You can prove just how driven you truly are by making your side business successful. Grow your side business by adding employees, increasing revenues, placing advertisements, and securing grants.
- This experience will help you when you decide to switch to a better-paying job or seek a raise.
- Adjust your relationship with management. If your main employer sees your side business as a distraction from your main career, redouble your efforts in your main career and limit conversation regarding the side business. If possible, find another employer who correctly perceives that your side business indicates that you are possessed of dynamism and creativity.[2]
- Act with great freedom in your main career. If you have a side business – especially a side business that you could scale – you will be less tied down by your main career. This allows you to take bigger risks in your main career that could pay off down the line.[3]
- For instance, if you did not have a side business, you might feel disinclined to propose a daring idea at work, or to offer criticism of a certain individual or company policy.
- But if you have a side business, you should feel that you have more leeway at work. As the proud proprietor of a side business, you will then be able to free yourself of the strictures that previously limited your ability to express yourself or "think outside the box."
- Get the feedback you need. Being less tied to your main career might also mean that your risks lead to recklessness. Second-guess yourself and run your plans and projects by others if you think that your side business is starting to undermine your ability to make rational decisions in your main career.[4]
- Ask a superior or coworker, "What do you think I need to work on?" or "Do you mind looking over this project? I'm interested in hearing your thoughts on what I'm doing."
- Operate with greater confidence. The newfound freedom you have in your main career, coupled with the financial rewards that come from running a side business, will boost your confidence. [5] The confidence boost you gain by running a side business can help you handle criticism well and work without constant praise. Employers appreciate these qualities. A confident attitude, therefore, can help you advance your main career.[6]
- Plus, with increased confidence, you might feel more willing to apply for a promotion or change jobs to advance your career.
- To operate with greater confidence in your main career, remind yourself regularly how great your side business is.
- Reflect on how, despite the sacrifices of time and energy it requires, your role as leader of your side business energizes you and gives you greater confidence in yourself.
EditExpanding Your Marketability - Try new ideas at your side business that relate directly to your main career. You should view your side business as a laboratory for your main career. In other words, whenever possible – and especially if your side business is related to your main career – use your side business as a forum to try new strategies, projects, or techniques.[7]
- For instance, if your main career involves designing sets for films and you take up a side business designing set pieces for the theatre, try out some new strategies that you might not try at your main job.
- Try new ideas at your side business that relate tangentially to your main career. If your side business is more tangential to your main career, look at general skills or strategies that you could bring to your main career. For instance, if your main career is running your car washing business and your side business is a hot dog stand, both will require advertising. You might try to use a more robust digital marketing strategy to promote your hot dog stand, then use the lessons you learned to better promote your car wash.[8]
- Develop new contacts. If your side business is in a field related to your main career, you could advance your main career by referring clients from your side business. For example, if your main career is in marketing and your side business involves drafting write-ups of new products, you could suggest to your client that they hire you (or your marketing firm more generally) to develop the new product's advertising campaign.[9]
- You could, of course, also use your side business to develop new contacts in your main career even if the two are not closely allied, but it will be more difficult, and happen only in cases of extremely good luck.
- For instance, if your main career is running a dry cleaning business and your side business is running an art dealership, the two lines of work have little in common. But it is possible that you might encounter a customer at your dry cleaning business who, in conversation, mentions that they are in the market for art. At this point, you could suggest to the customer that they purchase some from you.
- Seek highly relevant feedback. In your side business, institute systems to collect feedback about your performance or work. The more closely your side business aligns with your main career, the more valuable this feedback will be.[10]
- For instance, if your main career is teaching English and you take on a side business working as an English tutor, you could ask the students you tutor to fill out a detailed evaluation about what they liked or didn't like in their lesson, then incorporate that feedback into your primary teaching career.
- Seek generally useful feedback. If your side business is less directly related to your main career, look for feedback that is more broadly transferable. For example, if your side business is selling cupcakes and your main career is selling cars, both involve communicating with prospective customers. You could ask customers at your cupcake business what part of your sales pitch drew them in, then apply that feedback to your role as a car salesman.[11]
- If you found that feedback really benefited your side business, you might work to implement a more robust feedback system in your main career.
- Learn to see failures as opportunities. With a side business, you will probably be taking more chances than you do in your main career. These greater risks hold potentially greater rewards, but they also have greater potential for failure. But even if your side business doesn't work out or goes through a rough patch, you can advance your career by learning from these mistakes and failures.[12]
- For instance, perhaps the company you work for in your main career wishes to develop a commercial space in the same complex that your side business was/is located in. If you've had a bad experience with that space because it was too far from other businesses, you could save your company a lot of trouble by advising them about the shortcomings of the space.
EditImproving Your Skills - Learn multitasking skills. If you're running a side business while also working at a fulltime or part-time job, you will quickly develop robust multitasking skills. Employers place a premium on the ability to juggle more than one project (or career) at a time, and you can use your side business to develop these all-important time-management skills.[13]
- When applying for your next job or seeking a raise at your current job, you can refer to the multitasking skills you acquired in your side business to bolster your value to the company.
- Use your experience running a side business to prove your proficiency with scheduling and knowing how much work you can handle without getting burned out.
- Develop your skill set. While running a side business alongside working a main career obligates you to develop multitasking skills, it could also equip you with a new set of skills that proves useful to your main career.[14] The skill set you choose to develop depends on the nature of your career as well as the nature of your side business. [15]
- For instance, if your main career is a web programmer and you begin taking on private clients, you might be able to broaden your skillset through your side business. Perhaps in your main career you code in HTML, but in your side business you code in Java. Or perhaps you pick up more general skills like negotiation with clients.
- No matter the nature of your side business, evaluate your experience for skills that you could transfer to your other job. Reference these skills and experiences during your attempts to advance your main career.
- Don't be afraid to reinvest the money you earn from your side business into classes or materials that could help you develop your skills in your main career.
- Grow your personal brand. A personal brand is the way you execute your work or perform your job. If you've got a side business, you can use it to experiment with personal flourishes that only you are capable of. For instance, if you're a graphic designer, you can use a side business in graphic design to work up a specialization in designs that incorporate space iconography like rockets, planets, and so on.[16]
- Personal brands might also revolve around creative use of a particular technology or medium. For instance, your personal brand might be turning out smart, witty posts on social media.
- With a personal brand under your belt, people will turn to you when it comes time to work on whatever your area of interest or specialty is.
- Look for an opportunity at your side business to develop a personal brand that you can transfer in whole or in part to your main career.
- Improve your negotiation skills. If you're running a side business, you'll probably be negotiating a lot, from the cost of rent to the wages of your employees. Use the negotiation skills you obtained in your side business to advance your main career.[17]
- These skills are sure to come in handy down the line, especially if you have a main career as a salesperson in retail, real estate, or auto sales.
- Even if you don't have a career that frequently requires negotiation, you'll be negotiating something in your main career at some point, whether it's who gets what assignment or what sort of raise you deserve.
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| How to Train a Manchester Terrier Posted: 07 Jun 2017 01:00 AM PDT Manchester Terriers can be stubborn with training, but with time and patience you can train your dog.[1] The key is having a regular routine and getting in brief training sessions each day as you move through basic commands, tricks, and potty training. Learn good training habits, like establishing a reward system, to start. Teach basic commands, like come and sit. From there, you can work on tricks like speak and roll over. If you need to potty train your terrier, make sure you do that as well. EditEstablishing Good Training Habits - Find a reward. Dogs will work for rewards, so make sure you figure out what your terrier loves as you begin training. Small bits of food and treats your dog likes work best for most cases. You should break up your dog's favorite treats into tiny, bite-sized portions. When your dog does a command correctly, reward it immediately.[2]
- However, some dogs may not be interested in food. While this is rare, you can find other ways to reward your terrier. For example, pet and praise your dog when it behaves or let it play with a favorite toy for a minute.
- Correct your dog gently. Correcting your dog is important to training, but Manchester Terriers do not respond to harsh methods like yelling and scolding.[3] Instead, stick to something gentle but firm. If your dog misbehaves, say "No" in a stern voice or simply ignore the behavior. This is more effective than loud scolding, yelling, or using isolation as punishment. Remember to never, ever hit or harm your dog in any way. This is not only cruel and inhuman, but is animal abuse and is illegal.[4]
- Keep training sessions brief. This is especially important when training a puppy. For the most part, dogs do not respond well to lengthy training sessions. Training sessions should be no more than five to ten minutes. Your puppy will eventually learn commands with consistent, brief training sessions.[5]
- Always end training sessions on a good note, even if this means occasionally running over the ten minute mark by a few minutes. Wait to end the session until your dog has at least partially completed a command.
- Choose the right training area. Opt for a quiet, distraction-free area. This is best to get your dog's full attention during training. Noise and commotion can sabotage a training session.[6]
- For example, do not train your dog in the TV room or near a window. Instead, train your dog in the basement where it's quiet and free of distractions.
- Reward and correct your dog immediately. Dogs live in the present. If your dog performs a trick properly, do not delay its reward. Immediately give your dog a treat or praise. At the same time, correct your dog promptly as well. Say "No" right away when you catch your dog misbehaving.[7]
EditTraining Your Manchester Terrier Basic Commands - Teach your dog to come. Come is a basic, useful command every dog should know. To train your Manchester Terrier to "come," start off by squatting to get on your terrier's level. Then, urge your dog to come to you. Use the command "Come" in between calling your dog's name so it will get used responding to this command.[8]
- At first, you may have to attach a leash to your dog and gradually lead it to you while you say "Come." If you consistently train each day, your dog will begin commanding to "Come" without the leash.
- Eventually, you can stop squatting and lessen use of calling and coaxing your dog. Transition gradually into just using the command "Come."
- Reward your dog as soon as they complete the behavior. At first, even small steps should be rewarded. Reward your dog the second it takes a step towards you, for example. As time goes by, require more of the command be completed before granting your dog a reward.
- Train your dog to sit. Sit is another vital command every dog should learn. To start training "Sit," sit down next to your Manchester Terrier and get its attention by holding up a treat. Say "sit" and slowly lift the treat up. Many dogs will sit on their own as they follow the treat with their head. If your dog does not, gently guide its rear down to get it into the sitting position.[9]
- Praise your dog as soon as it sits and reward it with a treat.
- Train every day for about five to ten minutes. As time goes by, your dog will sit on its own with less coaxing.
- Teach your dog to stay. A Manchester Terrier should learn to "stay" when commanded. To teach your dog to "stay," start by putting your dog on a leash and instructing it to sit. Hold the leash slack and face your dog. While commanding the dog to "stay," take a few steps back. If your dog tries to move, place your palm before its head to get it to stop. If your dog moves anyway, walk it back to the original spot and repeat the process until your dog stops following you.[10]
- Practice the "stay" command every day, eventually learning to phase out the leash and take bigger steps away from your dog. Eventually, your dog should know to remain in place when you say "Stay."
- Train your dog to lie down. To teach your Manchester Terrier to lie down, first command the dog to "sit." Then, gently press down on its back while you repeat the "lie down" command. You can also try lowering the treat towards the ground to coax your dog into lying down. As soon the dog is lying down, reward it with a treat and praise.[11]
- Train your dog to lie down in short sessions each day. Eventually, your dog should learn to lie down without you having to push down on its back.
EditTraining Your Manchester Terrier Tricks - Teach speak. Speak can be a fun command to teach any dog. If you want your Manchester Terrier to learn to speak, begin by finding something that causes your dog to bark. This may be a toy, a treat, or a particular noise. During training sessions, wave the object around or make the noise until your dog barks. Praise your dog for barking and give your dog a treat.[12]
- Once your dog consistently barks in response to a certain stimuli, begin incorporating a command or hand gesture. For example, snap your fingers to get your dog to speak.
- Keep training each day, offering rewards each time your dog completes the behavior. Gradually phase out the object or noise you use and use only your command or gesture. Eventually, your Manchester Terrier should learn to speak on command.
- Have your dog learn to roll over. Roll over is taught in increments. To teach roll over, start by commanding your dog to lie down. Then, kneel down beside your dog and hold a treat near its nose. Gently press your dog's shoulder to get it to lie on its side. Use the treat to hold your dog's attention. Praise and reward your dog each time it moves on its side.[13]
- From there, move your hand from your dog's shoulder to its backbone. While you do this, move the treat over slightly. Your dog should roll on its back to get closer to the treat. Keep moving the treat until the dog has completely rolled over. Say the command "Roll over" and reward your dog.
- Keep up this routine every day in brief sessions. Eventually, your dog should start going through the motions on its own. You will be able to reduce touching your dog during the trick and will not have to use a treat as lure.
- Command your dog to shake hands. To teach shake, start by holding your hand in front of your dog while its sitting with your palm up. If you hold out your hand long enough, your dog may eventually sniff or lick your hand on its own. This can lead to pawing Once your dog paws your hand, say "Shake" and reward your dog with a treat and praise. Repeat this process until your dog lifts its hand naturally. If you do short training sessions like this each day, your dog will eventually learn to shake on command.[14]
- Some dogs will not paw at their owners hands naturally. If your dog does not paw on its own, gently tap your dog's paw until it places its paw in your hand.
- Teach your dog to beg. To begin, command your dog to "sit." From there, hold a treat over your dog's head to get it to stand. Say "Beg" or "Sit up" while your dog does this. If your dog jumps to grab the treat, say "No," and then have your dog return to the sitting position.[15]
- Repeat training sessions each day. Give your dog a treat as soon as it's standing on its hind legs. Say your command while your dog is standing.
- With daily training sessions, your dog will eventually learn to beg on cue.
EditPotty Training Your Manchester Terrier - Confine your dog at first. Basic crate training will be necessary before your Manchester Terrier is potty trained. Your dog will need to be confined to a crate when you are not home to prevent accidents. Find a crate your dog can comfortably stand and turn around in. Put your dog in the crate each time you leave the home.[16]
- If your dog gets anxious in a crate, you can try to confine it in a small area of your home using baby gates instead. Choose an area like the kitchen where you can easily clean up messes as they occur. During the first few days of crate training, it is normal for your dog to be anxious. To help them get used to the crate and sooth them, playing classical music also helps relax them and stop the whimpering, and lower anxiety. Types of music specifically made for dogs can be found on YouTube, and often work great.
- You should only lock up your dog when necessary. Do not leave your dog locked up for very long periods of time.
- Take your dog out regularly. If you want your dog to understand it needs to eliminate outside, make sure you take it out often enough. You should take your dog out every two to three hours so it knows to go outside.[17]
- You should also pay attention to any cues your dog gives indicating its about to eliminate. Dogs may sniff or squat when they're getting ready to go. If you notice these behaviors, take your dog outside.
- Clean up mistakes thoroughly. Accidents will happen during the potty training process. The sooner you get rid of the mess, the better. You want to remove any odors that would encourage your dog to eliminate in the same place again.[18]
- Clean the area completely. You can blot up the excess urine with a towel and use a cleaner to remove pet odor. Feces should be picked up and discarded in the toilet or outdoors.
- If you catch your dog having an accident, correct the behavior. Clap your hands and say "No" firmly, but remember not to yell. Manchester Terriers do not respond to yelling, scolding, or forms of punishment like isolation.
- Reward your dog's behavior. Dogs live in the moment, so reward your Manchester Terrier each time it successfully eliminates outside. Say something like "Good job!" Then, pet your terrier and offer it a treat as praise. As your terrier begins eliminating inside less often, and asking to be taken out, you can gradually cut back on treats as a reward.[19]
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