I had used Quicken for many years before stumbling on YNAB (it stands for “You Need A Budget”). The YNAB concept is very different from Quicken or other Quicken-like tools. Primarily, it is not an accounting software telling you in which accounts your money can be found, but rather it is a true budgeting software that helps you manage where your budgeted money is.

YNAB operates under 4 rules, which are explained very well via the website and free periodic webinars held by the YNAB team:

1. Give every dollar a job
2.  Save for a rainy day
3.  Roll with the punches
4. Live on last month’s income

By shifting how you think about budgets from “how much do I have in checking” to “how much do I have in my entertainment budget”, you can really see where you are spending your money, as the budgets roll from month to month. With Quicken, if you go over/under in certain categories for a month, you just tell yourself you will try and do better next month, but the behavior never truly changes.

The initial investment of $60 may feel steep to some when compared to Quicken ($40-50), but the savings you’ll soon gain will more than compensate for the upfront cost. There is also an iOS/Android app, which syncs wirelessly to the cloud (using Dropbox) and allows your budget to be fully up-to-date, whether you check it on your iPhone, your significant other’s Android, or your home PC. You can enter your information immediately at the time of purchase and assign the purchase to the appropriate budget category.

All in all, I couldn’t be more pleased with YNAB. I have a full picture of where each of my dollars are budgeted, and it has changed my spending behavior to be more in-line with my financial goals.

I’ve come back to swimming after about 100-years of being out of practice. Spine and knee injuries had kept me off land with poor aerobic capacity, and I was looking for ways to improve both my fitness and technique. I came upon Swim Smooth’s website and their Swim Type guides.

The concept behind their methodology is based on identifying what kind of swimmer you are. The types are based on common problems encountered with swimming technique that group together like a chain of events. The approach then is to tackle not each individual flaw, but what is causing them to begin with.

First, you determine what your type is by reading descriptions and filling out some info. In my experience, getting yourself on video is king; what you look like while swimming can be very different from your experience of it. In fact, I now use my smartphone as a tool to track my progress, by videoing every couple of months, and using instant-playback at the pool.

Each 18-20 page PDF guide for a particular swim type is written in a clear and concise language, and includes four sessions that work directly on what it is that makes your stroke wonky in a sequential manner. There are different ways to use them; you can incorporate them into your swimming routine, concentrate on one before moving on to the next. I cycled through them religiously for about three months, meaning 1-2-3-4 every week. My stroke and fitness both improved, allowing me to begin training for endurance. Before I was simply out of breath after just one lap. I now go deeper into one session for a number of weeks, with two other different swim sets thrown in. It’s up you how to keep using them once you have improved.

There’s also a nifty app featuring an animation of the ideal freestyle stroke. You can control the speed and view from different angles. Sometimes while I’m swimming, a question about a movement pops up and I like to go back to the animation and check it there. It’s free to download on the main Swim Smooth site.

They have a number of other products, from DVDs to swim suits designed for each swim type, and also conduct workshops in the UK. I haven’t had the chance to try these yet. I have no idea about the size of the operation, but my exchanges with them have been very attentive, and make it feel very personable, I would even describe them as the ‘mom and pop’s’ of swimming.

Still the best job-hunting guide and advice there is. Get the current year’s edition. This is a fantastic tool useful to almost everyone. The first edition appeared 40 years ago, but author Richard Bolles has updated his advice every year (!!!) since then, improving it, keeping it relevant to technology and the economy, and refining his message of matching you and your work. It is now a better career counselor than ever.

Everyone should read this book in high school long before you apply for a job. You should study it anytime you are looking for work or changing careers, and you should browse it every now and then even if you have a job. It’s so darn useful because it is about more than just “finding a job.” In recent editions, Bolle emphasizes that “making your own job” may be the way to for some. There are a lot of other good sources about finding your passions, or writing resumes, or conducting an interview, but none put them together as well as this classic still does. I’ve used Boole’s wisdom and insights myself (always been happily employed) and with my kids (ditto), and with relatives (ditto again). It’s worth your time.

I am a self-employed writer who publishes a new book every 9 months and primarily works from home. For my first several books I struggled with time management and found I was constantly playing catch-up for the two months before my books were due. Then my engineer husband introduced me to the application he uses at work to organize his projects: Gantto.

For my last book I used Gantto to plan out my book publishing process, goals, and the milestones I needed to hit. Early schedule items consisted of writing so many words a week (with milestone markers for finishing a quarter of the book, half, etc.), middle items included submitting drafts and doing revisions, and latter marks included publishing house schedules and promotional items — all ultimately leading to the release date of the book.  The great thing about Gantto is that I can visually see how all of those little steps lead to the final goal on one page, and if life events (illness, family trouble, etc.) crop up during the project, the whole timeline shifts to where end-goal estimation becomes far more accurate. Vacations can be added at any time for scheduling purposes.

For me, seeing the gantt chart really helped put my daily work in perspective, and I found I was much less likely to procrastinate.

There was still a bit of a crunch getting my last book out the door (unfortunately, the tool couldn’t write the book for me), but my process was tighter and the last week was far less painful than submissions for previous books. I am definitely using Gantto for my next book.

The real time collaboration aspect is likely not as key for the self-employed business owner as it would be for a larger team/business, but I actually found it a fantastic feature. If you are collaborating between two writers or a writer and an assistant, both of you can go into the schedule (simultaneously) and make changes.

As someone who has used spreadsheets in the past to track projects, the ability to shift an entire schedule of events with one click is mind-blowingly great. Add that to the price (free for one month, with subscriptions starting at $5 a month) and I am delighted with this tool.

I have a number of goals I find hard to reach because I struggle with self-discipline. Losing weight, for instance. Great tools like the previously-reviewed Hacker’s Diet have helped me lose weight in the past, but, like most people, eventually I just put it back on again, with interest.

The reason why people have self-discipline issues is that different parts of our brain run us at different times. The person I am as I’m walking past the refrigerator at 10:00 at night is a different person who swore off late-night snacks at 10:00 in the morning. The ancient Greeks had a fancy word for when we do things we know we shouldn’t do, or fail to do things we know we should do: akrasia. Beeminder is an anti-akrasia tool.

For any goal with quantifiable steps, like losing a certain amount of weight per week, or doing something every day, or keeping something to a set minimum, etc., Beeminder allows you to set and track a commitment contract. It then displays a pretty graph of your progress (the Hacker’s Diet-style weight graph is a particularly nice example – here’s the chart of my weight loss in Q4 of last year.

If you fail to keep on track with your goal, you can reset it. But here’s the akrasia-defeating catch: resetting the goal requires you to pledge money, and each time you need to reset it, the amount you must pledge increases exponentially. This exploits a neat psychological trick called self-binding, which you can read more about here.

The bottom line is that Beeminder is a great tool for fooling yourself into doing what you really want to do.

I’ve been wearing a Fitbit since late 2009 and overall I highly recommend it.

The Fitbit is expensive for a pedometer ($99), but in return you get wireless syncing of your steps to your computer and to fitbit.com. Plus you can add friends as “Fitbit buddies” to compare how many steps everyone took each week. I’m currently in a year-long competition with my brother-in-law to see who can take more steps. Inspired by the Fitbit, I will often do 1:1 meetings as a “walk and talk” around the block instead of sitting in a room. I take the stairs at work instead of the elevator. I park my car a couple hundred yards from work instead of close to the building. So far since later 2009, I’ve taken 7,715,383 steps. That’s 3000+ miles towards better health!

What’s not so good? The Fitbit costs a bit much, although I think it’s worth it. If you’re looking for something a little less expensive, try the Omron HJ-720ITC . It’s only $30 and it’s just as accurate, but you have to sync the pedometer to your computer with a cable. The Omron also doesn’t have social features.

The other (mild) issues I have with the Fitbit are that:

• Water can short it out. Don’t go swimming with it on, and attach it somewhere that won’t get 100% drenched in sweat.
• There’s no software for Linux (Mac and Windows, yes).
• After six months to a year, the clip isn’t as strong. This hasn’t been a huge problem for me, as I tend to be quite hard on my Fitbits and short them out or lose them once a year or so.

Overall, I think wearing a pedometer (Fitbit or otherwise) is one of the easiest/best things you can do for your health. This tool is highly recommended.

– Matt Cutts

I use a Fitbit, too. The wireless syncing means that you don’t need to think about it. The hardest part for me is to remember to move the device if I change my pants. The simplicity of the website, and of the user interface on the object, entice you to use it, and to pay attention to the results. It is a small thing that works well and a habit that is very sustainable over the years.

– KK

Strava is a web service that lets you get the most out of your bicycle or running-based GPS device. Out on your bicycle ride (in my case), your GPS records and plots your ride. Afterwards, you can upload the data to the web service Strava which pulls out common segments: these can be significant climbs, popular sprint sections, etc. Your speed on these segments can then be compared against your older rides, as well as other riders (can be against everybody or just your friends/club, whatever). If you achieve a personal record, your ride is awarded certain medals and tokens.

Over the last year, I’ve watched my overall average speed and cycling fitness increase as I specifically go after the “Queen of the Mountain” medal, or overall leader, for my usual segments. I’ve once even borrowed a special race bike to even get one of them, as the increased aerodynamics helped cut through the windy bits. As I find new segments, my competitive nature starts figuring out what to try different next time to get even faster. It’s… rather addictive.

The best lumbar support I’ve found is Fitterfirst’s ProActive Disc. The primary purpose of this inflatable disc is to give a “Swiss Ball” experience to ordinary chairs. It also works very well as a highly-portable lumbar support for flying and driving. The device was designed by this specialty shop. It’s made by Cascade Designs and has the same wonderful oversized valve used on the Therm-a-Rest mattress pads.

The way to use the disc is to fully inflate it, position the pad where you want it, and crack the valve until it’s deflated to the desired level. It’s pricey but should last forever if treated well. If you do happen to mistreat the pad, you can use the Cascade Designs repair kits to fix it. I also use it when going to events at a stadium for cushioning and to boost my height a bit (yes — I was that guy sitting in front of you). One option that’s a bit less expensive is the Ledraplastic Overball: a little ball marketed as a play toy about 20 years ago.

The balls inflate to a diameter of 7 to 9 inches; they’re springy and remarkably strong. Some Pilates instructors started using them as a substitute for Joe’s Magic Circle. The Pilates Mini Ball workout is a classic (here’s a sample). Colleen Craig’s “Strength Training on the Ball” uses a mini ball in tandem with a Swiss Ball for multi-directional destabilization — a fantastic strength/balance program in a book.

After getting noticed, many different manufacturers are making their own balls now: the FitBall Mini, the Fitterfirst Mini Ball, the Franklin Air Ball, and even Leslee Bender’s Bender Ball (promoted on infomercials). All of these little balls are are well-made; they are interchangeable. If you hurt after a flight, lying on the floor with an Overball (or one of its imitators) in the small of your back is tremendously relaxing.

Napping is a evolutionarily habit that still works wonders today. I can get by with several hours less sleep per night by adding a 20-minute nap in the afternoon. But I work at home where napping is easily done. The point of this book is to persuade you that the benefits of napping, scientifically derived, are so great you should do everything you can to make napping a habit whatever your schedule. As this concise guide makes clear the benefits to nappers are significant: smarter, more productive, healthier. For those who have tried napping without success, this book offers several different methods to try. It is hard to imagine the siesta returning in full force in the workplace, but it should be resurrected in some fashion. Start here. This is the best practical book on naps yet.