Month: August 2018

2018-08-28T12:03:00

(BPT) – Americans need a vacation. More than half of working Americans, 52 percent, didn’t use all of their PTO last year, collectively leaving 705 million vacation days on the table. That means employers got 705 million of your hard-earned workdays for free. For the love of Jimmy Buffett, people, why are you essentially volunteering at work on your PTO days when you could plant yourself on the beach with an adult beverage instead?

The reasons range from fear to affordability. People are afraid they’ll get behind on their work, or return to a mountain of to-dos when they get back. Some think nobody can do the job in their absence, and others are afraid the office would buzz along a little too happily without them. In some workplaces, the boss sets the tone. If he or she never takes PTO or checks in constantly while on vacation, it sends a not-so-subtle message. For some, money is a factor, saying vacations put a strain on their budget.

It all adds up to a vacation deprivation crisis, and at Landshark Lager, they wanted to do something about it. Landshark Lager partnered with Project: Time Off to raise awareness about the fact that Americans aren’t using the PTO days they’ve earned. They sent a letter to the CEOs of Florida-based companies, asking them to give their employees an extra day off over Labor Day Weekend. It was intended to start the conversation about the U.S. becoming a no-vacation nation, and create a movement away from work martyrdom and toward relaxation and renewal.

Summer is winding down, but it’s not over yet, and you don’t have to live in Florida to enjoy it. Here are some ways you can get around your objections to taking PTO and relax, refresh and revive.

* Just take one day. You don’t have to take an entire week off. Starting small and giving yourself a long weekend can do a lot to recharge your batteries, and it won’t put you behind the eight ball at work when you get back.

* Start a PTO savings account. If money is the reason you haven’t been using your PTO, sock $25 away each week. You likely won’t even miss it, and in a year’s time, you’ll have a PTO stash that you can use to take a vacation.

* Plan ahead. Give your manager ample notice by scheduling your PTO well ahead of time, especially if you’re angling for days off around a popular holiday. You’ll beat your co-workers to the punch.

* Daydream about your ideal PTO. Are you looking for adventure, travel, a weekend at the beach or a lazy staycation?

* Use it before you lose it. Ignorance is not bliss; stay organized so you know how much PTO you have. Not all days off roll over to the next year, so knowing your workplace policies is vital to you getting those hard-earned days that you deserve.

* Make plans with friends and family. Rent a house on the beach with close friends for a long weekend, or get away with family. Making it a group effort encourages everyone to use their PTO.

* Create a pro-PTO culture at work. Talk about your vacations and encourage co-workers to do the same. Share your vaca photos, and encourage people to completely unplug when they’re taking time off. You can change an anti-PTO culture, one beach selfie at a time.

There is still plenty of time before the end of the year to use your PTO. Don’t let your hard-earned days languish on the table. Grab a beer, a paperback and a lawn chair and enjoy the last days of summer at the beach. For more information about getting your beach on, visit the Landshark Lager Facebook page or send them a message on their Instagram page.

2018-08-28T16:07:00

(BPT) – The mental and physical merits of walking are well established, from helping ward off depression to preventing heart disease. Meditation, likewise, can help reduce anxiety symptoms and improve sleep quality. Have you considered combining these seemingly very different activities?

Walking meditation, which doesn’t take much of an investment in time or money, can be a good way to reap multiple benefits.

Walking meditation isn’t a stroll in the park or an hour in the lotus position, rather something in between. The goal is to be self-focused and mindful of your body in motion. To get started, consider these steps from UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center:

* Find a place that’s relatively free of distractions and where other people won’t make you self-conscious. Your path — whether it’s a hiking trail or a little-used hallway — doesn’t have to be long; the whole point is to go nowhere, slowly — and safely.

* Relax your hands and arms, stand up straight and take a few deep breaths. Take 10 to 15 small, deliberate steps, counting them in your head. Be mindful of the way your feet feel as they rise and land on the ground, weight shifting from heel to toes.

* If your mind wanders, try to push out extraneous thoughts and focus on your breathing or the sights and sounds of your surroundings.

* Pause for a breath, turn around and start again.

Why meditate in the first place? Meditation may help cancer patients by relieving their stress and fatigue. It may reduce blood pressure and alleviate some symptoms of menopause and IBS. There is also evidence that it improves the quality of life for female patients struggling with fibromyalgia by helping them deal with depression and conflict, according to the National Institutes of Health.

Meditation can be good for people of all ages. A Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease study found that meditation may help slow the cognitive decline that leads to Alzheimer’s and dementia. When college students added meditation to walking, they had lower levels of anxiety than when they merely walked for exercise, according to a study in the American Journal of Health Promotion.

As you take a moment to slow down and practice walking meditation, keep in mind that the results can also be slow. Studies have shown benefits after as little as 10 minutes per session, but most were based on practicing four to six days per week for several weeks.

2018-08-28T08:01:00

(BPT) – A typical school night can get pretty hectic. Once the kids get home, there’s a scramble to get to after-school activities, then dinner and finally, homework.

For families that are feeling the schedule squeeze this school year, here’s some news that might make you feel good about cutting an activity or two from the lineup. Kids not only crave free time, they need it. And new research by GoGo squeeZ suggests they’re not getting enough.

The importance of unstructured time

Seventy-two percent of parents feel that their kids have less free and unstructured time when compared to their own childhoods, according to a recent survey commissioned by GoGo squeeZ, the makers of all-natural 100 percent fruit in a pouch.

“What people often don’t realize is play has a purpose,” says Dr. Robert Murray, pediatrician, author and child health expert, “and parents aren’t always aware of its full benefits.”

Why are kids getting so little free time? Part of the answer is parents’ good intentions. Eighty-five percent of parents believe sports and activities lead to greater success in life, according to the survey.

In reality, “It’s the social and emotional interactions that are the important benefit, not the sport itself,” says Murray. “The social and emotional skills that come from social interactions are an even greater predictor of later success than IQ.”

Kids need more time for quality, unstructured activities. That’s why GoGo squeeZ is championing an idea called BE Time, which is the quality “kid-time” needed to nourish the imagination, creativity, bodies and relationships of kids. To make time for BE Time, try some of these strategies from Murray to work in an extra 30 minutes of unstructured time per day.

Make errands interactive: Whether you’re driving, at an appointment or grocery shopping, it’s easy to placate restless children with devices for a moment’s peace. It’s well worth the extra effort to turn these moments into shared experiences. For example, at the grocery store, “read labels together with young children and ask them to find interesting fruits or vegetables to feel and smell,” Murray says. “Ask older children to help plan dinner and to compare the cost of certain items as a way to learn basic life skills.”

Give kids tools to make and invent: Inspire some free-time creativity, where they can let their imaginations go wild. Keeping supplies and toys that inspire creative play will give them plenty to facilitate free-time creativity. Keep costumes and props, toys and art supplies at the ready and watch their imaginations go wild.

Plan family outings: Look for places that let kids freely explore and make their own choices on how to play, including parks, swimming pools, nature centers, zoos and museums. While there, follow their lead instead of rushing them along to the next thing. If a hands-on exhibit catches their attention, give them the freedom to explore.

Put the kids in charge: Give kids time to be in charge of their own activities, so they have a chance to de-stress, regain their mental balance and encode memories of the things they learned in school on their own. “If you feel the need to provide structure and safety, identify an opportunity that makes everyone feel comfortable,” Murray says. “Watch your kids ride their bikes or take them to the playground, a museum, a farm, and let them decide how to explore it.”

Set an example: Show kids that it’s important for parents to have unstructured time too! By reading a book, catching up with friends or spending time outside, kids will follow your lead. “The idea of ‘BE Time’ is a great conversation starter for parents and grandparents,” Murray says, as “it encourages them to rethink the importance of slowed-down, more unplanned free time in a child’s life.”

To learn how you can commit to giving your children 30 more minutes of #BEtime every day, visit BEtime.org.

2018-08-28T09:01:00

(BPT) – Children are hard-wired to play. However, busy schedules, homework, classes and structured activities like sports and dance classes can often get in the way of allowing kids to feel free to express that natural behavior.

While these things are important, it’s just as important to recognize that play has a purpose in a child’s development and it’s an important consideration for parents and educators, says parenting expert and author Jessica Joelle Alexander.

“Playing together is a fundamental cornerstone of family life for children and parents alike,” Alexander says. “But with modern lifestyles busier than ever and so much emphasis on formal education and structured activities, it can be easy to forget to make time for it. Given the positive effects it has on our well-being and happiness levels, family play should be the most important ‘homework’ of all.”

Whether you are planning the next outing or looking for an enriching activity, be mindful of how play has a key role in shaping and building young minds. Here are five benefits of play and how it fits in with learning.

1. It lets kids use their imagination

Playtime gives kids some space to freely explore and decide for themselves how they’ll complete a task. Offer kids playful space to create, and their innate ability to innovate can amaze you! Fostering this spirit of creativity is crucial — the World Economic Forum cites creativity as one of the top three skills the future workforce will need for success.

2. Play helps children develop in a natural way

Think of how kids learned the alphabet. You didn’t sit them in a chair and drill them on their letters — it was framed in a happy song. That illustrates how play-based learning can be a low-pressure but highly engaging way to learn.

Young people seem to have an intuitive grasp of how well this learning method works for them. Four out of five children say they learn better when play is incorporated into the activity, according to a recently released study, the LEGO^® Play Well Report, which surveyed nearly 13,000 parents and children in nine countries. Nearly all parents (95 percent) see play as essential for children’s well-being and learning, and 82 percent think children who play more will be more successful in future studies and work.

3. Play promotes happiness

Kids are naturally inclined to play, so allowing them time to play lets kids be in their natural state. The study results show a strong link between the hours spent playing together and the happiness of a family. Nearly nine in 10 families (88 percent) that play five or more hours a week say they are happy. However, when hours of playtime are decreased to less than five hours, there’s a marked decrease in the self-reported happiness level, to three-quarters of families. But the good news for these families: It just goes to show that making an effort to add minutes of play each day makes a huge difference!

4. Hands-on, play-based learning builds connections

Many adults are concerned about how technology is affecting children’s development. Nearly three-quarters of parents (72 percent) fear technology is dampening kids’ ability to think for themselves. However, six in 10 say they enjoy using technology when they play with their children, and that digital play brings the family closer together. Today’s kids are seamlessly blending real-world, imaginary and digital experiences, what some refer to as “fluid play.”

That’s where learning resources like Coding Express from LEGO^® Education come in. Educators who leverage the Coding Express early learning solution can help their students learn foundational coding and other 21st century skills like collaboration and problem solving. Coding Express includes that all-important playful, hands-on element that lets kids explore and create through the child-directed app. “There’s no better time than today to ensure the youngest learners also have access to a relevant, fun and engaging way to learn these foundational skills, and to develop 21st century skills we know will prepare them for a lifetime of successful learning” notes Esben Stærk Jørgensen, LEGO^® Education president.

5. Helps children develop essential life skills

What is the ultimate purpose of play? Just observe what children do and say, and it’s clear it’s not all about escapism. Playtime helps kids understand how things work in the world and how to interact with each other. When you think of it in those terms, play gives kids a sense of mastery and boosts confidence, all the while enhancing their problem-solving abilities, communication skills and creativity, among other essential life skills.

Now that you know the important role hands-on, playful learning has in shaping and developing young minds, discover more about LEGO^® Education’s Coding Express and more of its hands-on LEGO^® learning portfolio at LEGOEducation.com/HandsOn.

2018-08-27T16:51:00

(BPT) – When you hear people talk about the best years of their life, college will inevitably come up. After all, these are the years when you can first experience the freedom of living on your own and the time when your future will truly be what you make of it.

It all starts with your freshman year and that can be a little nerve-wracking for some students and their parents.

After all, while the opportunities available in college are exciting, the freedom can be stressful as well. Whether you are a student planning your freshman year or you’re a parent looking to prepare your child for the road ahead, here are five tips to make the most of the first of these best years.

* Never turn down a chance to make a connection. This is paramount, of course, with friend groups but it also matters with your professors and teaching assistants. If a professor, for example, teaches in the field you plan to major in, you may have them several times, and when you come closer to graduation, they could be integral in helping you land an internship or even your first job.

* Get a Lyft. College is already expensive and the last thing you need is to add the headache and expense of a car. Instead of spending all your free time working to pay for things like gas or insurance, use Lyft to get off campus. The fastest-growing rideshare program in the United States, Lyft is available to 95 percent of the U.S. population, meaning no matter where you need to go, there’s a Lyft driver that can take you there. Plan your activities with Lyft in mind and your additional freedom will be invaluable.

* Take a part-time job in a field that interests you. If you don’t have a definitive answer to the question, “What do you want to do with your life?” — and few freshmen do — then your first year of college is a great time to start narrowing that down. Take a job related to a field that interests you and use it to learn more about the industry and the roles you may hope to attain with your degree. It’s a great way to sample the field without committing to it.

* Join a club sport or activity. If you’re looking to make new friends and feel like part of a team at your new school, joining a club sport or activity is a great way to do it. You can use the opportunity to continue a high school passion or to learn something completely new — just look for something that will be new to most other people as well. Either way, it’s a great chance to meet and bond with new people that share your common interest.

* Embrace who you are. Trying new things is one of the best aspects of going to college, but don’t let those new opportunities sacrifice who you really are. Stay true to your values and your passions and you’ll find the friends, activities and courses that match what you want to get out of college now and in the years ahead.

To learn more about how Lyft can support you everywhere you want to go, visit Lyft.com.