#tradeoffs

[clownwizardsupreme]

Notably shrinking spells should NEVER be used on a dwarf, who only grow more powerful the closer they are to the ground

[ultraweathercoremax]

The drizzle ain’t too bad, but looking a bit too jellyfishy for me today. The ducks don’t seem to mind, tho

[aurorasulphur]

The flipside of course is that if you're not having fun anymore, then you don't have to stay. Knowing when to tap out is a skill.

And as the fandom gets smaller, the absolute number of that 5% awful faction decreases and it gets easier to avoid them. (Though it gets harder to find content for your specific less popular niche.)

Fandom is so different now and it’s becoming un-fun with how quickly shit moves.

I just want to enjoy things. I don’t want to have to play a game of Artist-Race that seems to be afoot lately.

Ya’ll eat up fandoms, leave artists and writers bone dry and then move on so fucking quickly then fucking wonder where all the Good Fandom Stuff is.

Idk Maybe cherish some things for longer. Reblog stuff. Interact with people. Comment and share.

Fandom is Capitalism now and I’m not being nuanced.

[the-idea-of-stars]

just bought myself a bunch of new clothes(got a GREAT deal) and I'm actually feeling so so good about it for once

[bdarfler]

“Two-dimensional tradeoffs always disappoint someone. You can usually make a tradeoff that doesn’t disappoint anyone by introducing a new dimension.” I love this attempt to put words to something so intangible. Seeing the right dimension to introduce is underappreciated. The dimension seems obvious in hindsight, and it solves problems before they happen. But make no mistake, it is a superpower.

[npr-stan]

Listen to: 92,000 Transgender People Took This Survey. Here's What We Learned

Listen to: 92,000 Transgender People Took This Survey. Here's What We Learned - https://one.npr.org/i/1244043587:1244043589

[charonsbudgetpsychopomp]

How am I supposed to get any work done with a face like this staring at me?

[goodoldbandit]

Diesel Motorcycles Exist: Exploring Innovation on Two Wheels

https://gob.stayingalive.in/revving-up-knowledge-unveil/diesel-motorcycles-exist.html In the vast world of motorcycles, innovation often takes center stage, driving enthusiasts to seek out new technologies and designs that push the boundaries of what’s possible. One such innovation that has sparked both curiosity and debate is the existence of diesel motorcycles. Yes, you read that right –…

[seveneyesoup]

i may have time travelers affliction but at least i also have futurebrain

[obsessingoverl]

Holy shit

by tradition, the first day of the camp was spent pranking the group next to us. our prank was ziptying the zippers on their sleeping bags together. we figured one of them would sleep with a knife, because we all slept with knives, because we were dangerous maniacs and half the danger of a dangerous maniac is that they tend to think that they are Actually Normal. so. obviously that didn't pan out, and instead they got stuck in their sleeping bags for like half an hour and because their scoutmaster slept in their car and couldn't hear them yelling, they actually only got out when one of them went full caged animal and chewed through the plastic. which meant they had time to make it to the axe throwing station, but they did miss breakfast.

the scale of our victory was impossible to understate. it was an epic prank. unrivaled. the best in years. we knew they were going to retaliate, and we both feared and craved it. maybe i'm still a maniac, but that feels like a common thing, right? do well adjusted people that are not maniacs crave Judgement?

(serious answers only please, from people who would never spoon a knife.)

anyway, the next day we got back to our camp, and the neighors had skipped dinner to just come back and fill all our tents with pinecones. which was like, a decent prank, i guess, but it probably took them an hour to fill all the tents up, and it took us like 15 minutes to tip the tents out, and as a return volley to the ziptie prank it was incredibly underwhelming. we felt a little cheated.

so our scouting group held a council, and we agreed, unanimously, that our prank was 100% better and theirs sucked and that there would be no escalating tensions because we were the clear victors. they'd had their chance to retaliate, and they failed, and so the war was over. that was it.

we agreed on this. we swore. but madness is a relative thing, and in our group of maniacs, we still had J. i have many, many J stories. too many. i biked up to school with him from 4th grade to 8th, and i saw him get hit by cars thrice. he'd just swerve into the road sometimes. one time on a rainy day in 4th grade, a car splashed me, and before i could even consider my response J yelled I GOT THIS and then he blitzed off after the car. i didn't see him the rest of the day. i was so anxious i barely slept that night. i saw him the next morning and he told me that he'd chased the car until it got to a gated community and then he'd climbed over the fence and looked in peoples garages until he found the one with the car, and then he'd ripped the hood ornament off and broke their window. then he gave me a hood ornament to a different brand of car from the one that splashed me and i didnt tell him because i didnt want him missing more school. i want you to mentally adjust your mental model of the things a 9 year old is capable of doing to include chasing a car for five miles, hopping a fence, breaking into a garage, and vandalizing a randos car.

and that's just the tip of my J stories iceberg.

the point of all this is just to say that J was so crazy that he made us knife spooners look like accountanting enthusiasts.

so we agreed the war was done, and we shook on it, and then J, in the name of friendship, in the name of honor, in the name of avenging our pinecone filled tents, snuck over to their camp that evening and fornicated with a watermelon that they'd been saving in their cooler.

i want to emphasize, again, that this was not the consensus of the group. that is not a prank. like i know it seems like we dont know what pranks are because of the whole ziptie thing, but even we knew that fucking someones food is not a prank, it is a crime, and a sin, the kind of weapon that had only been ethically used once in history by Horus in his battle against Set and none of us dumb assholes had owl heads.

so.

the next day went pretty well. we threw some more axes again, which is a valuable and important skill for children to learn i guess, and we learned how to tie knots, which is a skill that turned out to be far sexier than i ever expected, and i learned how to light fires with a magnifying glass, which was great. i'm looking back at this, and i am actually just now beginning to realize that the clear and obvious point of scouting is turning child sociopaths into apex predators.

and then the day ended, and we went back to our camps, except for our leaders, who had a sort of Scout Leader Meeting they were going to have for a few hours at least. it was built into the camp, that day was supposed to be our day to chill as a group, and make peach cobbler, and just be buddies.

except, as it turned out, our neighboring group's alternative to making peach cobbler was eating their watermelon. so at some point they opened their watermelon, and woo boy. oh man. you think catholics hated seedless watermelons? you should see how much mormons hate seeded ones.

so we were chilling by the fire, and then we heard screaming from the camp over, but we didn't pay much mind to that because there are many reasonable explanations for a group of 10ish children to scream simulanteoulsy, such as wasps, which are abundant in arizona, and then the screaming got closer, which did not bother us because there were many reasons for a group 10ish children to scream and run towards us, for example, wasps, which are abundant in arizona, and then we noticed they had large sticks on them, which we figured were perhaps being used to drive away the wasps, which are abundant in arizona, and then they arrived and they started beating the shit out of us, abundantly, in arizona.

so we ran into the woods.

now, at this point, we had no idea what was up. we knew that the camp next to us was out for blood, which was crazy, because we'd actually locked them in fartproof bags for 30 minutes and they'd barely done anything back, and were trying to figure out what could possibly have happened that could drive them to Terrible Violence when we realized that J was cackling like a witch that had learned how to order children off of ebay.

so we politely asked J what the hell he had done, and he politely explained that had "done" their watermelon, and we politely beat him with large sticks because life is nothing but endless cycles of violence.

we were still being chased by the other camp btw. so it was them, chasing us, chasing J, and then they got tired and went back to their camp, and we chased J a little longer because we were mad we'd all been walloped with sticks, and J did not care because he was a supernatural entity whose only weaknesses were Needles and Fire, and then we got tired and went back and J kept running, and we just kind of figured he would come back eventually.

he did not.

we went back to our tents, and we waited, and J did not come back. we stayed up all night, peering into the forest, worrying. our leader came back, and we did our best to hide our battlewounds, and he either genuinely did not notice or simply accepted this as part of Boyhood. then he went to bed, and we waited, and waited, and waited. And Waited. and did not sleep.

eventually, we convened again, and we agreed that if J was not back by after breakfast, we would have to tell the scoutleader about what exactly had transpired. and we really did not want to do that, because it would have meant that everyone would have gotten in a very large amount of trouble.

morning came around, and J still was not back. we went to breakfast, and we ate very, very slowly. we were afraid the other camp was going to continue their war with us, but they actually looked fairly frightened. one of them actually came to us and asked for a truce, and we agreed because we truly felt bad for them. like, yes, they did beat us with sticks, but J fucked their watermelon. we werent complicit in the watermelonfuckening but they didnt know that, and it was definitely the kind of crime that left one outside the bounds of the social contract.

and then when we could eat no more bits, when breakfast was almost done, right when i was getting pushed to go and tell the scoutleader that we needed to find J, he arrived. he was sleep deprived, and noticeably scraped and bloody, and tied to his belt was a blood squirrel tail.

and i asked him, J, where did you get that? and he said, don't worry man, it was already dead, which did not answer by question and gave me several more.

the camp ended that day, and the other groups avoided us like the plague, and it was not until some weeks later that we were able to piece together what happened.

J, in his sojourn through the forest, managed to find (or, possibly, make) a dead squirrel. he then cut off the tail to keep on his belt, because he was a weird little freak like that. he also took the dead squirrel, and he skinned it, then he tied it to a little crucifix made of wood, and he left it in the other scouting group's camp. which is why they were so scared of us.

it was such an unhinged thing to do it actually sobered us up for a while. scouting became a scary thing for us. we'd found something dark and primal there, in the place where no adult could see, and our appreciation of J as a wild ride kind of changed into seeing him as something truly dangerous. we had a sense wherever he went, something terrible would follow, and the only way to escape it was to not be there when it arrived. and so piece by piece, the scout group dissolved. it wasnt until he moved out of that ward that the rest of us started daring to go back to scouts.

and for the final epilogue of the tale:

i have a little brother who was friends with a younger cousin of J's, and the two would go to parties together in highschool. and sometimes J, who was in his early 20's at that point, would show up at the parties, and it was unsettling in such a way that it just became a known risk at parties with the cousin. and at one party, they were playing truth or dare, and J wasn't even in the room, but someone asked him the Truth of how he always knew how to find the cousin, and J said the cousin's mom had mentioned she was worried about him and the parties so he'd put a tracker in his car. and when he saw that the cousin was out of the house on weekends, he'd made a visit by, just to make sure he was safe.

then he left. and every single person at that party went over that poor kid's car. they searched the wheel-wells, checked underneath it, the works, until they found the tracker. then because they were clever, they didnt break it, or throw it away, or anything that would've given away what they'd done. they just gave the tracker to the cousin, who put it in his glovebox. and on schooldays, he'd take it with him, so J could see him in the parking lot. and on weekends, he could leave it in the garage, so he could go to parties with out Hell coming with him. because everyone that met J - every single person - knew that the only way to be safe from him was to be far, far away.

[teame4e]

Understanding Weight Loss and Its Key Factors

In the pursuit of a healthy weight, it is crucial to consider various factors that influence our overall well-being. Weight loss should not be solely about shedding pounds but rather about embracing a holistic approach that encompasses motivation, wellness, mental health, and sustainability. By understanding the interplay between these factors, individuals can embark on a balanced and informed…

[ultraweathercoremax]

Sunnier but less smooth. Which do you prefer?

[gaboon-vampire]

Hmm, the hinges are not coaxial. What to do?

Mortice the taller one? (Lose wood thickness)

Shim the shorter one? (Hinge axis is further from the wood.)

[shoury01]

THE LIMITATIONS/ DRAWBACKS OF WORK-LIFE BALANCE

Work-life balance is the state of equilibrium where a person equally prioritizes the demands of one’s career and the demands of one’s personal life. Why is it so hard to maintain a balance? A survey of thousands of working adults found these to be the most common answers:

Work-life balance is less about dividing the hours in our day evenly between work and personal life and, instead, is more about having the flexibility to get things done in our professional life while still having time and energy to enjoy our personal life. There may be some days where we work longer hours so that we have time later in the week to enjoy other activities. 

So far, it always seemed that finding a good balance between our daily work and the time we spend with family, friends or just ourselves is what we all should strive to achieve. Some arguments against and in favour of the work live balance theory may be:

When the focus is on business development, employers inevitably lose focus on where to draw the line regarding these practices. Let us look at what could happen when flexible working is not monitored well. 

A) . . . -> Development of a complacent attitude

It is important to build a rapport with our employees by understanding their personal issues and granting them a leeway to work around them. However, it’s equally important for employers to know where to draw a line. When there’s freedom to work at individual schedules suiting employee needs, there’s room to take advantage, by not being productive, for example. Similarly, the many short breaks employees are allowed to take may turn into long ones, and the easy grants to take unplanned leaves will result in their absence from the desk too often.

If we are not building a system of measurement to monitor some of these benefits, it may result in the employees developing a complacent attitude towards the job. Consequently, this leads to lower productivity, lack of ownership and accountability.

B) . . . -> Lack of communication and innovation

One of the most common challenges faced by employers who have a team working remotely is communication. While the reasons are genuine most of the time, the employee can make a habit of such issues. For instance, an employee working from home might be situated in a ‘bad phone network’ zone – thus, reaching out to them becomes challenging. This results in confusion and possible delays in completing the assignments. Similarly, there may be poor internet connection or electricity problems – common problems of today which makes the remote working option very inefficient.

C) . . . -> Distractions and missed collaborations

Often, employees promise that they will manage work from home and stick to deadlines but are unable to do so due to genuine reasons. Be it due to having a pet or having constant distractions with a large family in the house, such employees are bound to be interruptions that won’t let them concentrate on their work.

An employee who enjoys scheduled flexibility can work perfectly well in his or her comfort zone if the project is being handled individually. But in the case of a group project, where one team member’s task depends on another’s, there’s bound to be a setback. As leaders we need to give these aspects a thought and understand that while it’s important for us to help employees work better, it’s also equally essential that we ensure the work-life balance is equally balanced. It’s always better to work smart than to work hard.

One way to think about work-life balance is with a concept known as The Four Burners Theory. Imagine our life is represented by a stove with four burners on it. Each burner symbolises one major quadrant of our life. The first burner represents family, the second burner is our friends, the third burner is health and the fourth burner is our work.

Which two would we choose? It’s a really difficult choice. If we decide that family and work are the most important — then we need to sacrifice our friends and health. If we decide family and friends are the most important — then we need to sacrifice our career and health. 

Is there a way to side-step it. Can we succeed and keep all four burners running? Perhaps we could merge two burners. What if we grouped family and friends into one category? Or maybe we could combine health and work. We hear sitting all day is unhealthy. What if we got a standing desk? Believing that you will be healthy because you bought a standing desk is like believing you are a rebel because you ignored the fasten seatbelt sign on an airplane. Overall, life is all about trade-offs. If we want to outperform in our work and in our marriage, then friends and health may have to suffer. If we want to be healthy and succeed as a parent, then we might be forced to let loose our career ambitions. We are free to divide our time equally among all four burners, but we have to accept that we will never reach our full potential in any given area.

What is the best way to handle these work-life balance problems? Here are three ways of thinking about The Four Burners Theory.

Option 1: Outsource Burners . . . -> 

We outsource small aspects of our lives all the time. We buy fast food so we don't have to cook. We go to the dry cleaners to save time on laundry. We visit the car repair shop so we don't have to fix our own automobile. Outsourcing small portions of our life allows to save time and spend it elsewhere. Can we apply the same idea to one quadrant of our life and free up time to focus on the other three burners? Work is the best example. For many people, work is the hottest burner on the stove. It is where they spend the most time and it is the last burner to get turned off. In theory, entrepreneurs and business owners can outsource the work burner. They do it by hiring employees. Parenting is another example. Working parents are often forced to “outsource” the family burner by dropping their children off at day-care or hiring a babysitter. Calling this outsourcing might seem unfair, but—like the work example above—parents are paying someone else to keep the burner running while they use their time elsewhere. The advantage of outsourcing is that we can keep the burner running without spending our time on it. Unfortunately, removing ourselves from the equation is also a disadvantage. Most entrepreneurs, artists, and creators would feel bored and without a sense of purpose if they had nothing to work on each day. Every parent would rather spend time with their children than drop them off at day-care. Outsourcing keeps the burner running, but is it running in a meaningful way? Option 2: Embrace Limitations. . . ->

One of the most frustrating parts of The Four Burners Theory is that it shines a light on our untapped potential. It can be easy to think, “If only I had more time, I could make more money or get in shape or spend more time at home.” One way to manage this problem is to shift our focus from wishing we had more time to maximizing the time we have. In other words, we embrace our limitations. The question to ask ourselves is, “Assuming a particular set of limitations, how can I be as effective as possible?” Some examples may be:

This line of questioning pulls the focus toward something positive (getting the most out of what we have available) rather than something negative (worrying about never having enough time). Furthermore, well-designed limitations can actually improve performance and help stop procrastinating on goals.

Embracing limitations means accepting that we are operating at less than our full potential. Yes, there are plenty of ways to “work smarter, not harder” but it is difficult to avoid the fact that where we spend our time matters. If we invested more time into health or relationships or career, we would likely see improved results in that area. Option 3: The Seasons of Life . . . -> A third way to manage the four burners is by breaking our life into seasons. What if, instead of searching for perfect work-life balance at all times, we divide our life into seasons that focused on a particular area? The importance of our burners may change throughout life. For instance:

We don't have to give up on our dreams forever, but life rarely allows to keep all four burners going at once. Maybe we need to let go of something for this season. We can do it all in a lifetime, but not at the same time. Furthermore, there is often a multiplier effect that occurs when we dedicate ourselves fully to a given area. In many cases, we can achieve more by going all-in on a given task for a few years than by giving it a lukewarm effort for fifty years. Maybe it is best to strive for seasons of imbalance and rotate through them as needed.

The Four Burners Theory reveals a truth everyone must deal with: nobody likes being told they can't have it all, but everyone has limitations on their time and energy. Every choice has a cost. 

Some people may even disagree with the fact that to be successful (however we define that) we need to turn off one burner and to be really successful, we must turn off two. Perhaps instead of turning the burners off we can turn them down a little and adopt the seasons of life approach. This seems like a more balanced approach than turning off at least one quadrant completely. For instance, the people of Denmark are consistently ranked amongst the happiest people in the world. They work shorter weeks, explore the outdoors and spend quality time with friends and family.

A good work-life balance has numerous positive effects, including less stress, a lower risk of burnout and a greater sense of well-being. Employers that offer options as telecommuting or flexible work schedules can help employees have a better work-life balance, and can save on costs, experience fewer cases of absenteeism, and enjoy a more loyal and productive workforce. Below are some reflective questions to get started within organisations:

Content Curated By: Dr Shoury Kuttappa

[tubbytarchia]

You know what the world needs :

The rancher’s cuddling

Just fluff and cuddles (they deserve it)

Wouldn’t that be adorable 🥰 (p.s i love your art. i squeal and kick my feet every time I see it❤️)

I'm 2 months late to this um I hope this suffices!! Thank you so very much for the kind words 🥺 Your art is also awesome!! It makes me so happy that you like mine as well ❤️

[brofightiscancelled]