Brain Wave – Page 41 – Sasha Says…

Brain Wave, Life Hacks & Tips and Tricks

How to Prepare for a Rally Race

August 1, 2019 No Comments

Rally racing is one of the most exciting sports for power sports enthusiasts. Rally racing will take you through rain, snow, sleet and ice over hundreds of miles of unforgiving terrain. Regardless of the course or how practiced you are in the sport, rallying will put your skill, speed and endurance to the test.

Whether you’ve been in a rally race before or this is your first time, you must prepare sufficiently both physically and mentally for the upcoming event. Preparation is not just about getting a quality and sturdy Fly Racing gear or packing your bags and tuning your bike. It’s about physical training, mental conditioning and rhythm schooling. If you want to compete in the next big race, you need to shape up. Use the tips below to get started.

Mental Preparation

Much of rally racing is a mental sport, as racing for days on end with little human contact takes a lot out of a person. Racers always push themselves to do better and be better than those around them. It’s important to note that rally racing isn’t necessarily about winning by beating your opponents, but rather, about beating nature.

Physical Preparation

Your training should exercise your whole body, from your neck all the way down to your toes. Training should begin the moment you decide to participate. One suggested exercise is rowing. This is because rowing trains everything from your shoulders down to your back and to your legs. The race rhythm starts with your training rhythm. You can’t expect much if you don’t train smart. You don’t have to kill your body training, but you have to train to your body abilities and listen to your own limitations.

Bike Preparation

It is important that you prep your bike well before the race. And prep the bike yourself. You’ll need OEM motorcycle fairings to reduce air drag. The secondary functions are the protection of the rider from airborne hazards and wind-induced hypothermia and of the engine components in the case of an accident. By prepping the machine yourself, you will know every inch of it, inside out. When it breaks down in the middle of a race, you will know exactly what to do to access different parts of the bike.

Bike selection

Choosing the right bike is important, because of the different terrain the course covers. Weight and carrying capacity are a delicate balancing act. Since a rally-style race traverses public roads, the machines need to be street-legal too. Start with something as light as possible as you will be adding a bunch of OEM as well as best aftermarket motorcycle parts to the bike.

The weight becomes noticeable when you have to keep picking up a bike in the sand and heat and you’re exhausted and dehydrated. In this context, a single-cylinder motorcycle makes a heck of a lot of sense

Finally, it doesn’t matter whether you finish first or last. What is important is that you chase your dream, take part and that you have a go — while others wish they had.

Brain Wave, Family and Home living, Life in general, Money matters

8 Reasons To Buy Your Home in the Summer

July 30, 2019 No Comments

Buying a home doesn’t have to be a nerve-wracking experience. Here are eight reasons why the lazy days of summer are the best time to contact your realtor Marina del Rey and kickstart the home-buying process.

1. Summer’s the best time to sell your old home.

If you’re moving from a rental property, all you have to do is navigate your lease agreement. If you own your soon-to-be-former home, however, you may need to coordinate its sale with the purchase of your new home. Summer’s the best time to do that.

2. You’ll have more properties to choose from.

Since summer is an ideal time to sell, you’ll have more options as a buyer. Year in and year out, the number of homes on the market rises along with the temperatures. This means you can be flexible and avoid having to settle for a property that offers less than what you were looking for or that isn’t right for your budget.

3. The weather is better for moving.

This is particularly important if you’re moving to or from a part of the country that experiences brutal winters. Lugging furniture and boxes through the snow is no fun. Neither is paying professional movers to endure the elements in your place.

4. Mortgage rates are usually lower.

While markets certainly fluctuate, generally speaking, mortgage rates are lower in the summer. Locking in a lower interest rate and cheaper home loan has the potential to deliver considerable savings in the long run, no matter if you’re interested in single-family homes, condos, or townhomes for sale.

5. Your kids are out of school.

Moving is a big adjustment for kids, no matter their age. You can ease the transition, especially if they’ll be changing schools, by making your move during the summer.

6. It’s a good time for DIY projects.

If you’ve got your eye on a fixer upper, summer can be the best time to buy. The weather is more cooperative for DIY projects, and it’s often easier to take time off of work as well. If your children are out of school or home from college, you can stick a rake or a screwdriver in their hands, too.

7. You can get a better feel for the neighborhood.

What do you do when the weather turns cold? You stay inside with a good book or a Netflix binge as frequently as possible. Your potential neighbors likely do too. That’s why summer presents the best time to get a real idea of what the neighborhood is like. In the warm weather, your future neighbors will be out and about, allowing you to get a feel for things such as how many kids are on your block and who needs to break out the lawnmower more often.

8. You could snag a spring price drop.

Spring is also a popular time for sellers to list their homes. Come summertime, however, if a house hasn’t sold, some sellers are motivated to lower their prices in order to get things moving and avoid spending another season with their homes on the market.

Buying a home during the summer can alleviate many of the stresses that moving brings. If you’ve been thinking about a change of address, contact your Los Angeles real estate agent today to start the search for your dream home.

Brain Wave, Careers, Freelancing and Self-Employment, Work at Home

Creating An Ideal Working Space From Home

July 29, 2019 No Comments

Working from home gives you a lot of freedom, but at the same time, creating an ideal workspace at home where you can work well can sometimes be difficult. So if you are wanting some advice on creating this space for yourself, here are some tips.

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Keep It To The One Room

The worst thing that you can do is to use your laptop to work in various areas of the house. That then becomes an issue because you’ll have these areas that feel like a workspace and a living space. It’s important not to confuse the two together. Keep it the one room and have a separate office space or use something like your dining room where you can sit at a table and get the proper support for your body. To stop yourself from going to a different room, think about investing in a desktop computer which you could move, but would be a pain. Keep any electronics like your TV that may be a distraction off and if it helps, close your office door to avoid any temptations to procrastinate in another room.

Have The Right Equipment

Talking of the proper support, with any business, you’ll have the option to add things to your workplace to make it more comfortable. Things like a monitor riser for example or an adjustable footrest work really well to help you keep your posture at the right position and that avoids any health problems further down the line. If you’re going to be doing a lot of work on your computer, you may find that after a certain period of time you are maybe getting headaches and that your eyes become tired and sore. This is thanks to blue light, and in order to fix this, it may be wise to get some blue light blocking glasses so that you can continue to work long hours without impacting your eye health too much.

Let In The Light

Light can do a lot for our mood, and when it comes to working all day indoors, you need to make sure the lighting is perfect. Natural light is the best kind of lighting, so if you find the sun catches your office or working space, move your position so that you are sitting near this pool of light. Immediately you feel a change in the way you feel, and that can be really beneficial for your productivity levels. Also, have a think about the lighting that you have in the form of table or standing lights. Ideally, you want them to be warm instead of that harsh clinical white. You can also get lighting that can mimic natural light too, so this can be used to help you wake up on time in the mornings.

Think About The Temperature

A lot of things can affect your productivity, and one of them is the temperature of the room. If it’s too hot or too cold, then your productivity levels will dip, and that’s never any good for your work. As you’re working from home, you don’t get that luxury of being able to have free heating or air-conditioning. But you can still provide yourself with a nice atmosphere where the temperature is just right to help you continue working. When it comes to heating, it’s good to turn it off and on intermittently. You want it to take the chill off the room, and so you can get it to turn on around thirty minutes until you are due to get up. Switch it off and then back on around lunchtime and then maybe back on in the mid-afternoon.

When it hits the warmer periods of the year, keeping the room cool is very important. You don’t want to be sweating while you’re working, let’s be honest. So invest in a good cooling fan that you can keep on in the background while working, and this constant stream of cool air will definitely help. To keep your home maintenance in a fit state, it might be worth looking at a heating and air service, just to make sure that everything is in working order. You’ll be working from home so it will be a nightmare if your heating suddenly stops in the middle of winter.

Block Out Distraction

Even in a traditional workplace, there are distractions. Whether it’s talking to a colleague about what you got up to at the weekend or browsing on the internet to look for some new clothes for the wardrobe. These distractions can stop you from getting important work done. So as a rule, you might want to block certain websites from home which you can do via your internet settings. This temporary freeze can stop your procrastinating side from getting onto a site that’s going to waste your time. Depending on how you like to work, music or the TV on in the background may help you, but you don’t want anything that is going to draw your attention and leaves you watching or listening without working for a good ten minutes. Having a break is important, but not when it becomes half an hour instead of ten minutes. Make a proactive effort to block out your distractions so that you can make as much out of your working day as possible.

Creating an ideal space for working from home can be tough but also once it’s been perfected, it can be a great freedom to be able to pick your own hours and to be your own boss with how you work. Remember to keep it to the one room so that you separate your workspace from your living space. Ensure you have the right equipment to make it comfortable for you. Adjust lighting and room temperatures for the perfect atmosphere to work. And finally, block out the distractions so that you can make the most of your day. Being in charge of yourself can be tough, but if the working space is right, you’ll find your groove and hopefully will gain a lot of success from the comfort of your own home.

Brain Wave, Health and medicine

Your Health Has Taken a Hit – What Comes Next?

July 25, 2019 No Comments

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Whether it’s an accident, injury or illness, any impact on a person’s health can be devastating. It’s not just the daily pain and inconveniences to deal with, it can affect just about every area of your life from your relationships to your job to your mental health. While it’s never a nice situation to be in, if you have found yourself suffering with poor health then there are some things you can do to make things run more smoothly moving forward. Here are a few ideas.

Improve the rest of your health

Maybe you’ve been diagnosed with an illness which has come about because you haven’t looked after yourself very well- it could be due to smoking, drinking or eating badly. Don’t punish or blame yourself now since that’s not helpful- but do use the wake up call to get the rest of your health up to scratch. You’re not alone, unfortunately many of us need a real scare with our health to actually do something about our ways because it involves breaking the habits of a lifetime. No matter what condition you’ve been diagnosed with, eating well, exercising according to your doctors instructions and giving up your dangerous vices like smoking will all benefit you. This illness or injury now could even be acting as a blessing in disguise, if it causes you to improve your lifestyle choices which could prevent worse health later down the line. You should also make sure that you consult your doctor with concerns that don’t tie in to your main condition. They’re still important and may need to be tackled. Your doctor may be able to prescribe medication and treatment or recommend alternative treatments, which you can read more here.

Consider your career

It’s very possible that your health condition or injury could force you to have to give up work. If you previously worked a very manual job for example then it might no longer be possible. But even with pain and mobility problems, numerous doctors appointments to attend and more, it could be hard to even get to a simple desk job each day. One thing worth doing in this case would be to start your own venture; set up something you can do from home and on your own terms. Something like blogging or freelancing for example would work well, it would give you a good income stream without any major commitments and be very flexible around your condition and commitments. Otherwise you could ask your current workplace to be flexible around you, such as allowing you to work from home some days or take time off when needed and make it up elsewhere.

Get professional help

All of this can be a scary situation to be in, but you don’t have to do it alone. Don’t be afraid to reach out for professional help if you need it. First things first, you could check and see what financial assistance you’re entitled to, if you can’t work or have been made disabled then you could be given help from the state to cover your basic costs. This can instantly ease the pressure since you’ll know that you won’t be made homeless. If someone was to blame as a result of your condition then you could also look into compensation, from failed back syndrome to neglect at work, injury lawyers cover a large range of scenarios and can get you the money you’re owed. Finally, additional help such as home care, food delivery services, maid service and laundry services can all come in really handy when you’re no longer able to do these things yourself. Even if it’s just in the short term while you learn to cope it can ease the burden massively.

Lean on your support system

Finally, lean on your support system if you need to. Acknowledge that this is a difficult time in your life, having people there for you can make everything feel a lot easier. Don’t be too proud to ask for help or advice, or just a shoulder to cry on. It’s natural for your mental health to take a hit when something like this happens, being open with friends and family will ensure you don’t sink too low. They can keep an eye on you, encourage you and push you into getting help when you need it. They can offer a different perspective to help you to see things in a new way and hopefully cope with everything better.

Have you ever been in this situation? What happened and what advice would you give others going through the same thing?

Brain Wave, Life in general, Travel and Attractions

Planning the Perfect Family Road Trip without the Stress

July 16, 2019 No Comments

Planning a family road trip can be very stressful to say the least. After all, you need to cater to the interests of everyone, while trying to keep everything under budget. This can be difficult, but not impossible.

Include Everyone

When planning your road trip, try and get some input from the kids too. They’ll be excited because they feel as though they’re helping, and they may even be able to give you some insight into the places they want to visit. If you want to make this process easier then suggest destinations that already have the approval of the adults, so that you don’t get their hopes up over somewhere not everyone wants to go.

Start Saving

Trips tend to be somewhat expensive. You’ll need to pay for accommodation and fuel too. If you want to make the whole trip much more affordable then it’s a good idea for you to start a savings account way in advance. That way you can put away a small amount each month without having to worry.

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Plan

Planning a trip can be great fun. When you have settled on your destination, take your kids to the local library and take out some books that relate to the place you’re visiting. That way you can help to educate them, and you can also find out where the best stops are. Some attractions may require you to book a reservation in advance, so it’s worth looking into this before you embark on your adventure. If you want to make the most out of your trip, then it’s a good idea for you to plan out some free attractions along the way too. This could involve visiting a history museum or even attending a family fun day.

Paper Maps

Paper maps are fun to use and they can also make the trip feel super exciting. Get the kids involved when finding out which turnoff to take. When you do, you can help to teach them about geography and you can also make the trip much more memorable. It also means that you have a backup just in case your GPS goes out of signal along the way too.

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Packing

If you take too much stuff with you when you go on your adventure, then the car will end up being cluttered and you may even find that the whole trip becomes uncomfortable. If you don’t take enough with you on the other hand, you may find that the kids get bored and restless along the way, and this is the last thing that you need. If you want to get around that, try and pack some magnetic travel games, or even a notebook. Snacks are also a must-have because they will help to keep everyone entertained on the journey, including the adults! When packing snacks, try and take sweets that come in individual wrappers so they don’t stick to the seats. Remember that road trips can be long and you might not always be able to clean up the mess right away.

Brain Wave, Travel and Attractions

5 Things To Consider Before Going On A Trip To Vegas

July 16, 2019 No Comments

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If you’re planning a trip to Vegas and don’t know where to start then don’t worry, you have come to the right place. With so many different things to consider before you pack your bags, you need to ensure you’re as prepared as you can be. Whether that means booking your flights ASAP or finding the perfect resort to stay, the more you plan now the better. With that in mind, here are 5 things to consider before going on a trip to Vegas:

What Is Your Budget?

Brain Wave, Money matters

Fiscal Stability Comes Down To Spending Sensibly

July 11, 2019 No Comments

A lot of people think that fiscal stability is an unattainable goal. They might think that they could only improve their financial situation if they started earning much more money. Perhaps you feel this way too. Obviously, your income plays a huge part in your financial situation, but it’s not the only thing that matters. Whether you’re on a 5-figure or 6-figure salary, everybody needs to focus on their spending if they want to manage their money effectively. That’s what truly matters. Fiscal stability comes down to spending sensibly, so let’s expand on that.

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Refer to your budget monthly.

You probably know that budgeting is a smart way to manage your money effectively. Of course, a budget isn’t something you should simply make, file away, and try to keep in mind. It should be an ever-changing thing. Keep returning to your budget to make amendments where necessary. You should track your monthly expenses so that you can continually assess your spending habits. Obviously, the primary goal is to spend less than you earn, but simply making ends meet isn’t enough if you want to save money for the future. That’s why it’s smart to reduce wasteful spending.

You could cut your energy bills by insulating your windows with thicker glazing to trap heat, for example. You could also reduce your grocery bills by searching for online coupons before you go shopping. You don’t have to make cutbacks to save money; you just have to spend your money wisely to get the things you need. Still, not all costs can be mitigated so easily. If you have outstanding debts (e.g. money you owe for student loans or your mortgage) that you’re struggling to repay, then this might be taking a big chunk out of your budget on a monthly basis. You could seek help from an attorney such as Rashad Blossom to help you with debt relief. This could help you to get your money back under control and start putting your funds towards other costs in your life.

Keep looking for new investments.

You should also keep looking for new investments if you want to start thinking about your future wealth. If you’ve improved your budget and started spending your money more sensibly, then you’ll have more money available for investments. Improving your spending doesn’t mean that you should avoid using your money; it means that you should use it well. You could look into the property market. That’s always a good investment route for beginners. Whether you buy to lease or buy to sell, you could make a lot of money in the world of real estate. Just make sure you do your research and act cautiously when investing.

Never stop saving up for tomorrow.

If you want to spend your money sensibly, then you should save it. You might find yourself focusing on your many present-day costs, but what about tomorrow? If you want to have a pleasant retirement and perhaps even help your kids with college funds or other future costs, then you should start setting aside some of your earnings. Do this on a continuous basis. Think of student loans and how hard it is to pay it fully because as we get older expenses add up and there is just not enough to cover everything. You should never stop saving up for tomorrow, especially as there are so many ways that you can explore and learn more about how to save money. Fiscal stability could be achieved by simply putting aside 10% of your monthly earnings. Those monthly transfers into your savings account will quickly accumulate and turn into substantial funds for the future. You could even look into getting an IDA to match your contributions into your savings account.

Understand your resources when you’re back is against the wall.

Sometimes, we can try our best but whatever we do doesn’t seem to be good enough. When it comes to saving for the future or learning to spend sensibly, we can find ourselves against an increasing amount of debt. This can be either due to our spending habits or external issues beyond our control. But this means that when we feel that we have nobody to turn to there are things we can do. There’s always debt consolidation specialists and there is also the option to file for bankruptcy. Bankruptcy seems like the last refuge of someone who is in dire straits but there are certain components of bankruptcy that you can use to keep some of your assets such as filing a consumer proposal. Bankruptcy is the last port of call, but we can feel that there’s not enough help out there. Ideally, we wouldn’t want to get to this position, but there are things that can help us when we are desperate.

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