Smashing Magazine Killed The Community (Or Maybe It Was Me)

It used to be so much better than this. Every article that you came across wasn’t a tutorial or list. The majority of them weren’t tutorials or lists. There were articles that actually talked about design. There were articles that made you think how you could become a better designer and encouraged intellectual discussion on design. Those articles still exist here and there, but they are drowned out by the copycats.

All true. Always enjoy reading Smashing - but it's gotten so full of ads and articles you see everywhere else, it's not so special anymore.

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Inspiring Change, Removing Habits

I recently stumbled upon (lame social media pun) a very inspirational and interesting blog called Zen Habits. And while I don't exactly agree with the title or the author's religious views, I must say that the blog has some good information to help one clean out the clutter in their life. And that's just what I'm needing to do!

The first post I read while visiting the blog for the first time was called "29 Ways to Successfully Ingrain a Behavior". This "habit cheatsheet" as he called it, is very inspirational. Here are some main things regarding habit change in my life.

The Habits: First, I needed to realize and recognize what my habits were. Immediately two stuck out in my mind. One is definitely productivity. I get so distracted with other things (computer, television, music, etc.) that it's always hard for me to concentrate and be productive. The second is a nasty habit/addiction that I'm not going to mention specifically, but just note that I have really wanted to get rid of this one for a while, but it just kept coming back.

How to go about change: Another thing I learned in this post was that you can't just wake up one day and say you're going to change. It has to be a planned thing - with set dates and the works. You have to be serious about it. You don't just do it on a whim when you're in the mood for change. Which is something I always did. So here are my planned out dates:

NOVEMBER 2nd - DECEMBER 1st, 2009

These are the dates I have chosen (roughly 30 days) to change my habit. I must stay strong for these 30 days, and it will then be a successfully ingrained behavior for me.

Sure it's hard. Sure I might fail. But I will get back up and keep trying until I am 100% successful. My goals: to do better in work - not procrastinate, not get distracted, get work done - and to resist the other nasty habit I was mentioning earlier. I can do it, and so can you.

For your inspiration pleasure, I will link to a few Zen Habits articles that could give you the inspiration or motivational boost you've been needing to bring about change:

  1. Habit Change Cheatsheet: 29 Ways to Ingrain a Behavior
  2. 72 Ways to Simplify Your Life
  3. How Simplicity can Help Creativity
  4. 16 Ways to get Motivated When You're in a Slump

Those are just a few. Check out Zen Habits and read all the other great articles there - I highly reccommend it!

Filed under  //   Change   Habits   Inspiration   Motivation   Personal  

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Hello + Welcome

Hey everyone, and welcome to Blogging Matt, my personal blog. Before we get into the swing of things, let me tell you a little about myself.

My name is Matt. I'm just your typical guy that's into Walt Disney World (I even have a blog about this), design, photography, technology, creativity, social media, music, simplicity, and living life to it's fullest. Here is where I will be posting my thoughts about all these hobbies and more - whether it be in the form of a post, a link to something, a picture, a quote, or something else, I'm going to share stuff I'm thinking about and stuff I find interesting. Think of this as my online journal.

Also, I'm going through a life change. There is a lot of "junk" lately in my life that needs clearing out - so in other words, the next post or two might be about that. And I won't get into all that just yet.

So I hope you enjoy this new blog - since I'm starting a new chapter of my life, I figured I might as well start a new blog to go with it. Feel free to comment to say hi, congragulate me, yell at me, or any other reason. I'm ready for it all. On a side not, you can find me on Twitter, too.

See ya' at the next post!

Filed under  //   Announcements   Habits   Introduction   Personal  

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About

Hey there, and welcome to Matt's personal blog. I'm a guy into creativity, blogging, inspiration, simplicity, and living life to it's fullest.