“It turns out that living in the midst of conflict is really bad for our health.”
— Read on www.cnbc.com/2018/03/20/this-harvard-study-reveals-how-you-can-be-happier-and-more-successful.html
Tag Archives: seniors
The internet, cell phones and ipads for beginners.
Information overload
The abundance of information on the internet can feel overwhelming at times. There is a tendency to spend a lot of time surfing the net and/or downloading files, editing files etc. once you are on-line As a result people can shut down from going online or else feel that it is too complex to use, especially if they have not gotten used to it over the years. This may be true for some older people but many older people are very computer savvy. I have one friend who is 68 and is a guru with Garage Band, a program that generates music scores on a computer screen and generates print outs of scores in different keys for different instruments.
Mobile Devices/hardware
Ipads
I just love my Ipad. I have the Ipad mini which severed me well in my trip to Mexico. There are now Ipads that are cellular enabled so you don’t need to take an Iphone with you. However that is just wishfully thinking as the phone is easier to carry around. The new Ipad pro comes with a stylus for drawing programs which in on my wish list.
Cell phones
I can only speak about my iphones which I have been using since the Iphone4. I will list the useful apps I have on my phone and I pad and what they do. I especially like the transit apps for Translink in Vancouver and Google Maps.
Here is the highest rated phone on Amazon.
function | name of app | ipad | iphone | purpose | frequency of use |
3 = daily, 2 = weekly, 1 < weekly | |||||
entertainment | scrabble | x | x | play on line | 3 |
entertainment | CBC radio | x | listen on line | 1 | |
entertainment | x | x | read on line | 3 | |
entertainment | Facetime | x | x | talk on line | 1 |
entertainment | skype | x | x | talk on line | 1 |
entertainment | Vancouver Public Library | x | read on line | 1 | |
entertainment | overdrive | x | download from library, read on line | 3 | |
entertainment | brainHQ | x | play on line | 2 | |
entertainment | clarient tuner | x | x | play on line | 1 |
entertainment | Itunes | x | download | 1 | |
entertainment | optik TV | x | TV guide telus | 3 | |
entertainment | x | x | read on line | 3 | |
finances | Inverstorline BMO | x | x | read on line | 1 |
finances | Vectorvest stock advisory (paid) | x | x | read on line | 1 |
health | pacer | x | track steps | 3 | |
health | my ehealth | x | x | view lab tests on line | 1 |
travel | pay by phone | x | pay on line | 2 | |
travel | BMO account access | x | x | read on line | 2 |
travel | Hangtag | x | read on line | 1 | |
travel | transit360 | x | way finding | 2 | |
travel | findmycar | x | way finding | 1 | |
travel | airline apps | x | x | pay on line | 1 |
travel | google maps | x | x | way finding | 2 |
utilities | roboform | x | x | keeps passwords | 2 |
utilities | weathernetwork | x | x | weather | 3 |
utilities | x | x | read on line | 3 | |
utilities | drop box | x | x | save files | 1 |
utilities | daily notes | x | x | keeps notes | 1 |
utilities | flashlight | x | view things in the dark | 1 | |
utilities | magnifier 30x | x | enlarge print | 1 | |
utilities | google drive | x | x | safe files | 1 |
utilities | wordpress | x | x | post to blog | 1 |
seldom used | |||||
youtube | |||||
linked in | |||||
kindle |
Ipod
The chief value of the ipod that I can listen to music, the radio or pod casts and the battery doesn’t run down as fast as the battery in the iphone so you can listed for a couple of hours.
Navigating the internet
Site | functions | value |
---|---|---|
Set up your account. personal site created by you, open to viewing by your friends by adding them. You can upload pictures or links to other sites. | 5/5 Good way to stay connected with friends and family or special interest groups. Easy to use. | |
Set up your account.
Brief news feeds from selected organizations or individuals. |
3/5. Kind of a time waster but fascinating none-the-less. Nothing required of you unless you want to retweet a feed to your followers. Easy to use. | |
Download to Iphone to post pictures. Need to set up an account | 1/5 It seems popular with younger people. It could work as a photo album. You can share with selected people. | |
Skype | Download the program to computer, tables or phone. You can talk over the internet with a webcam and it is free to chat with people everywhere for free or minimal cost. | 4/5 Very useful for staying in touch with friends and family. |
Facetime | Like Skype but for MACs and IPads and Ipods | 5/5 Easier to use than Skype. |
A web site with a lot of eye candy, especially food, fashion and pets. You can post and view others posts. | 1/5 Popular with a certain demographic but not very useful. The recipe pictures are several clicks away from the recipes. Very annoying | |
YouTube | view short videos about many things, including music, how to videos including many videos about computer instructions. You can save videos if you set up and account. | 3/5 Entertainment, some self help. I don’t use this more than once a week. |
Downloading and uploading music- Itunes
If you want to have music or the spoken word while you walk or run, you will want to download files from your computer and/or from Itunes and upload it to your phone or ipod. You need your Apple ID and password to download. You can also download audio books and podcasts. The Itunes app will need to be installed on your computer and Iphone and and is free to use. However downloading music from Itunes costs about $ 1.00 per tune downloaded. You have to set up an Itunes account if you want to buy files to download. Itunes used to be easy to use but over the past couple of years it seems to be less user friendly. Apple is moving to a paid music subscription service call Spotify which is $10.00 a month so you can download as much music as you want. Once you download files to your computer into the Itunes program, the music will synch with your iphone and ipod by plugging the iphone or ipod into the computer USB port. You can also synch files on your computer via wifi or download files to your iphone directly from the Itunes app on your iphone.
Photos- uploading and downloading.
There are many packages for uploading photos and some are more complex than others. The easiest way is to install Icloud on your PC and IPhone. This takes about 5 minutes. You need your Apple ID and password to download the software from the Apple Store. Once it is set up on your PC you can choose what kind of files you want synched across your devices. Having you email and bookmarks synched on all your devices is a must have. I give Icloud a 4/5 but sometimes it stops working and you have to sign out and sign in again or restart or computer.
Password protection/software
My favourite software for saving passwords is RoboForm. I have used it for over 5 years and it is free. It saves all your passwords on your PC, your IPhone and Ipad and synchs them all. It is quick and easy to install. When you log into a site it presents you with the option to automatically save the password if it has not been previously saved. And if the password has been saved you click on the name of the password and it will automatically fill in the password. The whole system can be password protected. This software gets a 5/5 from me.
A review of books about retirement.
Ok lets start by reading about it.
Here is a list of books recommended by another blogger Pat Doyle. You can click on the link to open the link in Amazon.com or other sites where I found the book.
Designing Your Life.by Bill Burnett & Dave Evans., 4 star. Based on the Design Thinking approach but geared more towards finding your right career. It can be reapplied to retirement life as it’s actually very similar to how I approached new life design in retirement, being a product designer myself! I also liked this book as did the Retirement Wisdom reviewers. When the book finally arrived after about a month I found I liked it the best of all the books I read. ♥♥♥♥♥
Don’t Retire, Rewire! by Jeri Sedlar and Rick Miners. ♥♥♥♥♥ A “how-to” on defining satisfaction drivers , separating skills and strengths (with examples), examples of others “accomplishments”, and a how-to guide for working through what in your work life was satisfied by your drivers and how to brainstorm possibilities. Introduces interesting concept of 4 types of work: work for a wage, work for a fee, work for free, work for me. I also liked this book. I liked the categories of what you get out of work and how you can replicate the same “hierarchy of needs” outside of the work environment. However I would add a Fun Factor to their list. Right, many people don’t have fun at work so there are some value adds to retirement that you don’t get out of work.
The Happiness Project (Revised Edition): Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun
This is my personal favourite although it’s not about retirement specifically. The website has five 21 day projects that can take you over the hump while you are figuring out what you want to do with the rest of your life.♥♥♥♥♥
The Joy of Retirement by David C. Borchard. 5 star – Lots of how-to for defining who you want to be in retirement and the lifestyle that will help you be that person. Big sections on roles, talents, and values in defining your vision statement. Love the fact he does not assume where you will be on the continuum of working versus traditional leisure-based retirement. Combines easy to use tools as well as insightful examples of practical next steps. Pat says she wishes she had read it sooner in her journey. Borchard also offers his assessments on-line for $ 35 US. I think the tests are included in the books so it would be cheaper to buy the book. I tired the tests and found they were targeted at career planning more than retirement planning. According to the tests my Passion Distribution is Right Brain Creator and Left Brain Organizer which explains why I am doing a blog. I didn’t find the book or the tests as helpful as some of the books below.♥♥♥♥♥
I ran out of interest in reading about retirement after 3 books so the remaining books are as reviewed by Pat.
How to Retire Happy, Wild and Free. by Ernie J Zelinski . 5 star – An easy-to-read conversational style. Introduces the possibilities “get a life tree”; real people case studies (as opposed to all professional, CEO types), focus on “leisure” (not work) so unique in that!♥♥♥♥♥
65 Things to Do When You Retire is in fact 65 interesting essays about retirement from all kinds of people, on all kinds of topics, many very inspiring. edited by Mark Evans Chimsky. ♥♥♥♥
What Color Is Your Parachute? for Retirement, Second Edition: Planning a Prosperous, Healthy, and Happy Future.
Some stuff on finances, but lots on health and happiness. Great background on core values, theory and application of happiness (positive psychology), and practical how-to especially on self reflection and life portfolio. ♥♥♥♥
Now What? Know who you are , Get what you want. By Laura Berman Fortgang. Easy style, how-to-process! Focus is on second career or what did you always want to do so you will be happy, but process can be reapplied to new retirement life situation (or even divorce) Lots of exercises done as answering questions, but good, insightful questions versus generic “how do you feel about this?”♥♥♥♥
Creating Your Best Life: The Ultimate Life List Guide by Caroline Adams Miller and Dr Michael Frisch – helpful in creating your “life list” beyond traditional bucket lists with “things to accomplish” or “ways to live” thinking.♥♥♥♥
Second-Act Careers: 50+ Ways to Profit from Your Passions During Semi-Retirement by Nancy Collamer. An in-depth look at part-time income stream possibilities with lots of resource connections (to get more information). Great for possibilities exploration. Second half on self-reflection not as good as other books, but there.♥♥♥♥
The Couple’s Retirement Puzzle: 10 Must-Have Conversations for Creating an Amazing New Life Together by Roberta K. Taylor and Dorian Mintzer. 3 star but is unique in that it talks about transitioning as a duo in life. Covers all the big domains.♥♥♥
Here is another highly recommended book by Ken Blanchard and Morton Shaevitz Refire! Don’t Retire: Make the Rest of Your Life the Best of Your Life reviewed by the website Retirement Wisdom. Blanchard is a well known best selling author on many management topics. I have booked a download from the Vancouver Public Library e-books. The Retirement Wisdom website also has a list of recommended retirement books.
How Technology Can Make Retirement Harder for Couples
How to Make Money in Retirement: 14 Real Ways to Boost Income
New Study Uncovers The Upside Of Retirement Leisure: The Freedom Zone | HuffPost
Finally there is a fun factor to retirement
Source: New Study Uncovers The Upside Of Retirement Leisure: The Freedom Zone | HuffPost
Retirement & New Relationships — retirementtransition by Pat Doyle
Following my last post on finding a new herd, I thought I’d look back on one of the biggest changes I’ve experienced in my transition into retirement – relationship connections. Even 3 years into retirement this continues to be a personal challenge. While I was working, I interacted with a lot of people every day. […]