1. PHP is a programming language, whereas Rails is a framework for writing web applications using the Ruby programming language. So right off the bat this is not an apples-to-apples comparison.
   1. There are a lot of PHP web application frameworks. Some are good and some are not (for some definition of the word good.) Many frameworks (including Java and .NET based frameworks) have borrowed heavily from Rails.
2. Ruby is a very succinct language. This means that you can be very expressive and do a lot in very few lines of code. PHP is very well known, so it might be easier for many people not familiar with Ruby to stay with PHP.
3. PHP programs tend to require less memory to run so they tend to be easier to deploy. With the release of mod_rails and Ruby Enterprise Edition Rails becomes easier to deploy than PHP once the initial Apache add-ons are made.
   1. PHP programs require less memory because by default they don’t have the overhead of a web framework. Although I haven’t seen any stats on this, I would imagine that a PHP app running inside a web framework as robust as Rails would have similar memory requirements.
   2. The additional add-ons only have to be made once per machine and are super easy to do.
   3. Rails is easier instead of just as easy because Rails has migrations which make deployment of database changes easier than any open or commercial solution I have ever seen.
4. They are both equally easy or difficult to scale. The first level of scaling is just adding more memory/cpu/server instances. When scaling thusly they are both just as easy. Once this level of scaling is exhausted, they are both equally hard requiring all of the same methods as scaling any other web application on the internet: Code optimizations, caching, more servers, database scaling, content delivery networks and more.
5. Rails is cooler. Sorry, but it’s true. Don’t worry though, eventually there will be something even cooler than Rails and then I’ll write an article comparing that to PHP or Rails.
6. I’m sure there are exceptions to this, but in general the results of using Rails (final product) will be heads and shoulders (probably even arms and legs) above the results by someone who wrote their own web application framework.
7. The following would be true of any MVC framework (like Rails) worth anything, regardless of language:
   1. Code is well encapsulated.
   2. Anyone familiar with the framework should be able to pick up where someone else left off fairly easily.
   3. Standards and best practices are well defined.
   4. One should be able to do a lot with very few lines of code.
8. Things Rails does for you that seem to be specific to Rails (I would assume that somewhere there is another web application framework that does some or all of these things, but I am not aware of one).
   1. Super easy to write a lot of code/test/functionality in record time.
   2. Database versioning.
   3. REST/crud is very deeply ingrained.
   4. Lots and lots of helper methods.
   5. Significant JavaScript/AJAX support.
   6. Very easy to extend.
   7. Built in testing.
   8. Vibrant community.
      1. Lots of plugins.
      2. Lots of blogs/tips/tutorials.
      3. Lots of conferences/friends.
      4. Very well tested.
   9. Feels like it was written just for me (most of the time).
   10. Easy for a designer to learn.
   11. Because so much is done for me by the framework, I can spend more time working and thinking about the users and what’s best for them instead of things like rewriting my database connectivity stack.

My advice

Picking one over the other has more to do with who you trust to build your application for you and what they like. Or if you are a developer, find out which one best fits your tastes and temperament. Neither will save you from bad code or bad decisions or misunderstanding but for me Rails feels like home. Find something that feels like home and then go write something that users will love.

Here are a few things we’ve written using Rails: Less Accounting, More Honey (time tracking), Less Projects (project task tracking), Less Memories (personal memory management), Lovd by Less (open source social network)

“Our life is frittered away by detail. Simplify, simplify.” - Henry David Thoreau

What would you do if you had an extra hour a day?

This is a common barrier I run into when I write about making positive life changes: people don’t have time to pursue their dreams. People don’t have time to exercise. People don’t have time to get organized.

Well, it’s time to make time.

By using some combination of the following, you can free up an hour or more a day. Find the ones that work for you (not all will work for everyone), and then carve out that hour a day.

Then make sure you use that extra hour a day in the best way possible — book that hour on your calendar for something you really, really want to do, whether that’s work on a goal, write a book, start a business, exercise, read more, or whatever. Don’t squander this gift of time!

1. Make an appointment right after work. Whether it’s exercise or working on some other goal, make an appointment to do it right when you get out of work (at 5 p.m., for example). This works especially well if you have to meet someone else, such as a workout partner or other group or team or coach or partner. You’ll be sure to meet the appointment, which means you won’t stick around work too long, and you’ll be sure to finish all your tasks on time so you can leave on time. This makes you more efficient in the afternoon especially.
2. Wake up earlier. I’ve written about this before, of course, but I’ve found time for goals that are important to me by waking a bit earlier. Exercise, writing, reading — I do those now early in the day, so it doesn’t interfere with family time. Early in the day works well for me and many others, simply because there’s not much going on to distract or interrupt at this time of day.
3. Turn off the phones. You don’t have to turn off phones all day long, but you should have some unbroken blocks of time when you don’t take calls, so you can concentrate on your important tasks. This allows you to get more done in less time, as phone calls can eat up chunks of your day if you let them.
4. Stop checking email. This doesn’t work for everyone, but if you can stop checking email except at one or two times during the day, you can free up a lot of wasted time. Checking email constantly takes up a lot of time.
5. Brown bag it. Many people I know take an hour or more for lunch. While a relaxing lunch can be a good thing, if you take lunch to work, you can eat quickly and either spend the extra time 1) working on a goal; or 2) getting work done so you can leave earlier. Plus, brown bagging it saves money too.
6. Figure out your core work activities. What is it that you really have to do each day? I mean, the stuff you have to do or your job would fall apart. If you really think about it, a lot of the tasks you do each day (and phone calls and emails, mentioned above, are included in these tasks) don’t really need to be done each day. Sometimes you can do them less often, sometimes you don’t need to do them at all. If you can learn to focus on your core activities, you can get your work done in less time.
7. Cancel a meeting or two. Think about the last 4-5 meetings you’ve gone to. How many of them were really valuable? How many of them did you need to be at? It depends on your job, but sometimes you can beg out of a meeting — or just outright cancel it if you have that power — and accomplish the same thing through an email or two. You just saved yourself 30-60 minutes per meeting canceled.
8. Delegate. Not everyone has this option, but if you can give some of the tasks on your list to others who are better suited to doing those tasks, you’ll free up time. Do you really need to be doing everything you do, or can some of those tasks be delegated?
9. Consolidate errands. If you routinely do errands throughout the week, you’re spending a lot of time driving. Instead, try to do all errands on one day, and plan out an efficient route. Most people will save at least an hour a week in total.
10. Know your priority. What is the one thing you need to do today? Get that done, above all else, and do it first. After you do that priority task, the rest is extra really. Cut back on some of the rest to free up time.
11. Shrink your task list. Once you’ve identified your core work activities and your top priority for the day, go over your task list and whittle it down to the essentials. Put tasks you don’t need to do now on a someday/maybe list, delete others, delegate others. Keep your task list down to the essentials, to keep from wasting time.
12. Say no. One of the biggest groups of time eaters is requests from other people. All day long we get requests, in person, on the phone, in email, through paperwork. Meetings, assignments, requests for information, requests to be on a committee or team … these are all requests that will eat up your time. Say no to all but the essentials.
13. Get to the point. While I’m a fan of long, slow conversations, if you’re trying to make time for goals, you need to whittle down needlessly long conversations — especially if it’s just with a co-worker who isn’t a close friend. In person or on the phone, you need to get straight to the point with a minimum of chit-chat, and if the other person isn’t getting to the point, politely ask what he needs from you.
14. Watch less TV. Many people watch hours of TV a day. You can easily save an hour a day if you cut TV out, or just watch your single favorite show each day. Don’t channel surf.
15. Read less online. If you’re like me, you can spend hours a day reading online. Limit your online reading and focus on your essential tasks.
16. Don’t talk long on the phone. Long phone conversations can eat up a lot of your time. Instead, know what you want to accomplish and try to get that done quickly. If someone else is calling you, encourage them to get to the point, and then wrap it up when you’re done. Tell them you have to go because you’ve got something else to get to.
17. Avoid IM and Twitter and the like. I’m not saying these types of instant communication don’t have their uses, but if they’re always on and you’re always available, you’re always at the mercy of others. Instead, just make yourself available at set times if necessary, or not at all if it’s not necessary. (And yes, I know the irony of giving this advice after I just started Twittering.)
18. Search, don’t file. I used to spend a lot of time filing all my computer files and all my emails into nice, organized folders. I’d spend time every day doing this. Now, I just archive everything, on computer and email, and search when I need something. With Quicksilver on the Mac, every file is within a few keystrokes. With Gmail, every email is accessible instantly. No time spent filing!
19. Leave early. If you’re using these time-saving tips, you should be able to finish your essential work early. If so, don’t use the extra time to just do more work … leave early! Of course, you’ll probably have to talk to your boss about this, but many people have flexible hours and many bosses would be happy to let you go early if you get your work done. If you set your own hours, set an earlier time to leave and you’ll ensure that you get your work done by that time.
20. Get the kids to help out. At home, if you have kids, it saves huge heaploads of time if you let the kids help with cleaning and other tasks. At first, of course, it will cost you time because you have to teach them to do things. But once they learn … it’ll free up much of your time. My kids can help clean the house, reducing by 2/3 the amount of time I have to spend cleaning. Of course, they made the mess in the first place, but that’s another story.
21. Educate others. Is there something that other people submit to you that you routinely have to edit or reformat? Teach these people (maybe with an FAQ or tutorial) how to do it right or how you need it so you don’t have to make changes. Are there mistakes people are doing that you routinely have to fix? Are there things you have to do yourself because others don’t know how to do it? Educate them, and save yourself tons of time. It takes time at first, but the payoff is huge.
22. Automate things. If people submit stuff to you, or if you routinely have to do routine work, find ways to have the process automated. Technology works wonders these days.
23. Just say, “That’s enough.” Often you are overloaded with information and tasks. But if you don’t respond to all of your emails today, or don’t read all of the posts in your RSS reader, or don’t get to all the tasks on your to-do lists … what will happen? If nothing drastic will happen, consider stopping when you’ve gotten to enough.
24. Start work early. If you work before everyone gets in the office, you won’t have constant interruptions and distractions. You’ll be amazed how much you can get done between 6 a.m. and 8 a.m. I used to do it when I worked in an office, and because I didn’t take a lunch break — I at ate my desk while working) I could get off at 2 p.m. and spend time with my kids.
25. Give others authority. If you have to approve things or make decisions, you might be a bottleneck — things move slower if they have to be channeled through you. Instead, give others the authority to make decisions — with clear instructions about what decisions should be made under what circumstances, and what the limits of their authority are. That’ll remove a bottleneck and free you up from having to make a bunch of huge decisions. Just have a way to monitor things as necessary.

—
If you liked this article, please share it on Yahoo Buzz, del.icio.us, StumbleUpon or Digg. I’d appreciate it. :)

“I think this President has shown a remarkable disrespect for his office, for the moral dimensions of leadership, for his friends, for his wife, for his precious daughter. It is breathtaking to me the level to which that disrespect has risen.”

I love Edwards’s politics. I wanted to vote for him this year. But I never get tired of finding these quotes from those who wagged their fingers at Clinton who later get caught running around on their own wives.

"...at the beginning of the 21st century in Italy, where is known as Connettivismo. It originated in Italian science fiction as an initiative of a group of writers, bloggers and artists. The name is derived from the imaginary doctrine that connects the specific knowledge of other disciplines, as introduced by Canadian science fiction author Alfred Elton van Vogt." (Source: Wikipedia)

""Connectivism, is a learning theory for the digital age," has been developed by George Siemens based on his analysis of the limitations of behaviourism, cognitivism and constructivism to explain the effect technology has had on how we live, how we communicate, and how we learn." (Source: Wikipedia)

What Is The Unique Idea In Connectivism?

Late last week, I threw out a question to Gary Stager on Twitter: "when a constructivist constructs knowledge, where does it reside physically/biologically?". Gary replied with something along the lines of "we don't know and I don't care. I can teach well without knowing the details of how the mind works". Fair enough. Different educators adopt different approaches in order to makesense of the teaching and learning process. I'm trying to define it from the perspective of how our mind works. Gary is - in true constructionist form (and I don't mean that negatively!) - is focused more on the practical results and activities. Gary then asked a critical question: what is the unique idea in connectivism? The response takes a bit longer than the 140 characters allowed by Twitter, so I'll tackle it here. First, a new idea is often an old idea in today's context. For example, what is the new idea in constructivism? That people construct their own knowledge? Or the social, situated nature of learning? Or that knowledge is not something that exists outside of a knower? (i.e. there is no "there" out there). Obviously each of those concepts can easily be traced to numerous philosophers. The ideas have existed in various forms over 2000 years ago. What is new with constructivism today is that these principles are being (have been) coupled with existing calls for educational reform by individuals such as Spencer, Dewey, and Piaget. See Kieran Egan's book Getting it Wrong from the Beginning for a more detailed exploration. But it is more than just the shift in policy and calls for increased learner control. Constructivism made sense in that it rode on the cultural trends and philosophical viewpoints of the day. As authority in society shifted, Truth was questioned, post-modernism flourished, and our understanding of diverse cultures and ways of knowing increased, it only seemed natural that cognitivism and behaviourism took a back seat. What is new in constructivism, and please provide commentary if you disagree, is that it combined existing ideas into a framework that resonated with the needs and trends of the current era. In this regard, connectivism also shares in bringing to the forefront ideas of philosophers and theorists from previous generations. Much of what is unique is the particular combination and integration of ideas that reflect the broader societal and information-based trends. But I do think there are unique ideas in connectivism. Before I get into those, however, I'll address some of the existing theory that serves as the fertile soil of connectivism (and, I think, to a large degree constructivism).

From Whence Does Connectivism Originate?

1. Tools augment our ability to interact with each other and to act. Tools are extensions of humanity, increasing our ability to externalize our thinking into forms that we can share with others. Language is an example. Activity theory provides a basis in this regard. So does the socio-cultural work of Vygotsky. Gibson's notion of affordances of tools, while based in his research on perception, also serves a role in validating tool use. And how could we leave Wittgenstein's notion of negotiated understanding out of a language discussion? Similarly, tools are "carriers of patterns of previous reasoning" (Pea) and reflect some type of ideology. This view is also prominent in Postman's assertion that all technology carries an ideology.


2. Contextual/situated nature of learning. Situated learning draws from the work of Lave and Wenger, though, it's not too much of a stretch to say that Papert's emphasis on active doing fits this at least partly.


3. Social learning theory. Here we can draw from Bandura's emphasis on self-efficacy, Bruner, Vygotsky, and others.


4. Epistemological views: all learning theory is rooted in epistemology (even though von Glaserfeld declares we are in a post-epistemological era, suggesting that providing a theory of knowledge is exactly what constructivism cannot do). As an epistemological basis for connectivism, I've found Stephen Downes' work on connective knowledge valuable. More recently, Dave Cormier has been advancing the concept of rhizomatic knowledge and community as curriculum.


5. Concept of mind. The notion of mind is enormously complex. We encounter a unique blend of philosophers, neuroscientists, and artificial intelligence in this area such as Churchlands, Papert and Minsky, McClelland and Rumelhart, Clark (embodied cognition), Spivey, and more. Mind is seen - too varying degrees - as embodied and distributed across numerous devices, relationships and artifacts. Hutchins popularized the notion in his text on Distributed Cognition. These concepts are also reflected in Weicks' papers on heedful interrelating. Salomon's edited text on Distributed Cognitions extends these ideas into an educational context.


6. We also find a compatible view of connectivism in the work of new media theorists such as McLuhan, exploring the impact of technology on what it means to be a human. The impact of technology on humanity will continue to grow in greater prominence as we are increasingly able to augment human cognitive functioning through pharmaceuticals and the future promise of embedded chips.


7. We also find support for connectivism in the more nebulous theories of complextiy and systems-based thinking. For example, Mason, Davis, and others, recently published a series of articles on the impact of complexity theory on the enterprise of education. Individuals like Barnnett suggest it should more accurately be called "supercomplexity" as we are not able to even begin to understand the directions things will take in the future.


8. Network theory. Sociologists, mathematicians, and physicists have spent several decades defining networks and network attributes. We are able to define key network structures, manner of behaviour, and flow of information. Concepts like small worlds, power laws, hubs, structural holes, and weak/strong ties are common in literature. Educational focus of networks comes from work by Starr-Roxanne Hiltz, Chris Jones, Martin de Laat, and others. Networks are prominent in all aspects of society, not just education. This prominence is partly due to the recognizable metaphor of the internet...but networks have always existed. As Barabasi states, networks are everywhere. We just need an eye for them.

The Unique Ideas In Connectivism

1. Connectivism is the application of network principles to define both knowledge and the process of learning. Knowledge is defined as a particular pattern of relationships and learning is defined as the creation of new connections and patterns as well as the ability to maneuver around existing networks/patterns.


2. Connectivism addresses the principles of learning at numerous levels - biological/neural, conceptual, and social/external. This is a key concept that I'll be writing about more during the online course. What I'm saying with connectivism (and I think Stephen would share this) is that the same structure of learning that creates neural connections can be found in how we link ideas and in how we connect to people and information sources. One scepter to rule them all.


3. Connectivism focuses on the inclusion of technology as part of our distribution of cognition and knowledge. Our knowledge resides in the connections we form - where to other people or to information sources such as databases. Additionally, technology plays a key role of:
   • Cognitive grunt work in creating and displaying patterns.
   • Extending and enhancing our cognitive ability.
     
   • Holding information in ready access form (for example, search engines, semantic structures, etc).
   We see the beginning of this concept in tool-based discussions of Activity Theory. Connectivism acknowledges the prominence of tools as a mediating object in our activity system, but then extends it by suggesting that technology plays a central role in our distribution of identity, cognition, and thereby, knowledge.


4. Context. While other theories pay partial attention to context, connectivism recognizes the fluid nature of knowledge and connections based on context. As such, it becomes increasingly vital that we focus not on pre-made or pre-defined knowledge, but on our interactions with each other, and the context in which those interactions arise. The context brings as much to a space of knowledge connection/exchange as do the parties involved in the exchange.


5. Understanding. Coherence. Sensemaking. Meaning. These elements are prominent in constructivism, to a lessor extent cognitivism, and not at all in behaviourism. But in connectivism, we argue that the rapid flow and abundance of information raises these elements to critical importance. As stated at the start of this post, constructivism found it's roots of growth in the social reform-based climate and post-modern era. Connectivism finds its roots in the climate of abundance, rapid change, diverse information sources and perspectives, and the critical need to find a way to filter and make sense of the chaos. As such, the networked centrality of connectivism permits a scaling of both abundance and diversity. The information climate of continual and ongoing change raises the importance of being continually current. As Anderson has stated, "more is different". The "more" of information and technology today, and the need to stay current, forms the climate that gives roots to connectivism.

The best thing a manager can do for his employees, in my opinion, is to make their lives easier by eliminating or simplifying tedious tasks that are not directly related to their employees’ job descriptions.

Here’s a list of some of those extraneous tasks that make employees frustrated:

• Being unable to determine who is responsible for certain projects or activities within a company;
• Not understanding key processes, such as how to file an expense report;
• Not knowing what is expected of them and not having any clear goals;
• Having to beg and crawl through the office asking for looking for key resources, like customer data and sales records;
• Being left out of the loop about changes until the day of implementation; and
• Lastly, not knowing whom to report to regarding specific activities.

All of these issues are commonplace in the workforce and they are a constant pest to both employees and employers; the most important thing to note is that all of these issues are solvable using knowledge management.

Knowledge management is a simple concept; take all of the specialized knowledge needed to run your organization and put it into one place where employees can find it. We use it at work and it saves me a lot of trouble.

So if you’re interested in figuring out how to use knowledge management to make your employees’ lives easier, try these five things:

1. Institutionalize Knowledge

The institutionalization of knowledge is a concept that I first came across when I was required to read sections of Built to Last: The Successful Habits of Visionary Companies when I joined a college fraternity.

Truly great companies take the knowledge required to perform any task within the organization and compile it into a canon, thus making the task of passing on that knowledge to new employees much more trivial compared to companies that don’t institutionalize knowledge.

Take my word for it – investing some time into putting all of your company’s specialized knowledge into one place is well-worth the trouble. Your employees won’t have to come and ask you where they can find information about X, Y, and Z if you build a robust knowledge repository and show them how to use it.

2. Clearly Define Responsibilities then Publish Them

The Org Chart is not dead, folks. Org charts are a useful planning tool for planning the structure of your organization, but using them to clearly define reporting structures is crucial too. Think about it – many of your employees are going to have to reach across departments in order to get their work done; sales guys have to talk to marketing guys, marketing guys have to talk to the IT guys, IT guys have to talk to the HR guys, and the beat goes on.

Do your direct reports a favor and give them a hint – publish an org chart with responsibilities listed on it. Let the marketing guys know which guy in IT handles pushing live content onto the company website, let the sales guy know which guy in marketing writes the copy for corporate resale, let the IT guys know which guy in HR is schedules the interviews.

If you can’t fit all of that information onto an org chart then you should still do something. When I interned for a Fortune 500 company a few years back I was able to actually search through the company intranet to find people responsible for very specific operations that were related to my work; that’s another solution if an annotated org chart won’t cut it.

3. Organize Work into Processes

Your work and your direct reports’ work should be organized into processes when possible. Processes make it much easier to train new employees and they also make it easier to measure the quality of results.

Have your reports document how they perform routine tasks and put it in the knowledge repository; many business processes don’t change all that frequently – personnel changes but processes shouldn’t. Having those processes documented in a knowledge repository will prevent newcomers from having to reinvent the wheel every time they need to do something routine.

Knowing that there’s a standard way to handle routine tasks, like filing an expense report, eliminates a lot of the guesswork for new employees and this generally makes for a much easier transition into the organization.

4. Invest More Time into Orienting New Hires with the Company Knowledgebase

One thing that employers should do more often is spend more time orienting employees with the company knowledgebase. You, the manager, will have a pretty good idea about all of the stuff that your direct reports are going to run into over the course of their work.

Give new hires some orientation materials which explain to them how to perform some standard routines within your business and, even better, how to use any knowledge management systems that your organization implements.

It seems to me that a lot of managers are comfortable letting their new hires figure everything out for themselves via trial by fire; I say “that’s wasteful” and ultimately, frustrating for those new hires. Instead, throw them a bone with some decent orientation materials.

5. Keep Stored Knowledge Current

Once you’ve made the investment of building a reliable knowledge management system then it’s important to keep that information up-to-date. A knowledge repository full of incorrect, outdated information isn’t much more helpful to your employees than not having a knowledge repository to begin with.

Have you and your direct reports spend some time to periodically revisit and update your company’s knowledgebase. Keep it up to date and make it easy for new hires and for direct reports with new responsibilities to find what they need to get the job done.

I think that the combination of all of these things will really make life a lot easier for your employees and training a breeze. Consider giving it a try in your organization.

By the way, my company uses Microsoft SharePoint for its knowledge management system and it works reasonably well. What knowledge management solutions have you tried? Are there some good practices for knowledge management that I left off of this list?

Photo Credit: books in a stack (a stack of books) by http://www.flickr.com/photos/austinevan/1225274637/

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Who has the time to go to the gym, or buy expensive equipment, or take long bike rides?

Well, if those are the things stopping you, you’re in luck.

It takes no equipment to get a great workout and get in shape, and with one or two pieces of simple equipment, you can turn that great workout into a fantastic one, you magnificent beast, you.

And with little or no equipment required for a fantastic workout, you can do it at home, or wherever you are. Even if you’re in solitary confinement.

It’s hard not to find time for this type of workout — you can do it while watching TV, for goodness sake!

The Pros and Cons of Bodyweight Exercises

Using just your bodyweight, you can do a large number of challenging exercises. I designed a workout that I do when I can’t make it to the gym, for example, and I can testify that it’s incredibly challenging (more on that below).

If you add just one or two pieces of equipment: a dumbbell, a kettlebell, a jump rope, a medicine ball, or a chinup bar, for example, you can increase the challenge even more.

Now, I’m not putting down lifting weights — I truly believe in lifting heavy weights when you can, but there are tremendous benefits from bodyweight exercises as well:

1. No gym fees or need to buy expensive equipment.
2. You can do the workout anywhere, anytime.
3. Most exercises involve many muscles working in coordination, resulting in great overall fitness and strength.
4. For people who are just starting with strength training, bodyweight is often more than enough to begin with. And it gives you a good foundation of strength you can build on later.

Bodyweight exercises aren’t the only thing you should ever do, however, for several reasons:

1. After awhile (a couple months perhaps), they aren’t all that challenging. You’ll need to continue to build your strength by adding weights. You can do that with some simple equipment (see below).
2. If you don’t have at least one or two pieces of equipment — a chinup bar or a resistance band perhaps — some muscles don’t get worked out as much as others. That’s not a problem over the short term, but over the long term you’ll want to make sure you get a balance.

I suggest starting with bodyweight exercises, and then slowly transitioning to a combination of bodyweight and weight training to get a good balance. And even if you’re doing a complete weight training program, you can always use bodyweight exercises anytime you can’t make it to the gym.

My Workout — Just a Sample

What follows is a little workout I’ve been doing recently when I can’t go to the gym — it’s just a collection of exercises that use compound muscles and joints to give me a total-body workout with nothing but my bodyweight and my chinup bar.

However, this is not the only workout you can do — not by a long shot. This is a sample, but you should look at the next section for a much wider variety of challenges.

How to do this workout: do a bit of a warmup — jumping jacks, jump rope, or just jogging in place for a few minutes will get your heart rate going. Then do the exercises in order, for 30 seconds to two minutes (depending on what kind of shape you’re in), with as little rest in between as possible. If you’re new to exercise, feel free to rest fully between exercises, but if you’re in decent shape, doing them one after another is a great workout. Like me, you’ll probably have to stop to catch your breath a few times — it’s a tough workout!

1. Pullups (palms facing away from you). Chinup bar required (here’s the one I use). (Video.)
2. Pushups. As many as you can (video). Do modified pushups if you can’t do full pushups, with your knees on the floor (video). If those are still too hard, do wall pushups, leaning against the wall or a chair.
3. Jump squats. Basically you squat down until your thighs are parallel to the floor, then jump up as high as you can, and repeat. (Video.)
4. Bicycle crunches. I don’t normally recommend crunches, but these use a good combination of core muscles. (Video.)
5. Jumping lunges. (Video.)
6. Burpees. (Video.)
7. Hanging knee raises. Chinup bar required. (Video.)
8. Hindu pushups. (Video.)
9. Russian twists. (Video, but you don’t need to use the medicine ball as shown.)
10. Diamond pushups. (Video.)
11. Chinups (palms facing toward you). Chinup bar required. (Video.)

Create Your Own Awesome Workout

Now that you’ve seen my sample workout, you can create your own by picking whatever exercises tickle your fancy. Just choose 5-12 exercises and do them all, either with or without resting. Once that gets easy, do a second circuit.

A few suggestions:

1. Choose a variety of exercises that work out all the parts of your body. Don’t do all variations of pushups, for example. You should be doing some pulling exercises (like pullups), some lower-body exercises, like lunges and squats, and others that work out all of your body, like burpees.
2. If you want a real challenge, mix cardio exercises (see below) with the strength exercises.
3. If you have some of the equipment listed below, definitely use them. Or buy one or two pieces of equipment … but there’s no need to rush out and buy a whole bunch of things. You can get a great workout without equipment, at least for awhile.
4. If you’re just starting out, take it easy and gradually build up. Don’t get discouraged, and don’t overdo it!
5. As you get stronger, gradually add weights. Dumbbells, barbells, kettlebells, and medicine balls are some good ways to do that. It’ll take a couple months of bodyweight exercises, though, before you really need to move to weights.

Basic bodyweight exercises

There are many, many variations of bodyweight exercises, but here are some of the more common ones:

• Pushups (there are many variations — Hindu pushups (video), dive bombers, diamond pushups (video) and others)
• Burpees (video)
• Squats (video) (variations: jump squats (video), Hindu squats (video))
• Lunges (video) (variation: jumping lunges, side lunges)
• Chair dips (video)
• Planks (video) (variation: side plank)
• Crunches - my favorite: bicycle crunches (video)
• Bear crawl - crawl quickly on hands and feet (video)
• Lateral barrier jump - jump sideways, over an obstacle (video)
• Isometrics
• Plyometrics

Exercises requiring minimal equipment

You don’t need to buy all of this equipment, but if you have any, these are great. Or buy one or two pieces in order to add an extra challenge to your workout:

• Pullup bar: Chinups, pullups, hanging knee raises (here’s the one I use)
• Resistance band
• Medicine ball
• Kettlebell (video)
• Dumbbells
• Tractor tires — there are lots of exercises where you flip tires, jump through them, etc.

Cardio exercises

• Jumping jacks
• Jump rope - requires jump rope, of course, but it’s a great workout (video)
• Side shuffles
• Touchdowns
• Run 800 meters (or a mile)
• Interval running
• Rowing (requires a rowing machine)
• Other cardio exercise machine if you have it

Do you have a favorite minimalist workout routine? Let us know in the comments.

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Elsewhere: The Tremendous Importance of Reading for Writers, What Leo’s Reading, and an Ask the Readers

“Consider everything an experiment.” 10 rules from Sister Corita Kent at Hi + Low.

“Be intent on action, not on the fruits of action. Avoid attraction to the fruits and attachment to inaction.” Get Rich Slowly weighs in on finding fulfillment in your work.

“Be safe and be optimistic. There is a lot to be grateful for…and just as much to look forward to.” After having lost two close friends to suicide, Tim Ferriss shares three ways to overcome depression.

“When you adopt obsession, you require hard hits of big things to wake up the you that has become numb. It’s as if food has to be spicier, saltier, and fattier. Music has to be louder and faster. Moments need to be “events” to get you to notice them. It takes more flash to feel good. It takes more bling to be present. When you remember delight - you taste, you express, and you smile. You remember to feed yourself and be fed. You remember to notice. You cherish.” Christine Kane on The Architecture of Delight.

“You have to be satisfied with yourself as you are now in order to truly appreciate the change in the future.” Pam tells us why the road to hell is paved with self improvement.

“It takes courage, but remember not to trade in what you want most, for what you want now.” Stephen Covey shares some wise advice on How to Strike a Work and Life Balance.

“One day, you might still become more than your car, your condo, your clothes and your credit cards. But first you will have to climb past Level 4. Good luck.” Mr Wang on Conspicuous Consumption And The Growth of Human Beings, or how flashy yuppies paint themselves into a corner.

“All that is required of you to come across as confident, is a healthy love for yourself. Being completely grounded and comfortable in who you are.” If being a yuppie is seriously not your style, Kinowear gives you some good advice on how to avoid The Psychotic Yuppie Mentality.

“It does not matter the language. Spirit, mind and heart are the most important things.” Bujinkan senior Pedro Fleitas writes about the day he discovered communication through the heart from a drunk Japanese man. An appropriate inspiring link to end this post with as I’m be heading to Japan for the next two weeks myself, and training in the Bujinkan home dojo. See you soon!

Me, goaded by my girlfriend into a sheepish jumonji no kamae pose at the beach.

1. Understand the benefits
   Most people vastly underestimate the value of daily physical activity. There are both physical health benefits as well as productivity benefits. The physical health benefits include obvious things such as burning calories and increased metabolism resulting in increased weight loss. Exercise also lowers the risk of heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure and helps to maintain healthy cholesterol levels.
   
   Exercise also helps with a number of things that improve life productivity. These include increased energy, better sleep patterns, and reduced stress. All of these allow you to be more productive in your work and play. Physical activity also reduces the risk of depression, increases your self-confidence and in general helps improve your mental state.


2. Just get started
   Often the hardest part of any task is getting started. Just like a train engine uses the most energy getting up to speed, we often struggle to start anything new, especially exercise. Therefore the priority needs to be on just starting.
   
   Do something physical. You do not need to start by purchasing expensive equipment or joining a gym, instead you can start by going outside for a walk. Take a thirty-minute walk, or play a game with your kids; do something active. By doing something right away, you are starting to gain momentum. Once you've done something basic the first time or two, you can start developing your plan to maintain the practice and to develop the habit.


3. Develop a set time
   Having a set time to exercise each day is an important way to keep you focused and accountable. The time you choose to exercise will depend a lot on your work schedule and productivity habits. One of the most popular times to exercise is in the morning. If you set yourself the goal to exercise in the morning you can complete it and know that you've started your day by completing one of your most important goals first.
   
   Another popular time is immediately following work, or between 4 and 6 PM. Here exercise serves as valuable transition between work time and your evening schedule. It allows you to de-stress from what you have been doing all day and clear your mind from problems that should be "left at the office".
   
   If you have a more flexible schedule, such as people who work from home, you may want to exercise in the middle of the day or when your productivity tends to slip. Often people will have a productivity decline in the mid-afternoon. Exercise can be a valuable way to fill this time.
   
   Above all, make your daily exercise consistent. Exercise at least six days a week. You can take one day off as a rest day, but don't consider it a "reward" day. If you consider it a "reward" you will soon consider the other six days as "work" that you need to do achieve the "reward". Exercise should be considered a reward on its own.


4. Make it fun
   It is important to make exercise fun. If exercise is fun on its own, you will be more likely to follow through with your exercising commitment even on days when it may feel difficult.
   
   There are lots of ways to make exercise fun. First of all, choose an activity that you enjoy. For some people this means playing a particular sport. For others it means joining a gym so you they can be around people. For others, it can be fun to purchase a piece of exercise equipment and be able to work out in the comfort of their own home.
   
   Secondly, have fun by creating activities to do while you exercise. This may be watching a favorite television show that you have recorded on your DVR. It may be listening to music on your MP3 player. You can also have fun by setting challenging goals within your exercise program and then achieving them.


5. Use the time for personal growth
   There are many ways that you can use exercise as format for personal growth. Simply by developing the habit of daily exercise and achieving your goal of improved health and well being you are demonstrating to yourself that you have what it takes to be successful.
   
   You can also use the time for personal growth by listening to podcasts, motivational lectures, sermons, or audio-books. Not only are these activities a wise use of your time, they will inspire you to continue exercising and pushing on towards your goals.
   
   Personally, I alternate between "fun" activities while I exercise (such as watching my favorite television show while I work out on our elliptical trainer), and personal growth activities. Both inspire me to keep exercising and help me to be more productive with the rest of my activities.


6. Get a partner or support team
   Few things help you pursue your physical activities goals as having a partner or support team. A partner is someone you work out with. Having a partner provides both accountability and encouragement. If you have to meet your partner at a certain place and time for your exercise, chances are you will be there. You don't want to leave your partner alone.
   
   If you don't have a partner who will exercise with you, develop a support team - someone who will encourage you to keep exercising, remind you of the benefits, and challenge you to reach your goals. My wife and I serve in this function for each other. Because of our schedules we exercise at different times, however we both encourage each other and push each other to reach our goals.


7. Celebrate your success
   Find some way to celebrate your new habit. Perhaps promise yourself a reward if you exercise at least 20 days in the upcoming month. Acknowledge that you have taken some big steps towards improving your life. Perhaps find a reward that you can use while you exercise, such as a new MP3 player, or a new CD. You reward doesn't have to cost money, it could be something as simple as a warm bath, or special meal. Celebrating success is a vital success principle.

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