How to Stop Your Social Networks From Distracting You

Turn off push notifications, disable automatic e-mail updates, and prevent your social networks from ruining your productivity.

Facebook, Google+, Twitter, and other social networks help you stay connected with friends and family, but it's easy to overdo the connecting and end up distracted and unproductive. Worse, many social networks notify you every time someone tries to interact with you, making it even harder to concentrate on productive tasks. Turning these helpful reminders off can be tricky in some instances, but setting up a way to tune out mobile and e-mail notifications is well worthwhile. Here's how to stop your social networks from distracting you, so you can get your working life back on track. And don't worry--you can still peek at your Twitter page once in a while.

Silence Your Smartphone

The most disruptive and intrusive notifications in my life are the push notifications that my smartphone reports from various apps and social networks. Though I was initially excited to have access to push notifications, I quickly turned them off for almost all of my apps so that I could avoid being pestered by updates that tended to be pretty trivial. The process for turning off mobile notifications varies slightly from OS to OS, but it's usually not too complicated.

Your best bet with an Android phone is to open the offending app, press the Menu key, locate the messaging settings under that menu, and select the apps that you'd like to turn off notifications for. Unfortunately, if you want to kill all of your push notifications, you'll have to do it manually in each app.

Silencing your notifications on an iOS 5 device is both easier and more obtuse, as you'll need to navigate to Settings, Notifications to make the modifications. From there, select an app and set the 'Alert Style' to None. Once again, you'll need to go app by app to turn off all alerts; but they're all in one menu, so it shouldn't take much time--and blocking incessant alerts will help you avoid hours of lost productivity.

Mute Your Inbox

Once you've muffled your mobile devices' alerts, you can turn your attention to removing annoying auto-updates from your email account. Turning off email notifications from Facebook and Twitter is a simple (albeit somewhat time-consuming) matter of finding and editing your notification settings in each service.

To eliminate Facebook email notifications, select Account Settings in the drop-down menu on the upper right side of your Facebook page, and then select Notifications from the menu on the left side of the page, to bring up your notification preferences. Manually select each part of your Facebook account, and unclick each checked box to turn off the corresponding notification e-mail. Facebook's incredibly granular approach to settings means you'll have to uncheck a lot of boxes on this screen, but the arrangement does let you control the email notifications you receive (so you can find out when someone posts pictures of you, but skip all the game invites), and it should reduce the amount of time you spend checking your email.

To turn off Twitter's email notifications about new followers, retweets, and so on, first log in to your Twitter account and select Settings from the upper right drop-down menu; then select Notifications from the new menu on the left. Twitter has far fewer settings here than Facebook has in its modification options area. Simply turn off the six notification options, and you'll be ready to go on your way.

Is the bright red Google+ notification icon in the top-right corner of your GMail account distracting you? Regrettably, the notification toolbar in Google+ is impossible to kill from your Google settings, and if you're a GMail user you'll often find your eyes drawn to that bright red reminder. If you want to continue to use Google services without having to endure the Google+ notification bar, download Google Chrome and install the Hide Google+ Notification extension.

The Nuclear Option

If you've turned off all of your notifications but find that you still waste most of your day on Facebook and Twitter, it's time to accept that the problem might rest with you as much as with the sites themselves. If you can't help yourself, install a browser extension that blocks distracting sites automatically. As a Chrome user I prefer StayFocusd--a useful extension that completely blocks unwanted sites except during a limited time (the default duration is 10 minutes) each day. That way you can ensure that you don't miss out on important updates, without wasting your whole day on the Web.

Firefox users should check out the similar Leechblock. Internet Explorer users are out of luck, and Safari doesn't have a real alternative either. But Mac users can try SelfControl, an OS X application that lets you create a blacklist of sites you don't want to visit and then blocks access to those sites across all browsers. Congratulations! By adopting these simple measures, you've taken a big step toward shutting out distraction and becoming more productive.

How to Give Youths Freedom

All youths at a certain age want to have a bit of freedom. You have to give them some freedom so they feel better about themselves and they actually want to be trusted. If parents build this up now it will be easier in the future to trust them. Let them be free because inside they feel limited give them a bit of freedom so they do not feel so restricted.

1.Leave them with small jobs like shopping and popping down to the shop.

2.Let the youth go out with their friends but not too often.

3.Let them go to particular parties with their friends.

4.If the youth has a boyfriend make sure you know him before they go out and set a particular time for them to come back. 

5.Make sure he/she knows that you trust them make the message loud and clear for them. 

6.Youths want some space so give it to them but not too much.

How to Make Others Respect You

Getting the respect of your peers is important in virtually every situation. Respect is important at work, at home and in social settings. While getting respect partly hinges on giving respect to those around you, you can also work to ensure respect by treating others well, performing your tasks correctly, showing good manners and generally presenting yourself as someone worthy of respect

Instructions:

1. • 1
     Follow the golden rule. Treat others the way you wish to be treated -- with respect. Many people find it difficult to respect someone who doesn't respect them back, so respecting those around you is an effective first step toward achieving their respect. In respecting those around you, aim not to judge people for what you perceive as their faults. Instead, try to see the positive traits each person possesses.
   • 2
     Perform your job to the best of your ability, whether it's a career, a relationship or a hobby. In the workplace, make others respect you by working hard and being willing to put in long hours. At home, earn respect by being honest, loyal, caring and a positive role-model for your children.
   • 3
     Practice listening when others speak, not interrupting, being punctual and showing humility. Make sure that your manners are applicable to the situation in which you find yourself. For example, you may be louder and more rambunctious during a pick-up basketball game than you are at your office job.
   • 4
     Have an opinion, but don't always feel the need to voice that opinion. No one likes someone who interjects her opinion on a regular basis, but someone who never offers an opinion may also be difficult to respect. Instead, form your own opinions and be ready to share them when you're asked at work, at home or around friends.
   • 5
     Maintain personal hygiene, such as bathing, shaving, getting a haircut and dressing well. Even if you excel at your job, you may not earn the respect you desire if your personal grooming is awful. Furthermore, keep your workplace, home and vehicle tidy. Someone with pizza boxes stacked in the corner of his cubicle won't earn the same respect as someone who cleans his office regularly.
   • 6
     Demonstrate respect for yourself by believing in yourself and not being critical when you make a mistake. It's easy to get down on yourself once in a while, but someone who's always calling himself names is difficult to respect. Practice self-love by eating well, getting exercise and refusing to criticize yourself.

How to Respect Yourself

Self respect is very important in developing confidence and a positive attitude. The way you feel about yourself can affect the way you treat others and your interaction with them. You may think that respecting yourself is simple, yet many people do not give themselves enough respect. The sad truth is that, if you don't respect yourself, you may find that others may not have much respect for you either.You may also find that it is difficult to respect others when you don't respect yourself. Respect starts with you, so learn how to respect yourself.

Instructions

1. • 1
     Have confidence in yourself. Confident people also tend to respect themselves. If you lack confidence it is time you start trusting in yourself and your abilities.
   • 2
     Make a list of your strengths and positive attributes. Learn to focus on those aspects of yourself.
   • 3
     Treat others with respect and by doing so you will develop respect for yourself. As you treat others respectfully you will also be treated respectfully. Those who treat others with a lack of respect often lack respect for themselves. Treat others with respect regardless of how they treat you, and realize that you are helping to teach them self-respect while building respect for yourself at the same time.
   • 4
     Surround yourself with positive people who respect themselves and others. By being in the presence of those who are positive and confident, you will find yourself becoming infused with their enthusiasm, self-respect and positive energy. It is much healthier than being around those who are constantly putting themselves and others down.
   • 5
     Choose your friends wisely. Pick quality over quantity. People often like to have many friends because it makes them feel popular and important, but having a few friends of good character is worth more than a large circle of friends and superficial popularity. If your friends bring you down or disrespect you in any way, it may be time to re-evaluate your friendship.
   • 6
     Be a leader, not a follower. Don't let anyone try to talk you into doing or being something you are not. People often make the mistake of becoming chameleon-like in order to please others. They change according to the company they keep. Don't let your own self-respect be diminished in order to conform to the wishes of others. Be yourself above all things. People will like and respect you for the person you are.
   • 7
     Work to improve yourself on all levels, meaning physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. If you are unhappy with any aspect of yourself, you may find it difficult to respect yourself. No one is perfect. Everyone makes mistakes. Forgive yourself for past mistakes, and move forward. Always strive to be the best you can and you will earn the respect you deserve.

How to Know if Someone Is Lying

How to Know if Someone Is Lying. To quote Christopher Walken a la "True Romance" regarding lies, "a guy's got 17 pantomimes; a girl's got 20." There are often cues and signs that someone may be lying. But before you whack them, remember there may also be understandable reasons for the lie.

Instructions

1. • 1
     Look for body language that might indicate someone is lying, such as not looking you in the eye when speaking to you, being fidgety, or acting nervous or uncomfortable.
   • 2
     Listen for inconsistencies in what the person tells you, such as different stories on different days, different time frames, mistakes in remembering details or mixing up details.
   • 3
     Notice if the person steadfastly resists answering any questions. Extreme defensiveness could mean that he or she is trying to hide something.
   • 4
     Notice if the person accuses you of lying or being deceitful when you really haven't been. This could reflect the other person's own underlying behavior, which he or she is projecting onto you rather than owning up to it.
   • 5
     Listen to your gut and intuition. You may just know someone is lying. If you are not sure, don't jump to conclusions. Try to get some evidence to back up your hunch.
   • 6
     Consider asking directly if the person has lied to you. Many people feel bad getting caught up in lies, and find it a relief to finally be honest.
   • 7
     Try to be understanding and listen to the person's reasons for lying. Was he trying not to hurt you? Was she afraid you would be angry, upset or disappointed?
   • 8
     Look at your possible role in having someone lie to you. Are you someone who gets so upset hearing the truth that others feel they can't be honest with you?