Auckland Travel Blog: Part 2

New Zealand Travel Blog: Auckland Highlights & Impressions

New Zealand Travel Blog: Part 1

The President Hotel in Downtown Auckland

After getting off the SkyBus, it took me about 5 minutes to reach the President Hotel, which is located in the Central Business District (CBD) in the heart of downtown Auckland.

When I booked this hotel months ago, this used to be a Best Western Hotel. Then all of a sudden, while I was in Melbourne I received an email from Best Western Australasia that the President Hotel had decided to leave the Best Western Group. My options were to either book another Best Western Hotel in Auckland or stay with the President Hotel as they would honour already booked reservations, so I decided to keep my reservations at the President hotel.

The President Hotel is nothing fancy but an OK hotel. The lobby area was unimpressive and so was the room. My room had a window, but I was not able to open the curtains and enjoy the sunlight because another building was blocking any sort of view whatsoever and it was the backside of that building, so it was very dark.

The best feature of this hotel is its location. I had no problem grabbing coffee or food because within a block or two there are many restaurants and street food vendors. There was even a Countdown – NZ Supermarket right next door where I went many times to buy whatever I needed.

I never got to try the hotel’s dining or buffet breakfast in the hotel because it made no sense when so many options to eat were available right next door.

Another feature I enjoyed was that I was able to keep an eye on the street sitting inside the lobby, so I wouldn’t miss my tour pickup. The Sky Tower is visible from the hotel and you can walk to it within a few minutes.

How To Take Time For Yourself

Taking Time for Yourself and Personal Development

When you are having trouble developing yourself into the person you want to be, one of the biggest reasons may be that you are not taking time for yourself. You need to take time for yourself because that will allow you to look inwards at yourself and determine what it is that you want. Personal development is very important if you want to be successful and a big part of that is through taking time for yourself. While part of personal development is working with others, a large part of it is ensuring that you are also looking at yourself and doing things for yourself. So, here are some ways that you can take time for yourself.

1. Each day, whether it is for five minutes or one hour, stop what you are doing and relax. Just sit back and think about what is going on in your day, what is going on in your life and enjoy the quiet. After you do this a few times you will begin to enjoy the time and even look forward to it.

2. Take time to be optimistic about your life. This means that you take time to think about your life and if you are having problems in your day, then determine what you could do to make it better. Think about things that make you happy and what you can do to ensure you keep being happy. Be optimistic during the time you take for yourself and before you know it, that optimism will spread to other parts of your life.

3. During the time you take for yourself, look at your goals and what you want to do with your life. Think about your goals and how you are going to reach them. Think about the things that make you happy and think about what you are going to do to ensure you reach your goals. Taking time for yourself is a lot about goal setting because you can sit back and determine what goals you want to reach and how you are going to reach each of those goals.

4. Talk to your friends and family and let them know that you are taking time for yourself. Tell them that this time is for your personal reflection and that means no interruptions. Do not take phone calls from anyone and ensure those in your house know to leave you alone.

5. During your time, turn off the television, turn off the computer and sit down so you can be in your own mind. This keeps distractions from becoming a problem and it keeps you from worrying about things, or thinking about anything beyond what you need to.

Personal development will change your life but you need to make time for it and that means making time for yourself. Do not skimp on time for yourself because you want to ensure that you do everything right and reach the goals you want. Time for yourself allows you to think, plan and implement towards that end.

To streamline and minimize blog maintenance, I will be discontinuing maintaining the Simplepersonaldevelopment.com website (however, I will still hold the domain). I will gradually move all articles from this site to Ahmed Dawn Dot Com. This article originally published on the above website on June 5, 2010.

Amazon Echo Dot with Alexa Made My Life Easier

My Top Commands for Amazon Alexa

Amazon Echo Dot products provide a pathway to the world of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for ridiculously low prices. I picked up 2 Echo Dots (2nd and 3rd Generation) for only $25 and $40 on sale. Since I unboxed my Echo Dots, my world has changed, as Alexa took lots of tasks and worries out of my everyday life.

You can watch my Amazon Alexa Echo Dot Review here. There are so many things Alexa can do and she is always improving. Some of features I have been using since I brought her home:

Flash Briefing – I added 3 of my favourite news feeds together and Alexa will play them together when I say “flash new” or “flash briefing”.

Start My Day – This is another command where you can add several items and Alexa will play them one after another once you command her to “start my day”. I added a random fact, news feed, weather, and my calendar under this command.

When Should I Leave – You tell Alexa your public transit stop numbers and she will tell you the next 2 schedules when the bus or streetcar will leave. Alexa can only save one bus stop, so I saved the one I use most. For all others, you can tell her the numeric bus stop numbers. I see there is room for Alexa to improve, so you can only tell her your intersections, instead of stop #s.

Set Up Timer, Alarm, Reminder – Setting up alarms or reminders are so easy now. I don’t need to go through all those settings on my phone.

I also use features like weather, wind chill, and currency conversion frequently. I am learning more about Alexa and will share my experiences on this site and on my YouTube Channel.

How To Hire A Virtual Assistant

You Can’t Afford Not To Have A Virtual Assistant

First Published: ADawnJournal.com July 7, 2009

I have outsourced a good chunk of my tasks before; however, those were nowhere near having a virtual assistant.  Those outsourced tasks were done on a one-time basis only by independent contractors and most of the time I have not met those individuals again. I have thought of hiring a VA (Virtual Assistant) before, but I was reluctant due to costs associated with it. However, just a few days ago, I was able to hire a VA at an unbelievable cost, and it does not make sense not to hire at this incredibly low rate. You just can’t afford not to hire anyone and enjoy your free time, or use your newly discovered free time for something more productive.

Today, I am going to tell you how you can hire a VA even if you don’t make a killer monthly income.

Which Sites To Use?

There are many sites online where you can hire VAs at incredibly low rates. To browse through all these sites, do a search by entering these keywords: virtual assistant, outsource, freelance, etc. The site I use to hire my VA is oDesk. This is one of the most cost efficient sites to hire someone at low rates.

How Much Will The Cost Be?

At oDesk, you will be able to hire someone at below $5 per hour. I have hired assistants at $1-$3 per hour in the past. Don’t underestimate these virtual assistants because of their low rates. These are highly qualified, educated individuals in their respective fields. Many of them

hold Masters degrees and speak and write English better than many native speakers.

How Can They Work At Such A Low Rate?

They can afford to do it because these individuals are working from low-cost countries such as Philippines, India, East European countries and so on. With these low rates, they are able to make a decent living – which is unthinkable in Western countries.

How Do I Do The Actual Virtual Assistant Hiring?

Use these simple steps to have your first virtual assistant:

·   Create an account with www.Odesk.com

·   Verify your credit card

·   Post a job

·   Pick and interview a few candidates among the many who will be replying to the job you posted

·   Hire the most suitable person who fits your specifics

What I Like Most

oDesk provides some unbeatable features, such as:

·   You set and control how many hours your VA will work

·   No additional headaches: oDesk does all the admin work such keeping track of hours, billings, and payments for you

·   Pick hourly or fixed price jobs

·   No commitment. You can terminate your assistant or end an assignment anytime you want

The Internet has revolutionized everything. Virtual marketplaces like oDesk provide endless possibilities for entrepreneurs and service providers across the globe – which was not possible just a few years ago.

How to Deal With Stress

Stress Relief Tips

If you are going to better yourself and develop yourself to achieve your life goals, one of the biggest hurdles you need to overcome is stress. Stress is something that weighs us down and holds us back. It is an albatross around our necks that refuses to let go. It is something that must be defeated if you are going to achieve success in your life.

Stress can come from many different sources including your job, your relationships, your finances or even how your favourite sports team is doing. Staying in a stressful situation for long enough and you will begin to develop health problems. Many doctors theorize that as many as 90 percent of the health problems people face is as a result of stress.

So, how do you get rid of it?

1. The first thing you need to do is to look at what is causing you stress and remove that thing. If finances are causing you stress, begin to put together a budget that will help you manage what you have more effectively. If your job gives you stress, then it may be time to find a new job.

2. Try to find time for yourself. It is very important that when you begin to feel stressed, you take time for yourself by backing away from what is causing you stress. If you are at work and things are really starting to stress you out, just get up and take a five minute breather. Go to a break room or just stand outside in the sunshine. You will be surprised by how much this can help you.

3. Begin doing things that are considered to be stress relievers. This can be a wide variety of items including, but not limited to, meditation, yoga, walking and even just taking a nap.

4. Get some exercise. Studies show that exercise helps to release endorphins in the body and that makes you feel better. Not only that, you also get healthier and a healthier body is able to deal with stress more effectively.

5. Spend time with those that you love. It is surprising just how stress can melt away when you are spending time with those you love. You can laugh with them, talk with them and feel the stress melt away. That is why family and friends is something that can help your stress become less of a problem.

Being stressed is not a good situation to be in. Many people feel as though they are trapped in the stressful situation and that is no way to get out of it and begin moving forward with your life. If you want to get out of the situation and better yourself, then you need to find ways to beat the stress and you can beat the stress. Don’t think it is not possible because it is. Just follow these tips and the stress will disappear before you know it. Stress does not have to rule your life, so do not let it.

To streamline and minimize blog maintenance, I will be discontinuing maintaining the Simplepersonaldevelopment.com website (however, I will still hold the domain). I will gradually move all articles from this site to Ahmed Dawn Dot Com. This article originally published on the above website on May 15, 2010