MOEBIUS SYNDROME IN THE NEWS

This one comes from one our friends from across the pond:  Becky Deas, who has Moebius but is refusing smile surgery because she wants to set an example to her children.  Moebius is who she is.  And it's okay!  And to that I say:  good for you, Becky Deas!  Here, read on:

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A mother who cannot smile due to a rare condition has refused corrective surgery - because she wants her children to appreciate different faces. 

Becky Deas, 33, has Moebius syndrome, a rare neurological condition which paralyses facial muscles, meaning she has never been able to smile at her children.

It has also left her unable to blink or look left and right.

When asked by her seven-year-old son why she had never smiled at him, she explained that her face doesn’t work like his.

Now, she has turned down the chance of surgery to enable her to smile because she wants to show her children how important it is to accept differences.

Instead, she has developed other ways to show them how happy they make her.

Ms Deas, from Manchester, said: ‘This is me, I am who I am and I want my children to accept differences.

‘I might not be able to smile on the outside but I am always smiling on the inside. I make sure my children know how happy they make me every day. I don’t need a smile on my face to do that.

'A real smile comes from the heart.’

She added: ‘A lot of people stare at me. I’m pretty sure they must think I’m miserable all the time but that could not be further from the truth.

‘Even I don’t recognise the face in the mirror because it doesn’t reflect how I feel inside at all.’

WHAT IS MOEBIUS SYNDROME?

Moebius syndrome is a rare neurological condition that affects the muscles that control facial expressions and eye movement.
The symptoms are present from birth.
Patients are unable to smile, frown or raise their eyebrows.
They often also have a small chin and mouth and a short tongue.
Dental abnormalities are also common in people with the syndrome.
The condition also affects the muscles that control the eyes so patients have to move their heads to look from side to side.
In some cases, patients are unable to blink or close their eyes which can cause eye dryness or irritation.
Other features of the syndrome include bone abnormalities in the hands and feet, week muscles, hearing loss and delayed development.
Moebius syndrome is thought to affect between one in 50,000 and one in 500,000 people.
The cause of the syndrome is unknown.
Source: U.S. National Library of Medicine

Ms Deas was diagnosed with the condition when she was six months old after struggling to suck from a bottle.

Her parents were warned then she would never be able to smile. But she didn’t become aware of her condition until she was ten.

She said: ‘My parents took me to a conference about it and explained I was different. I hadn’t really notice myself at that point.’

But all that changed at high school when Ms Deas was bullied.

She said: ‘That was the first time I ever wished I could smile.

‘The condition also means I can’t control my mouth so it hangs open and I was called awful names - like fish face.’

She was relieved when she fell pregnant in 2007 with her son Logan and doctors confirmed it was unlikely he would have the condition.

But it was at moments like his birth that Ms Deas wished she could smile to show her joy.

Instead she developed other ways, like using the tone of her voice, to express happiness to him and daughter Lexi, nine months.

Ms Deas says she did consider surgery to remove a tendon from her shoulder, which could be used to help create a smile, but ruled it out for the sake of her little ones.

She said: ‘As lovely as it would be to be able to smile at them, I didn’t want my children to think it is necessary to have surgery to look the same as others.

‘We are all different in one way or another and that is nothing to be ashamed of.

‘I’m delighted for people who do have the surgery, but it just wasn’t for me.’

Ms Deas held an awareness day earlier this year to help people understand she isn’t glum and to raise awareness of her condition.

She said: ‘I didn’t want to get into the situation of approaching people who are staring at me because that isn’t me, but I wanted to get the message out there.

‘I may not be smiling but I am certainly one very happy mummy.’

For more information, visit www.moebiusresearchtrust.org

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LAUGHTER: THE BEST MEDICINE...FOR YOUR BRAIN, AND YOUR HEALTH

You know, one thing I have noticed about many of my friends and colleagues in the Moebius Syndrome community:  so many of us have a good sense of humor.  We like to laugh.  Including at ourselves!!  And guess what--turns out that this is good for you, in many ways.  Laughing in general can stimulate your brain and make you a healthier person.  Read on:

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Can watching a funny cat video at work actually improve your productivity?

Maybe!
A study presented at this year's annual Experimental Biology conference finds that when people laugh, their brains are activated in the same way as when people are mindfully meditating.
The study, from researchers at Loma Linda University, measured the brain activity of 31 people when they watched a funny video and again when they watched a stressful video. Researchers measured activity in nine parts of the brain. What they noted was that during the funny videos, the viewers actually activated their entire brains, with high gamma wave activity, as measured by electroencephalography, or EEG.
EEG measures electrical activity along the scalp. “The electrical activity translates to neuroactivity,” said the lead researcher, Dr. Lee Berk. Gamma wave activity is associated with increased dopamine levels and putting the brain’s cognitive state at its most alert level.
Berk explained, “What we know is that gamma is found in every part of the brain and that it helps generate recall and reorganization.” That’s why, he said, after people meditate, they feel refreshed and are better positioned to solve problems.
Not only can laughing help increase your awareness, Berk thinks it is likely to have the health benefits of meditation, like reducing stress, blood pressure and pain.
Berk acknowledges that more research is needed about how laughing can actually benefit our health, but he is optimistic about an area of science that shows real correlation between the mind and body. “We are looking at the keyhole in the door – and the light is bright on the other side," he said.
The bottom line, he says: "Humor is evidenced to have a therapeutic value.”
So next time your boss catches you watching a funny cat video, just tell her that you’re trying to be more productive.

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I JUST THOUGHT THIS WAS INTERESTING DEPT

Plus--I know many of my Moebius friends love their coffee; and I do too.  Well, so, here's the good news:  there is even more reason to drink coffee.  See what I mean:

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Need an excuse to drink yet another cup of coffee today?  A new study suggests that increasing coffee consumption may decrease the risk for type 2 diabetes.

The apparent relationship between coffee and type 2 diabetes is not new.  Previous studies have found that drinking a few cups or more each day may lower your risk - with each subsequent cup nudging up the benefit.
This most recent study, published in the journal Diabetologia, was more concerned with how changing coffee consumption - either increasing it or decreasing it over time - might affect your risk.

The conclusion: People who upped their consumption by more than a cup per day had an 11% lower risk of type 2 diabetes compared with people whose consumption held steady.  Decreasing coffee consumption by the same amount - more than a cup a day - was associated with a 17% increased risk of type 2 diabetes.
The data is based on an analysis of more than 120,000 health professionals already being followed observationally long term.  Researchers looked at the study participants' coffee drinking habits across four years to reach their conclusions.
Just how much coffee each day provides a benefit?
"For type 2 diabetes, up to six cups per day is associated with lower risk," said Shilpa Bhupathiraju, a research fellow at the Harvard School of Public Health and lead study author, citing previous research. "As long as coffee doesn't give you tremors, doesn't make you jittery, it is associated with a lot of health benefits."
In the case of diabetes, the reasons behind the supposed protection conferred by coffee are not clear, but there are theories based on animal research.
One involves chemicals present in coffee - phenolic compounds and lignans - that may improve glucose metabolism, according to Bhupathiraju.  She added that coffee is rich in magnesium, which is also associated with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes.
Wait, though.  Before you scramble out to purchase your fourth latte of the day, it is important to note that the type of coffee matters.
Lattes and other types of specialty drinks - often laden with sugar - were not studied.  The type of coffee involved in this study tended to be a simple eight-ounce cup of black coffee containing about 100 milligrams of caffeine.
"People think of (increasing their intake) as going and drinking an extra blended drink," said Bhupathiraju.  "We are not talking about 'frappuchinos' or lattes.  It's black coffee with milk and sugar."
And while coffee may be associated with a reduction in some chronic diseases (not just diabetes, but cardiovascular disease, certain cancers, and - according to a New England Journal of Medicine study - with a longer life, overall) scientists are still  reluctant to call coffee a panacea.
That doesn't mean you can't enjoy one more cup in the meantime.

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FREE ADVICE FOR MOEBIUS MOMS AND DADS

I thought this piece would interest some of you Moebius moms and dads; it comes from an advice column, as a result of parent being worried about her son, who is an introvert without many friends.  Obviously some children with Moebius become introverts, too.  (I was, when I was young.)  Now the child referenced in this column does not of course have Moebius.  But I have a hunch that the advice this mom is given could also be good advice for some of you Moebius moms and dads out there.  Read this and see what you think:

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Question: My 8-year-old son is intellectually precocious, but he is still very young for his age emotionally, and behind his peers in many ways. He’s not part of the neighborhood gang, nor does he have a close friend who lives near enough for them to play together. ¶ He also finds noisy, crowded environments highly stressful, so he goes right to the computer or to the television to decompress after a full day at school and a long bus ride home. Because I am very much an introvert, it doesn’t particularly disturb me to see him spending time alone, but it’s hard to find many activities for him to do without adding more structure to his schedule. He takes music classes, but he doesn’t like to practice. He enjoys sports, but they are offered only two days a week in our town. ¶ And though he reads above grade level, he doesn’t read for pleasure; he never reads fiction and he’s no longer interested in his toys, unlike his brother, who’s in middle school and can happily spend 12 hours on a craft project. ¶ Learning outside of school doesn’t appeal to him, and neither do neighborhood walks, park visits or trips to a museum. ¶ How can I help my boy decompress without spending so much time in front of a screen?

Answer: Your son may want to spend all his time watching television or playing on the computer, but that doesn’t mean that he should. An hour of screen time a day is enough for your child because he has so many other things to see, so much else to do and so much more to learn.
But first you have to study your boy as carefully as an entomologist studies a bug. Only then will you know which ideas will please him most and which activities will help him find his niche in life.

 

Don’t expect your child to like what everyone else likes, or for him to play well with children who are more mature than he is. A child who grows faster — or slower — in one area than he does in other areas should play with children who act like he does, rather than simply the ones who are as old as he is. Otherwise he may seem vulnerable and become the target of a bully at school.

Although you have to let your son choose his own friends and his own interests, you can guide him in the right direction by inviting another family over for Family Movie Night at your house as long as their children are younger than your son or they act young for their age. This will give your little introvert some extra screen time, some popcorn and a chance to be with people who don’t talk too much.
You also might call a college near you and ask whether it has a student you could pay to teach your son how to manage a skateboard or catch a fish or whatever he is interested in. Introverted children often do better in one-on-one situations than they do on teams.
And then there are books. Because you know that your son likes nonfiction better than fiction — as most boys do — and that he also likes sports, give him a subscription to Sports Illustrated for Kids ($20) and then take notice of which articles he reads first and reads fastest. Once you have that information, you can give him some easy-to-read magazines or books that are devoted to those sports.
To broaden his interests even more, consider “The Big Book of Why” by the editors of Time Magazine (Time for Kids; $20) or any book written and illustrated by Caldecott winner David Macaulay, such as “Underground,” “Mill” or “Castle,” which are all published by HMH and cost $10 each. They are carefully illustrated and awash with information and should make your son curious about engineering and history.
These books will feed the mind of a boy who sounds truly hungry to learn.

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THE IRRATIONAL FEAR OF BEING ALONE

I thought this piece would be of interest to all the many people in this great Moebius network.  Now don't get me wrong:  I am not saying that it's good to be a hermit; or that, if you have Moebius, it is OK to isolate yourself and shut yourself off from the world.  That we must not do.

But when it comes to relationships, we must not simply accept ANY relationship or any partner...simply for the sake of NOT being alone.  There lies trouble.  Read more about it:

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The fear of being alone is terrifying for most people I know. This paralyzing projection keeps many a couple trapped in a dysfunctional loop of unhappy relations. Though the reasons stated for not separating include children, loss of money or "it's just not the right time," at the core of this stasis is a fear of being alone. Someone, it seems, is better than no one.
The fear of being alone is an irrational construct. Alone doesn't mean "lonely." Yet, the false premise states that clinging to "another" for safety will somehow guarantee our safety. Security derived from an outer source is impossible. In the absence of our own self-love, we cannot connect to another in a meaningful way. Staying in an unhappy partnership is viewed as being of greater value than honoring the self. It is fear. Projected fear. The loneliness imagined will only be experienced when not united with our selves.
I've counseled many people on the merits of being comfortable in their own skin and finding peace within. While this is the answer, it's astounding how much resistance is given to the concept.
The reason for this resistance lies in outer identification. We've been told through movies, music and literature that we're incomplete if we're alone. Only the presence of "another" can alleviate the void we feel inside and make us feel whole. In actuality, we feel the void when we're not aligned with ourselves.
It's folly. But still, the myth continues in the minds of far too many. How enticing the belief that someone else will be the balm to soothe us and the cure to our discontent? And how sad the realization that no one can provide solace for what we lack, inside.
No outer force that can sooth inner discontent. In pressing our partner to do our work for us, they will certainly fail. Then, they become the problem. Our relationship becomes the problem. The love that was supposed to complete us becomes a battleground of conflicting wills as each holds the other's happiness in their fickle hands.
The fear of being alone is far greater than the real doing of it. Taking time to be alone with ourselves can be the greatest journey of a lifetime. The discovery of what we like, what we feel, what we want and who we really are is liberation at its finest.
When actualized, one discovers the delight of a freedom far greater than imagined. After all, the worries and projected fears have passed, there comes the unexpected ah-ha moment -- we are fine. Our former avoidance seems ridiculous in hindsight. There is peace and contentment. Then, joy.
We realize we have ourselves as good company. We begin to value the life we have. We learn our fears of being alone were completely unfounded. We create a new platform from which love may grow.
When we've worked through the fear of being alone, we may assess the validity of our existing partnership. With the pressure off our partner to save us, the relationship that seemed "dead" often finds new life. As we've changed, our partner must change in correspondence. From the point of inner connection, we may amend what we have or magnetize new suitors who also like themselves and like us.
Comfort within one's self is the best starting point for a new relationship, or for a current love affair in peril. It's the work that must be done by no one, but us. And, once done... is cherished as the edification of all that we are, and have now become.

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LIVING WELL DEPT: WHY SOMETIMES IT'S GOOD TO "UNPLUG"

Of course, if you're reading this, you're online; and no one is saying one has to "unplug" all the time.  We need to stay connected.  But we also have to find a good balance.  And I think this article has some good ideas on how to do that.  Read on:

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The irony is that if you're reading this, you're online. But let's talk about the dangers of being too connected to our technology and virtual world.
Are you addicted to technology? How many hours a day do you spend on your computer, phone, tablet? Or is it easier for me to ask you how many minutes a day you don't spend on your computer, phone or tablet?
Let's look at some of the problems with being digitally over-connected.

Here are six reasons to mindfully use technology and unplug on purpose, at times, for maximum quality of life. (This list was inspired by Alice G. Walton on Forbes.com.)
1. It Might Just Save Your Job (And Your Marriage)
In today's competitive workplace, you might feel that being available any ol' time of day gives you an advantage. Not so. When you're constantly replying to emails from bosses and coworkers after hours, you're not being present to your spouse, children, friends and you. If you're not properly resting and recharging your batteries, you're more likely to burn out and be less productive, which makes you less competitive in the workplace.
2. It Will Improve Your Concentration And Present-Moment Awareness
If you pride yourself on being a multitasker, chances are you're actually doing less than those who focus on one thing at a time, and you also tend to be more impulsive (e.g., you do some online shopping then feel buyer's remorse when the package arrives in the mail). Again, how this behavior impacts your personal relationships is a key question. How present can you be in a conversation with your children if you're simultaneously listening to stories about their day and putting the final touches on your quarterly sales wrap-up?
3. There Are Better Ways To Feel Good
The Internet seems to be the new substance to abuse. Many people feel they must check their phone every time an alert sounds informing them they've been "liked" on Facebook or mentioned on Twitter. We've pretty much become like Pavlov's dogs. An interesting study published in theweek.com shows that "intermittent reinforcement" (anticipation of a reward that comes with just enough frequency) -- in the form of texts, tweets and various other social media -- releases dopamine, a neurotransmitter in the brain responsible for pleasure. But like any hit of an addictive substance, the pleasure is short-lived and leaves you craving more.
4. Your Facebook Friends And Twitter Followers Do Not Replace The Real Deal
Social media doesn't make us more social. In fact, too much living on social media can create the reverse effect. Your behavior online isn't always in line with how you would respond or react to other humans in a face-to-face situation. The anonymity of social media can lead to increased development of the false self or worst self. My wonderful spoken-word poet and pal Marshall "Souful" Jones has a three-minute performance piece from TEDx Montreal that eloquently speaks to this exact phenomenon (it's called "Touch Screen").
5. Your Bed Will Thank You
I'm a big believer in getting quantity and quality sleep, and one of the biggest culprits I've found in taking longer to fall asleep is not only the stimulation from channel surfing on TV and catching up on emails, but the light emitted from electronic devices. Try this: One hour before you go to sleep, stop sitting in front of the computer and TV and switch off all electronic devices. Look around your bedroom: The alarm clock that glows in bright red, the charging indicator on your smartphone, the monitor on your computer, the DVD clock and timer. Each of these takes a small toll on your sleep, as each little bit of light can keep you from reaching deep, restorative sleep. Cover or move the electronics. Light can disrupt your circadian rhythm and your pineal gland's production of melatonin and serotonin.
6. You'll Be A More Considerate Person
Are you that person in the movie theater who actually answers your phone? Do you meet up with pals you haven't seen in ages, only to stare at your phone the entire dinner? If you got a little bored while dining out with friends, you wouldn't whip out a crossword puzzle and start doing it, because that would be considered incredibly rude. Please place texting in the middle of a meal in the same category. It may be increasingly acceptable behavior, but it comes at a cost and doesn't improve the quality of anything.
The bottom line is, technology is convenient and necessary -- and is definitely our new normal -- but, too often, we're so distracted by our computers, phones and tablets that we become disconnected from our own lives. It's so easy to miss out on really special moments right in front of us because we're mentally somewhere else. Putting limits on your tech habits and giving your full attention to the present moment can help you fully "experience" your own life.
I want to challenge you to get honest about how much time you spend plugged in. Does it make you sweat for me to even suggest you be less tech-addicted?
Try to create a sacred space for yourself every day that's free from technology and allows you to reconnect with your own life. For example, I do my very best to make Sunday a tech-free day. I turn it all off while eating dinner with my husband and before bed, and don't turn it on until I've been awake for two hours.
I hope you have an amazing week, plugged into real life, and, as always, take care of you.
Love Love Love,
Terri



Terri Cole is a licensed psychotherapist known for her holistic approach, combining practical psychology, thought innovation, and harnessing the power of intention to create sustainable change. She has a unique ability to take complex theories and translate them into actionable steps you can implement into your daily life. Follow her on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest.

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HOW TO DIAGNOSE AUTISM??

How?  Try going to Youtube and making a video.  Huh?  Read on:

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Using YouTube videos, researchers say they’ve identified a new approach to autism screening that could significantly speed up the path to diagnosis.
Short home movies may be sufficient to accurately spot children who have the developmental disorder, according to a new study from Harvard Medical School and the Stanford University School of Medicine published this week in the journal PLOS ONE.
For the study, researchers found 100 videos on YouTube, each of which were 10 minutes or less and showed kids ages 1 to 15 playing. Of the clips, 45 were identified by their creators as depicting children with autism, while the other films showed children without the condition.
A group of college students were then trained to assess the behavior of the children in the videos using a rating scale based on the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, which is often used to diagnose autism. Despite having limited training, the students were able to accurately distinguish videos portraying children with autism 97 percent of the time, the study found.
“Our new paper supports the hypothesis that we can detect autism quickly in very short home videos with high accuracy,” said Dennis Wall, an associate professor of pediatrics at Stanford and the study’s senior author.
Wall indicated that it’s unlikely that videos would completely replace the traditional approach to clinical evaluation for an autism diagnosis, but said the technique could offer a speedy way to identify or monitor kids likely to be on the spectrum so that they can begin intervention while waiting for a formal diagnosis.
Experts say that spotting autism as early as possible is key since treatment is often more effective the sooner it begins. At present, however, most kids are not diagnosed until after age 4 even though the developmental disorder can be reliably detected by age 2, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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FIVE STUDIES YOU MAY HAVE MISSED

What's new in the medical world?  Lots of stuff--including a new study below that has to do with autism.  Read on:

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Here's a roundup of five medical studies published this week that might give you new insights into your health, mind and body. Remember, correlation is not causation – so if a study finds a connection between two things, it doesn't mean that one causes the other.

Antidepressants may increase autism risk
Journal: Pediatrics
Taking antidepressants during pregnancy may increase your child's risk of autism, especially if the baby is a boy, a new study suggests. Researchers looked at data from 966 mothers and their children. Kids who were exposed to SSRIs, also known as antidepressants, in utero were more likely to have autism or another developmental delay.
The researchers also distinguished between the sexes; boys with an autism spectrum disorder were three times as likely to have been exposed to SSRIs than typically developing children. But the risk of autism remains low, study authors say, and letting depression go untreated could have other serious consequences.
Read more from U.S. News & World Report

Looks like 40 isn't the start of old age. Neuroscientists say age-related cognitive-motor decline begins at age 24 - and it's all downhill from there. That means that at 24 your reaction time starts to slow, and never picks back up. By 39 your speed has dropped about 15%, researchers found.
Of course, you might be able to compensate for this slower reaction time with skill and experience. If you can still remember what it was like when you were young, that is.
Read more from TIME
Scientists studying rare diseases should turn to social media
Journal: Pediatrics
You may have seen the viral video of 4-year-old Eliza O'Neill laughing and playing as her parents talk about her life with Sanfilippo syndrome.
Scientists studying rare diseases often struggle to find patients and funding because so few people are affected. But social media is helping lighten the load. Viral videos and other campaigns often bring people with the same disease together, making it easier for scientists to identify clinical trial patients. In this study, researchers found social media outlets referred 84% of all patients for two pediatric rare disease trials.
Learn how a genetic disorder was discovered thanks to one dad's blog.
You just think hard candy has fewer calories
Journal of Consumer Research
The texture of our food affects our perception about its calorie content, says Dipayan Biswas, a marketing professor at the University of South Florida.
In a series of studies, researchers asked people to sample foods that were hard, soft, rough or smooth and then asked them how many calories they thought they had eaten. On average, study participants thought foods that were harder or rougher contained fewer calories.
"Understanding how the texture of food can influence calorie perceptions, food choice, and consumption amount can help nudge consumers towards making healthier choices," the study authors concluded.
Read more from The Huffington Post
Always get a second opinion
Journal: BMJ Quality & Safety

Primary care doctors usually have a small window of time to diagnose each patient they see. So it's not a big surprise that mistakes can be made.
A new study finds more than 5%, or about 12 million U.S. adults, are misdiagnosed during an outpatient visit every year. The researchers estimate about half of those errors are harmful to the patient.
“The pressure to move patients in and out and the resulting brief clinical interactions between doctor and patients is a situation that fosters medical errors,” Dr. Otis Brawley of the American Cancer Society told Modern Healthcare.
Read more from Modern Healthcare

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LOOKING FOR YOUR FIRST JOB? OR PERHAPS LOOKING TO CHANGE JOBS?

Many of you out there with Moebius Syndrome may soon be looking for a job.  Maybe it will be your first one, ever.  Or maybe you will be seeking to change jobs.  The job hunt is tough for everyone, but especially for those with Moebius.  So do your best to smooth the way--make sure for example that your resume is first-rate and exactly what you want it to be.  Here are some mistakes to avoid:

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While good old paper may seem passé in the digital age, LinkedIn hasn't quite replaced the old-fashioned résumé.
"Résumés are the heartbeat of a career search,” says Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter, a career and workplace adviser at Glassdoor. “If done well, your résumé will tell your story and sell you.”
And that hasn't changed with the rise of high-tech options. “Even as technology has advanced and changed the way job seekers find open positions, the résumé remains an integral part of the hiring process,” adds Matt Tarpey, a career adviser with CareerBuilder.
Then again, a less-than-stellar résumé can also work against you. To keep that from happening, we asked Barrett-Poindexter, Tarpey and Maele Hargett, an executive recruiter with Ascendo Resources, to highlight the most egregious résumé mistakes they see over and over—and explain how you can avoid these missteps.
1. Making Grammatical Errors and Typos
There’s no room for sloppiness. According to a 2013 CareerBuilder survey, 58% of employers identified résumés with typos as one of the top mistakes that led them to automatically dismiss a candidate.
“In this day and age, there really is no excuse for a number of grammatical errors,” says executive recruiter Hargett. Common errors she sees include misuse of words (“your/you’re” and “lose/loose”), words spelled incorrectly ("business" and "finance," if you can believe it), and overuse of punctuation (namely, commas).
She also says not to rely entirely on spell check. "It’s helpful to get a second set of eyes on your résumé after you’ve reviewed it yourself." She suggests reaching out to a trusted mentor or colleague in a similar industry, or if you’re a student, using the resources at your college career center or local library.
2. Submitting Incorrect Information
This may seem obvious, but getting simple details wrong will get your résumé tossed into the reject pile, fast.
“When you put an incorrect phone number down or mess up your job titles or dates, it makes your résumé look haphazard,” says Hargett. "If you say you’re detail-oriented, and we catch incorrect information on your résumé, it’s a big red flag."
Even if you make it to the interview stage, the incorrect information will come out eventually. A wrong phone number can easily be called and a job title can be verified with a former employer.
“Sometimes job titles do not match the job duties listed, and we’ll find out upon further interviewing that the title was changed on the résumé to give them an edge,” says Hargett. “Not a good idea—you are setting yourself up for failure.”
3. Giving Everyone the Same Résumé
This may come as a surprise to some job seekers, but your résumé is not one-size-fits-all (jobs). “No two roles are alike—and your résumés shouldn’t be either,” says Hargett.
CareerBuilder’s survey found that 36% of employers identified résumés that are too generic as one of the mistakes that may lead them to automatically dismiss a candidate.
"Instead of sending out a generic résumé to multiple employers," suggests Tarpey, "the more effective option would be to work on one application at a time, tailoring your résumé to fit the job description, and taking the time to truly understand what each employer is looking for.”
“A personalized résumé is focused to the target audience’s needs,” adds Barrett-Poindexter. For example, “if the job description says the role requires market analysis and planning, then weave that language into your résumé content, using real examples of analysis you performed and the results you achieved."
One more—perhaps obvious—note: Don't save versions of your résumé with a file name that makes it obvious that you've submitted a particular version: For example, janedoeresumemarketing or janedoeresumesales. Just keep it simple and save the file as your name.
4. Getting Too Elaborate With Formatting and Style
“Formatting is key,” says Hargett. Don’t let your résumé get out of hand with fonts and graphs and distract the reader from what’s important (how qualified you are). If you’re going to use bullets, they should be the same size and shape in each section and align from page to page.
Because recruiting agencies have to add their logos and sometimes condense a résumé, Hargett suggests that if you’re working with a recruiter, try using a template that doesn’t require you to work within “boxes” (which are difficult to format).
She adds that your résumé style should progress with you,” says Hargett, and remove those early jobs that acted as fillers and thoughtfully design the layout. "It should include clean lines and a different (non-neon) font color to highlight job titles."
There is one place you can be as creative as you like: your language. “Boring language, like using the word 'developed' over and over, puts the reader to sleep,” says Barrett-Poindexter. “Be creative and entice the hiring manager with language that sizzles.” For example, a headline like "Ensuring business roars ahead while attracting/developing top leadership talent" will show a bit more personality and creativity while articulating your achievements.
5. Being Vague
You’ll never hit the bull's-eye with a vague résumé, says Barrett-Poindexter. “Your laser-focused competitor candidate will knock you out of the game.”
“When you are too wordy and vague, we don’t know what you've actually accomplished,” adds Hargett. “Employers like to see as much information as possible up front. Highlight your accomplishments. If you raised money or saved money, put down the actual dollar figure—never give a generality that you can’t verify when they dig deeper.”
6. Squeezing Too Many Words Onto the Page
There’s no hard and fast rule about résumé length, says Tarpey. CareerBuilder’s data shows that for new college graduates, 66% of employers say a résumé should be one page long, and for more seasoned workers, 77% of employers say they expect a résumé that’s at least two pages long.
When trying to condense your employment history and skills into a few pages, “choose the accomplishments that are most in line with the open position’s main responsibilities and with the company’s corporate values,” says Tarpey.
“In general,” says Barrett-Poindexter, “job seekers should make sure they’re answering the requirements within the job listing while also telling their most relevant employment story, including specific achievements that map back to what the employer is looking for.”
7. Omitting Exact Dates
Think it’s OK to leave out clear dates? Think again. “Omitting exact dates of employment often raises suspicion in employers and makes it look like the job seeker is trying to cover something up,” says Tarpey. If you’ve got a large gap in your résumé, Tarpey suggests being up front about it and addressing the issue in a cover letter.
CareerBuilder’s survey found that 27% of employers identified résumés that don’t include exact dates of employment as one of the most common résumé mistakes that may lead them to automatically dismiss a candidate.
“We need to know your tenure, good or bad,” explains Hargett.
8. Not Including Skills
While listing out your "skills" may seem optional to you, many recruiters don't see it that way, though they offer several ways to tackle the task on a résumé. “A list of hard skills and examples of how you put those skills to use in previous positions is a great way to stand out from the pack,” says Tarpey.
Rather than a “skills” section, Barrett-Poindexter recommends weaving them into your profile/summary and résumé achievements sections. “For example, you might lead into a statement on the summary with the words ‘Relationship Building’ and then immediately follow with an example where you applied relationship-building talent, like ‘Managed cross-departmental teams to accomplish a stalled product development project that led to a 25% revenue increase.’”
In that same CareerBuilder survey, 35% of employers cited résumés that don’t include a list of skills as one of the most common résumé mistakes that may lead them to automatically dismiss a candidate.
9. Using an Objective Statement
Current trends indicate the days of including an objective statement in your résumé are gone.
Consider this example of an objective statement:
"Seeking a role as an investment analyst to advance my career in the financial industry."
There’s two problems here: It’s dry, and the focus is on what the candidate wants for himself—to advance his career—rather than how he can solve problems for the potential employer, says Barrett-Poindexter.
Instead of the objective statement above, she suggests, try creating a headline that accentuates your value to your target company, such as:

   Financial Analyst
   Transforming complex business problems in the technology sector into focused,
   data-backed solutions.
   Driving down costs, elevating reporting capabilities and improving decision-making processe

 

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I-JUST-THOUGHT-THIS-WAS-INTERESTING DEPT

Something we all could use--how to build a better to-do list:

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Research shows that the average American has 10 projects they’d like to complete. That's far too many for our brains to focus on all at once, so we become overwhelmed. (It's also why certain larger to-dos tend to appear on our lists again and again. We just can't find the time to complete them.)
Want to slay those goals that never seem to get done? Here are three approaches:

Good: Categorize Your Tasks

One common faux pas people make when creating to-do lists is allowing everything from the cosmic to the mundane to intermingle. “They use the list as a catchall for everything,” says Paula Rizzo, author of the forthcoming book List-ful Thinking: Using Lists to Be More Productive. “You’re putting things you want out of life -- like 'get a new job' or 'write a book' -- alongside 'pick up milk.' All of these things jumble together and make it really tricky for your brain.”
Rizzo's advice? Organize your list by timeline. She makes a morning-of list of everything she intends to tackle in the day ahead. For long-term projects, she has a weekly list and a bucket list.

Better: Create An Action Plan

Uncompleted tasks tend to nag at us, creating intrusive thoughts that get in the way of our productivity. In fact, the nagging feeling that's specifically created by unfinished to-dos even has a scientific name: the Zeigarnik effect. The good news? According to a study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, you don't have to complete your goals in order for your anxiety about them to go away. You just have to form a plan for completing them! Sounds doable, right?

Best: Go High-Tech

"Some people like to have a to-do list that's super short," says Rizzo. "You put it on a Post-it, and it’s the top five things you have to do today." But others, she says, prefer high-tech to-do lists. If that's you, options abound.
If you're obsessed with crossing things off, you might want to try using Google Tasks. It syncs with your Gmail and lets you check off to-dos as you complete them.
Are you a visual person? Pinterest is great for cataloging visual projects. “I [also] like apps such as Wunderlist and Clear,” says Rizzo. Wunderlist lets you create subtasks, set recurring to-dos and share your list with anyone (so you could, say, tackle party-planning with a friend). Clear is a rainbow-colored app controlled almost completely by swiping (e.g., you can "pinch" the list to add a new item).
It all depends on how complex your to-dos are. Rizzo is a devotee of Evernote, because it allows her to do things like scan her tax receipts and make notes in the margins of articles she’s saving.
Meanwhile, in the minimalist camp, Heidi Hanna, Ph.D, author of The Sharp Solution, recommends keeping a “just-enough list” to help you cope with overwhelm. In other words, list just the bare minimum of tasks you’d be OK with getting done each day.

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SO DON'T LET THIS HAPPEN TO YOU

That is, don't let your friends' supposedly beautiful photos of themselves on social media stress you out, or depress you.  We all know--photos can be touched up and don't necessarily reflect reality; people on social media often want to make their lives sound better to others than they really are; and, especially, we with Moebius Syndrome know that just because somebody's looks don't fit what the social norms of today classify as "good-looking" means absolutely nothing.

Rather, it's what's in the heart that counts.  So read on about the problem I'm talking about--and like I said, don't let it happen to you:

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Fixating on the bikini selfies and duck faced-photos of Facebook friends can make a young woman feel worse about her own body than comparing herself to the most beautiful celebrities and models in fashion magazines, a new study finds.
“The attention to physical attributes may be even more dangerous on social media than on traditional media because participants in social media are people we know,” the study’s authors argue.
The research, conducted by a team from the University of Strathclyde in the United Kingdom, Ohio University, and the University of Iowa, supports other recent findings that social media can create damaging effects on young women.
For example, in a study released last November, psychologists from American University in Washington, D.C., found that middle and high school girls who immersed themselves in Facebook images of others had more weight dissatisfaction, a heightened desire to be thin, and tended to view their own bodies as objects.
An Australian study released last September found that “Facebook users scored significantly higher on all body image concern measures than non-users.”
And in yet another study, released in July of last year, April Smith and colleagues, from Miami University in Ohio, found that certain Facebook habits could predict whether young women had more symptoms of bulimia and over-eating.
So what is it about social media that triggers body image problems, as opposed to, say, fashion magazines, or simply seeing the cute, popular girls around school?
First, though users often believe Facebook posts are more “real” than traditional media, Smith said, “they are not “an accurate representation of what’s going on in day-to-day life.” People post only their best images and they can use photo-editing tools to shave off pounds or build cheekbones.
Second, Smith said, young women tend to post negative text like “OMG, I just ate a pint of Ben and Jerry’s” seeking soothing comments like “Don’t worry,” or “You’re so pretty it won’t matter.” Instead, they may get “You’re a fat pig.” That also leads to more body dissatisfaction.
Girls — boys, too — think famous celebrities or models are unique and out of reach. But the attractiveness of their peers, they think, ought to be attainable. Young women already engage in a lot of body and fat conversation, said Evelyn Meier, who led the American University study, and social media “blows that up. It magnifies it.”
Plus, Meier said, a young woman can sit and ruminate on a photo of a peer unlike simply seeing a popular, pretty girl walk by in a school hallway.
The new study supports all these past findings. It surveyed 881 women, mostly white, on a Midwestern university. The women filled out lengthy questionnaires designed to screen and diagnose eating disorders. Most of the women, 86 percent, said they wanted to lose weight, a mean of 19 pounds.
On average they spent 79 minutes per day on Facebook. For women who wanted to lose weight, spending more time on Facebook was linked to more negative feelings about their bodies.
The results did not predict scores on the two standardized tests for eating disorders, but, explained co-author Yusuf Kalyango Jr., professor of journalism and communication studies at Ohio University’s E.W. Scripps School of Journalism, the women “who spent more time on Facebook were more likely to report body dissatisfaction,” an early sign of possible eating disorders.
It wasn’t how much time spent on the site, Kalyango said, but how often and for how long they looked at photos of others “that actually indicated whether they were happy or unhappy."

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A WAY TO REDUCE ANXIETY--RIGHT THERE ON YOUR PHONE?

Many people face anxiety every day; it's not just those with Moebius Syndrome.  But certainly having Moebius doesn't make dealing with anxiety any easier.  It's no fun to be stared at, or to have endless signals sent your way that you are different and don't "fit in."  But now they are developing an app on your phone that can help calm anxiety.  Check it out:

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Anxiety relief could be at your fingertips just by playing a game on your smartphone, new research suggests. Not just any game, though. A professor of psychology and neuroscience teamed up with app developers to design a game called Personal Zen that incorporates the latest science to clinically reduce anxiety levels while you play.
Dr. Tracy Dennis, the game's creator and a professor at Hunter College in New York, says the game helps fill a gap in the mental health care system."There's really a crisis in mental health now where we have some excellent scientifically-supported treatments for things like stress and anxiety disorders but they're burdensome, expensive, stigmatizing, and time-consuming," Dennis told CBS News. "We as psychologists need to do a better job of developing treatments that people can access that are effective."

About 18 percent of American adults experience anxiety each year, and nearly one-quarter of those cases are classified as severe, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. Less than 37 percent of anxiety sufferers are receiving treatment.
Personal Zen incorporates the psychological concept of cognitive bias modification, specifically a type of therapy called attention-bias modification training. It works by getting people to shift their focus from a threatening stimulus, such as an angry face, to a non-threatening, happy face.
"You can actually retrain your brain to pay attention differently, to focus more on the positive," Dennis explained.

In Personal Zen, users trace a path left by a happy sprite (bottom) which directs them away from an angry sprite (top)

CBS News

Previous studies have shown cognitive-bias modification to be effective at treating people with high anxiety, but those lab-based studies involved looking at a computer screen with alternating pictures of faces and arrows.

"The old computer one was very tedious and boring" study co-author Dr. Laura O' Toole, a postdoctoral research fellow at Hunter College, told CBS News. "The goal of our study was to 'game-ify' an emerging computerized therapeutic approach in order to attempt to overcome some of the barriers to treatment...by making it more engaging and enjoyable for people to play."
In Personal Zen, happy-faced and angry-faced sprites pop up out of a grassy field. Players earn points by tracing a trail left by the happy-faced sprite as it burrows into the ground; thus they are directed away from the negative, threatening stimulus to instead focus on the happy face.
In a study published last month in Clinical Psychological Science, the researchers tested the game's effectiveness in 25 and 45-minute sessions, after which they asked participants to perform anxiety-inducing tasks like giving a short speech while being videotaped or counting backwards from 1,007 subtracting 11 each time.
Half the participants played Personal Zen, while the others played a placebo version where the trail randomly follows both the happy and angry sprites.
Participants who played Personal Zen scored lower on anxiety measures, and reacted less stressfully to the tasks than people who played the placebo version in the randomized controlled trial.
"Many of them reported feeling relaxed by playing, and enjoyed seeing how their progress was tracked with the different colors and sounds," said O'Toole.

The team is currently testing the app to measure brain activity of participants, and also has ongoing experiments with mildly anxious pregnant women who are playing the game at home. This would also give researchers a chance to not only track moms' anxiety levels, but how stress during pregnancy might affect a baby's development.
"A question that arises often is, 'Well, can't you just play any game and reduce your stress? Can I play Candy Crush and Flappy Bird?'" asked Dennis. "Maybe. But there's no data to support that."
Dr. Scott Bea, a clinical psychologist at the Cleveland Clinic, told CBS News he's excited by the new technology, because retraining the brain takes a fair bit of effort and practice.
"Now getting people to practice in ways that feel like a game or that are a little bit more fascinating for them -- boy, we've been dying for that technology in our profession," he told CBS News.
He added, however, that more research is needed in larger populations. And he said people should not just rely on a game to treat an anxiety disorder without seeking a professional opinion first.
"I think there is a danger in being undertreated," he said. "If you have a significant anxiety condition and you're trying to treat it merely through smartphone apps without getting a proper evaluation, you may be missing the mark."
While mobile technology is thought by some to add to stress and anxiety, Dennis and Bea see it as a part of life.
Dennis hopes that her app and other evidence-supported games using psychological concepts could help people manage anxiety, stress or other disorders rooted in cognitive bias such as addiction or eating disorders. Such games could conceivably be hooked up to other devices -- for example if a FitBit could measure stress -- which in turn could ping someone to play a game to reduce it.
"I think the potential here is unlimited," she said.

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FOR MOEBIUS MOMS AND DADS: WHEN YOU'VE GOTTA RUN...

...you can still "run"--that is, run, stay fit, get exercise...even when you're real busy taking care of the kiddos.  Here are some ideas on how:

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Laura Donnelly-Smith’s morning fitness routine begins the night before. That’s when she begins the long exercise of getting herself ready to exercise.
About 7:45 p.m., Donnelly-Smith, a 35-year-old writer and editor at the Smithsonian, gets outfits and lunches ready for herself and her 20-month-old son, and packs her son’s day-care bag. She says it’s the only way to keep up her morning fitness regimen: running on three weekdays for 30 minutes, longer on the weekends.

After her 6:15 a.m. weekday runs, “I’ve got exactly 30 minutes to get myself showered, dressed and out the door to walk to the Metro by 7:30,” says Donnelly-Smith, who lives in Silver Spring and has been a runner since she was 14. Her husband feeds their son breakfast and drops him off at day care. Washington is the second-fittest city in America, according to the American Fitness Index. It is also, if anecdotal evidence is to be believed, home to some of the busiest people around — or at least people who say they are. So how do people with hectic schedules keep themselves in shape — and even train for endurance and other competitive events? We asked parents for their secrets.
I “spend a lot less time showering, getting dressed and putting on makeup than a lot of people,” says Karina Lubell, a 33-year-old lawyer and runner who lives in the District. Lubell, who works 50 to 60 hours a week and has an 11-month-old son, manages to work out about six hours a week, mostly in the early mornings and on weekends. (She doesn’t count her daily 30-minute bicycle commute.)
Lubell and her husband, who works in finance, run with the Capital Area Runners club, sometimes with their son in a jogging stroller.
The jogging stroller, as much as precision scheduling and premade meals, appears to be a key tool for many parents with young kids. So are babysitters (sometimes to allow parents to go on a date run), memberships in gyms with child care, early-morning boot camps, home exercise equipment, Wii Fit, online classes and, perhaps most important, flexibility and an understanding spouse.
Rebecca Scritchfield, a registered dietitian, health fitness specialist and founder of Capitol Nutrition Group, says busy people who want to stay fit might need to expand their definition of exercise. Take the family on a weekend bike ride, she says. “Brainstorm project ideas with a co-worker while taking a walk,” she adds. “Be okay with letting your kids watch a little TV while you turn on a workout video.”
Being less rigid about kid time is key, says Kristin Kramer, 40, of Silver Spring. “I don’t schedule activities for the kids on Saturday mornings that would require my presence, because that’s when I run,” she explains. “I think being fit is terribly important for health and happiness, and I think it’s good that our kids see us making it a priority,” even if that means she has to hire a sitter while she exercises, says Kramer, a scientific review officer at the National Institutes of Health, whose husband is also a runner.
No matter what their schedule, many couples say a supportive partner is helpful — for couples with children, especially so. In many cases that means one person must be willing to put his or her own fitness regimen on the back burner for a while. One marathoner said she alternated training years with her husband.
Skip Daly, a 42-year-old database administrator who lives in Gaithersburg, concedes his family’s fitness routine is “somewhat one-sided.” His wife, Emer, 40, a stay-at-home mother of their four children — ages 9, 4 and 6-year-old twins — is a runner and a running coach for half marathons. That requires consistent training, which she often does when Daly comes home from work.
“She’s forever dealing with school lunches, homework, shuttling kids to/fro, handling chores,” Daly says in an e-mail. “So I completely respect her need to get out of dodge when I get home.”
Karen Kincer, president of Montgomery County Road Runner’s Club, is also a mother of four. “It helps if both parties don’t just look at exercise as a selfish pursuit,” says Kincer, 42, of Rockville. She and her husband “both appreciate the benefits that exercising brings to us not just physically but also mentally.” To achieve these goals, she says, “the Google Calendar is a lifesaver, as are running partners who aren’t afraid of a 5 a.m. start.”
Still, all of this planning can be stressful.
“While the benefits of exercise are undeniable,” says Scritchfield, “the anxiety over finding the time to fit it in to our crazy schedules may outweigh the benefits of the exercise itself.”
So if you’re aiming for a personal record in a triathlon and find yourself on Google Calendar setting up a 4 a.m. double-stroller date run so you can also make a 7 a.m. work meeting, perhaps you should think again. Or just go to sleep; after all, it’s well established that rest is a vital part of any fitness program.
More tips:
Staying fit and being busy aren’t mutually exclusive. You just need to be a little creative with your schedule and your definition of exercise.
“All movement is good for you,” says Rebecca Scritchfield, a registered dietitian, health fitness specialist and founder of Capitol Nutrition Group. It “increases blood flow, bringing nutrients to every cell in your body, strengthening your heart, muscles and improving your cardiovascular system.”
You can get some of these benefits by just adding walking to your daily routine, she says. This can be as simple as “walking to an errand, walking to a park for lunch, walking around the house picking up messes.” Ideally, she says, you’d add resistance and strength training and flexibility, too.
Carolyn Muse Siegel, owner and lead instructor at Mommy Bootcamp in Fairfax, has some additional ideas.
1. Schedule exercise “dates” with your friends. Friends help keep you accountable in your fitness routine. And, since it’s often hard to schedule catching-up time on your already busy calendar, you can do double duty here. Skip the drinks or lunch and instead set up a tennis match or meet for a jog. You’ll burn calories and get in needed friend time.
2. Find a routine you can love. When you find a class, group or individual program that you love, exercise becomes less of an added chore and more of a pleasure that you can look forward to.
3. “Play” during family time. Family time is a great time to work exercise into a busy schedule. Hiking, biking, sledding, even just simply kicking a ball with your kids are all great ways to burn calories and have fun! Plus, the added bonus is that you’re teaching your children the importance of an active lifestyle.
4. Go to bed earlier. If you find yourself wasting away your evening hours watching television or browsing the Internet, try going to sleep earlier. The added rest could give you enough extra energy to wake up early for a workout. Because of fewer scheduling conflicts early in the morning, you are much less likely to miss your workout. Plus, morning exercise sessions get your endorphins going for increased productivity throughout the day.
5. Keep exercise clothes and a “cleanup” kit at your desk. Sometimes a lunchtime workout is all you can fit in. Be prepared for these days by having essentials at your desk to quickly clean up if a shower is not possible. Hair refresher products, deodorant, disposable body wipes and travel cosmetics make it possible to get back to work in a flash.

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MORE FROM THE I-JUST-THOUGHT-THIS-WAS-INTERESTING DEPT

Is procrastination in your genes???  Don't put off reading this until tomorrow; find out now! :+)  Read on:

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A study by researchers at the University of Colorado at Boulder has found that a tendency to procrastinate is affected by genetic factors, which are also linked to a propensity to be impulsive.

Everybody has put off today what can be done tomorrow. And that might be because procrastination is in your genes, a new study published in the journal Psychological Science suggests.

But when it comes to delaying, not everyone is created equal. Some are significantly more likely to procrastinate than others, so researchers at the University of Colorado at Boulder looked into whether this bad habit might have its roots in genetics by surveying 181 identical twin pairs and 166 fraternal twin pairs. The twins were surveyed on their ability to set and maintain goals, propensity to procrastinate and impulsivity.

TIME: 7 tricks to improve your memory

Prior research has indicated that procrastination and impulsivity are genetically linked. Being impulsive has an evolutionary advantage, the researchers point out, because it would have helped our ancestors with everyday survival.

Procrastination, on the other hand, may be more of a modern phenomenon, since we now focus on long-term goals, from which we can easily get distracted.

Based on the behavioral similarities in twins, the researchers concluded that procrastination can indeed be genetic, and that it seems to have some genetic overlap with impulsivity.

TIME: Kids are doing juice cleanses now too

The researchers also suggest that procrastination is an evolutionary by-product of making the rash decisions that go along with being impulsive.

"Learning more about the underpinnings of procrastination may help develop interventions to prevent it, and help us overcome our ingrained tendencies to get distracted and lose track of work," study author Daniel Gustavson said in a statement.

Now the only thing chronic procrastinators might care about is, will there ever be a cure?

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FROM THE I-JUST-THOUGHT-THIS-WAS-INTERESTING DEPT

Well, I find this interesting...but also, I think there are those in our community who work at home.  After all, many of us have Moebius.   And so it can be kind of nice for us to get away from people sometimes.  So--maybe you are a student doing schoolwork from home.  Maybe you're allowed to get out of the office and work from home at times, maybe even all the time.  Great.  But the question is:  how do you remain productive at home?  There are so many temptations.  How can we stay productive?  Here are some ideas:

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Staying motivated at work can be hard but for remote employees it can be downright impossible.
Unlike an office environment, at home there are a ton of temptations and distractions that can easily sap your productivity and your career trajectory.
“Working from home is essentially an independent way of working. Even if you have managers and coworkers to be accountable to, you’re still responsible for motivating yourself,” says Sara Sutton Fell, CEO of FlexJobs. “And because our houses have all sorts of distractions (I’ll just throw in one load of laundry, or do these dishes quickly), it can be hard to stay motivated.”
But you don’t have to let it hurt your career. There are ways to keep your motivation and productivity high. Here’s how.
Have a Dedicated Office Space
Some of the most productive remote workers are the ones that have a dedicated office space in their home that they go to each morning. The ones that tend to easily lose motivation are the workers that open their laptop, plop down on the couch and think they can work with life going on around them.  “You have to have an organized space in your home so that you can work in that space with limited distractions,” says Paul McDonald, senior executive director of Robert Half International.
Hand in hand with having a dedicated office is setting boundaries for when family members can enter the office. If you want to keep your office void of distractions close your door during work hours, get rid of any toys or entertainment that will lure the kids or roommates and establish rules of engagement during work hours,
Be Organized and Layout Your Work Week
Organization is imperative in any job, but for remote workers it is a necessity, especially because you won’t have a boss breathing down your neck making sure your work is getting done. According to Sara Caputo, founder and principal of RADIANT,  a professional organizing and productivity consulting company, make sure you layout the work you plan to tackle during the week and update that list daily. “At the end of the week, I like the Friday 45, which is taking 45 minutes and planning ahead for next week so you can more easily leave work alone through the weekend and hit the ground running on Monday, ” says Caputo.
Create a Regular Routine
Humans are creatures of habit, which is why establishing a routine and sticking to it when you work at home is a great way to keep your motivation and productivity on overdrive. “We’ve found that people who establish a routine and establish check lists are very productive and motivated,” says McDonald. That means getting up at the same time during the work week as if you were going to an office, having predetermined break times and blocking off times to get up from your desk every now and then. For some people staying in their PJs all day works for them while others will take a shower and get dressed before heading to their home office. Either is fine as long as it’s part of the established routine.
Find Your Secret Sauce
Perhaps it’s a particular song, a comfy office setting or time of day, either way Sutton Fell says you want to figure out what gets you in a work groove and run with it. For some people it could also mean changing the scenery every once awhile. It’s no accident that coffee shops like Starbucks are filled with people typing away on their computers during office hours. “There are so many ways to get and stay motivated, but you are responsible for motivating yourself as a telecommuter,” say Sutton Fell.
Get in the Right Mindset 
Life happens, but chances are you are going to hear all about it as it’s happening when you work from home. A great way to prevent life’s distractions is to have weekly meetings with your partner to prevent the personal portions of life from impacting productivity during work hours, says Caputo. Cover all the home issues during those meetings so you won’t be interrupted with questions during work hours, she says.
Working at home is hard so it’s a good idea to cut yourself some slack as you figure it out. Nothing can be more demoralizing and thus productivity sapping then beating yourself up because you didn’t cross off everything on your checklist or you ended up working all weekend because you couldn’t get motivated. “Remember it takes more discipline to work at home than it does working in an office,” says McDonald. “It’s up to you to know what your productivity triggers are and be patient with yourself as adjust to what’s happening.”

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AWARENESS UPDATE: GOOD NEWS FROM SESAME STREET

Elmo, Abby Kadabby, Big Bird and the gang will be doing some things to focus attention on, and raise awareness of, autism.  And that's a good thing for our community--sometimes those with Moebius Syndrome also have autism, though by no means always.  Read on:

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The nonprofit behind Big Bird, Elmo and Abby Cadabby is launching a new effort to reduce stigma surrounding kids with autism and help those with the developmental disorder learn life skills.
Through a new initiative dubbed “See Amazing in All Children,” Sesame Workshop said it will create digital tools to help children with autism learn to play with others and complete everyday activities like brushing teeth, getting dressed and trying new foods.
In addition, the organization said it will use Sesame Street’s brand and characters to educate the public about autism and emphasize that kids on the spectrum are much like their typically developing peers.
“This has become one of the most widely-discussed topics in childhood development, yet we have found that there’s a lack of understanding among the general public about children with autism,” said Jeanette Betancourt, Sesame Workshop’s senior vice president for community and family engagement. “Sesame Workshop has a long history of addressing diversity, acceptance and inclusion, and we felt we could play a critical role in reducing misconceptions by highlighting the commonalities children with autism share with all children.”
Beyond its efforts aimed at children, Sesame Workshop said it also plans to work with Exceptional Minds, a Sherman Oaks, Calif. vocational center that teaches young adults with autism computer animation and post-production skills, to help create content.

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HOW TO MEET PEOPLE? HAVE A DOG...

Do you have Moebius Syndrome?  Are you lonely?  Would you like to meet more people?  Well, then I think you are in the same boat as the lady who wrote the article below; she does not have Moebius but she felt like she needed and wanted more people in her life.  And so she got a dog.  Now many of you with Moebius already know this--about the joys and benefits a pet can bring you.  In my experience, people with Moebius Syndrome love their pets, and especially love their dog.  After all, dogs don't care how you look.  They won't judge you.  But anyway, this piece is a good reminder of just how true all of this is.  Read on:

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As I approached four years as a widow, the loneliness of a one-person household began to drag me down. Acquiring a four-legged companion, rather than a two-legged one, appealed to me.

And so, in February, I adopted a 5-month-old puppy, a hypoallergenic Havanese small enough for me to pick up and carry, even into my ninth decade, when I travel to visit family and friends.

While most dog owners I know encouraged my decision, several dogless friends thought I had lost my mind. How, with all my work, travels and cultural events, was I going to manage the care of a dog?

No one asked this when I decided to have children. In fact, few people consider in advance how children will fit into their lives. If you want a child badly enough, you make it work.

I am now making it work with Max II, little mischief that he is, and I am besotted. He’s smart — smart enough to know when I really must work and cannot spend time throwing a ball for him. As I write this, he’s asleep on the floor at my side, although during a phone interview two weeks ago, he managed to shred every piece of paper he could grab in my study.

Yes, he’s a lot of work, at least at this age. But like a small child, Max makes me laugh many times a day. That’s not unusual, apparently: In a study of 95 people who kept “laughter logs,” those who owned dogs laughed more often than cat owners and people who owned neither.

When I speak to Max, he looks at me lovingly and seems to understand what I’m saying. When I open his crate each morning, he greets me with unbounded enthusiasm.Likewise when I return from a walk or swim, a day at the office, or an evening at the theater.

But perhaps the most interesting (and unpremeditated) benefit has been the scores of people I’ve met on the street, both with and without dogs, who stop to admire him and talk to me. Max has definitely increased my interpersonal contacts and enhanced my social life. People often thank me for letting them pet my dog. Max, in turn, showers them with affection.

Prompted by my son, a fellow dog lover, to explore the health benefits of pet ownership, I dug into the literature, focusing first on what pets can do for older adults, then branching out to people in all age brackets.

More American households have dogs than any other type of nonhuman companion. Studies of the health ramifications have strongly suggested that pets, particularly dogs, can foster cardiovascular health, resistance to stress, social connectivity and enhanced longevity.

The researcher Erika Friedmann, whose groundbreaking study in 1980 showed that, other factors being equal, people with pets were more likely to be alive a year after discharge from a coronary care unit, said studies also have linked pet ownership to lower blood pressure, cholesterol and triglycerides — even though owners drank more alcohol, ate more meat and weighed more than those without pets. Other studies have found that older people who walk dogs are more likely than those who walk with human companions to engage in regular exercise and be physically fit.

Controlled studies by Dr. Friedmann, a professor at the University of Maryland School of Nursing, have also demonstrated a lower level of physiological arousal from stress-inducing situations when a friendly animal was present.

I can’t yet say that Max II has reduced my anxiety. I remain ever alert to his need to head outside and his attempts to chew or tear up anything he can reach. But there is no question that I am thrilled by his antics, endearing personality, unconditional love (even when I yell no), and the many connections he’s fostered with both acquaintances and strangers.

As a study published in 2007 in Society & Animals concluded, pets “ameliorate some determinants of mental health such as loneliness.” In a survey of 339 residents of Western Australia, the researchers found pet ownership to be associated “with social interactions, favor exchanges, civic engagement, perceptions of neighborhood friendliness and sense of community.”

Elderly dog owners report “significantly less dissatisfaction with their social, physical and emotional states,” according to a 1993 study by veterinary researchers at the University of California, Davis.

Children, too, can benefit from pet ownership, medically and socially. Rates of asthma and eczema are lower among children with dogs at home from infancy onward. Among boys in particular, who may have few activities that foster nurturing behavior, caring for a pet enhances emotional development and security, according to Gail F. Melson, professor of developmental studies at Purdue University.

She found that 5-year-olds who turn to pets for support are rated by parents as less anxious and withdrawn than comparable children who have pets they don’t rely on.

But before acquiring any pet, and especially a dog, Alan M. Beck, who heads the Center for the Human-Animal Bond at Purdue, urges people to carefully consider the implications. “Look for an animal of an appropriate breed, size and temperament for your household,” he said. “Do you have the income, exercise ability and time the pet needs?” In an interview, Dr. Beck suggested speaking to owners with the kind of pet you are considering. If possible, visit a household with one. Better still, he said, try pet-sitting for a few days or fostering an animal for a few weeks to appreciate more fully what pet ownership entails and to determine if you are up to the task.

“If you’re going to get a dog, you should be prepared to spend time on basic training and socializing the animal,” Dr. Beck said. “A properly socialized dog is better behaved and less likely to be aggressive and bite someone.”

In an interview, Dr. Friedmann emphasized that “pets are not a panacea” to be treated like a drug taken when you feel unwell.

“Living with a companion animal involves responsibilities, the establishment of structured routines for feeding, exercising and nurturing,” she said. “The benefits you derive from the animal are linked to these responsibilities.”

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IMAGINE A WORLD WHERE YOU ARE BETTER

Today we have an inspirational story of the day.  And it's a story about someone who faced severe challenges.  He was ill; largely immobilized for three years.  Doctors couldn't figure out what was wrong with him.  He got depressed.  But he persevered and in the end, has triumphed and become a success.  Moebius Syndrome is a challenge, too, and presents us plenty of challenges.  This story isn't about Moebius.  But we can learn from this.  Read on:

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I would not change the last five years for anything. That being said, under no circumstances would I elect to revisit them.

If it were not for those difficult years, I would not appreciate my health as much as I do now, I would not have written five books, "The Hidden World" would not be published, and I would not have the perspective on life that I do now.

Autonomic neuropathy struck me in February 2009. It caused random fainting spells multiple times a day, extreme fatigue, severe confusion and dizziness, blurred vision and a drop in my energy that prevented me from walking unsupported for many months at a time.

Those symptoms lasted uninterrupted -- sometimes worse, sometimes better -- for three years. I went undiagnosed for a year and a half, and in that time I visited more than 30 doctors and had countless treatments, setbacks, tests taken and vials of blood drawn.

In June 2010, my illness resulted in my permanent removal from Hotchkiss (the boarding school I attended), and I spent two subsequent years at home. During those years I found an agent, edited my novel, wrote three additional novels and secured a publishing contract with Koehler Books.

In May 2012, my health finally started to improve. There had been brief spells before where my health would improve for a few weeks only to deteriorate even further, so I found it difficult to believe that my hardship was over.

I sat helpless for three years, watching my friends and family suffer because of my illness, all the while unable to do anything to ease their suffering and my own.

But 2012 was an amazing year for me. It was the year I finally recovered, the year I returned to school and a normal life, and the year I got a publishing offer for my first novel, "The Hidden World."

My writing was instrumental to my recovery. The mental stimulation I received from my writing saved me from a deep depression and might have played a part in my physical recovery as well.

I was stuck at home for two years -- two years where I had nothing to do but write and gain appreciation for the smallest things, such as the ability to walk to the bathroom instead of crawl.

Members of my family played a vital role in my recovery. They were struck by my illness as hard or harder than I was for they had to watch my health deteriorate and my spirits drain, and there was nothing they could do about it.

Knowing how my family suffered made the illness even worse for me. Severe depression plagued me for those years, and I was only lifted out of it through my writing and support from my family.

I am now fully recovered and attending the University of Virginia. I am working on my sixth novel, working to get my third and fifth published, and I have finally returned to living a normal life -- something I longed for for three years.

I still have to take extra precautions with my health, for no one fully understands autonomic neuropathy. There are still things that I cannot do, which frustrates me to no end, but I remind myself that I can do far more than I could years ago.

Having overcome what I have, I firmly believe that life's trials are there for a reason and the only way to overcome them is to dedicate yourself to something about which you truly care. Sometimes the only thing that you can do is imagine a world where you are better.

When I wrote, I escaped to a world that was entirely my own, and I could forget for a few minutes the stark realities of the one I was currently living in.

I would not wish those three years on anyone, but I would not change them because they made me who I am today, and for that I am eternally grateful. "The Hidden World" is the culmination of the last five years, both my illness and recovery, and I am happy to present it to the world as the silver lining to my years of sickness.

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