A routine is like autopilot for the boring things in your life. It is not autopilot for your life. Establishing routines on daily, weekly, and monthly schedules frees up your brain to think about things that are important and exciting.

Instead of trying to figure out which pants you want to wear, why not think about how you’re going to ask the boss to assign you to that new project.

Instead of trying to remember if you put the garbage out on time, why not think about the hiking trip that you’re taking this weekend.

Instead of worrying about whether you paid the power bill, why not enjoy a nice cold beverage of your choice confident in the knowledge that you’re not neglecting your responsibilities.

Daily
To establish your daily routine, think about the things that you do everyday and when you do them. Start with when you wake up. What are the first three things you do after you open your eyes? Write those things down along with how long they take you to do. It’s important to keep track of the timeline of these events so that you can identify where you’re cutting it close and where you have wiggle room.

Go through your whole day this way and once you have things written down, group them up into larger categories. If you have a list items for “brush teeth - 2 minutes” and “toilet - 5 minutes”, roll them up into “bathroom - 10 minutes”. This kind of grouping is helpful as it helps simplify the schedule.

Depending on your schedule, you might need to make one schedule for work days and another for personal days. I choose to keep my schedule similar for both days and just swap out the big chunk of time in the middle of the day.

My daily schedule is below:

• 05:30 - 05:35 - Snooze once, wake up
• 05:35 - 06:00 - Use bathroom, get dressed
• 06:00 - 06:15 - Breakfast, coffee, news
• 06:15 - 15:00 - Write, work/personal time, weekly & monthly routines
• 15:00 - 20:00 - Family/personal time, weekly & monthly routines
• 20:00 - 22:00 - Wife/personal time
• 22:00 - 22:15 - Prep for next morning
• 22:15 - Bed time

The point is to keep track of the boring things so that you can focus on the fun and exciting things that you enjoy. It's not supposed to be an impatient task master cracking its whip to keep you on task.

Every time you see “personal time” on my schedule, I can fit in whatever I want there. Notice, however, that every time you see it there, it’s always preceded by something else. This indicates that those things take priority for that time, but in lieu of other responsibilities, I can decide what to do with my time.

Weekly
Your weekly schedule is created in much the same way as the daily schedule. Pick a day to start with and map out the major recurring events for that day, then move on to the next day doing the same thing until you’ve mapped out your whole week.

These events are those that fill in the “work/family/wife/personal time” sections of my daily schedule. They’re the things that I can count on happening under normal conditions. If everything is on track, these are the things that occupy my time.

For reference, my weekly schedule is below:

Monthly
Hopefully, if you’ve written out your daily and weekly schedules, the monthly schedule is fairly straight-forward. Your monthly schedule is likely to be populated mostly by finance-related events. Payday, bills, appointments.

Think about the things that happen every third thursday of the month or every two weeks. Make a list of these things and have it ready to reference when you’re trying to figure out what you’re supposed to be doing instead of watching reruns on Netflix.

So What?
Now that you’ve got your routines mapped out, you’ll need to keep track of them somewhere that works for you. For me it’s my online calendar. It’s connected to my phone and I can add or reference things as the need arises.

Be sure to cut yourself some slack. Unexpected things will pop up that will throw off your routine. That’s ok. Once you realize that you’ve lost track of your routine, pause for a moment to feel bad about yourself, but then get back after it.

Now you have to make a habit of checking your schedule. I’ve trained myself that every time I sit down to watch TV, play video games, or browse the web, first I check the calendar to make sure that I’m not neglecting or forgetting something. Having done that, I’m free to thoroughly enjoy whatever leisure activity that I’m engaging in without the anxiety of neglecting my responsibilities hanging over my head.

When it comes to providing first aid, nothing compares to actual, hands-on medical training. If anything in this set of instruction conflicts with guidance you receive from a medical professional, follow the guidance of the medical professional.

Stay Calm, Call for Help, Act
Stay calm. Call for help. Triage and render aid.

If you fail to stay calm, you also become a casualty that other first-responders will have to care for.

​Stay calm. Call for help. Triage the person’s injuries. Render aid as best you can until the medics arrive.

Triage
Triage is the process of assessing a person’s injuries and prioritizing them beginning with the most life threatening injury and ending with the least. For the purpose of basic first aid, there are four general categories to assess: breath, blood, bones, and shock.

Determining which category of injury is the most life threatening is up to your best judgment. Bleeding and breathing are typically the two highest priorities when triaging a casualty, but it’s impossible to predict every situation so your judgment has to fill the gap.

Breath
If the person isn’t breathing or is having difficulty breathing you should consider this a high priority. Any time a person goes without breathing for several minutes, there’s a risk of suffering brain damage. Typically, irreversible brain damage can set in within 5-10 minutes. Beyond 10 minutes, recovery is nearly impossible.

Symptoms

• If the person is talking, they’re breathing.
• If you see their chest rise and fall, they’re breathing.
• Hold a smooth glass surface (glasses, cell phone, etc.) just above their lips for a few seconds and see if condensation forms on the surface.

Treatment

• Tilt the person’s chin up.
• Ensure that their mouth is clear of obstructions (gum, food, toothpicks, etc.)
• Pinch their nose shut.
• Place your mouth over theirs and breathe evenly to fill their lungs. You should see their chest rise up. If you don’t, try again. If you still see no reaction, there may be an obstruction in their throat.
• If their chest rises and falls, their airway is clear. Continue to triage the person providing breaths every few seconds.

Blood
Controlling bleeding is critical. Depending on the location of the bleed, it’s possible for a person to bleed out within minutes. A pressure dressing applied to the wound is preferable to control bleeding, but a tourniquet can be more effective.

Symptoms

• Does the person have a pulse? You can feel for their wrist (radial) or neck (carotid) to feel for a pulse.
• Is the person bleeding or is there an open wound?
• Is there a growing bruise visible, especially on the person’s abdomen?

Treatment

• If you are unable to detect a pulse, call for help and begin chest compressions. Perform chest compressions by:
  • Placing your hands on top of each other over the center of the person’s chest.
  • With your arms straight and elbows locked, push down using the weight of your upper body to compress the person’s chest.
  • Continue compressions every second until the person regains consciousness or medics arrive.
• If the person is bleeding, try to stop it by covering the wound with a pressure dressing (shirt, scarf, towel, etc.).
• If a pressure dressing won’t stop the bleeding, apply a tourniquet (scarf, shoelace, belt, headphones, etc.):
  • Wrap the tourniquet around the person’s limb between the wound and the person’s heart.
  • Tighten the tourniquet as much as possible to stop the flow of blood. A good way to do this is to slide something long, thin, and solid between the person’s limb and the tourniquet and then to twist it so that the tourniquet is tightened.
  • Done correctly, the tourniquet will likely be painful.

Bones
A broken bone, by itself, is not typically life threatening. Broken bones can, however, cause internal lacerations so they should be stabilized as much as possible to avoid this.

Symptoms

• Are any limbs bent at unusual angles?
• Are any bones sticking out of the person’s skin (compound fracture)?
• Does the person feel pain when you touch them?

Treatment

• Do not try to set a broken bone! Setting a broken bone increases the risk of causing internal bleeding.
• For a compound fracture, do not try to put the bone back in the person’s body.
• If paramedics are on the way, just keep the person still and calm until they arrive.
• If you have to move the person, stabilize the broken bone with a splint or sling.
• A splint is applied by tying or taping long, rigid objects parallel to the broken bone to immobilize it.
• You can use the person’s shirt as a sling by cutting or tearing the side of the shirt opposite the broken bone, rolling the shirt upward, and tying the cut ends over the person’s shoulder.

Shock
Shock is a condition where a person appears to be unaware of or unconcerned with their surroundings. Your goal should be to help keep the person calm, but alert and try to help improve their circulation and steady their breathing.

Symptoms

• Does the person have cool, clammy, pale, or ashen skin?
• Are they breathing rapidly?
• Is their heart beating rapidly?
• Are their pupils enlarged?
• Are they vomiting or nauseous?
• Are they weak, fatigued, dizzy, confused?

Treatment

• Have the person lie down and, if possible, elevate their feet and legs.
• Keep the person still and warm.
• Loosen tight clothing.
• Don’t let the person eat or drink.
• Talk calmly with the person. Ask simple questions to try and keep the person alert and awake.
• If the person vomits, roll them on their side to prevent choking.

Concussion
A concussion occurs when a person’s brain experiences a traumatic injury of some kind that affects the way their brain works. The cause of a concussion, however, is always some physical trauma or impact. Specialized medical training and/or imaging tools are necessary to properly diagnose a concussion, but there are some warning signs to look for that can identify a person’s increased likelihood of having a concussion. It can take hours or days before symptoms present themselves.

Symptoms

• Headache
• Confusion
• Dizziness
• Ringing in the ears
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Slurred speech
• Personality changes
• Changes in sleeping patterns

Treatment

• Consult a doctor
• Rest as much as possible
• Avoid physical activity
• Avoid extended periods of high-thought activities (video games, reading, watching TV)
• Prefer acetaminophen over ibuprofen for reducing pain

Identify a Clogged Toilet
You know your toilet is clogged only after trying to flush it. Over time, you become familiar with the sound of the toilet flushing and unless you make a habit of watching the water and human waste swirl and go down the drain, that sound is how you’ll first know that something is wrong.

When the toilet is clogged, the bowl will fill up with water and anything that was in the toilet bowl when you flushed that didn’t make it past the clog before it blocked the pipe. Yes, you’ll likely see poop.

Clear the Clog
The wrong thing to do is to do nothing and make it the next guy’s problem. The right thing to do is to get the plunger and fix it. It only takes one time of unclogging a toilet that some other guy left clogged for you to realize the importance of this fact.

If done correctly, you should be able to clear the clog without getting any toilet water on yourself. Here’s how:

• Dip the plunger in the water at an angle to release as much air as possible from the cup of the plunger. Air is compressible, water is not. You’ll lose force with air in the plunger.
• Maneuver the cup of the plunger down into the mouth of the drain. Avoid trapping toilet paper or poop under the cup to get as tight a seal between the cup and the toilet bowl as possible.
• With slow, steady, forceful strokes, push the plunger down so that the water trapped in the cup is pushed down the drain. If your stroke is sudden and uneven, you risk splashing water around and out of the toilet bowl. Start slow and work up speed as you become familiar with the process.
• You’ll usually hear the water drain when the clog is cleared. If you don’t hear the water drain after 5-10 strokes, break the seal between the plunger and the toilet bowl to check. If the clog remains, try again.
• If after several iterations, the clog won’t clear, you may need to escalate to a plumber.
• After clearing the clog, leave the plunger in the toilet bowl and flush the toilet several times to rinse off the cup of the plunger. Once it’s clean, shake off the remaining water and put it back for next time.

There are many different types and styles of knives. We are going to focus on the single-edged folding pocket knife as that is to most widely used and useful type of knife. A good pocket knife has a 2-3 inch blade with a locking mechanism of some kind to keep it rigid and open when in use.

Basic Open
Opening a pocket knife one of the most basic skills. Some knives have assisted opening mechanisms that make this step easier. With practice, it’s possible to learn to be able to flick open a blade with one hand.

• Hold the closed pocket knife in your offhand so that the spine of the blade faces away from your palm and the tip of the blade pointing away from your dominant hand.
• Make sure that the fingers of your offhand do not cover the spine of the blade.
• With the thumb and forefinger of your dominant hand, grip the exposed spine of the blade. There is usually a ledge in the spine of the blade that you can use to wedge your thumb nail into for added grip.
• While gripping the body of the pocket knife with your offhand and the spine of the blade with your dominant hand, rotate your wrists in opposite directions away from each other to open the knife.
• If the knife has a locking mechanism, verify that it is engaged by attempting to close the knife. If the locking mechanism fails, you need to perform maintenance on the knife.

Basic Close
Closing a pocket knife can result in cut fingers if you’re not careful about where your finger tips are along the handle. Don’t be in such a hurry that you cut yourself after you’re done using the knife.

• Hold the knife with your offhand so that the blade channel in the handle is facing away from your palm and make sure to keep your fingers clear of the channel.
• Grip the spine of the blade as far towards the tip as possible. I like to grip the spine of the blade with my thumb and forefinger so that the tip of the blade rests on the third knuckle of my forefinger.
• If the knife has a locking mechanism, disengage it.
• Double-check that your fingers are clear of the blade channel in the body of the knife and rotate your wrists towards each other so that the blade rotates into the blade channel.

Clear Your Radius
Sometimes called a blood circle, your radius is the area around you that you can reach while holding the knife. Anything inside this radius, or blood circle, is able to be cut by careless use of the knife.

• Hold the knife by the blade so that the sharp edge is facing away from your palm and the handle is facing away from your body.
• Extend your arm out straight and rotate your arm.
• If anyone else is within your radius, one of you needs to move so that only you are within your radius.

Pass an Open Knife
Ideally, you should close the knife before passing it to someone else. Sometimes, though, it just isn’t practical. In these cases, you should know how to pass and receive the knife safely. If someone holds a knife out to you so that the blade is pointing at you, don’t accept it from them.

• Hold the knife by the blade so that the sharp side is facing away from your palm and the handle is facing the person to whom you are passing the knife.
• Extend the knife towards the other person and wait for them to grip the handle.
• Both you and the other person should be holding the knife and neither should be pulling on it.
• The other person must wait for you release the blade and pull your hand away before assuming control of the knife.

Sharpen a Stick
While you can buy fancy metal skewers to cook a hotdog over a campfire, it’s more fun and rewarding to make your own skewer with your pocket knife and a stick.

• Select a stick that is about half the thickness of a hotdog. If the stick is too thin, the hot dog will droop down into the fire and ash. If the stick is too thick, it will split the hot dog when you try to skewer it.
• Sit down on a log, rock, or chair with your knees apart and point the end of the stick that you want to sharpen at the ground in front of your feet.
• Hold the knife so that the sharp edge faces away from your body and is at an angle to the stick.
• Push (don’t pull or slice) the sharp edge of the blade into the stick. If the stick is too thick or has knots that prevent the knife from cutting it, try a different angle or a smaller section of the stick.
• When the blade shaves off part of the stick, rotate the stick and repeat the previous step. Do this until the tip of the stick is pointy enough to pierce a hot dog.

Sharpen the Knife
A dull knife is more dangerous to the user than a sharp knife. If the knife is dull, you have to use more force and end up slipping when the blade finally cuts through. A sharp knife, however, will cut more easily and you don’t have to use as much force. You should always make sure that your knives are sharp and ready to work.

• Soak the whetstone and lay it on a secure surface that can withstand any cuts or nicks that may result from slipping with the knife.
• Lay the tip of the blade flat on the whetstone so that the sharp edge is facing you.
• Grip the handle of the knife and tilt it slightly (about 15 degrees) so that the sharp edge of the blade is still in contact with the whetstone.
• Use the fingers of your other hand to gently apply even pressure to the flat side of the blade.
• Push the blade away from you so that the edge rubs along the whetstone with a slight outward motion.
• Repeat this motion 5-7 times and then change hands so that the other side of the blade is contacting the whetstone. Make sure that the sharp edge of the blade is still facing you.
• Repeat the pushing motion again 5-7 times and inspect the edge of the blade. You’ll likely have to repeat this process several times to get the blade to the sharpness you desire.
• If you have whetstones of varying grain, start with the high grit whetstone and finish with the finest grit.