Public School? Private School? Home School?

Even though taxes pay for public schools, millions of parents spend a fortune to send their kids to private school or home school them. They fear the public schools will shortchange their child.

If you’re not sure what to do,

my PsychologyToday.com article today may help.

The Case FOR Social Media, TV, Phoning, and Video Games

Parents are urged to have kids watch less TV, text less and interact in-person more, and play less video games. My PsychologyToday.com article today offers a dissenting view.

The Jews are Going Extinct: Why that's bad, why it's coming, and how to stop it.

The Jews are going extinct. My PsychologyToday.com article today explains why that's bad, why it's coming, and how to stop it.

How I Try to Make My Work Life Healthy

WeWork Magazine asked me to write about how I try to make my work life healthy. Here's what I do:

• A major cause of stress is lack of control. I have crafted my work life to give me a lot of control. Notably, I've chosen to be self-employed, which gives me more freedom to do what I want when I want. That means maximizing time on tasks I'm good at and enjoy doing (counseling, writing, being on the radio, giving talks) on issues I know a lot about (career and education).  I don't have to spend much time on things I'm bad at--like working on a team. 
• I work long hours because I believe that work-week hours 40 to 60+ are more wisely spent being productive than on what I'd otherwise doing. I try to avoid the health risks of working long hours by trying not to rush or get angry.  Being self-employed creates an environment that makes it easier to go slow-and-steady and avoid situations likely to make me angry. 
• I also reduce stress by working at home: no stressful commute, and home is about as relaxing a place as exists: I can set up my office exactly as I like: in a room with lots of windows, that's quiet, with lots of plants. And I can take little breaks for gardening, playing the piano, and with my doggie, Einstein.
• I try, not always successfully, to follow the new rule: Get out of your chair at least five minutes every hour. To facilitate that, I do my own housekeeping, laundry, etc.. And because I have a dog, I take him on frequent walks.  
• I am scrupulously honest. If I believe a prospective client doesn't need to hire me, for example, if a bit of free advice is what feels appropriate, I always do that. If I feel I can't champion a particular client, I won't work with him or her. If I believe a client would be better served by another career counselor, I make the referral. That all is de-stressing and thus healthy.
• In my client sessions, I balance seriousness with humor. And as appropriate I'll take them out to my garden or play the piano for them.
• I try to eat frequent small relatively healthy meals. Typical day: Coffee and croissant at 9 AM. Plain yogurt with fruit added at 11. A salad with some tuna fish at 1, etc.  But I occasionally cheat and take myself out for, for example, an Indian buffet lunch, but try to keep the carbs and high-calorie sauces to a minimum.

For me, at least, that seems to be working. I'll be 65 in June and have as much energy as ever, and in my most recent wellness exam, my doctor, as usual, gave me a clean bill of health. 

Your Health Care, America's Health Care, Today and Tomorrow

Already, a New York Times/CBS poll reports  that the Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare) has resulted in decreased access and increased cost. How can you cope? What should America do? My PsychologyToday.com article today 
attempts to tackle those thorny questions.

Workaholic or Heroic?

We used to call people who worked long hours "hard workers." Now, we tend to pathologize them as "workaholics," like alcoholics, addicted. My PsychologyToday.com article today argues that many would be more accurately described as heroic. This is an only slightly enhanced version of an article I wrote on this topic for Time.com. So if you read that, there's no need to read this one.

What Does That Person Really Mean?

For different groups, the same sentence can mean something very different. My PsychologyToday article today may help you figure out what that person really means.