Daren

Rather than manually searching Netflix, then Hulu, then Amazon, and then iTunes to find out whether or not The Hangover 2 is streamable right now, you can type that one search into CanIStream.It and it will do all the searching for you.

The only thing CanIStream.it seems to be missing is TV show support, but focusing on only movies seems like a decent start. If you've got a handful of streaming services you're currently using to supplement (or replace) your cable subscription, it's an easy choice.

Can I Stream It? | via TechCrunch

Check for your boss before visiting M Thru F!

iOS/Android/Firefox/Chrome/Safari: Previously mentioned social feed reader Feedly unveiled a new version that allows you to roll Tumblr account and all of the blogs you follow into your RSS feeds and other social news the app provides. Then, you can +1 and share stories on Google+ right from the app, in addition to Facebook and Twitter.

Feedly is available as a browser extension and a mobile app, and once signed in you can pair the app with your Google Reader account and Tumblr account. The app also serves up additional news from curated channels like "DIY" and "technology" that the developers think you'll enjoy, and arranges it in a clean, minimalistic interface.

The latest updates allow you to use Feedly as a Tumblr client, and lets you reblog, like, and comment on posts from other Tumblr blogs you subscribe to without leaving the app. Additionally, the Google+ integration lets you +1 or post directly to Google+ with the URL to the story right from inside the app-similar to the way the service already works with Facebook and Twitter.

Feedly 6.0 is completely free and available now.

Feedly | via Building Feedly

Microsoft launched Bing Deals this morning, a new shopping portal that posts daily deals from a variety of partners.

The service combs through around 200,000 deals across the U.S., including local deals from the likes of GroupOn and LivingSocial. You can browse by retailer or keyword to find the best deals suited for you, and you'll order directly through the retailer itself.

Bing Deals | via Winrumors

Bank online without the hassle when BankSimple launches, send photos to Twitter via SMS, and let Samual L. Lipsum generate some random text for your next project.

• BakeSimple Streamlines and Automates Online Banking: BankSimple plans to make online banking work the way you want it to with real-world 'safe to spend' balances, effortless transfers, and an intuitive transaction history system. It's still not open to the public, but we're keeping a close eye on it. [BankSimple]
• Share Photos Via SMS with Twitter: If you are on a select carrier you can tweet a photo by attaching it to the SMS message that you send to Twitter. [Twitter Blog]
• Samuel L. Ipsum Is a NSFW Text Generator: Hit up the Samuel L Ipsum site to generate loren ipsum-like text blocks filled with colorful Sam Jackson movie quotes. [Samuel L Ipsum]
• Google Wallet Downloads Delayed Until Friday: Some Nexus S 4G owners on Sprint will not get the digital wallet app pushed to their phones until late this week due to delays with the final software. [Consumer Reports]
• Political Ads Come to Twitter: Soon you may see U.S. Presidential campaign ads in your Twitter feed complete with a new icon identifying the promoted tweets as political in nature. [TechCrunch]
• Group Messaging on Google+ Is Now 'Messenger': The feature previously known as 'Huddle' on your mobile Google+ app is now 'Messenger' due to a trademark issue. [TechCrunch]

Continue reading Insert Coin: Teagueduino solderless electronic board

Insert Coin: Teagueduino solderless electronic board originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 10 Sep 2011 12:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

For many people (especially those of us in the northern hemisphere) September is the beginning of fall, and with the fall months come the winter blues, or worse, Seasonal Affective Disorder. The time to start prepping for those dark and gloomy cold-weather days is now, before the sun and warmth are gone completely.

For most of us, the fall and winter months may mean a little gloominess and a cold-weather funk that we'll just have to work a little harder to shake. For others though, that funk can balloon into Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD,) which is much more serious. Regardless of how you experience the cold weather months, here are a few tips to help you stay energized and in good spirits. Photo by T.J. Lentz.

• 
  
• Brighten Up Your Home or Office: One of the first things anyone suffering from SAD should do is try to get more natural light. In some places that's not possible, especially when the long nights and short days of the deep winter months set in. In that case, consider switching some of the lights in your home or office with bulbs that simulate natural light. Depending on how severe your condition is, you may want to look into light therapy or phototherapy, where individuals sit in front of a lightbox on a daily basis to essentially immerse themselves in simulated sunlight. Photo by Ville Säävuori.

  The Cleveland Clinic has a great description of how phototherapy works, and while a full-on lightbox may be too much for some people, it's barely enough for others. If you don't think replacing your light bulbs is required, try throwing open your windows during the day to let as much light in your home or office as possible, and keeping some of your lights on a little longer to keep your environment brighter, even if those bulbs don't simulate natural light. Sometimes a little goes a long way.

• Get Organized: Getting your tasks and projects in order and making an effort to stay organized can actually help relieve some of the "down in the dumps" hopelessness that comes from not only being depressed, but being depressed and staring at a mountain of work to do. By arranging your to-do list into something that's actually actionable, and by building your own productivity style that works for you, you remove can help relieve some of the crushing weight that a massive, unorganized to-do list can have.

  Admittedly, while getting organized doesn't actually relieve any of the symptoms of SAD, it can help you be more productive, have clear goals and tasks that you can tackle, and gives you a seamless way to make good use of your time without having to build up the energy to start a new task or project. If you can just slide from task to task, you're less likely to throw up your hands in despair and just curl up in bed until the spring thaw.

• Stay Active and Exercise: Don't underestimate the benefits of exercise to help improve your mood and overall well being. Whether the winter months just make you feel a little down in the dumps or you find that the deeper into the winter it gets the less you want to move from the couch at all, getting physical and starting a workout regimen can go a long way towards making you feel better about yourself, your lifestyle, and the time of year. Even getting up and getting outside for a quick walk in the daylight can make a huge difference. Photo by Les Chatfield.

  According to WiseGeek, staying active and getting exercise releases dopamine, one of the neurotransmitters that regulates mood, and whether it's the winter blues that have you down or you're just suffering from general malaise, it can be a big help.

• Socialize: Get out of the house. When we asked you a long time ago how you beat the winter blues, many of you pointed out that the secret-aside from being as active as possible and getting as much daylight as possible-is to surround yourself with friends and loved ones who won't let you shut yourself in the house all winter long. Photo by Jeff Casimir.

  Find some friends that will get out in the daylight with you, work out with you, drag you out of the house for a while, or who'll come over and keep you company. Keeping your friendships and social relationships strong will also help a lot, and keep you from wasting the winter away alone at home.

• Get Professional Help If It Gets Out of Control: While many of these tips are great for the type of person who suffers from the winter blues, knows it, and can take action now to get themselves prepared for it, if you're the type who sinks into a more serious seasonal depression, it's time to talk to a professional, now, before the winter sets in. Replacing all of the light bulbs in your home, getting a huge lightbox, and trying to work out on a regular basis may all not be enough to whisk away the winter blues. In these cases, it's best to get professional help.

Most of us still have a few weeks left in the summer before the fall really sets in, which means the time to make sure you're all set for the dark and cold winter months is now, not when the days start getting noticeably shorter. What are some of your favorite tips to avoid the winter blues? Share your suggestions and tricks in the comments below.

BidRx is like the eBay of pharmaceuticals. The site can save you as much as 68% on brand name drugs by having pharmacies compete for your prescription business.

To use BidRx, you'll need your prescription from your doctor or other licensed prescriber. You can mail this in to the pharmacy that "wins" your bid or, depending on the drug (and your state laws), fax it in. Most of the pharmacies listed with BidRx are small ones around the country, but you may find one nearby where you can pick up your medicine in person.

You'll also need to register as a user before searching for your medication. Update: You'll also need a referral code to get in; per BidRx's Facebook page, you can use "GRACE" as the code.

One of the possibly helpful uses of the site is the "similar drugs" listing when you do a search; you can bring the list of alternative drugs—or smaller dosages—to your doctor to discuss cheaper options. Otherwise, enter in your prescription information carefully: quantity and directions or duration (yes, you'll need to be able to read the prescription) to get the drug price bids.

In my tests, meds differed by about 35% between pharmacies, but there were some caveats. While BidRx works with Medicaid and some health insurance providers (you'll probably know if you got a BidRx card from your insurance provider), it didn't work with mine, so the savings, while substantial, didn't beat the insurance prices. Also, BidRx is really just a middleman, so to speak. Once you reserve your medication, you'll need to coordinate directly with the pharmacy to get your prescription filled, rather than ordering directly through BidRx.

Still, for many people the site could save a lot of money on prescription drugs.

BidRx

We're celebrating Labor Day here in the states (or "Labour Day" in Canada), which means the government's celebrating your hard work by giving you the day off. While long weekends are great, if you don't take a moment to unwind they don't do you much good. Make your day off count and check out some of our favorite ways to relax and recharge.

Recognize and Repair Burnout

You want to avoid burnout, but sometimes you don't recognize the signs or the severity of the problem. Here are a few articles that explain how and why you get stressed out plus what you can do about it.

Why Technology Is So Addictive, and How You Can Avoid Tech Burnout

We're surrounded by gadgets that demand our attention, constantly fragmenting our ability to properly focus on the task at hand. Living with technology doesn't mean we have to live with an addiction, however. More »

Burnout and How to Deal With It

Developer and blogger Jeremy Hutchings knows what it's like to work yourself to the bone and end up completely burned out. He also has some great suggestions for how to deal with it. More »

Exercise Your Mind and Body

Not all exercise has to be work. Meditation and yoga are two great ways to keep your mind and body active without the process feeling like work. We've got guides to help you get started with both.

A Guide to Meditation for the Rest of Us

Believe it or not, you can improve your concentration and slow down your day-to-day life with meditation without ever uttering the word "chakra." Incense, yoga pants, and annoying dinner conversation are also optional. More »

How to Find the Right Style of Yoga for You

Yoga offers a host of health benefits, including stress relief and mental clarity, but many people don't think it's for them. There are, however, so many approaches to yoga-Ashtanga is a fast-paced flowing style while Kripalu combines gentle movements with a philosophy of compassion and mindfulness-that if you are interested, you should be able to find a yoga style that fits your needs and reap these great benefits. Here's how to get started (or continue) on your individual yoga path. More »

Learn How to Improve Your Sleep

Sleep is about as relaxed as you get, and if you want to recharge you're going to need to sneak a few hours here and there. These posts can help you find time for naps and improve your overall quality of sleep.

End Your Insomnia, Snoring, and Other Common Sleep Problems with These Expert Tips

If you have trouble sleeping, you're definitely not alone. More than half of U.S. adults experience some symptom of insomnia at least a few nights a week. More »

How to Reboot Your Sleep Cycle and Get the Rest You Deserve

Nothing can stand in for a good night's sleep. Today we're not going to show you how to scrape by with less sleep; instead, we're going to help you reboot your sleeping habits so you get the sleep you need (and deserve). More »

An Expert's Guide to Napping

There's nothing like the restorative power of a nap to bolster your energy, mood, and productivity, but if you want to get the most from your naps, there's plenty of room for improvement. More »

How I Achieved Better Sleep with the Help of Technology

Once upon a time—a very long time—I used to sleep well. After too many restless nights, I decided something needed to be done. I changed my diet, my exercise routine, and a lot more to try and figure out the problem, but without any hard data it was all speculation. A few key pieces of technology helped me figure out what I was doing right and wrong, and how pretty much anyone can do it, too, for practically no money. More »

How to Get Away with Sleeping at Work

A lack of sleep is like being drunk on the job, which is probably more detrimental to your productivity than actually taking a quick nap break during your work hours. If you need to get away with sleeping on the job, here are a few ways to do it. More »

Pzizz Helps You Get to Sleep Faster

Android/iOS: Pzizz helps you get to sleep faster and get more restful sleep with a combination of soothing sounds and voice cues aimed at helping you relax, destress, and get to sleep. More »

Make Changes to Improve Your Work Life

It may be your day off, but taking a little time to make tomorrow better may be worth it. Here are a few ways you can find balance in your work and improve your office life in several ways.

Top 10 Tips and Tricks for Making Your Work Life Better

For many of us, work is a huge part of our lives and it may be also be source of negativity, stress, and hopelessness. Maybe your job isn't quite that bad, but a little improvement never hurts. Here are our top 10 tips and tricks to make your work life better. More »

How to Stop Working and Go Home At Night

Many of us can't wait to pack up and head home at the end of a long workday: we count down the hours and as soon as our shift is up, we're out the door. More »

Re-Examine What It Means to Be Productive for Better Work-Life Balance

Too often most work boils down to checking off items on a to-do list and getting through the day. By re-evaluating what it really means to be productive and remembering to focus, you can ensure you're making progress to a goal and not spinning your wheels. More »

Find a Balance Between Work and Life Through Small Strategic Changes

Nigel Marsh, author of Fat, Forty, and Fired gave a TED talk on achieving work-life balance. In it he argues that making grand, sweeping changes to achieve balance will ultimately end in failure-much like a crash diet. Instead, Marsh believes that strategic little changes make the biggest difference. Here's a look at how and why. More »

How to Ergonomically Optimize Your Workspace

We spend a lot of time sitting at our desks every day, and while it may not look like it, it can wreak havoc with our bodies. Here's how to set up a healthy, ergonomic workspace to keep you comfortable and injury-free. More »

Why I Switched My Office Chair with an Exercise Ball (and What It's Like)

Many of us spend the majority of our professional lives sitting, which makes the office chair an all-important piece of furniture. Lately mine hasn't been cutting it, so as an experiment, I swapped my chair with an exercise ball. More »

Just Have Some Fun

Of course, one of the easiest ways to relax is make sure you have some fun. Here are some projects to help bring a little more into your day.

How to Turn Your Computer into a Retro Game Arcade

Whether you're looking to relive the past or experience the origin of gaming you missed in your youth, your Windows, Mac, or Linux PC can take you back to Mario's salad days, the birth of the Final Fantasy series, and much more. Here's how to get started with retro game emulation and turn your computer into the ultimate retro arcade in just a few minutes. More »

Top 10 Gaming Hacks and DIY Projects

We love our games and consoles, but there's a big world that lies beyond the product you pull out of the box. Your console is capable of so much more than you may realize. Here are our top 10 video game hacks and DIY projects to prove it. More »

How to Hack Your Wii for Homebrew in Five Minutes

Hacking your Wii hasn't been difficult, but it has required a somewhat detailed process. Now we have LetterBomb, which is an incredibly simple way to hack your Wii. It only takes about five minutes to accomplish. Here's how to do it. More »

How to Create an Awesome Summer Reading List

The days grow longer and the weekends more leisurely as summer approaches, making it a terrific time to catch up on reading. Whether your reading goal is to stimulate your mind, get lost in an adventure or romance, or learn something new, here are a few helpful tips for curating your perfect reading list this summer. More »

The Boardgame Remix Kit Combines Your Old Games Into New Ones

If you're looking for a way to mix things up this Holiday season, The Boardgame Remix kit takes classic games—like Monopoly and Clue—and remixes them into fun new games. More »

Webapp Codecademy teaches you how to code using an interactive console, motivates you with badges, and walks you through lessons in a straightforward curriculum. Best of all, it's free.

Whether or not you have any interest in programming as a full-time job, nearly anyone can benefit from a basic knowledge of scripting languages. (I sincerely believe this!) Currently the site only features one introductory course called Getting Started with Programming, but they allow experienced users to become teachers and submit their own lessons. In time, the site could be an excellent resource for polishing your programming skills.

If you're not a big fan of Codecademy's interactive console but you still want to learn the basics, take a look at our beginner's guide to coding.

Codecademy | via DevBeat

You can contact Adam Pash, the author of this post, on Twitter, Google+, and Facebook.

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I noticed this the other day. Not sure how I feel.

Ew. Download.com is making users download new software through a proprietary installer that also installs a bunch of 3rd party programs, ExtremeTech reports. This is pretty gross and dishonest. But really, does Download.com even matter anymore?

We spend loads on all sorts of cleaning, health, and other household products at the store every week, but quite often you can get the same jobs done with less obvious products already in your house. Here are ten of our favorite household stand-ins.

In a lot of cases, it might not necessarily be cheaper to use something you already have in the house, but if you're in a bind, any of these will work well—no trip to the store required. Plus, a lot of them get the job done without harsh chemicals or other annoyances, which is a big plus.

10. Surface Cleaners

Whether you're cleaning the bathroom, the windows, or the kitchen, you probably have everything you need in your pantry. You can clean your toilet with pretty much any acidic beverage, like a can of Coke or a packet of Kool-Aid, and while you're in the bathroom you can take a grapefruit and some salt to your grimy bathtub. When it comes to the countertops in the kitchen, a bit of wine or some laundry detergent will get things squeaky clean, while some rubbing alcohol and ammonia will make the windows sparkle.

9. Itch Relief

There's no need to go grab a Benadryl stick when you get bitten by mosquitoes; you probably have a ton of different itch remedies right under your nose. Vick's VapoRub does wonders, but you could even get by with some Scotch tape, nail polish, or Alka Seltzer. If you have some meat tenderizer around, that can actually get the job done too.

8. Metal Polish

If the chrome on your car or the steel in your sink is looking a little dull or scratched, you can use one of any number of things to polish it up. Baby oil and Cola both work well on Chrome, while flour's a good choice for stainless steel. Flour plus salt and vinegar makes a good brass polish, and you can shine up that silver with baking soda or a banana peel. Incidentally, banana peels also work great for polishing shoes.

7. Bug Traps

If your house is infested with bugs, why buy traps to kill them? They're obviously visiting because you have food they want: use it to your advantage. Trap fruit flies with apple cider vinegar, or sprinkle some baby powder, chalk, or borax around those ants' favorite hangout to deter them. Alternatively, putting vegetables on your counter makes them realize you're no longer a source of the good stuff, and they'll go away.

6. Drain Uncloggers

Skip the harmful Drano, and just grab some baking soda for stubborn drain clogs. If your toilets a little backed up, some laundry detergent can do wonders. If the above products need a little help, you can get in there yourself with a cable tie or duct tape to get the pipes flowing freely again.

5. LCD Cleaner

We all know you aren't supposed to use things like Windex on an LCD screen, but that doesn't mean you need to buy a fancy screen cleaner. All you really need is a cloth and a bit of water, although a coffee filter will do the trick too if dust is the only problem. When it comes to full-on scratches, though, the best you can do is take a pencil eraser to it and hope for the best.

4. Dryer Sheets

Dryer sheets are popular, but a bottle of fabric softener will get you much further. Combined with an old towel, you can easily replace those dryer sheets with one big, reusable one, or turn it into an after-the-dryer wrinkle releaser. Alternatively, you can get the anti-static goodness from some aluminum foil, or fluff those clothes in the dryer with a tennis ball. None of this is to say dryer sheets are completely bad—after all, they do have a lot of clever household uses themselves.

3. Sticker Removers

Products like Goo Gone are pretty useful, but you can easily get by with a number of things in your kitchen. From hair dryers to vodka, vinegar, and even lighter fluid, you've got more than one way to wash away sticky residue from a surface.

2. Deodorizers

We all have to deal with funky smells every once in a while, but you can remove odors with just about anything, from the usual baking soda and charcoal to vinegar or even newspaper. And if you've got to de-stink an entire room, why make it smell like Febreeze-y chemicals when you could just throw some vanilla in the oven and make it smell like fresh baked cookies?

1. Stain Removers

Stains always seem like the end of the world, but with the right household fix, you can clean just about any stain. Vinegar works well for many stains, while shaving cream does a good job on greasier stains (as does rubbing them with chalk). Dish detergent will get rid of that occasional gasoline stain, and asprin will remove those stubborn sweat stains on your clothes. Grab some corn starch for furniture-related stains, and whatever you do for any of these, make sure you act quickly. If you've got a stain we didn't list, you can bet the database over at Stain Solutions has a recommendation, so head there for more info.

There are many products that you can replace with household stand-ins, but these are a few of our favorites. Got any of your own products you've stopped buying in favor of something you already have lying around? Let us know about it in the comments.

Windows - If you've just bought a new laptop or pre-built desktop running Windows it's more than likely you do not have a disc with the operating system. You may have a restore disc or hard drive partition that will restore your computer to factory settings, but having an actual disc to install Windows is good to have if you need to reinstall just your operating system.

Why wouldn't you want to use the restore disc? Your computer doesn't just have Windows, it also has free trials of several programs, various toolbars, and other bloatware that slows down your system. You need an install disc for Windows so that if it becomes necessary to reinstall you won't have to spend an hour removing unwanted software.

Luckly, you can download full ISOs (disc images) of the various types of Windows 7 from Microsoft and Amazon.com. These ISOs were put there to be freely available for customers who purchase copies of Windows7 online, but if you have a legit product key there is no reason you can't use the ISOs to make your own Windows install disc. Tech blog My Digital Life has collected several download links for all versions of Windows 7. See the link below to download. Photo by Indi Samarajiva.

Windows 7 ISO x86 and x64 Official Direct Download Links | My Digital Life

Many of us can't wait to pack up and head home at the end of a long workday: we count down the hours and as soon as our shift is up, we're out the door. For others, there's a stigma to leaving on time, or worse, we have a difficult time forcing ourselves to leave the office, whether or or not we love our work. Here are some ways to break the cycle of working late and get your evenings, and sanity, back.

You might not have the willpower to just leave on time at the end of every day, you may feel like you have to stay late, or maybe you're on a roll or your coworkers are still there. Still, there are ways to coax yourself to leave. Photo by Evan Jackson.

Make Leaving Worth Your While

If you provide yourself an incentive (or by contrast, a punishment) to get out of the office on time, you can trick yourself into wrapping up your work every day at the same time. It may not cut to the core of why you get lost in your work, or feel like you have to work late, but it does provide you a reason to get out of the office on time. Here are a few suggestions:

Have a family member call you each day. If one of your primary concerns about working late so frequently is that you're missing out on time with your spouse, partner, friends, or children, one great way to get that jolt back to reality is to have one of them call you when it's time for you to head home. You'll need to sit down and talk this over with your family, and you're explicitly telling your family to force you into coming home every night, but those are good things if they achieve the desired goal. Talk it over with them and ask for their help.

One of my colleagues at former job used to get a call from his wife or daughter when they knew he should be packing up to head home. It wasn't enough to have dinner ready when he got home, he needed a bit more motivation to actually stop working and leave the office. Hearing his daughter's voice at the end of the day was just enough motivation to make him want to go home and see her. Alternatively, enlist some friends to call or SMS you to remind you that it's time to leave the office-or to meet you after work. Photo by traaf.

Schedule an activity right after work, every day. If you've been meaning to get into shape, take a yoga class, or volunteer at a local charity, making sure you sign up for activities that will force you to leave the office at a regular time every day is a great way to stay active, do something with yourself outside of the office, and give yourself incentive to leave the office every day on time.

For some people, getting a gym membership is enough to encourage them to not waste the money they spend every month and get out of the office and to the gym every day. For others, it takes a little more: meeting a friend at the gym every day at the same time, for example, or signing up for a sports league or volunteer shift that begins at a time that requires you to pack up and leave the office at the end of your day if you want to make it to your next obligation on time. Photo by Ed Yourdon.

Set Up Your Workflow so Leaving is Easy

As much as external influences can help you, they won't always be there to help. Your friends may need to cancel your regular appointment at the gym, and you don't have to be doomed to working late all the time if you don't have a spouse or family waiting at home for you. If you'd rather take control of the problem yourself, here are some tips to help.

Set an alarm. For most people, it's not really this easy, but it's a good way to get started. If you're the type who just gets lost in their work and forgets to look up at the clock to see when it's time to go home, let the clock come to you. You can use one of the many break timer apps we've covered here, like Break Timer or Breaker, or any old alarm clock application on your phone or desktop to go off when its time for you to go home for the night. You may even want to set multiple alarms—one for when you're supposed to pack up, another for when you really need to pack up, another for when you should be headed to the car, and so on. Don't give yourself just one thing to ignore, because odds are, you will.

This serves the same function as having a friend or family member call you when it's time to go home for the day, but it doesn't rely on someone else's goodwill to work. Just make sure you switch up your alarm or your notification method: it's too easy to get used to the same alarm and eventually ignore it or disable it because it's more annoying than helpful. At my last job, I used our cleaning staff as a kind of alarm clock: they always came to clean my part of the building at the same time every night, and when they appeared I knew it was past time to pack up and leave. They eventually got the drift, and would say hello when they arrived and noting how late I was working. Even that brief conversation shook me from a "heads down" mentality and reminded me that I should be headed home. Photo by Digitpedia Com.

Schedule a daily task review for the end of the day. The concept of the daily (and weekly) review is important in the GTD productivity system. We've discussed various productivity techniques before, but even if you don't embrace all of the specifics of GTD, the beauty of the review process is that it forces you to find a stopping point where you can make a break between the end of one workday and the beginning of another. That way you can stop, take note of the things you've finished today, and then set up the things you want to do first thing in the morning tomorrow.

On top of forcing you to close up shop at the end of the day in advance of going home, you also get the benefit of keeping a work "diary," which you can use to track your accomplishments and tell your boss what you've been working on and how far along you are. Plus, you wind up being more productive in the long run, because you've set yourself up for an easy start the following morning. You can set right in on the tasks you left the night before.

Learn to Say No. For some of us, it's not about just working long hours, it's about taking on too much work that requires us to work those long hours. We've discussed how important it is to say no, but the goal of saying no has always been to help you succeed at the things already on your plate, not just sit back with less work to do. If the reason you're having a difficult time leaving the office at the end of the day is just because you have too much work to do, it might be time to chat with your manager about your priorities.

Most managers won't mind having that kind of conversation with you, as long as you frame it up like you want to succeed at your core responsibilities and the things your boss considers your highest priorities. Tell them that as a result of dealing with all of the additional projects-or the new ones they want you to take on-that you're concerned your already 12-14 hour workdays will stretch to 16, and you're afraid something important will be left behind. They're healthy conversations to have, and your manager will likely be happier that you're having it now instead of after you've dropped the ball on something important. Photo by Horia Varlan.

Address the Psychological Issue

All of these tips will help if you're having trouble keeping track of the time, or if your problem is that you just get so wrapped up in your work that you want to make sure it's done properly, early, or to perfection. However, if the problem runs deeper, you may quickly fall back into old habits, or just taking the work home with you and working from there. Here are some ways you can approach the mental side of the issue, not just the functional.

Start small and build up. You're not going to go from working 7am-9pm each day to a normal 7am-3pm schedule overnight. Instead of aiming to leave at 3pm when your coworkers (or worse, your boss) may be accustomed to finding you at 5pm, try creeping your schedule back a couple of days a week to get your colleagues and your brain used to the idea. This will help you begin to register an earlier time as the "end of the day," and it'll make applying other tools and techniques easier.

Better yet, check with your boss to see if they're willing to move your schedule to a time that works better for you. If you're leaving the office at 9pm every night, maybe you should start coming to work at 11am or noon, or at least later than 7am every morning, if your job allows. Photo by Matt Seppings.

Make a pact with yourself, your family, or the world. Any meaningful change you want to make will start with you, of course, but if you're the type of person who's more motivated to make long-term changes if the eyes of others are on you, making a pact with people who'll be able to see if you're sticking to it is a good idea.

Tell your friends on Facebook that you're trying to get out earlier and spend more time with your family or hit the gym. Tell your family what you want to do, and get their support. Don't keep your goals to yourself. If you're so entrenched in a bad habit, you may be willing to disappoint yourself on a regular basis, but you probably won't be willing to disappoint your Twitter followers, Facebook friends, or family.

Don't be angry with yourself when you fail. You won't always be successful, and this is a process that takes time. When you do slip back into your old habits and find yourself working late despite missing your friend at the gym, ditching your weekly softball game, and disabling your alarm, don't sulk all the way home feeling sorry for yourself. Remember that tomorrow's a different day and another chance to do it right, and redouble your efforts.

In my last job, I struggled with this on a regular basis. I started missing my daily workouts and putting on weight because I was busy at the office answering email and dealing with issues that involved people who had left for their homes hours before. Part of what helped me get back in line was knowing that if the people I was at my desk emailing at 8pm were at home with their families and thought the issue could wait until the following morning, then I could let it wait too.

That doesn't work for everything, but it definitely helps. Combined with looking at each new workday as a new opportunity to get it right and get out in time for my workout, I started inching the end of my day back hour by hour until I was leaving at a respectable time. Photo by tup wanders.

Get professional help. Finally, if you think that the problem really does reach the point of addiction, that it's already negatively impacting both your professional and personal life, you may be exhibiting signs of workaholism. Keep in mind that workaholics aren't always people who enjoy their work, or people who are really good at their jobs.

Get the opinion of people you trust, talk to a professional who may be able to help, or consider reaching out to Workaholics Anonymous, who can help you understand whether you simply need help managing your work-life balance, or if you have a much more serious problem.

Understand It Takes Time

Like any behavior change, learning to get up from your desk and leave the office is something that takes time. At best, you'll learn work smarter, not harder, so you don't feel like you have to stay after hours to get your work done. Still, because working late is often due to so many external factors, it can be difficult to deal with all of them at once. Start with the ones you have control over—namely, yourself-and then deal with your office or manager's perception of your work habits if you have to.

With time and a little help from the people closest to you, you'll have more hours in your day for the things you want to do, your own pet projects, and to spend time with your friends, family, or heaven forbid have a social life. Your employer will probably be able to get along without you at all; they can definitely survive if you work a normal-length day. You, on the other hand, may not be so lucky if you don't make time for yourself. At the end of the day, try to remember that you're working to live-not living to work.