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400 reads: Achieve your 2024 goals with free help from your library
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400 spaces: How to clear out home office clutter
400 health: Mindfullness matters
400 eats: Is soup the ulitmate cold medicine?
January
2024 IssueNo matter what your goals are for 2024, Forsyth County Public Library (FCPL) can help you achieve them.
Do you want to improve your health? Get organized? Research your family tree? Write a crime novel? Learn how to code? Travel more? Speak a new language?
With over 450,000 items in our collection, there is most likely something at one of our libraries that will help you on your path. If we don’t have what you need, we can probably get it for you through our free Interlibrary Loan service. Libraries are so much more than just books though.
Libraries today are community hubs where people meet to collaborate, study, and share information. If you haven’t visited a Forsyth County Public Library lately, you owe it to yourself to see all we have to offer.
With each visit to a library or our website, even avid library users are likely to discover a service or resource they hadn’t noticed before. A new friend recently told me, “I thought I knew everything there was to know about the library, but I just figured out I could borrow eAudiobooks for free with my library card!” She canceled her monthly subscription to a paid audiobook streaming service and told me she’s saving $150 a year on audiobooks alone.
With four branches and a Bookmobile, you’re likely just a short drive to the nearest Forsyth County Public Library. We’re open seven days a week and you don’t need a library card to enjoy our facilities or pro -
Another friend shared that he used to spend $80 a year on a subscription to language learning software until he discovered he could use his library card for free access to language classes in more than 70 languages in the popular Mango Languages app.
The wealth of educational programs we offer for all ages also seems to dazzle people who may have once thought libraries were just about books. One might expect informative programs about world cultures, foreign policy, and literature at a library (and we definitely have those), but we also regularly offer free live music performances, hands-on cooking classes, crafts for all ages, escape rooms, dance demonstrations, trivia challenges, and more at our libraries! If there’s something of interest to our cardholders, chances are we provide free events featuring it.
On that note, if you can’t get enough true crime novels or docuseries, you will not want to miss our upcoming educational series: “Scene of the Crime.” Presented by local experts on gritty topics such as cold cases, forensics, and the role of the GBI in solving crimes in Georgia, this series promises to be fascinating. Warning: some of these programs will contain graphic content and are intended for mature audiences only. Learn more in the library’s events calendar: www.forsythpl.org/events
With four libraries and a bookmobile, you’re likely just a short walk or drive from a Forsyth County Public Library. We’re open seven days a week and you don’t need a library card to enjoy our facilities, materials, or programs, but a library card is required to borrow materials, reserve meeting spaces, and use many of our online resources.
Forsyth County Public Library cards are available at no charge to:
• Residents of Forsyth County
• Property or business owners in Forsyth County
• Employees of Forsyth County government
• Currently enrolled students or employees of any public or private educational institution in Forsyth County
Anyone who is not eligible for a free library card may obtain an out-of-county library card for an annual fee of $60. Stop by your nearest library or see our website for more information.
grams, but a library card is required to borrow materials, reserve meeting spaces, and use many of our online resources.
Forsyth County Public Library cards are available at no charge to all
Forsyth County residents, property or business owners, government employees, and students and school employees. Anyone not eligible for a free library card may obtain an out-ofcounty library card for $60 per year.
Home offices have garnered more attention in recent years. Restrictions implemented as part of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic forced many professionals to start working from home, which created a greater need for home office space.
Though millions of professionals have now returned to the office fulltime, millions more have continued to work from home five days a week or are now working on a hybrid schedule. As a result, home office spaces have maintained their utility even as restrictions related to the pandemic move further into the rearview mirror.
Since home office spaces remain vital for so many, it’s important that these spaces are conducive to productivity. Conquering home office clutter is a step in that direction.
Cut through the piles of paper. Home offices have a tendency to transform into paper depositories over time. Work files, notes, monthly bills, receipts, and junk mail can quickly overwhelm a home office. Professionals who spend ample time working from home can resolve to cut through the piles of paper. Use a paper shredder to discard documents with sensitive information, such as bank statements and utility bills. Signing up for e-statements can prevent the piling up of paper in the future. Invest in a small file cabinet to store important personal and professional documents.
Discard old devices. Old devices are another space eater in many home offices. In fact, a recent survey from Material Focus found that more than 20 million unused electrical items are currently hoarded in homes throughout the United Kingdom. Old smartphones and laptops that users are afraid to throw out can be wiped clean and discarded in adherence with local laws. Contact your local government to determine how to safely discard old devices rather than simply tossing them in the trash once they’ve been wiped clean.
Buy a bigger bookshelf. Home offices often double as reading rooms, which makes them vulnerable to clutter associated with leisure time as well. Books stacked in a corner or taking up space on your desk can create a cluttered look, but also compromise your ability to concentrate. A 2011 study from researchers at Princeton University published in The Journal of Neuroscience found that clutter can make it difficult to focus on a particular task. If books are strewn about your office, purchase a bookshelf that can hold them. Once books are shelved, the less cluttered space can make it easier to concentrate.
Go digital. If space is limited, forgo traditional file cabinets in favor of digitizing important records and documents. Scan important receipts and statements and store them on a desktop or backup hard drive so theyÕre never out of each. This creates space and makes it easier and quicker to find important files. Home offices can quickly become overwhelmed with clutter. Some simple strategies can help any professional transform their home offices into more organized spaces.
Our everyday lives can be so hectic and harried that we feel like we rush from event to event. We get up and race to get out the door, drop kids off at school, get to work, and maybe, if we’re lucky, try to find time to eat a healthy lunch. A few hours later, we race out the door to pick up our kids, get home, cook dinner, help with homework, and then go to bed to start all over the next morning.
It’s an exhausting cycle, and depending on your own situation and circumstances, your schedule may be even more crammed and busy.
It can be hard to focus on the moment, when there are so many demands on our time and energy, but being present and mindful can help us in so many ways.
The problem is, we don’t even know where to start.
When we think of being present or mindful, we may not be exactly sure what that means. For many, it can feel a bit intimidating, similar to how some people may say starting a meditation practice can be intimidating. Meditation is a silencing of the mind, where being mindful is focusing on whatever we’re doing in the moment. It doesn’t necessarily have to be done silently; it’s just action done intentionally.
One of the main areas that comes to mind is eating, but we can practice mindfulness with any activity. Given our constantly busy lives, eating has become something that we just try to fit in out of convenience rather than nutrition, health, or even enjoyment. We eat while
we’re reading something on our phones, responding to emails, driving, watching TV, or even in a meeting. In doing so, we aren’t aware of how much we’re eating or if we’re even enjoying our meal. It’s largely why so many people may find themselves hungry shortly afterwards. Our brain hasn’t had an opportunity to register the fact we just ate something because we weren’t focused on what we were doing. Or, we mindlessly grab a bag of something and snack on it, even when we’re not hungry, simply because it’s in our line of vision.
By being more mindful of our actions, we can shift that behaviour ever so slightly and start to create healthy habits for ourselves.
So how do we practice mindfulness?
We pause before we act. We set our intention for what we’re doing. If it’s eating, we think about if we’re really hungry, and then what we’re really wanting to eat. While eating, we focus on the food - the taste, the texture, the smell. We use our senses to be fully aware of whatever we’re doing so we can get the full experience.
We only do one thing at a time. Instead of trying to respond to an email while being on hold on a call, we put our focus on one thing. Single tasking can be a great way to bring more mindfulness into our lives. It can also mean just slowing down and putting our attention into that one activity. Eating again is a great example, because when we focus on eating mindfully, we tend to not overeat like we do when we’re watching TV or are distracted by something else.
Practicing mindfulness can be a way to just be present in the moment and focusing on whatever it is your doing in that singular moment.
There are many benefits to practicing mindfulness and being present. One of the most important is the awareness that it brings into our lives. When we are aware of our actions and habits, we may discover what no longer aligns with our overall well being. An increase in our awareness also can impact other areas of our lives, like our problem solving skills and decision making processes. Being present and mindful helps us to focus on what it is we really want and need, not just in the moment but long term as well.
Mindfulness also helps reduce our anxiety and stress. When we’re not focused on multiple things at once or worried about what we’re not doing, our stress levels can go down. This can spill over into our health too, as stress has one, if not the, biggest impact on our health. We may see our blood pressure decrease, our cortisol decrease, as well as our sense of well-being and empathy may increase.
Additionally, by being able to reduce our stress, we gain clarity and improved mood as well. Mindfulness allows us to take the ordinary and see the beauty that exists within each moment as well.
If you’re looking for something to help bring some balance into your habits and life, mindfulness may be something worth exploring. Another added benefit is that it’s free to practice mindfulness, and there are no tools or equipment necessary to get started.
Having a cold is not fun. A stuffy nose, sniffles, sore throat, and other symptoms make having a cold a generally unpleasant experience.
According to data collected by the Consumer Healthcare Products Association, the average consumer shops for over-the counter medicine 26 times a year, with peak visits occurring in the wintertime, when colds and flu infections are more prominent.
To make cold-related matters worse, a U.S. Food and Drug Administration panel concluded in September 2023 that the popular decongestant phenylephrine, which is found in many over-the-counter cold remedies, is ineffective when taken orally. Phenylephrine became the standard decongestant in formulations when pseudoephedrine, another decongestant, became more closely regulated due to its usage in the production of illegal drugs like methamphetamine. Phenylephrine products the became the go-to, as they did not need to be stored behind pharmacy counters and “signed out” like products that included pseudoephedrine.
Rather than accepting their cold symptoms this season, individuals may want to turn to something much more natural that also has great promise: soup. It is no old wive’s tale that soup can be helpful for colds and other illnesses. In fact, Egyptian Jewish physician Moshe ben Maimonides prescribed chicken soup as a treatment for respiratory tract illnesses as early as the
12th century. Penn Medicine advises that soup can be a go-to food to combat illness because it is light, easy-todigest, nourishing, and even restorative.
Here’s a look at some of the ways soup can help when people are feeling under the weather.
· Hydrating broth: Staying hydrated is one of the ways the body can more effectively fight off illness. Broth-based soups are hydrating and tasty. They may be tolerated more readily than sports drinks or water for a person who needs fluids.
· Soothing: The warmth of soup can soothe an irritated throat. Furthermore, soups usually have softened ingredients in them, making it much less likely that sharp or tough ingredients will scrape an inflamed throat.
· Nutrient-dense: Most soups are loaded with vegetables, beans and other healthy ingredients. They provide many of the vitamins and minerals the body
needs, and may even help replenish nutrients that have been depleted due to illness.
· Sodium content: Sodium is an essential mineral the body needs. Proactive Health Labs says soup regulates body fluids and transmits electrical impulses in the body. Sodium in moderation may be good when a person is feeling ill. In addition, sodium and other seasonings in soup can awaken taste buds that are dulled when sick with a cold. Salt also helps alleviate sore throat pain and can help clear nasal congestion.
· Garlic infusion: Soups that contain garlic or garlic extract may reduce the severity of cold and flu symptoms, according to a University of Florida study published in the journal Clinical Nutrition.
Soup may be the best medicine when a person has a cold. Its many properties may help make soup as effective, or even more so, than some products at the pharmacy.
