Few Natural Ways to Boost Your Energy

 JJ VIRGIN

I often find many people turning to caffeine to boost their energy levels. If energy beverages aren't your go-to drink.I'm not judging. We've become a caffeine-addicted nation, trying to fulfill an ever-growing to-do list as an overwhelming array of responsibilities and demands can drain every ounce of energy before lunchtime.
Despite your best efforts, some days you feel like you're running on empty and desperately seeking a second wind to pull you through that afternoon meeting and then fight rush-hour traffic. Manufacturers have responded with a growing array of energy drinks and new coffee joints popping up on nearly every street corner.
I understand caffeine's pick-me-up appeal, but drinking caffeine may actually make you feel worse by causing you to crash.
Instead if you want a steady, sustained all-day energy, these five strategies can help you create and maintain it:

1. Get plenty of high-quality sleep.
Studies show sleep loss can measurably decrease cognitive functions . More specifically, lack of sleep reduces speed of processing and attention. The next day you're a semi-functioning caffeinated mess, more apt to make lousy decisions like eating three of those freshly-baked cookies your coworker brought in, and then blowing off your evening workout to crash on the couch with Seinfeld reruns. "Deficits worsen with increasing time awake," researchers in this study said, "but they may be overturned after normal sleep is resumed." That's good news if sleep deprivation leaves you running on empty. Starting tonight, aim for seven to nine hours of solid, uninterrupted sleep for consistent all-day energy.

2. Check your thyroid levels.
"The thyroid gland is the master switch that lets your body use food to make energy," Dr. Alan Christianson, author of "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Thyroid Disease," told me. "When this does not work right, not only do you not make energy, but the same food ends up being made into fat. No fun!" Ask your doctor to run a thyroid panel and include free T3 to make sure you convert well to the active form. Signs of low thyroid include low body temperature, dry skin, weak nails, poor hair growth, high cholesterol, constipation, slightly yellow palms, and missing the outer third of your eyebrows.

3. Learn how to balance your blood sugar.
Despite their reputation as energy boosters, carbohydrate-rich foods create a blood sugar spike-and-crash roller coaster, triggering hunger, cravings and fatigue. Ditch the high-glycemic carbs for protein-rich foods. "Protein can make you feel satisfied without feeling stuffed," writes Dr. Jonny Bowden in his book "The Most Effective Ways to Boost Your Energy." "When I see people with low energy, I'm almost always struck with how much better they do when they revamp their diets and increase their protein." Try to enjoy clean protein sources like wild-caught fish with healthy fats, leafy greens, and slow-release high-fiber carbs to steady blood sugar and maintain consistent energy.

4. Try burst training.
If I told you could get a fat-blasting workout in just minutes a day, you'd think I sounded like an infomercial. Fortunately,many studies support high-intensity interval training, or burst training, as the most effective workout in just minutes a day. "The most efficient way to increase cardiovascular strength, brain health, and energy is through interval training," writes Bowden in "The Most Effective Ways to Boost Your Energy." "After just 10 minutes of interval training, you should have enough energy to blast through your day."

5. Learn to relax and recharge.
"Being chronically stressed is much like having a permanent low-grade flu," Jonathan Bailor, author of "The Calorie Myth," told me. "Your body is spending energy putting out fires instead of fueling your full potential. To live a chronically stressed life is to never be fully alive." Studies show acupuncture,massage therapy, and Transcendental Meditation effective to reduce stress. You might also consider rhodiola rosea, an adaptogenic herb, to reduce stress-related fatigue. The point is to figure out what works for you and make it a consistent habit.

How To Focus Your Mind

Mental clutter,hyper mind, head on overdrive—we have all been there. Here is some soothing relief.

Try these simple suggestions for slowing things down. Your concentration and memory will 

improve, you will gain greater perspective on your life, and you’ll be able to think more 

clearly and with less effort.

Learn to relax your mind as you relax your body, to reap the benefits of less stress, and 

gain a more calm and mindful awareness of the present moment. You will be surprised 

how easy it can be.

1. Witness your thoughts. No one can stop thinking entirely; it is impossible. If you start 

trying not to think, you only end up thinking about how to stop thinking! What you can do,

 however, is to withdraw from your thoughts and become more of an objective spectator.

2. Picture your mind as a blank canvas or a dark sky. Allow your thoughts to come and 

go, but resist the urge to follow each one. Your brain will eventually slow down and you 

will feel less pressured.

3. Count. If you find it difficult to let go of your thoughts, try counting slowly as you 

breathe. Watch your thoughts and try to resist following them. Turn your attention to the 

count as you breathe out.

4. Pay active attention. As you work and think, try to keep our attention on the task at 

hand. Be strict with yourself and each time your mind wanders, return it to the task. As 

you keep refocusing your attention, your “mind stillness” will improve.

5. Still your body. One sign of fragmented attention is fragmented movement. For 

example, when you are at the theater, it is easy to tell if others around you are fully 

attentive to the performance. People who sniff and sigh, move their heads this away and 

that, and wiggle in their seats are having some difficulty concentrating. Rapt attention is

 usually accompanied by still body posture.

6. Find a comfortable position and don’t allow yourself to move. Concentrate on what 

you are doing or watching, drawing your attention away from physical distractions, and 

focus your thoughts on your task. After a while, you will notice that you fidget less and 

feel less physical discomfort. You are now channeled into mental exertion.

7. Interest your mind. Try to find interest in projects to help you concentrate. Taking up

 a new hobby can be a tremendous help. You should also try to find something interesting

 even in the dullest chore. If you are at a gathering, find someone and start a 

conversation. Be inquisitive and you might discover you have similar interests.

8. Open the mind. Just as strength, stamina and flexibility must be incorporated in your 

physical routine, the mind needs new and absorbing challenges to give it a change from 

its 

everyday journey. Notice something new on the same way home that you might not have 

noticed before. Buy a magazine on a subject you normally wouldn’t look at, read it, and 

open yourself to new possibilities.

Professional Networking Techniques

Professional networking is usually called the key to successful career and profession development. It is commonly said that success in practical life is determined not by what you know or whom you know but by who knows you. The level of your success depends heavily on the quality of your relationship with others and depth of your professional network. Research has shown that effective net workers easily switch jobs and have comparatively higher levels of job satisfaction. It is a fact that requests from strangers are responded later than those of the acquaintances and friends. It is important to remember that networking is an investment for the future and not necessarily wastage of time. While you put time to build your network, you are actually saving time when you need to get things done in a shorter span of time.

If you are looking for a new job, two pieces of job hunting advice are routinely shared. First, it is always easier to get a new job offer when you are already employed. Second, networking is the best tool to get a new job offer. So what does this mean? It means that you need to create/build and maintain your network while you are employed. It is important to keep your network alive while you are employed because it is easy to connect to people when you don’t need any favor from them. However, if you are jobless and had let your network remain dormant for long, it would become difficult for you to revive this network when you need that. The best time to start networking is “before you need it”. Start networking on a priority basis and you will see results in future. There are certain rules/essentials for successful networking that you need to follow. However, before you start networking, you should clearly know your goals. It is also necessary to learn about the goals of others that you want to network with. You may be able to help them achieve these goals, ultimately bringing both of you together. You may invite others to lunch/tea in order to build network with them. People can’t live on voice mail and email forever. Face to face contact is always more important. You should get a business card and always keep it handy. Handing over your business card is the quickest and most convenient way of giving key your contact information to other people. Don’t leave your home without your business cards especially when you are attending a conference or a networking event. Try to be memorable through sincerity and attentiveness. While you are trying to build relationship with others, be straightforward and sincere in your views. People usually want to associate/link up with confident individuals, so be confident; otherwise they would not bother to connect with you. While networking, people like those with “some opinion” on a relevant subject even if it is different from their own views. However, try not to be arrogant and never try to kill the conversation by speaking too much especially when there is not much left to say. While networking with high profile people, try to find out what they care about and offer your services instead of asking for favors. People don’t gain anything from a person who can reduce him/herself to begging. Rather search for a mentor. People like to look after their protégé and take pleasure in guiding someone to success. Make use of the professional social networking websites like LinkedIn that can help you connect with people in your field and build your network. Moreover, try to avoid favored colleagues in networking events because there is no use spending time with those colleagues that you already know very well. While the above mentioned may be considered as the networking techniques (used to create networks), the most important are those techniques which help keeping networks alive.

Networking is not just showing up on networking events and distributing one’s business cards. Rather the most important part of networking is “following through”. People usually are not prepared for doing the necessary follow-up in order to maintain the newly created network. Try to grade your network by classifying your contacts in different categories. Some will be placed on A-list, others on B-list and so on. If you are looking for a new job, you should be able to identify certain contacts from your network that can help you in getting that job by recommending you to the senior management. As mentioned above, the biggest challenge is not meeting new contacts but to keep contacts alive over a period of time. Keep your contacts informed about your activities, ask them about their activities, send them a link of an article that might be of interest to them or wish them a happy birthday or even season’s greetings. If you have published some paper, send them a link or post them the reprints. This small investment will pay huge dividends in the future as you keep your contacts informed about your achievements in the field. Try calling or emailing your contacts every other month. You may keep a scheduling system to remind you about contacting your people. Stay in touch with your colleagues from previous organizations and respond to your networks’ calls or emails promptly. Seek the opportunities to speak or write on topics that you know very well about. It will increase your visibility in the field and will enlarge your network.

To be a great networker, you don’t need to be great conversationalist. You just need to be yourself and sincere. As explained by Christine Comaford-Lynch, you must differentiate between contacts and connections. Contacts are just names and numbers while connections are meaningful relationships that increase the quality of your life. However, connections do take more time in building than just collecting contacts. So, focus on Connections!

Honda's new ASIMO robot, more human-like than ever

Honda's new ASIMO robot designed to be more human-like 

It walks and runs, even up and down stairs. It can open a bottle and serve a drink, and politely tries to shake hands with a stranger. Meet the latest ASIMO, Honda's humanoid robot 

"Hello New York! Thank you for coming today!" the little guy chirped in English, the recorded voice of a teen aged boy, at his US debut Wednesday in a Manhattan hotel.

Resembling a tiny astronaut, ASIMO - decked out in a white suit and helmet - stands 4 feet three inches (1.3 meters) tall and weighs in at 110 lbs (50 kg).

ASIMO - short for Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility - was designed to help people, potentially in cases of reduced mobility. The first model was unveiled in 2000 after 14 years of research during which scientists studied human movements in an effort to replicate them.

The latest demonstration highlighted the robot's increased flexibility and balance - ASIMO can now jump - as well as sign language abilities. It can now also run at a speed of 5.6 miles per hour (9 km/h).

Researchers think that one day it could help the elderly - say by getting a snack or turning the lights off - when their ability to get around is reduced.

"ASIMO was designed to help those in society who need assistance, and Honda believes that these improvements in ASIMO bring us another step closer to our ultimate goal of being able to help all kinds of people in need," said Satoshi Shigemi, senior chief engineer at Honda R&D Co., Ltd. Japan responsible for humanoid robotics.

"We need to understand what people expect from ASIMO and what people want ASIMO to do."

Junk food makes you lazy

According to the study, the energy-draining effects of junk food can persist even when someone is switched to a healthy eating plan.
      
The study, conducted on two groups of female rats, found that those who ate junk food, high in sugar and low in nutrients, gained more weight than the other group who stuck to a diet of unprocessed foods like corn and fish.
      
What's more the group eating junk food also suffered from fatigue and became more sedentary and less motivated.
      
Researchers from the University of Los Angeles found that at the end of the six month trial they switched the rats back to a nutritious diet for nine days but it didn't seem to affect their weight gain or laziness levels.
      
The result suggests that fad diets that last a week or two are going to have no real health benefit. (APP)

First Earth-sized planet found in 'habitable zone': NASA

Researchers have discovered the first Earth-sized planet within the habitable zone of another star.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The hunt for potential life in outer space has taken a step forward -- an international team of researchers has discovered the first Earth-sized planet within the "habitable zone" of another star.

The exoplanet dubbed Kepler-186f was first spotted by scientists using ,NASA's Kepler telescope, according to research published Thursday in the US journal Science.

The exoplanet, located some 500 light years from Earth, orbits in what is seen as the sweet spot around its star: not too close and not too far, so it could have liquid water, considered a crucial component to possibly hosting life.

"The discovery of Kepler-186f is a significant step toward finding worlds like our planet Earth," said Paul Hertz, NASA's Astrophysics Division director at the agency's headquarters in Washington.

The planet is "the right size and is at the right distance to have properties that are similar to our home planet," said Elisa Quintana of the SETI Institute at NASA's Ames Research Center in California, the lead author of the paper published in Science.

"We can now say that other potentially habitable worlds, similar in size to Earth, can exist. It's no longer in the realm of science fiction," she said, speaking at a press conference.

Kepler-186f is around 1.1-times the size of Earth -- which researchers say is key to predicting the composition of the surface and its atmosphere.

When planets are 1.5 times the size of Earth or larger, many of them seem to attract a thick hydrogen and helium layer that makes them start to resemble gas giants like Jupiter or Saturn.
Kepler-186f is the fifth and outermost planet orbiting the Kepler-186 star, right on the far edge of that solar system's habitable zone, meaning the surface temperature might not be warm enough to stop water from freezing.

"However, it is also slightly larger than the Earth, and so the hope would be that this would result in a thicker atmosphere that would provide extra insulation," explained San Francisco State University astronomer Stephen Kane, another member of the team behind the discovery.

Scientists using the NASA's Kepler telescope first discovered it by tracking "transits" -- shadows that cross in front of the star.

The finding was confirmed by observations from the W.M. Keck and Gemini Observatories.

But current technology does not allow astronomers to see the celestial body directly or do any analysis to determine its atmosphere or composition.

"Some people call these habitable planets, which of course we have no idea if they are," said Kane. "We simply know that they are in the habitable zone, and that is the best place to start looking for habitable planets."

Solar systems like Kepler-186, with an M-Dwarf star at its center, may be the best chance for finding a habitable planet, because there are so many of such stars and because many are very nearby.

However, because M-dwarfs are cooler, smaller and dimmer than our sun, they interact differently with planets, the researchers said.

Kepler-186f is therefore "more like an Earth cousin than an Earth twin. It has similar characteristics but a different parent," Tom Barclay, researcher at the Bay Area Environmental Research Institute at Ames, said at the NASA press conference.

And whether Kepler-186f is actually habitable would depend largely on the planet's surface temperature, which would be linked to whether it has an atmosphere and what that atmosphere was like, Barclay explained.

Future missions are being designed to characterize the planets around M Dwarfs in more detail, he said.

However, because its star is quite dim, Kepler-186f may not be suitable for follow-up studies, Quintana had explained earlier.

"However, our research tells us that we should be able to find planets around bright stars that will be ideal targets to observe" with telescopes like NASA's Webb orbiting telescope, currently under construction, she said in a press release.

Of nearly 1,800 planets detected over the past 20 years, only around 20 orbit within the so-called "habitable zone" -- and all appear to be larger than Earth, which makes it harder to tell whether or not they are gas giants.

The Kepler space telescope, launched in March 2009, observes some 150,000 stars, a few thousand of which have been found to have possible planets.
 

How To Learn English

Tips and ideas on the best ways to learn English faster.

Tips for Beginners

1. You are like a new baby
   Babies learn their language slowly.
   First they learn to listen.
   Then they learn to speak.
   Finally, they can read and write.
   
2. Listen to English every day
   Listen to English radio.
   Watch English TV.
   Go to English movies.
   Use online lessons.
   
3. Make an English/ESL friend
   Make up conversations.
   Practise dialogues.
   Use beginner textbooks.
   
4. Read English stories
   Start with children's storybooks.
   Try ESL readers.
   Read advertisements, signs and labels.
   Try EnglishClub.com for Young Learners.
   
5. Write down new words
   Start a vocabulary (new word) notebook.
   Write words in alphabetical order (A...B...C...).
   Make example sentences.
   Always use an English-English dictionary first.
   
6. Keep an English diary
   Start with one sentence.
   How do you feel?
   How is the weather?
   What did you do today?
   Write another sentence tomorrow.
   
7. Visit an English speaking country
   Learn English more quickly.
   Stay with an English family.
   Hear native speakers talk.
   Have a fun experience.

Where do I start?

Why do you want to learn English?
Before you begin (or go back to) studying English, ask youself one question. Why do I want to study English? Is it because you want to, or because someone else wants you to? Like every decision in life, studying English must be something you want to do.

Set goals
If you know why you want to study, setting goals is easy. For example, maybe you want to travel to an English-speaking country. Great. Your goal might be to learn "Survival English". Perhaps you already know many useful phrases, but you want to improve your listening skills and pronunciation. Whatever your goals are, write them down.

Make an agenda
How long do you need to study to achieve your goals? This answer is different for every student. The important thing is to be realistic. If you work 60 hours per week, don't plan on spending another 40 hours a week studying English. Start off slow, but study regularly. Use material that is challenging, but not too difficult. Find out what works for you. After you have studied for a few weeks, adjust your study schedule accordingly. Do you study best at night, or on the bus on your way to work? Do you like to study alone in a quiet place, or with friends and background music? 

Make a commitment
Learning English requires a lot of motivation. Nobody is going to take your attendance when you aren't in class. If you are sure you are ready to begin studying, make a commitment. 

Have fun learning English!
The things we do best in life are the things we enjoy doing. If you aren't having fun learning English, you're not studying the right way! You can be a serious student who has fun at the same time. Make up your own rewards program to give yourself incentives to stay on task.

Study a Balance of the 4 Key Skills
(Listening, Speaking, Reading, Writing)

Most students want to communicate better in English. If this is one of your goals, it is important to study a balance of the four major skills. Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing are the main (macro) skills you need to communicate in any language. Being very good at only one of these skills will not help you to communicate. For example you need to be able to read well before you can write well. You also need to be able to listen before you can speak. It helps to think of these communicative skills in two groups.

• INput <<<
  • Listening (in through your ears)
  • Reading (in through your eyes)
• OUTput >>>
  • Speaking (out through your mouth)
  • Writing (out through your hand)

It's simple. Think of it this way. First you have input. Next you have output. First you listen to someone ask you a question. Second you speak and give them your answer. First you read a letter from someone. After that you write back to them. These are examples of communicating.

Input and output don't necessarily go in a specific order. Sometimes you speak first and then you listen. Sometimes you write about something you hear. During communication, the person you are communicating with uses one of the opposite skills. Therefore, in order to understand each other, everyone must be skillful in all four areas.

Some students want to know which skill is the most important. Since all of the skills rely on each other, they are all important. However, to communicate we do use some skills more often than others. For example, about 40% of the time that we spend communicating we are simply listening. We speak for about 35% of the time. Approximately 16% of communication comes from reading, and about 9% from writing. These statistics are for an average communicator in English. Depending on someone's job or situation, these numbers may vary.

Each of these main skills have micro skills within them. For example, pronunciation is a type of speaking skill that must be practised in order to improve communication. Spelling is a skill that makes understanding the written word easier. Grammar and vocabulary are other micro skills. Micro doesn't mean they are unimportant. Macro skills such as listening are very general, while micro skills are more specific.

For the best results, create an agenda that combines all four areas of study. Allow one type of studying to lead into another. For example, read a story and then talk about it with a friend. Watch a movie and then write about it. This is what teachers in an English class would have you do, right? EnglishClub.com has lessons in all 4 key skills (and all minor skills), as well as many outside links to help you study further.

1. How to learn LISTENING

• Listen to the radio
  Don't always have a pen in hand. Sometimes it helps to just listen.
  
• Watch English TV
  Children's programming is very useful for ESL learners.
  Choose programs that you would enjoy in your own language.
  Remember that much of what you hear on TV is slang .
  
• Call Automated Answering Machine recordings
  You can find these numbers at the front of telephone books in many English-speaking countries. Before you dial, make sure that you are calling the free numbers.
  
• Watch movies
  Choose ones with subtitles.
• Use Internet listening resources
  Every day there are more and more places to listen to English online.
  

2. How to learn SPEAKING and pronunciation

• Talk to yourself
  Talk about anything and everything. Do it in the privacy of your own home. If you can't do this at first, try reading out loud until you feel comfortable hearing your own voice in English.
  
• Record your own voice
  This might feel very uncomfortable, but it will help you find your weak pronunciation points. Listen to yourself a few days later. Which sounds do you have difficulty hearing?
  
• Use the Cell phone.  
  
• Participate in class
  
• Learn common idioms
  
• Understand the sounds that your language doesn't have
  For example, many languages don't have the "r" sound. These sounds require extra practice.
  
• Recognize that teachers are trained to understand you
  When you get out into the real world, average people will have a more difficult time understanding you unless you practise speaking slowly and with proper pronunciation.
  
• Practise minimal pairs
  
• Study word and sentence stress. 
  
• Practice tongue twisters
  

3. How to learn READING and vocabulary

• Read something every day
  Children's books, simplified readers (Penguin), newspapers, magazines, Internet sites, novels, and much much more...
  
• Read what interests you.
  Remember that you learn better when you are having fun.
  
• Read at the appropriate level
  You want to learn new vocabulary, but you also want to understand what you are reading. If you are looking up every word, the reading is too difficult.
  
• Review Who, What, Where, When, Why for each story you read
  You can do this for almost any type of reading. Who is it about? What happened? Why did it happen? Where did it take place? When did it take place? This is very useful when you have no comprehension questions to answer. You can write or speak your answers.
  
• Always have an English-English dictionary nearby
  It is a bad habit to always rely on a translation dictionary or electronic dictionary.
  Think of your English-English dictionary as your life line.
  Use online dictionaries when you are using the Internet (keyword online dictionary).
  
• Record vocabulary in a personal dictionary
  • Keep this notebook separate from other work
  • Record vocabulary in alphabetical order (an English address book works well because it has letters of the alphabet)
  • Record the part of speech (sometimes there is more than one)
  • Write a sample sentence for yourself (don't use the one from the dictionary)
  • Review your personal dictionary (especially new entries) every night before bed

4. How to learn WRITING and spelling

• Keep a diary/journal
  Don't always pay attention to grammar. Free-writing can be very useful. It can show you that writing is fun. Have fun with the language.
  
• Write emails in English
  Stay in contact with teachers or other students.
  
• Rewrite your local news in English
  This is another exercise that can be done on a daily basis. Remember that regular activities are the best ones.
  
• Learn important spelling rules . 
  Remember, you won't always have a dictionary or a spell-checker handy, especially when you are writing a test. Even native English speakers need to review the spelling rules from time to time.
  
• Learn commonly misspelled words. 
  
• Learn commin English errors . 
  
• Get an ESL penpal. 

More TIPS for learning English

Don't be afraid of grammar

• Grammar is for communication
  Sometimes students get obsessed with grammar. This is especially true for students who grew up with strict grammar schooling. Remember that you only study grammar in order to communicate. Practise with a few exercises, then write an essay or have a conversation and try to use your new tools.
  
• Isolate your weak points
  Don't waste time on grammar exercises that you already understand just because they are easier for you. Concentrate on grammar that is difficult for you. If you are unsure of where your problems are, write a few short essays or paragraphs and ask a teacher to circle repeated errors. Then you can look up your problem and practise it.
  
• Teach grammar points to a friend
  Find a friend who studies at a lower level than you. Teaching will force you to remember the rules and to understand them properly. Try preparing a worksheet for your friend.
  

Improve your homework skills

• Stay organized. Keep separate notebooks for exercises, writing, and vocabulary.
• Use a pen that you love.
• Study in short, regular periods.
• Allow a short amount of time for review.
• Study in a place where you feel happy and comfortable.
• Don't allow distractions. Consider email, TV, and the telephone (unless in English) off limits while you are studying.
• Have a drink and snack handy so that you don't have to get up.
• If you study in pairs or groups, make an English-only rule.

Visit an English-Speaking Country

• Take a language holiday.
• Stay with a homestay family.
• Learn from native English teachers.
• Gain access to English culture.
• Get a part-time job.
• Volunteer.
• Make native English friends.
• Make friends with people from other countries.
• Become more confident.
• Hire a tutor.
• Offer language lessons/swap in your own native tongue.
  

Prepare for a standardized test such as TOEIC or TOEFL

• Qualify for a better job in your country (TOEIC).
• Get accepted to an American college or university (TOEFL).
• Use guided-study text books.
• Study a broad range of whole language.
• Track your improvement easily (test scores).
• Learn idiomatic language.
• Learn business English (TOEIC).
• Improve your vocabulary quickly.
• Take classes and get access to many listening exercises.
• Challenge yourself to improve your score.
• Learn and practise proper essay format (TWE/NEW TOEFL).
• Become a grammar expert.
• Improve your general knowledge.

Fun with English Ideas

• Have an English-only evening once a week. Cook in English (rewrite your recipe in English) or watch English movies.
• Write an English love letter. (If your loved one doesn't understand English that's even better!)
• Write English limerics.  (These are excellent and simple for writing, pronunciation and rhythm practice.)
• Rewrite fairytales, jokes or instructions in English.
• Go out and pretend you don't understand your native language (try to get by in only English).
• Go online and find the lyrics to your favourite English songs and sing along to them (use a search engine).
• Invent an English character for yourself (with job, family, etc). Write this person's biography.
• Buy an English board game (like Monopoly or Scrabble).
• Play cards in English.
• Start up or join an English reading or conversation club.
• Talk to yourself in English while you clean or do the dishes.
• Go around the house and try to name everything in English (furniture, clothes etc). Look up words you don't know.