HOME / Posts Tagged: psychology
Solving procrastination: I read this book so that you don’t have to
Just finished Solving the Procrastination Puzzle: A Concise Guide to Strategies for Change, by Timothy A. Pychyl. Dr Pychyl leads the Procrastination Research Group at Carleton University (Ottawa, Canada) so you can call him an expert. The book’s blurb goes like this: Why do we sabotage our own best intentions? How can we eliminate procrastination [Continue reading]
These mails from Twitter sound kind of desperate
The bad (or good) thing about these kind of notifications is that it reminds me of a book on how social media (and other) apps/platforms use the science of behind creating #habits to trigger you into using the app/platform more Check out “Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products”
How to take a Multiple Intelligences assessment test
It’s quite easy actually, just answer this online list of questions :) Dr. Howard Gardner, a professor of cognition and education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, developed his theory of multiple intelligences which argues that people employ several different types of intelligence, rather than one general type. Warning: this is an anonymous test, [Continue reading]
Be positive to be healthy to be positive
Positive emotions, positive social connections, and physical health influence one another in a self-sustaining upward-spiral dynamic. From a 2013 paper: The mechanisms underlying the association between positive emotions and physical health remain a mystery. We hypothesize that an upward-spiral dynamic continually reinforces the tie between positive emotions and physical health and that this spiral is [Continue reading]
My first 2017 resolution: do this “8,760 Hours” thing
If you’re looking for a practical guide to do a “data dump” of your thoughts, wants and future planning, try out the 8,760 Hours: How to get the most out of next year free PDF from Alex Vermeer Contents 1) Introduction. Why plan at all? To get more out of life, to take responsibility for [Continue reading]
How to be like Zorba
Some food for thought: Despite continual romantic, financial, and familial disasters, he says, “Zorba can dance in the present moment, because he knows that stress— the full catastrophe— is not good or bad, but just part of the way life is. You’re in it, so how can you best relate to what’s happening, both for [Continue reading]
The importance of keeping score
It’s fun when you practice something and it turns out that there is science backing it! In this case, keeping an account of small accomplishments. “[B]y keeping score during the most important periods of challenge and growth in your life, you’ll better remember exactly what you did to get stronger—making it more likely you’ll do [Continue reading]
This would reduce all internet and office communication by at least 50%
This would also improve the progress of the human kind tenfold. It takes some practice (responding to shit is quite addictive, you put in a tiny effort and feel like you have accomplished something) and some self-awareness (“what do I really want to do with my life” is a quite hard question to answer). David [Continue reading]
Against motivation: 3 elements for success
There is no need to always search for motivation. Any goal will do the same job along with planning and monitoring. However, all three elements are required. Just setting a goal is not enough because it only takes a second to take the decision but there is nothing to trigger you to specific action after [Continue reading]
The Art of Letting Others Be Right
Lately, every time I get into an argument, and the distance of online communication can make this rather easy, I am reminded of an article by James Clear. Some key parts: I gather I have a long history of arguing my views, even when I’m not sure why I’m doing it. One time I was [Continue reading]
Obama on how to achieve change
In a recent commencement address in Howard University, Barack Obama talked about his favourite topic: change. While he was talking about working to fix the issues that the US is currently facing, about the injustices that still exist, they can be viewed in a broader way. Excluding any discussion on his policies and implementations, here are [Continue reading]
Don’t forget to be happy!
Happiness makes people more productive at work, according to the latest research from the University of Warwick. Economists carried out a number of experiments to test the idea that happy employees work harder. In the laboratory, they found happiness made people around 12% more productive. […] During the experiments a number of the participants were [Continue reading]
Resistance is how we protect ourselves from taking risks
“This is going to kill your children” – Jamie Oliver is making a point about cooking junk food for your kids. The quote and screenshot above is from Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution. What I find interesting in the show is not so much the garbage that we eat these days, as much as the amazing amount [Continue reading]
What You Believe Affects What You Achieve
Our genes influence our intelligence and talents, but these qualities are not fixed at birth. If you mistakenly believe that your capabilities derive from DNA and destiny, rather than practice and perseverance, then you operate with what Dweck calls a “fixed mindset” rather than a “growth mindset.” Our parents and teachers exert a big influence [Continue reading]
Tired? Think again
Science says your mind gives up before your body. Marcora believes that this limit is probably never truly reached—that fatigue is simply a balance between effort and motivation, and that the decision to stop is a conscious choice rather than a mechanical failure. This, he says, is why factors that alter a person’s perception or [Continue reading]
Smiling is it’s own reward
“In part positivity reflects the brain’s reward circuitry in action. When we’re happy, the nucleus accumbens, a region within the ventral striatum in the middle of the brain, activates. This circuitry seems vital for motivation and having a sense that what you’re doing is rewarding. Rich in dopamine, these circuits are a driver of positive [Continue reading]
Relax, you’re insignificant, none of this really matters
Described in Judd Apatow’s recent book, Sick in the Head, Jerry Seinfield’s solution for relaxing during a stressful period: look at photos of space taken by the Hubble Space Telescope to remind him how insignificant everything can be perceived. That would calm me when I would start to think that this was important… I’ve often said this [Continue reading]
Awesome Goals vs. Crappy Goals
[Text by Steve Pavlina] When you sit down to write out some new goals, I recommend that you take your first batch of brainstorms and literally toss them in the trash. Whenever I ask people what their goals are, at least 95% of the time (I’m not exaggerating), the first things out of their mouths are [Continue reading]