What negativity does to you life

Negative thinking and subsequent emotions are probably two of our worst enemies, and not just because we are feeling down, frustrated or overwhelmed with negativity… What impact can these thoughts have? Here’s a rundown of their terrible effect on our lives. They:

 

Also read How and why to meditate. Simple techniques to start your mindful journey, and Being an Empath. Top 10 Traits

  • Kill productivity

first things first (coffee laptop)

Can you fully concentrate on the present moment when you’re overwhelmed by worry, fear, emotional pain or other negative emotions? I didn’t think so! You can’t be productive without completely focusing on what you do. You are ‘doing your thing’ but at the same time you’re not really there; your brain is gummed up with negativity. You could be stuck in this rut for hours, days or even months. In some extreme cases, people can’t escape this damaging cycle for years. It is well-established that we, as human beings, are incapable of engaging our full concentration on more than one thing at a time; if you are doing more than one thing at once, you’re already not 100% focused. Your attention is diluted. Very often, negative thoughts completely dominate us. What happens next? We lose our connection with reality, and as a result, experience a drop in productivity.

  • Supress creativity

kills creativity.jpg

When we do this it is impossible to be fully creative, and we carry out tasks on auto-pilot. We become remote, detached and mentally disconnected from our surroundings. What could we make without creativity? You’ve got it – nothing of real value. I haven’t even touched the topics of inspiration or motivation, which vanish instantly when ‘bad’ thoughts emerge. Passions are supressed, and the fire of life is doused by a flood of painful memories and negative thoughts.

  • Activate fears

anxiety

As we dwell on those negative things in our lives we increasingly fear the uncertainties of the future, and consequently our levels of anxiety rise. Negativity has regenerative characteristics: We think it’s conquered, but it can quickly take root again with only the slightest of triggers. It can also grow with astonishing rapidity, overwhelming us almost without warning. Memories of old grievances, lost opportunities, frustrating and anger-inducing situations and people who have, in some way, abused us, may all form part of the dismal mental fog in which we find ourselves, and which distorts our perception of ourselves and the world around us.

Our brain becomes locked into a sort of confirmation bias, in which we only see the negative things which happen around us and use those selective events to reinforce our world-view. It is a self-perpetuating cycle which can turn our world into a personal hell full of imaginary monsters and personal demons. Always try to remember that the ‘reality’ we perceive at these times is a fiction, created by our mind when drugged with negativity.

  • Affect your vibrations

empath-4

How do you feel when constantly surrounded by abusive people, unfairness and cruelty?  I imagine that the answer is “miserable”. Always keep in mind that your feelings determine the energy (vibrations) you radiate. As soon as you start feeling dejected and apathetic, other people will sense your vibrations and treat you accordingly. I knew one talented young man who was always unfairly treated by his colleagues and peers. Their behaviour toward other people was completely different, however; something he was constantly aware of. Finally, he was fired with no explanation and a few days later his girlfriend left him. When I asked him why it happened his answer was simply, “Those people are stupid”. It was difficult to believe his argument that absolutely everybody around him was both foolish and blind, and didn’t see his amazing qualities and personality. That young man was, in fact, vibrating on a very aggressive and arrogant frequency, which people picked up on. It was for that reason that they distanced themselves from him, partly as a protective mechanism. Why was he aggressive? Probably because of his past fears and anxieties. He tried to hide his internal insecurities behind scorn and criticism, adopting a position of ‘attack is the best form of defence’.

The moral? You get exactly what you give.

  • Affect communicative skills

bad vibes

You cannot interact with others productively when vibrating, let’s say, on a frequency of fear or anger. Even if you mask your true feelings with a friendly smile and polite demeanour, people will sense your vibration anyway. Moreover, sugar-coated negativity always tastes even worse. Can you imagine a piece of rotten fish coated with the finest Swiss chocolate? Both start smelling awful, don’t they?

  • Hold you from achieving your goals

tired.jpg

Summarising all of the above points, negativity holds you back from achieving your goals, rendering you unable to fully concentrate, express creativity, and properly interact with other people in a truly friendly and collaborative way. Negativity generates ever more negativity, leading to a vicious circle which can have a devastating impact on our quality of life.

By increasing your levels of self-awareness, and through perseverance, you can break out of that circle. Try starting today.

Tatiana Dmitrieva

IMG_0096

 

5 WAYS ON HOW YOU CAN FIND YOUR PASSION IN LIFE

How can you find your place in life, and lead a happy and fulfilling existence?  If you have the answer to these two fundamental questions, then you are halfway to achieving them. Here are a few exercises that can help all of us down the path to a deep and enduring happiness.  

courtesy by Millionaire’s digest 

edited by OpenMindPortal



Exercise 1 – Revisit your childhood. What did you love to do?

baller leg header

Make a list of all the things you remember enjoying as a child. Would you enjoy that activity now?… You can also ask yourself these questions to help get you started: what can be translated and added into my life now? How can those past experiences shape my career choices now?


Exercise 2 – Make a “creativity board.”

writingStart by taking a large poster board, put the words “New Business” in the centre and create a collage of images, sayings, articles, poems and other inspirations.

The idea behind this is that when you surround yourself with images of your intention — who you want to become or what you want to create — your awareness and passion will grow.

Read also Level of consciousness vs happiness

As your board evolves and becomes more focused, you will begin to recognise what is missing and imagine ways to fill the blanks and realise your vision.


Exercise 3 – Make a list of people who are where you want to be.

richard-branson_38533.jpg
You don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Study people who have been successful in the area you want to pursue.

For example, during the recession, many people shied away from the real estate market because they thought it was a dead end. Some experts believe that’s the perfect time to jump in — when most others are bailing out — because no matter the business, there are people who are successful in it. Study them, figure out how and why they are able to remain successful when everyone else is folding and then set up structures to emulate them.

If you want to be creative, create a rigorous and formal plan. It’s not the plan that is creative; it’s the process that you go through that opens up so many possibilities.


Exercise 4 – Start doing what you love, even without a business plan

pastel

A lot of people wait until they have an extensive business plan written down, along with angel investors wanting to throw cash at them — and their ideas never see the light of day.

Just do what you enjoy — even if you haven’t yet figured out how to monetise it. Test what it might be like to work in an area you’re passionate about, build your business network and ask for feedback that will help you develop and refine a business plan.

It’s a way to not only show the value you would bring, but you can also get testimonials that will help launch your business when you’re ready to make it official.


Exercise 5 – Take a break from business thinking.

img_6977
While it might feel uncomfortable to step outside of business mode, the mind sometimes needs a rest from such bottom-line thinking. Maybe for you, it will be creative writing, painting, running or even gardening. Read also How to make your brain work better

After you take a mental vacation indulging in something you’re passionate about, come back to a journal and writing down any business ideas that come to mind. You’ll be amazed at how refreshed your ideas are. Looking at beautiful things – art and nature – creates connections that we often neglect to notice.

https://millionairesdigest.wordpress.com/2016/05/23/how-to-find-your-passion-for-travel-beauty-book-bloggers-more/

Lead a Mindful Life Today. Quick tips.


Some things in life should not be taken for granted… You have to be mindful in order to appreciate life. A common thing I will talk about is how life is very precious; being mindful has to be one of the priorities for each of you. It comes from many different aspects such as, simply being open minded, practice meditation, exercise, reading etc. 

Read also Universal rules of happinessLevel of consciousness vs happiness, and 8 Questions To Ask Yourself To Feel Better.

The simple things that you can do to lead to this life, will drastically improve your mindfulness. No matter which thing you do, one of them or all of them, you will find that implementing those will give you a huge difference in lifestyle.

Open Minded.

Logo OMP в подпись_smaller

Being open minded is probably the key to living a mindful life… Living with the idea that you are better than someone else, is no way to live. There are many trends here that if you speak to someone across the world, are not even thought of. But those trends lead many of you to be closed minded and materialistic.

Life is much more than looking cool or having all the latest gear or being flashy, it is truly about realizing how amazing life is, and using it to benefit not only you, but the world.

Things are different around the world, and even within the country, open heart open mind is a great way to start the journey of mindfulness.

Culture is a major way to open your mind. Just being able to understand that culture is out there, and it is very rich in most cases, will show you how open minded you can be.

There are many of us who do not desire to learn more about the world, however, to live that mindful life, and to be open minded it is a must.

The more you experience culture outside of your own, the easier it will be to lead that mindful life that you want. The world has many things to offer, and without seeing those things you will live in the same society which changes you from being an individual. No matter what you do, you have to make sure you are the best you, and experience the cultures that the world has to offer.

Meditation and Yoga.

 

meditation sea header.jpg

Of the many ways that you can become more of a mindful person, meditation is a great first step. It involves centering yourself and trying to see who you are. You can find many different ways of meditation as well. That range from yoga, exercise, literal meditation, reading, the list goes on and on. What you have to figure out is how can you incorporate it into your life today, and make a difference in how you are feeling tomorrow. But how do you start?

It is possibly a shortcut to leading a mindful life. It takes a ton of discipline in order to meditate. It goes hand in hand with being open minded, because you are taking a step back and relaxing your mind; which leads to your mind being open and free. The simple “Om” isn’t the only way of meditating, it can be many things. Yoga is a combination of meditation and exercise. You focus on your breath, and in some practices you focus on centering yourself.

On those same lines, even regular exercise can be used as a practice of meditation. There are many good chemicals that release during exercise that can help reduce stress, and create a relaxed mind.

Read also Cardio improves memoryHow Neuroscientists Explain the Mind-Clearing Magic of RunningHow to keep fit over 30

Reading.

books header

One key way of being more mindful in life, is to read.

Reading is by far the best way to learn about things that are happening around the world, it is also an amazing way to provoke thought. When you read an article or a story in which it stimulates your brain to think, you will find yourself being much more open to change and open to life.

Creating a routine where you read at least one article or story a day (Or a certain amount of chapters in a novel) can significantly improve your mindfulness as well as keeping your brain sharp.

Of the many different benefits that reading has on your mind, the maintenance of your brain health is the most important. Read also How to make your brain work betterTraining the Brain’s Motivation Center. Without your brain and mind, you are a shell. Those are what make you an amazing individual and different from the rest of the world. Just reading regularly will help keep you fresh and ready to take on the next step in your journey through life.  You have one life to live and one brain/mind to have, you have to maintain them otherwise they will degrade. Read also What is the connection between Music and the Brain?, and How to improve your memory.

Finally Living a Mindful Life.

cropped-first-things-first-coffee-laptop.jpg

Being mindful is something that comes in time. Our minds always learn and develop as we age, and they will never stop doing that. Just by implementing things that will keep you mindful and conscious, you will find a huge improvement in your way of life. read also Level of consciousness vs happiness. Leading this lifestyle is not just a simple change; it is a way of life shift.

To understand what it truly takes in order to get to where you want, you have to jump into it all out. If you take risks, they will certainly pay off, that goes especially with being more mindful.Time and a mindful life

Time is limited, so you have to make use with the time we are given and with time will come mindfulness.

Open your mind, meditate, read, or whatever you find helps you the most. Stick to those and you will get where you want.

Life has many amazing things to offer, you just have to be the best you, implement lifestyle changes, and go out and accomplish your dreams.


Article Credits: Dustin Meyer

-Millionaire’s Digest Staff Member, Contributor, CEO & Founder of Evolutionary Mind

Edited by OpenMindPortal

https://millionairesdigest.wordpress.com/2016/05/23/quick-tips-lead-a-mindful-life-today-for-beauty-book-writing-bloggers-more/

How to fight insomnia


You arrive home exhausted with only one, overwhelming, desire – to quickly leap under the blankets. After hitting the bed, you begin to drift off, slowly being drawn into that wonderful, all-embracing stillness of sleep… and then you suddenly wake up.  The sensation is horrible, as if you’ve just fallen from a tall building and smashed into a thousand pieces. Your eyes are wide open and that’s it, as far as your good night’s sleep is concerned.

Insomnia nervosa or sleep deprivation is another common, contemporary phenomenon. We are not discussing those occasional sleeping problems that happen to all of us from time to time, but rather the topic of chronic insomnia. It is a condition that often lasts for weeks, and in some cases even months, turning life into a nightmare.

insomnya.jpg

Dr. Jessica Payne, head of the Sleep, Stress, and Memory Lab at Notre Dame University, and advisory board member for the NeuroLeadership Institute believes that

The sleep situation in our society has become a terrifying problem.

Nowadays more attention is often paid to diet and fitness activities; however, sleep may turn out to be more important for one’s overall health. This lack of understanding and recognition is reflected in the fact that sleep deprivation is not considered an illness by employers. Anyone who has suffered from severe insomnia consequently knows the feeling of having to keep ploughing on, no matter what.

According to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and research published in the Sleep Journal, in 2011

sleep deprivation cost the US economy $63.2 billion

The authors of the report in Sleep Journal were shocked by the enormous impact insomnia has on the average person’s life, stating that the scale of the problem was not sufficiently appreciated by society at large. The issue was not one of absenteeism, but rather of lost productivity in “an information based economy”.

This impact on productivity is directly attributable to the poor focus and lack of concentration stemming from sleep deprivation, and as Dr. Charles Czeisler at Harvard Medical School notes, a few days of sleeping for 4-5 hours causes massive brain function impairment.

Dr. Payne believes,

Simply adding an extra 20 minutes to your sleep cycle increases performance two-fold.


I once personally experienced severe sleep deprivation. It lasted for six months and caused clinically diagnosed depression. My metabolism, digestion and hormones were impaired as a consequence and it took about three months to regain my normal sleeping patterns, and over half a year to normalise other bodily processes.

In this article I am going to share some tips, based on my personal experience and data from various pieces of research, on how to overcome sleep deprivation.


  • Schedule sleep

sleep_header_03_680

It is vitally important to maintain a consistent sleep schedule, even during weekends or holidays. The idea of catching up with lost sleep during your time-off is a tempting prospect, but in reality can be harmful. When you are going through a sleep deprivation period it is crucial to stick to a routine. I recommend setting this schedule according to your work hours. If you have to wake up early in the morning, five days a week, then get out of bed at the same time during the weekend.

Always stick to the mantra that you MUST have a minimum of eight hours of solid sleep per night. Never sacrifice your sleep to have fun or socialize.


running feet mezuno

A couple of words at this point about early morning cardio.

It is undoubtedly one of the most beneficial practices for your health. However, if you feel that you can’t wake up one hour earlier, simply accept this and try to include more activities during your daily routine, or weave 10-15 minutes of highly intense cardio into your schedule before and after your evening workout.


  • If you don’t fall asleep after 20 minutes, get out of bed. 

magazines

Take light herbal sedatives (or prescribed medication), grab a book and try to relax by reading.

DO NOT watch TV or log onto social media.

Using a Kindle is also not helpful. It has been scientifically proven that bright monitor light keeps us awake; it is perceived by the body as daylight, artificially inducing us to keep going. So, good old-fashioned ‘hardcopy’ books are your best friends in the fight against insomnia.


  • Create relaxing bedtime rituals. 

reade and tea.jpg

These could include a night-time bath with aromatherapy oils, or a cup of your favourite herbal tea, meditation or simply listening to calming music. Try all of them and finally you will find a suitable option. My personal preferences are reading esoteric literature, burning aroma candles and sipping camomile vanilla tea.


  • Use your bed only for sleep and love. 

sex and sleep

Humans are very prone to conditional behaviours, so limiting the use of your bed to sex and sleep will generate subconscious patterns that will help you to fall asleep. Never work, eat or watch TV in your bedroom: Aside from the activities I’ve just mentioned, nothing else should be done in the bed.


  • Make your bedroom relaxing. 

Keep your bedding clean and fresh, aerate the space properly, and don’t forget about curtains. Create a pleasant and relaxing atmosphere in the bedroom, eliminating all unpleasant distractions.


  • Don’t overeat.

diet

A new study suggests that quality of sleep is directly related to the type of food that you eat. If you are hungry at night, take a light, and healthy snack. Do not torture yourself by going to bed starving. Research has shown that the old maxim ‘do not eat after 6 pm’ has no scientific basis. However, heavy foods full of saturated fat like red meat or cheese should be avoided. Do not over-consume carbohydrates before sleep either. Be careful with fluids, alcohol, watery vegetables and fruits as waking up a few times during the night to visit the bathroom is not recommended. The ideal option is to consume leafy vegetables, reduced fat yogurt or cottage cheese with some nuts (optional), steamed white fish, sea food, and eggs.


  • Exercise regularly. 

cropped-ballet-heder.jpg

Research shown that people who regularly exercise have fewer problems with sleep and other bodily functions. Regular smart physical activities regulate hormones, stimulate blood and liquid circulation and boost the immune system. In other words, fitness helps the body to purify itself and maintain all of our bodily processes.

Good luck!

Tatiana Dmitrieva 

IMG_0632

Sources used:

http://www.aasmnet.org/

http://sleepeducation.org/news/2016/02/08/study-links-diet-with-sleep-quality

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/09/110901093653.htm

 

8 Questions To Ask Yourself To Feel Better

Ask yourself great questions and have a great life. Ask yourself bad questions and have a bad life.



Questions are really powerfull and determine your descisions, focus, mindset.

Ask yourself a question and your brain will find the right answer.

Here are some questions that will put you in a better state.

What’s really hilarious about this right now?

Why is it so easy for me to get excited about my life?

What am I greatful for?

Why am I so awesome?

What do I find really interesting right now?

What are the 3 best things I love about life?

What is the best thing that happened in the last week?

What is the best thing ever that happened to me?

Why do I love myself so much?

Don’t just read them. Really answer them and your state will change.

The trick here is to ask yourself questions that allready implies awesomeness. Questions like that will make you look at things from different angle and mindset. That’s the key. To look at life differently.

Now get out there and feel great!

https://dopelifey.wordpress.com/2016/04/26/8-questions-to-ask-yourself-to-feel-better/

How to improve your memory

Draw it to remember it. Good trick to know.

Here’s the Memory Trick That Science Says Works — You draw it

Jeffrey Kluger | April 22, 2016

If the brain could brag that’s pretty much all it would do. It’s easily the most complicated organ in your body, and, more than that, the nimblest computer that has ever existed. But the brain has a bug and everyone knows is: memory. No matter how powerful its operating system becomes, its storage system stinks.


Even in childhood, when the brain is as clear and uncluttered as it will ever be, memory is still imperfect, given to random failures, depending on how rested we are, how attentive we’re being and a range of other things. Now, a new paper published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology suggests an unusual strategy for improving it: drawing.

As long ago as 1973, investigators were studying the memory-boosting advantage of so-called dual-coding—the way that a combination of both thinking about an object or activity and drawing a picture of it can make us remember it better. Research did show that the strategy worked, but the studies were both sparse and flawed, failing to account for the mere fact that it takes longer to draw a picture than, say, write a word, and whether writing the word in a more time-consuming way—using elaborate calligraphy, for example—would thus boost recall too.

In order to tease out those and other variables, a group led by psychologist Jeffrey D. Wammes recruited sample groups of students and ran seven different trials of essentially the same experiment on them. In all of the trials, the scientists started with a list of 80 simple words—all nouns and all easy to draw, such as balloon, fork, kite, pear, peanut and shoe. A random series of 30 of those words were flashed on a screen along with instructions either to draw the object or write down its name. After the 30 words, they would perform a filler task—listening to a series of tones and identifying whether each was low-, high-, or medium-pitched. That task had nothing to do with the study, except to get the subjects’ minds off of what they had just done, so that the memories could either consolidate or, just as often, vanish. Finally, they would write down a list of as many of the objects from the first test as they could.

In most of the trials, the subjects got 40 seconds to draw their picture, but in one they got just four seconds. In another variation, they would draw the object or write the word or, as a third option, list its descriptive characteristics. In another, the third option would be to visualize the object. In yet another, they would write the word as elaborately and decoratively as possible.

But no matter how many variations of the test the researchers ran, one result was consistent: Drawing the object beat every other option, every single time.

We observed a significant recall advantage for words that were drawn as compared to those that were written. Participants often recalled more than twice as many drawn words.

said Wammes in a prepared statement.

Just why this is so is not clear. One past theory had been that drawing requires what the researchers call a deeper LoP—or level of processing. But the trial in which the subjects were required to list the characteristics of an object went pretty deep too, and it didn’t make a difference. Another theory had been that drawing simply takes longer, but the four-second trial appeared to debunk that.

For now, Wammes and his group are speaking only generally, concluding that drawing encourages

a seamless integration of semantic, visual and motor aspects of a memory trace,

as they wrote in their paper. It will take more work to put flesh on those theoretical bones. For now, however, they only know that the technique works—providing a long-awaited software patch for the computer inside your head.

https://pragmasynesi.wordpress.com/2016/04/26/draw-it-to-remember-it/

How to cope with information overload

According to Forbes Magazine, the average worker receives about 200 emails a week. In the last five years we have embraced a bewildering variety of messaging apps and social media platforms. To stay on top of our lives, we’re obliged to read official communications, go through bills and bank statements, and work our way through piles of dreary virtual paperwork. We’re bombarded with data on hourly basis, from rolling news channels, online newsfeeds, automatic notifications and many other sources. The more ambitious and curious of us also have personal reading lists, with hundreds of unread books crammed onto our Kindle or I-pad. The volume of information we have to process is unparalleled in human history and our brain often struggles to deal with it, slipping into a “zombie” mode…

information overload

“Information overload” is a widely recognised contemporary social phenomenon, which was identified as far back as the 1960’s in books such as The Medium is the Massage by Marshall McLuhan and graphic designer Quentin Fiore. The speed of information acquisition increases rapidly in conjunction with technological development. According to Daniel Levitin, McGill University psychology professor and author of the best-seller The Organized Mind: Thinking Straight in the Age of Information Overload,

“we produced more information in the last decade than in all of human history before that”.

alice editedWe have to run at least twice as hard to ‘stay in the race’, and juggle the conflicting demands of being well-informed, productive and time-efficient. The mental effort that this entails often results in damage to our private life and personal wellbeing, effectively turning us into automatons.

I’m regularly asked how I’m able to run a few start-up companies, manage an on-lime magazine (OpenMindPortal), train twice a day, serve my private clients, read around 80 books a year, travel and keep my personal life on point. The following are a few of my thoughts on the subject:

  • The personal experience I gained whilst working for and with giant multinational companies such as Moscow Stock Exchange, Jaguar & Land Rover, GSK and so on was extremely useful. The stress and pace of life necessitated leading an organised, disciplined life;
  • I have been helped in this by dozens of books written by productivity gurus (you can find few of them in reference list below);
  • Ideas that I picked up during my MBA at Imperial College helped too;
  • Articles from popular magazines (Harvard Business review, Forbes, etc.) and blogs that I read at least few times a week aid in keeping my perception of productivity fresh.

This is the first article in a series devoted to productivity. I would like to open the series by offering ten useful tips that will help you to deal with information noise, and keep you focused, proactive and creative, able to overcome procrastination, and to get more done in less time.

The second article will be devoted to mind decluttering techniques. The third will be about the seven types of brain activity humans have, and how we can improve all of them. The fourth will suggest a range of useful tools to apply when dealing with emails and other message forms effectively and rationally. The fifth one will shed light on how to lead effective meetings, avoid wasting precious time on human drama and effectively achieve your goals. Finally, in the sixth article, I will share how to maintain a positive attitude and transmit good vibes to other people.


  • Declutter your mind

writing

David Allen, the famous productivity coach, recommends regularly “clearing the mind”. I could not agree more. When your mind is in order, your life, relationships, business and lifestyle will be in order too. But we are only human, and all of us to some extent are prone to involuntary compulsive thoughts that can turn life into a nightmare.

However, there are plenty of methods which can help to cleanse the mind. I, for instance, always carry a little notebook in which I can jot down various thoughts. These can be creative ideas, plans, little tasks I have to accomplish or just annoying emotions I want to get rid of. David Allen also recommends putting thoughts on paper in order to keep the mind fresh and pure: “Writing thoughts down gets them out of your head, clearing your brain of things that are interfering with being able to focus on what you want to focus on”. Such simple strategies can help to eliminate negativity at its initial point, giving you the peace of mind to concentrate on what you want to keep done.

Read: Simple techniques to declutter your mind.

  • Classify, prioritize and break down

do drop delegate

Once thoughts are down on paper – sort them out.  My technique is to initially split them into two main categories: emotions and actions. Once classified, thoughts that have preoccupied you all day do not look quite so scary and overwhelming any more.

I want to focus on actions, which in turn can be split into sub-categories. Allen suggests splitting them into the following: DO, DELEGATE, DEFER, and DROP. I usually do not use “defer”, as all postponed actions bear little relation to the present moment, and could be easily dropped, delegated or done immediately.

Sometimes some of the actions on your list can seem quite daunting. For instance, ‘write a dissertation’ or ‘lose 10 lbs’. It may even sound scary, but don’t stress! What you have to do is to split them into smaller steps and to schedule all of them.

By sticking to your plan 80% of the time, and executing tasks from the ‘do’ category every day, you can be extremely productive without being overloaded with worries, and plagued by negative feelings.

  • Do not multitask

multitasking_produttivita_cervello_1

The human brain is designed to do only one conscious thing at a time. Multitasking not only burns a tremendous amount of energy, but also negatively impacts on performance, and leads to mistakes. And it is only the tip of the iceberg. Stress bubbles under the surface, a consequence of emotional burn, cortisol spikes and even subsequent muscle catabolism and fat gain. Moreover, multitasking saves no time at all. It has been scientifically established that switching between two activities takes the same, or even more, time than it does to carry them out sequentially. If you have two equally urgent and important tasks, do one first and then the other one.

Keep in mind that any exercise in multitasking is in fact a cluster of small decisions you have to take. According to Daniel Livitin, decision making ‘spends’ oxygenated glucose, the essential fuel you need to retain your focus, and to keep doing things. Constant prolonged jumping between tasks will cause physical and mental exhaustion, anxiety and disorientation. On the other hand,

“once we engage the central executive mode, staying in that state uses less energy than multitasking and actually reduces the brain’s need for glucose. This allows us to get more done and finish up with more energy,” writes Levitin.

As a qualified nutritionist I would add that avoiding multitasking is very beneficial for keeping fit. Doing one thing at a time in a calm, focused mode decreases the need to top your glucose levels up by consuming sugar and simple carbs, and as a result reduces the risks of gaining fat associated with sedentary office work.

  • First thing’s first

first things first (coffee laptop)

At the beginning of the day we are fresh and full of energy. Every decision we take and every movement we make uses fuel from the same tank. However, we have a limited supply. According to Livitin,

“important decisions should be made at the beginning of the day, when gumption and glucose is highest”.

He adds:

“If you eat a frog first thing in the morning, the rest of the day goes better”!

Clearly not a statement to be taken literally, but his point about making crucial decisions in the morning is relevant.

Schedule 1-3 hours at the beginning of each day to accomplish 1 to 3 of your most important tasks. Turn notifications on your phone off and focus on your ‘first things’ fully and consciously. I always do cardio at morning. However, my body needs some time from my first glass of water with a shot of espresso until I’m ready to go out for a run. I use this time for planning editorials or writing. I love these productive 1-1.5 hours, as I can usually do 30% of my daily ‘must do’ activities. Then I can refresh my mind and dive into the details of a new article or a project while jogging two to three laps of the park. You can create your own way to ‘eat the frog in the morning.

  • Eliminate distractions

There are various distractions around us, and they are always ready to capture our attention. It could be scrolling through social media (very often meaningless), idle banter or gossip, checking messages and emails, tidying up the workplace and other forms of banal procrastination.

“We need to be really clear about the most important things. As a rule of thumb, you can remember three ideas relatively well,” says David Rock.

Exactly for that reason, it is useful to limit your goals for the year, for the week, for the day to a maximum of three. With a larger number it becomes almost impossible to control their execution. Eliminating meaningless objectives, ego driven goals (to get one more trophy just for sake of it), and empty conversations, can enable you to focus on your real aims.

  • Group together tasks and do simple things quickly

Doing similar quick tasks at once is another way to lightening your ‘do’ list. Do not confuse this with multitasking. For example, paying a few bills, making a few phone calls or answering a bunch of emails in one, defined, time-slot is a great solution to keep on track. Allocate 15-30 minutes (no more) to execute similar, simple and quick tasks, eliminating them from the list and thus being able to switch your attention to more exciting things.

Be conscious when doing on-line tasks. It is always very tempting to start surfing the Net. Reserve a special time for that activity too – allocating 30 minutes after your evening workout in the gym or after lunch, when your brain activity is at its lowest. Alternatively you could split your reading time before bed into two parts: 30 minutes for browsing your favourite on-line sources, and devoting the other 30 minutes to a book from your reading list. When you set a specific time to do certain things it is far easier to avoid distractions and to stay fully focused.

  • Schedule wellbeing

cropped-travel-header.jpg

Coaching people, I very often hear the same story: “I have no time for dates” or “I have no time for the gym/ another degree/ reading books/ grocery shopping/ eating healthily”. However, all of those ‘little things’ determine our quality of life. 14 years ago I made conscious decision to stop watching TV. It was one of the only types of affordable entertainment in the small town where I was born. I made an invaulable gift to myself, splitting the few free hours I had into training and reading.

When I moved to Moscow and started my career in PR and marketing I reconsidered my life habits again. I decided to stop being judgmental and reduced amount of unnecessary meetings and phone calls that I spend before with my female friends discussing gossips and mutual acquaintances. I’ve got few more hours and I start learning English and read English books.

Now I spend two hours doing fitness each day, and a further two hours reading and learning new things. And these are just four of the 24 hours available to me! The value of the time you are putting to more productive use when applying similar techniques is incalculable in life.

A short while ago I stopped competing in fitness shows that were taking up a significant amount of my time (stage rehearsals, posing practice, bikini making). I realized that gaining one more award did not improve my life. I’ve always been very much a people person, and helping others has always made my life more fulfilled. Now I spend two to three hours a day doing research and writing articles for OpenMindPortal and other media, to help people along their life journey.

The time you can save by refraining from obsessing about other people, associating with damaging or negative individuals and their accompanying worries, and ego-driven behaviour, could well be enough to free up hours and hours in which to do really valuable things. Start planning your wellbeing and self-development. Just consciously check what makes you happy and how you spend your time, and act accordingly.

  • Rest

meditation header

Eight hours of quality sleep each night should be a rule of thumb. It has been proven that the human brain cannot be efficiently active and retain its focus for more than 1 to 2 hours in a row. We have to rest during the day as well.

“People who take a 15-minute break every couple of hours are much more efficient in the long run,” believes Levitin.

It is not only generally refreshing: Short relaxation activates some parts of the brain responsible for feelings of happiness. Apart from that, little breaks help us to keep our consciousness and energy levels high. “So taking a break, taking a nap, taking a walk around the block, listening to music — these activities, although most bosses would think that they’re a waste of time, in fact, they’re a big adjunct to productivity and creativity.” Levitin also claims that a “15-minute nap can increase your effective IQ by 10 points”.

The human brain works in two main modes: “one is when you’re directing your thoughts, and the other is when the thoughts take over and run themselves,” says Levitin. I call them proactive and insightful modes. The first one allows us to get things done.

In the insightful mode, according to Levitin, “one thought melds into another and they’re not particularly related.” Such a mode is a neural reset process that replenishes some of the glucose, and is also beneficial for boosting creativity. “The thoughts meander from one to another, creating links between things we might not have seen as linked before, and from that may come the solutions to problems,” writes Levitin.

So take regular breaks. I like doing fitness, meditate or simply do something completely different (graphic design is one of my favourite things to relax my mind during those periods), while my brain switches to a more insightful mode.

  • Don’t underestimate time

We always tend to underestimate simple tasks. Very often in my past I allocated fewer hours for a task than it really takes. I learnt through experience that being realistic about the length of time that tasks will take is beneficial, and to allocate extra time accordingly.

  • Don’t overestimate importance

Sea-Wallpaper-4-800x300

This is the final, but also a crucial, point. Very often we become fully immersed in achieving our goals, and can easily lose a sense of reality. If everything goes right – that’s fine. In a worst-case scenario we could endure some unnecessary sacrifices, or experience physical and mental exhaustion. When something goes wrong, stress level increases rapidly, turning us into over-reactive zombies. However, in the majority of cases this is not calamitous, and nothing will really happen if we put everything and everyone aside for a moment, and take a reflective step back. Conscious control, required rest, mental flexibility and the ability to adjust, reconsider or even surrender some goals are also key to personal success.

Tatiana Dmitrieve

Reference list

Daniel Kahneman. Thinking fast and slow. 2004

Daniel Livitin. Organized mind: Thinking Straight in the Age of Information Overload. 2012

David Allen. Getting things done. The art of stress free productivity. 2001

David Allen. Making It All Work: Winning at the game of work and the business of life, 2008

David Allen. Ready for anything. 2003

David Rock. Your brain at work. 2009

Echart Tolle. The new Earth. 2013

Echart Tolle. The power of now.1997

Ivy-Marie Blackburn. Cognitive therapy in actioin. 1996

Ray Kurxweil. How to create a mind.2015