Co-founder and CEO of Buffer, Joel Gascoigne, undertook an experiment in which he disabled all notifications on his phone. Not only did he regain his focus, he was also able to convert his workflow from reactionary to proactive:
The most dramatic evidence for people's unwillingness to spend time with their own mind comes next. After first excluding a minority of participants who said they enjoyed the sensation of an electric shock, the researchers invited the remainder to entertain themselves with their own thoughts for 15 minutes. During this time, the undergrad participants were told they could press a button to give themselves a shock (4 milliamperes for men; 2.3 milliamperes for women). All had previously stated that they'd pay money not to receive a shock of this intensity because of its unpleasantness. And yet 67 per cent of these male participants electrocuted themselves at least once during the contemplation period, and 25 per cent of the women. One strange fellow who electrocuted himself 190 times was omitted from the analysis.
A small new study shows that just 25 minutes a day of mindfulness meditation can help you feel less stressed in an anxiety-inducing situation. And the best part: This effect was shown in people who had not spent months, or even weeks, but merely days training in mindfulness meditation.
A colleague of mine in the department of computer science at Dartmouth recently sent an e-mail to all of us on the faculty. The subject line read: “Ban computers in the classroom?” The note that followed was one sentence long: “I finally saw the light today and propose we ban the use of laptops in class.”
Authors of 1000 Little Things Happy Successful People Do Differently. Here’s their amazing list of 30 things to start doing for yourself. If you enjoy this, be sure to visit their website for more inspirational advice and tips for life.
Mindfulness training in schools has been found to reduce and even prevent depression in adolescents.
The finding comes from research carried out in 408 students between the ages of 13 and 20 who were studying at five schools in Flanders, Belgium (Raes et al., 2013).
The perfect excuse for a siesta! People who stay awake throughout the day become progressively more sensitive to negative emotions. In contrast, those who take an afternoon nap are desensitised to negative emotions yet more responsive to positive ones. The new finding builds on past research by showing that not only does sleep deprivation cause emotional problems, a sleep boost can bring emotional advantages.
A healthy dose of boredom http://ow.ly/1tcHrV #productivity #emotion
Summer means more hours of daylight and for many, it contributes to trouble falling asleep. More than 40 million Americans suffer from chronic sleep disorders, resulting in $18 billion in cost to employers due to sleep loss issues.
"Is our task really one of putting down our devices ... or are we missing out on a larger discussion?"