7 stupid thinking errors you probably make The brain isn’t a flawless piece of machinery. Although it is powerful and comes in an easy to carry container, it has it’s weaknesses. A field in psychology which studies these errors, known as biases. Although you can’t upgrade your mental hardware, noticing these biases can clue you into possible mistakes.How Bias Hurts You If you were in a canoe, you’d probably want to know about any holes in the boat before you start paddling. Simply noticing these holes isn’t enough; a canoe will fill with water whether you are aware of a hole or not. Biases hurt you in a number of areas: Decision making. Here are some common thinking errors:1) Confirmation Bias The confirmation bias is a tendency to seek information to prove, rather than disprove our theories. Consider a study conducted by Peter Cathcart Wason. From this starting point, most participants picked specific rules such as “goes up by 2“ or “1x, 2x, 3x.” This is the tendency to see patterns where none actually exist.
Train Yourself to Become a Morning Person and Test If You're a Real Lark or Night Owl About 15 years ago I suffered from a serious case of Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome, where I was most awake between 1-3 AM, and couldn't get out of bed before 9 or 10 AM. It didn't help that I had a high tech/dotcom job where I could roll in at 10:30, no problem. I fixed my sleep rhythm by doing a few things: 1 - I bought an enormous light box, and I put 2 150 watt bulbs in the lamps next to my bed, and put those lamps on a timer to go off at 6AM. Once the lamps came on, I sat in front of the light box on my computer for 30 minutes. I had a hard time the first week or so, then my rhythm shifted.
How to feel better now What makes you happy? I find directly pursuing happiness is difficult to do. Many times the things we think will make us happy fail to do so. But what about feeling good right now? Hack One: Goals Nothing creates a bigger jolt of enthusiasm than a new inspiring vision of the future. Hack Two: Chores Procrastination sucks. Hack Three: Laugh Don’t take yourself so damn seriously. Hack Four: Aid Help someone who needs it. Hack Five: Socialize One of the leading evolutionary theories for explaining the size of the human brain is our complex social structure. Hack Six: Inspiration Find something to get you inspired, even if just for a short time. Hack Seven: Exercise Exercise releases various chemicals into your brain which leave you feeling good. Hack Eight: Posture Change the way you hold your body to reflect someone who is happier. Hack Nine: Music Music is a fast way to boost your happiness. Hack Ten: Nature Hack Eleven: Hug Hack Twelve: Meditate Hack Thirteen: Flow Hack Fourteen: Game
How to become an early riser By Leo Babauta I’ve found that waking early has been one of the best things I’ve done as I’ve changed my life recently, and I thought I’d share my tips. I just posted about my morning routine, and thought you might like to know how I get up at 4:30 a.m. For many years, I was a late riser. So, I set out to make waking up early a habit. Here are my tips for becoming an early riser: Don’t make drastic changes. » 10 Benefits of Rising Early, and How to Do It “Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise” – Ben Franklin, famously “Put no trust in the benefits to accrue from early rising, as set forth by the infatuated Franklin …” – Mark Twain By Leo Babauta Recently, reader Rob asked me about my habit of waking at 4:30 a.m. each day, and asked me to write about the health benefits of rising early, which I thought was an excellent question. However, there are a ton of other great benefits. Now, let me first say that if you are a night owl, and that works for you, I think that’s great. Greet the day. How to Become an Early Riser Don’t make drastic changes.
5 Essential Traits for Community Managers Stuart Foster is a marketing consultant in the Boston area. He specializes in brand management, social media, and blog outreach. He authors a blog at Thelostjacket.com. Community manager is the new it position in social media. To establish hardcore communities of evangelists around your brand, you need to have one. Some basic tenets and rules apply regardless of the company. 1. This is absolutely essential and cannot be faked with any amount of money, time and effort. Muhammad Saleem, community manager for Tip'd, recommends that you "Be incredibly patient and approachable and never lose your cool, ever. Muhammad is able to put the community's needs ahead of his own and maintain a calm and cool visage. 2. It's great to push content and provide awesome information about your company to your community, but you need to provide more. This goes a long way in promoting more than just your corporate interests and fostering a trusting community in support of your company. 3. This is essential. 4.
The Gentle Art of Saying No It’s a simple fact that you can never be productive if you take on too many commitments — you simply spread yourself too thin and will not be able to get anything done, at least not well or on time. But requests for your time are coming in all the time — through phone, email, IM or in person. To stay productive, and minimize stress, you have to learn the Gentle Art of Saying No — an art that many people have problems with. What’s so hard about saying no? But it doesn’t have to be difficult or hard on your relationship. Value your time. What are your ways of saying “no”?
How to be a morning person, and have more time for yourself! Do you hate getting up in the morning? Does the sound of your alarm clock set you in panic, dry sweats, and almost bring you to tears each morning? Do you hate people that are happy and chipper early in the morning? If you answered “Yes” to any of these questions, this ‘ible is for you. Please note, I’m not a doctor, I never played one on TV, I didn’t even stay in a Holiday Inn last night, so please use this only as a guide and seek professional help for any problems or issues you may have. With that said, I have been in the US Army for over 20 years and been deployed all over. Over time, I’ve learned plenty of tricks for dealing with early mornings. So here goes…
Interview with Tim Ferriss of The 4-Hour Workweek (1) If you heard of a new book called The 4-Hour Workweek, you know who is Timothy Ferriss. Tim speaks six languages, runs a multinational firm from wireless locations worldwide, a national champion in Chinese kickboxing, and has been a popular guest lecturer at Princeton University since 2003. Recently his book caught my attention. In Part 1 I ask Tim about some general questions, including his view on productivity and 20/80 rules. Q: Tim, you have done a lot in your life – you are a kickboxing champion, a world record holder in tango, as well as running a multinational firm. TTT: There are a few fun ones that stand out, like finally training in kendo in Japan, where I killed myself last September and fulfilled a life-long dream, but I’m definitely most “proud” of conquering two fears. Learning to surf in Florianopolis, Brazil, was a huge win for me because I can only use one lung fully (due to being born prematurely), and I’ve always been deathly afraid of drowning.
Start Your Day in 33 Different Ways Mornings are underrated. I consider them fundamental for the whole diurnal experience. What you do in the very first moments of your morning will fundamentally and inexorably shape your entire day. Most of the time you spend your mornings by routinely performing some habits, on auto pilot. Consciously inserting your intentions in these very first moments will have a huge effect. Here are at least 33 ways in which you can transform your days by only spending 5 minutes every morning. 1. I love the morning stillness and the unspoken promise of something ready to start. 2. And do nothing. 3. Point your mind to something you’re really grateful for and stay there. 4. Regardless of the current season. 5. You’re going to spot it pretty easily if you put your mind to it. 6. Write an answer to an old question, do part of a small chore, move an object out of somebody’s way. 7. Empty your mind and isolate from your environment. 8. 9. Like in getting physical. 10. 11. Let go. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16.
How to Become an Early Riser It is well to be up before daybreak, for such habits contribute to health, wealth, and wisdom. – Aristotle Are morning people born or made? In my case it was definitely made. In my early 20s, I rarely went to bed before midnight, and I’d almost always sleep in late. I usually didn’t start hitting my stride each day until late afternoon. But after a while I couldn’t ignore the high correlation between success and rising early, even in my own life. … and the next morning, I got up just before noon. Hmmm… I tried again many more times, each time not getting very far with it. It’s hard to become an early riser using the wrong strategy. The most common wrong strategy is this: You assume that if you’re going to get up earlier, you’d better go to bed earlier. It seems there are two main schools of thought about sleep patterns. The second school says you should listen to your body’s needs and go to bed when you’re tired and get up when you naturally wake up.