Tag: Mind

PROCRASTINATION AND PRODUCTIVITY


Since the global pandemic, covid 19 had made a lot of changes in our ways of life, we are facing a lot of problems also. Nowadays, as most people and students work and study from home, their procrastination also increased. The habit of procrastination was present in most people, but this change to work from home increased this habit to a certain level. Procrastination is the habit of delaying an important task, usually focusing on less urgent, more enjoyable, and easier activities instead. The biggest challenge these procrastinators feel is the inability to start. The word procrastination originated from Latin “procrastinatus“, which itself evolved from the prefix “pro” meaning and “crastinus” which means “of tomorrow”. This can lead to make us feel guilty or ashamed and it leads to reduced productivity and makes a chance to not achieve our goals.

So it is important to stop the habit or reduce the habit of procrastination for achieving our goals. The first step to reduce procrastination is to realize that one is procrastinating. This understanding is important to tackle to this. If one is doing low priority tasks instead of high priority ones, and waiting for “right time”are the signs of procrastination. So realizing that you are procrastinating is necessary. The next step to tackle this habit is to understand why you are procrastinating. Lack of organization can sometimes lead to procrastination. The use of to – do lists to schedule tasks, can reduce this problem to a certain extend. Even a to do list user can still procrastinate. The fear of failure and poor decision making can lead to procrastination. So, after understanding that one is a procrastinator, and why you are procrastinating the final step is to adopt procrastination strategies. Various anti procrastination strategies are making to do list, organized tasks, prioritizing tasks, write down the tasks etc. Promising a reward after completing a task is also another method to avoid procrastination. Minimizing distractions like turning off social media notifications and television are another method to avoid procrastination. There are various mobile applications for users to avoid procrastination, and to stay focused for doing tasks. So by following these steps one can avoid the habit of procrastination and achieve their goals.

Spirituality

Spirituality is a broad concept with room for many perspectives. In general, it includes a sense of connection to something bigger than ourselves, and it typically involves a search for meaning in life. As such, it is a universal human experience—something that touches us all. People may describe a spiritual experience as sacred or transcendent or simply a deep sense of aliveness and interconnectedness.

Some may find that their spiritual life is intricately linked to their association with a church, temple, mosque, or synagogue. Others may pray or find comfort in a personal relationship with God or a higher power. Still others seek meaning through their connections to nature or art. Like your sense of purpose, your personal definition of spirituality may change throughout your life, adapting to your own experiences and relationships.

Television and Video Games are Corrupting the Minds of Youngs.

Mankind has a great history of inventions, and one of it’s greatest inventions were ‘Television’. This word is well known to us. Entertainment was the major reason for the invention of television, but it’s said “Every coin has two sides” even television has its demerits.

Viewing television has become a popular culture and every one enjoys it. One of the most used technological commodity ,has become a threatening problem for the today’s youth. It is Corrupting the young minds and leading them to dark future. The young mind’s are not able to sense the negative impact of this entertainment gadget.

Watching television is waste of time. Youth’s are not able to distinguish between good and bad content for their minds. Most of the programmes casted on the television illustrates distruction, violence, sex , bullying and many other negative things. Young minds are brainstormed in such a way that they try to implement the depicted things in their real life.

Watching crime shows influence the young mind in a negative way as they are not able to pick up the positive aspects of it. Psychologically the wrongdoer is shown in a good light and this in turn encourages the youth to get inspired from them lead them to actually becoming a criminal.

Now days television shows comes with variations like drama, comedy, suspense and many other. The show producers are minting money out of the illogical shows and destroying the young minds imagination. They are detached from the reality and are made to believe and imagine what they show is correct, superstition are also encouraged. Gradually the people get addictive to this type of content and the imaginative power, IQ level is reduced to nothing. Hence Roald Dahl has rightly said,” It clots the child’s mind, it makes the mind as soft as cheese.”

Television are not the only component that corrupts the youth’s mind but video games are one of them. In this modern generation not only an adult but also children know how to used different electronic devices. Video games are basically a person’s imagination which they make them into reality through technology. These games make a person’s mind habitual to play it. Their minds are completely focused in this unreal world that they forget they have a real world, which in turn make them less social and creates a lonely environment. They lose their interest in other important things like studying, etc.

Author John Leo has explained that ” Children who are heavy viewers of television are more aggressive”. Watching television and playing video games makes a person prone to obesity and mental disorders and affects their personality. So we should take care before it’s too late , as they say “Prevention is better than cure.”

A Guide for your Mental Health

Many teenagers have developed a well-known problem amidst the pandemic- anxiety. It is no lie that many of us spend our time sitting idle in our rooms, just wondering over things and overthinking about life. Gradually we start to sense an uneasy aroma around us. We begin to get overwhelmed about stuff and commence to screech at petty things. However, this is not the main problem; the pain arouses when we begin to grieve over our behavior. We have no choice but to stumble down due to weighing bars of grief. Gradually, teenagers endure panic attacks, anxiety disorders, and perhaps OCD. Hence, let us examine we can deal with it by taking mere footsteps. While the topic of mental health awareness has recently made its way to social media, the origins of mental illnesses operate deep into history. Therefore, our foremost step becomes to study more about it rather than being ashamed of it. It is a common cliche that knowledge is one of the most vital resources, so why not examine mental health disorders? Invest your valuable time in productive activities. Try spending some time listening to cheerful music, watching birds, artwork, reading valuable books, and playing board games with your family, and yoga. Besides all these things, you need to have a good diet and enough sleep. Also, try eating healthy food like salads, fruits, chapatis, etc. Perhaps this may sound challenging, but seek help from your friends and family. Communicate your enigmas through unshamed conversations. This step will help to lay of weighing insecurities. You can always seek help from the experts in this criteria. Numerous emotional factors significantly affect our fitness level, like depression, aggression, negative thinking, anxiety, frustration, etc. Yet, these factors could be avoided with consistency in your routine and faith in yourself. Try making mere changes in your lifestyle today for a vibrant tomorrow. We can not deny the fact that it will take time, maybe a year but keep going. Several people with mental illnesses are now striving to raise awareness of disorders like depression and anxiety, and some claim that the best way to educate about mental illnesses is to teach about them in schools. Hence, schools and colleges should host interactive sessions to discuss the importance of mental health. Via educating about mental illnesses in schools, activists hope to build understanding about the topic and limit teenagers who have mental illnesses from feeling abandoned. This step has the strength to reduce teenage suicide rates. Remember, man; is entirely deemed superior to other animals because of his highly advanced brain. Hence, a person needs to keep both his body and brain fit and well. Both mental health and physical health go hand in hand and are evenly significant for optimum performance and quality of life. Never be ashamed of what you are feeling, do not let your emotions bottled up. “One small crack does not mean that you are broken, it means that you were put to the test and you didn’t fall apart.” — Linda Poindexter.

WHAT IS MINDFULNESS AND HOW TO PRACTICE IT?

We all have heard the term “mindfulness” a lot of times. But many of us despite being aware of the term don’t know what mindfulness actually is. Some confuse it with meditation. But to your surprise, these two terms are pretty different.
So, what exactly is mindfulness?
Mindfulness is a way of living which is achievable with a lot of practice. It is a process of connecting to your surroundings and being completely aware of them. Mindfulness is a practice which enables you to focus on being intensely aware of what you’re seeing and what you’re feeling, without interpretation and judgment.
In a sense, it lets you completely focus on “the now”. It is the acceptance of your thoughts and yourself.

Photo by Daniel Torobekov on Pexels.com

This might seem like a trivial thing and think to ourselves, “I’m completely aware of my surroundings. Maybe I was born mindful.” But no. The human mind tends to get distracted even by the smallest of things. We worry about the future so much that we forget to live in the present. Obsessive thoughts take us over and we leave our present and hop on to an imaginary time machine to travel back and forth in life. 

But one can’t go on travelling back and forth in time and feeling anxious. Here, mindfulness comes in as our saviour.

Now the question is how is mindfulness achieved and how to practice it? I’ve got you covered on this.
Mindfulness needs no equipment like candles, oils or mantras. Find a comfortable and peaceful place and meditate. Not your usual meditation where you may get distracted. But sit with a judgment-free mind, focus on your breathing and let the energy flow within you naturally. 

While sitting down, notice how your legs and arms move. Let your body loose, unclench your teeth, relax your muscles and let your gaze fall onto the ground.
While practising mindfulness, your mind may try to wander off in some distant land. Don’t panic and let it go for some but make sure to come back and focus on your breath. Notice how the air comes into your body and how it leaves. This wandering off may happen a few times but keep guiding your mind back to your breath. Remember this is a judgment-free zone. Give yourself a break and forget about all the worries and anxieties of the day for some time. Slowly, your body will start to feel light. Sit there for at least 10-15 minutes. When you think you are done lift your gaze and go on with your day but with more attentiveness.

Photo by Karolina Grabowska on Pexels.com

There are several other ways by which mindfulness can be achieved. The simplest one being, trying to stay attentive throughout the day. Noticing your actions, surroundings and movement of your body. Types of mindfulness practices include:

  • You can practice it while seating, walking, driving or even lying down.
  • Short breaks on our daily routines.
  • Combining it with physical activities like yoga.

Mindful meditation may look easy but it takes a lot of practice to be mindful in real sense. Keep practising and you will see the results soo. If you find it difficult to fit it into your schedule, you can download an app or can fix a particular time of the day. 

Something practised by thousands of people must come with a lot of benefits. And, it does. Mindfulness has several benefits which are visible in a short period of time. 

Photo by Elly Fairytale on Pexels.com

Practising it for 8 weeks has been said to be transformative in many forms. 

  • It helps reduce stress, anxiety, pain, depression, insomnia and high blood pressure. 
  • It is also good for our hearts and improves the immune system. 
  • It also increases your attention span, improves sleep and controls diabetes (can only be controlled to a certain level and not cured). 
  • It has also shown a positive impact on relationships and eating disorders.
  • Makes your mind judgment-free and makes us kinder and warmer.

You don’t need to practice it every day, it said that practising it for even 4 times a week can prove to be useful. 
Mindfulness is not just a practice but it is a way of living. It is not toxic, harmful or obscure. And I don’t say it based on faith. It has scientifically and by experienced demonstrators proven that mindfulness does bring a change in the way you live.
In this chaotic and uncertain world, it helps you deal with your problems innovatively. Another plus point? It requires no change in yourself, it brings out the best in us as human beings.
Mindfulness is a great way to collide two different worlds, i.e., our mind and the world into one.

HEALTHY MIND IN A HEALTHY BODY

Look to our past to find clues for healthy living today, and tomorrow. Civilisations understood there is a definitive link between our physical health and psychological well-being. In order to survive the 21st century we should look to seven simple daily habits in lifestyle choices. Here is a timeline of major inventions that have changed our lives since the 1800s:The steam engine and locomotive were invented in 1804,the telephone in 1876,the first electrical power plant in 1882,the production line automobile in 1902,the television in 1927,the jet airplane 1943,the ATM in 1967,the cell phone in 1973,the internet in 1983.Isn’t it amazing to realize how these changes have occurred considering the first primate fossils date back some 20 million years?

Personal computers and smart phones together with high – speed internet and social media have changed the way we live, work and communicate in ways that would have seemed unimaginable a decade ago. We are all scrambling to keep our bearings in this digital whirlwind.

We have to be proactive inorder combat the potential of digital technology to zap our minds and bodies of their vitality. Obviously digital advances have improved our lives in so many ways but there are so many uncertains. For example If a learning tool help raise a generation that is being spoonfed too much over processed everything or do they enhance learning and creativity. I think it is a dual edged sword.

Technology has the ability to grately enhance our lives. But it also has the ability to greatly enhance our lives but it also has the power to cause our bodies and brains to atrophy.What are the consequences to our biology of living in a virtual reality, where we don’t have to work physically to stay alive? Will the children be able to adapt to these changes better than we did or will it only get worse? The advice here in is a prophylaxis to help insulate your biology. So, you can continue to climb ever higher and maximize the potential of your body and mind. Humans are built to run. Utility, creativity and adventure are in our DNA. Now industrialization plus energy gluttony is causing global warming.

Habits for a healthy mind and body.

  1. Daily physicality:Exercise for at least 20 mins most days of the week. Brisk walking is the best medicine.
  2. Intellectual curiosity. Spend some time in focused thought exploring new ideas everyday.
  3. Foster creativity. Challenge your mind to connect unrelated ideas in new and useful ways.
  4. Human unity. Create and maintain close knit human bonds and a social support network.
  5. Energy balance. Balance calories in and calories out and reduce your carbon.
  6. Spiritual connectedness : Identify a source of inspiration that is bigger than you. God loves and cares about every area of our life. So we need to find the gifts god gave us body, mind and spirit. It is undoubting faith in God that instills inner peace and joy.

Mindfulness – The art of being the master of the Mind.

Mindfulness is a concept that most people familiar with meditation would be aware of. It’s a way of living; the best way perhaps.

 Meditation being one of the best grounds for attaining mindfulness, helps us to be the master of our minds and helps us to lead a life without much distractions and judgements.

 Mindfulness should not be mistaken as a life devoid of stresses or sadnesses; it helps us gain control over the steering wheel of our life. Letting us approach any unpleasantly circumstance without any prior judgment or distraction.

With the shackles of worries from the past and the uncertainties of the future often fretting us from fully dealing with the task at hand.

Not endeavouring or engaging fully and wholly with the task at hand is the biggest reason for not excelling at the pursuits of life, in both the short and long term. Leading to more troubles and worries.

No worries and following our dreams being the very reason of human existence is often put aside like cutlery in our almirahs, that we may never use.

All people desire for success. However, success is different for different people. But it’s amusing that the path to it is almost the same.

But if we closely look at the success mantras of the most successful people, there’s something that synonymously strikes out. The factor being focus.

The one which we all feel we’ve, but lack immensely.

Being able to completely focus on the the task at hand drives these wise people around the world to their successes.

Something that might seem so trivial but is ardently true. The paths two people tread upon are never the same. But if a factor is equally responsible for the growth, it makes the authenticity of the factor obvious.

A necessity. But not often talked about. In this era of rapid advancements, with whole of mankind scrambling behind success, we as a being collectively lack the factor that most contributes to success. Focus.

We the people, are mostly the slaves of our minds. The inability to control the very thoughts of a being is his biggest peril.

The mind can be an excellent servant, if we put in our time and efforts for being its master.

Mindfulness and focus are two terms that go hand in hand. Just like any other muscle, the mind needs constant exercise and use of it wisely, paves the path to a more serene lifestyle, the one we all yearn for.

Meditation and other related practices have made such an astonishing practice so easy to master. Dedicated efforts towards it can result in a complete resurrection of our own-selves. It’d be wise to tread down such a path.

Awareness and acceptance are the two biggest aspects of mindfulness. It makes us fully accept and be aware of all that surrounds us and lets us take action without baggage. 

Research has shown that mindfulness has facilitated a complete rewiring and reshaping of our brain. Changing it for the better, within a tiny span of just a couple of months of dedication and the returns being a plenty.

This amazing concept has been around for thousands of years now and will continue to be, throughout the years to follow. 

PSYCHOLOGY

Brain research is the logical investigation of the brain and conduct, as per the American Psychological Association. Brain research is a multifaceted control and incorporates many sub-fields of study such territories as human turn of events, sports, wellbeing, clinical, social conduct and intellectual procedures.

Structuralism and functionalism have since been supplanted by a few prevailing and compelling ways to deal with brain science, every one supported by a common series of expectations of what individuals resemble, what is imperative to concentrate and how to contemplate it.

Therapy, established by Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) was the prevailing worldview in brain science during the mid twentieth century. Freud accepted that individuals could be restored by making cognizant their oblivious considerations and inspirations, therefore picking up knowledge.

Freud’s analysis was the first psychodynamic hypothesis, however the psychodynamic approach in general incorporates all speculations that depended on his thoughts, e.g., Jung (1964), Adler (1927) and Erikson (1950).

The exemplary contemporary points of view in brain science to embrace logical techniques were the behaviorists, who were prestigious for their dependence on controlled research center examinations and dismissal of any concealed or oblivious powers as reasons for conduct.

Afterward, the humanistic methodology turned into the ‘third power’ in brain science and proposed the significance of abstract understanding and self-improvement.

During the 1960s and 1970s, brain research started an intellectual insurgency, embracing a thorough, logical, lab-based logical methodology with application to memory, recognition, psychological turn of events, dysfunctional behavior, and significantly more.

Psychology intends to have the option to foresee future conduct from the discoveries of observational exploration. In the event that an expectation isn’t affirmed, at that point the clarification it depends on might should be reconsidered.

For instance, traditional molding predicts that if an individual connects a negative result with a boosts they may build up a fear or abhorrence of the upgrades.

Interesting Psychological facts you wouldn’t want to miss

Psychology is the science of mind that includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, as well as thoughts and feelings. It helps to understand the role of mental functions in individual and social behavior.

Here are some interesting psychology facts that you wouldn’t want to miss:

  • The type of music you listen to affects the way one perceives the world.
  • Convincing yourself that you have slept well tricks your brain into believing it.
  • While it is true that money can buy happiness, studies show that after 49 lakhs per anum, the income does little in one’s happiness.
  • Being with happy and positive people keeps you happy.
  • 90% of people say things in the text that they can’t say face-to-face.
  • Decisions of a person are more rational when thought in other languages.
  • Smarter people tend to underestimate themselves while ignorant people think they are brilliant.
  • People from 18 to 33 are the most stressed out. After 33 years, stress reduces.
  • Singing reduces the feeling of anxiety and depression.
  • The feeling of ignored by someone causes the same pain as that of an injury.
  • Some of us are too scared to be happy as they believe something tragic might happen after that.
  • Psychology says it only takes 4 minutes to fall in love with someone.
  • The more you hide your feelings for someone, the more you fall for them.
  • 90% of times when someone says they have to ask you a question, you recall all the bad things that you have recently done.
  • No one born blind has ever developed the schizophrenic disorder.
  • Funny people or comedians are more depressed than others.
  • Whenever you cry in pain, the first tear always comes from the left eye, and in happiness, from the right.
  • People who oversleep tend to crave for it more.
  • When you’re single, all you’ll see are happy couples, and when in a relationship, all you’ll see are happy singles.
  • Closing eyes helps to remember things faster.
  • 70% of your dreams carry secret messages that have more meaning and weight than our conscious thoughts
  • People who understand sarcasm well are good at reading people’s minds.
  • The way one dresses up often links to someone’s mood. Dressing well keeps a person happy and stable.
  • Pretending to not care is generally the habit of someone who cares the most.
  • Women with higher IQs have a hard time finding a partner.
  • A person with low self-esteem is the one more likely to criticize others.
  • Acting as you own something makes you more probable to buy it.
  • Good liars are better than detecting the lies of other people.
  • People who swear a lot are better friends, loyal, and upfront.
  • The more you spend on others, the more you feel happy.
  • Men are not funnier than women, they simply joke more than women.
  • An intelligent person tends to have fewer friends than the average person. The smarter the person, the more selective they are.

Aren’t these facts interesting and enlightening? These facts are a clear indication of why things happen to us, why we behave a certain way, and justify our reactions for the same.