Mark Twain’s Top 9 Tips for Living a Kick-Ass Life

“It’s no wonder that truth is stranger than fiction. Fiction has to make sense.”

“Let us live so that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry.”

“When your friends begin to flatter you on how young you look, it’s a sure sign you’re getting old.”

You may know Mark Twain for some of his very popular books like Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. He was a writer and also a humorist, satirist and lecturer.

Twain is known for his many – and often funny – quotes. Following our article 10 sentences that can change your life, here are a few of my favorite tips from him.

1. Approve of yourself.

“A man cannot be comfortable without his own approval.”

If you don’t approve of yourself, of your behavior and actions then you’ll probably walk around most of the day with a sort of uncomfortable feeling. If you, on the other hand, approve of yourself then you tend to become relaxed and gain inner freedom to do more of what you really want.

This can, in a related way, be a big obstacle in personal growth. You may have all the right tools to grow in some way but you feel an inner resistance. You can’t get there.

What you may be bumping into there are success barriers. You are putting up barriers in your own mind of what you may or may not deserve. Or barriers that tell you what you are capable of. They might tell you that you aren’t really that kind of person that could this thing that you’re attempting.

Or if you make some headway in the direction you want to go you may start to sabotage for yourself. To keep yourself in a place that is familiar for you.

So you need give yourself approval and allow yourself to be who you want to be. Not look for the approval from others. But from yourself. To dissolve that inner barrier or let go of that self-sabotaging tendency. This is no easy task and it can take time. It might be helpful for you to have a read at

2. Your limitations may just be in your mind.

“Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.”

So many limitations are mostly in our minds. We may for instance think that people will disapprove because we are too tall, too old or balding. But these things mostly matter when you think they matter. Because you become self-conscious and worried about what people may think.

And people pick up on that and may react in negative ways. Or you may interpret anything they do as a negative reaction because you are so fearful of a bad reaction and so focused inward on yourself.

If you, on the other hand, don’t mind then people tend to not mind that much either. And if you don’t mind then you won’t let that part of yourself become a self-imposed roadblock in your life.

It is, for instance, seldom too late to do what you want to do.

3. Lighten up and have some fun.

“Humor is mankind’s greatest blessing.”

“Against the assault of laughter nothing can stand.”

Humor and laughter are amazing tools. They can turn any serious situation into something to laugh about. They can lighten the mood just about anywhere.

And a lighter mood is often a better space to work in because now your body and mind isn’t filled to the brim with negative emotions. When you are more light-hearted and relaxed then the solution to a situation is often easier to both come up with and implement.

4. Let go of anger.

“Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured.”

Anger is most of the time pretty pointless. It can cause situations to get out of hand. And from a selfish perspective it often more hurtful for the one being angry then the person s/he’s angry at.

So even if you feel angry at someone for days recognize that you are mostly just hurting yourself. The other person may not even be aware that you are angry at him or her. So either talking to the person and resolving the conflict or letting go of anger as quickly as possible are pretty good tips to make your life more pleasurable.

5. Release yourself from entitlement.

“Don’t go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing.It was here first.”

When you are young your mom and dad may give a lot of things. As you grow older you may have a sort of entitlement. You may feel like the world should just give you what you want or that it owes you something.

This belief can cause a lot of anger and frustration in your life. Because the world may not give you what expect it to. On the other hand, this can be liberating too. You realize that it is up to you to shape your own life and for you to work towards what you want. You are not a kid anymore, waiting for your parents or the world to give you something.

You are in the driver’s seat now. And you can go pretty much wherever you want.

6. If you’re taking a different path, prepare for reactions.

“A person with a new idea is a crank until the idea succeeds.”
I think this has quite a bit of relevance to self-improvement.

If you start to change or do something different than you usually do then people may react in different ways. Some may be happy for you. Some may be indifferent. Some may be puzzled or react in negative and discouraging ways.

Much of these reactions are probably not so much about you but about the person who said it and his/her life. How they feel about themselves is coming through in the words they use and judgments they make.

And that’s OK. I think it’s pretty likely that they won’t react as negatively as you may imagine. Or they will probably at least go back to focusing on their own challenges pretty soon.

So what other people may say and think and letting that hold you back is probably just fantasy and barrier you build in your mind.

You may find that when you finally cross that inner threshold you created then people around you may not shun you or go chasing after you with pitchforks. They might just go: “OK”.

7. Keep your focus steadily on what you want.

“Drag your thoughts away from your troubles… by the ears, by the heels, or any other way you can manage it.”

What you focus your mind on greatly determines how things play out. You can focus on your problems and dwell in suffering and a victim mentality. Or you can focus on the positive in situation, what you can learn from that situation or just focus your mind on something entirely else.

It may be “normal” to dwell on problems and swim around in a sea of negativity. But that is a choice. And a thought habit. You may reflexively start to dwell on problems instead of refocusing your mind on something more useful. But you can also start to build a habit of learning to gain more and more control of where you put your focus.

8. Don’t focus so much on making yourself feel good.

“The best way to cheer yourself up is to try to cheer somebody else up.”
This may be a bit of a counter-intuitive tip. But as I wrote yesterday, one of the best ways to feel good about yourself is to make someone else feel good or to help them in some way.

This is a great way to look at things to create an upward spiral of positivity and exchange of value between people. You help someone and both of you feel good. The person you helped feels inclined to give you a hand later on since people tend to want to reciprocate. And so the both of you are feeling good and helping each other.

Those positive feelings are contagious to other people and so you may end up making them feel good too. And the help you received from your friend may inspire you to go and help another friend. And so the upward spiral grows and continues. Have a look at 30 things to stop doing to yourself for more.

9. Do what you want to do.

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did so. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

Awesome quote. And I really don’t have much to add to that one. Well, maybe to write it down and keep it as a daily reminder – on your fridge or bathroom door – of what you can actually do with your life.


Editors’ Recommendations:
Why We Are More Creative When We Are Tired
21 Habits Of Happy People
The Effect Music Has On The Brain

source: PositivityBlog

30 Things to Stop Doing to Yourself

As Maria Robinson once said, “Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.” Nothing could be closer to the truth. But before you can begin this process of transformation you have to stop doing the things that have been holding you back.

Here are some ideas to get you started:

1. Stop spending time with the wrong people. – Life is too short to spend time with people who suck the happiness out of you. If someone wants you in their life, they’ll make room for you. You shouldn’t have to fight for a spot. Never, ever insist yourself to someone who continuously overlooks your worth. And remember, it’s not the people that stand by your side when you’re at your best, but the ones who stand beside you when you’re at your worst that are your true friends.                                                                                                                          
2. Stop running from your problems. – Face them head on. No, it won’t be easy. There is no person in the world capable of flawlessly handling every punch thrown at them. We aren’t supposed to be able to instantly solve problems. That’s not how we’re made. In fact, we’re made to get upset, sad, hurt, stumble and fall. Because that’s the whole purpose of living – to face problems, learn, adapt, and solve them over the course of time. This is what ultimately molds us into the person we become.                                                                                    
3. Stop lying to yourself. – You can lie to anyone else in the world, but you can’t lie to yourself. Our lives improve only when we take chances, and the first and most difficult chance we can take is to be honest with ourselves. Read The Road Less Traveled.                                                                                                                                         
4. Stop putting your own needs on the back burner. – The most painful thing is losing yourself in the process of loving someone too much, and forgetting that you are special too. Yes, help others; but help yourself too. If there was ever a moment to follow your passion and do something that matters to you, that moment is now.                                                                                       
5. Stop trying to be someone you’re not. – One of the greatest challenges in life is being yourself in a world that’s trying to make you likeeveryone else. Someone will always be prettier, someone will always be smarter, someone will always be younger, but they will never be you. Don’t change so people will like you. Be yourself and the right people will love the real you.                                                                                                                                                            
6. Stop trying to hold onto the past. – You can’t start the next chapter of your life if you keep re-reading your last one.                                                                                                    
7. Stop being scared to make a mistake. – Doing something and getting it wrong is at least ten times more productive than doing nothing. Every success has a trail of failures behind it, and every failure is leading towards success. You end up regretting the things you did NOT do far more than the things you did.                                                                                                              
8. Stop berating yourself for old mistakes. – We may love the wrong person and cry about the wrong things, but no matter how things go wrong, one thing is for sure, mistakes help us find the person and things that are right for us. We all make mistakes, have struggles, and even regret things in our past. But you are not your mistakes, you are not your struggles, and you are here NOW with the power to shape your day and your future. Every single thing that has ever happened in your life is preparing you for a moment that is yet to come.                                                           
9. Stop trying to buy happiness. – Many of the things we desire are expensive. But the truth is, the things that really satisfy us are totally free – love, laughter and working on our passions.                                                                                                                                     
10. Stop exclusively looking to others for happiness. – If you’re not happy with who you are on the inside, you won’t be happy in a long-term relationship with anyone else either. You have to create stability in your own life first before you can share it with someone else. Read Stumbling on Happiness.                                                                                                                                                                                        
11. Stop being idle. – Don’t think too much or you’ll create a problem that wasn’t even there in the first place. Evaluate situations and take decisive action. You cannot change what you refuse to confront. Making progress involves risk. Period! You can’t make it to second base with your foot on first.                                                                                                                                                                                           
12. Stop thinking you’re not ready. – Nobody ever feels 100% ready when an opportunity arises. Because most great opportunities in life force us to grow beyond our comfort zones, which means we won’t feel totally comfortable at first.                                                                                                                       
13. Stop getting involved in relationships for the wrong reasons. – Relationships must be chosen wisely. It’s better to be alone than to be in bad company. There’s no need to rush. If something is meant to be, it will happen – in the right time, with the right person, and for the best reason. Fall in love when you’re ready, not when you’re lonely.                                                                                                                                               
14. Stop rejecting new relationships just because old ones didn’t work. – In life you’ll realize that there is a purpose for everyone you meet. Some will test you, some will use you and some will teach you. But most importantly, some will bring out the best in you.                                                                                                                                                        
15. Stop trying to compete against everyone else. – Don’t worry about what others are doing better than you. Concentrate on beating your own records every day. Success is a battle between YOU and YOURSELF only.                                                                                                     
16. Stop being jealous of others. – Jealousy is the art of counting someone else’s blessings instead of your own. Ask yourself this: “What’s something I have that everyone wants?”                                                                                                                            
17. Stop complaining and feeling sorry for yourself. – Life’s curveballs are thrown for a reason – to shift your path in a direction that is meant for you. You may not see or understand everything the moment it happens, and it may be tough. But reflect back on those negative curveballs thrown at you in the past. You’ll often see that eventually they led you to a better place, person, state of mind, or situation. So smile! Let everyone know that today you are a lot stronger than you were yesterday, and you will be.                                                                                                       
18. Stop holding grudges. – Don’t live your life with hate in your heart. You will end up hurting yourself more than the people you hate. Forgiveness is not saying, “What you did to me is okay.” It is saying, “I’m not going to let what you did to me ruin my happiness forever.” Forgiveness is the answer… let go, find peace, liberate yourself! And remember, forgiveness is not just for other people, it’s for you too. If you must, forgive yourself, move on and try to do better next time.                                                                                                                                      
19. Stop letting others bring you down to their level. – Refuse to lower your standards to accommodate those who refuse to raise theirs.                                                                           
20. Stop wasting time explaining yourself to others. – Your friends don’t need it and your enemies won’t believe it anyway. Just do what you know in your heart is right.                                                                                                                             
21. Stop doing the same things over and over without taking a break. – The time to take a deep breath is when you don’t have time for it. If you keep doing what you’re doing, you’ll keep getting what you’re getting. Sometimes you need to distance yourself to see things clearly.                                                                                                               
22. Stop overlooking the beauty of small moments. – Enjoy the little things, because one day you may look back and discover they were the big things. The best portion of your life will be the small, nameless moments you spend smiling with someone who matters to you.                                                                                                                                  
23. Stop trying to make things perfect. – The real world doesn’t reward perfectionists, it rewards people who get things done. Read Getting Things Done.                                                                                                                
24. Stop following the path of least resistance. – Life is not easy, especially when you plan on achieving something worthwhile. Don’t take the easy way out. Do something extraordinary.                                                                                                                                               
25. Stop acting like everything is fine if it isn’t. – It’s okay to fall apart for a little while. You don’t always have to pretend to be strong, and there is no need to constantly prove that everything is going well. You shouldn’t be concerned with what other people are thinking either – cry if you need to – it’s healthy to shed your tears. The sooner you do, the sooner you will be able to smile again.                                                                                                                                                                            
26. Stop blaming others for your troubles. – The extent to which you can achieve your dreams depends on the extent to which you take responsibility for your life. When you blame others for what you’re going through, you deny responsibility – you give others power over that part of your life.                                                                                                                                                                                         
27. Stop trying to be everything to everyone. – Doing so is impossible, and trying will only burn you out. But making one person smile CAN change the world. Maybe not the whole world, but their world. So narrow your focus.                                                                                                                                                                  
28. Stop worrying so much. – Worry will not strip tomorrow of its burdens, it will strip today of its joy. One way to check if something is worth mulling over is to ask yourself this question: “Will this matter in one year’s time? Three years? Five years?” If not, then it’s not worth worrying about.                                                                                    
29. Stop focusing on what you don’t want to happen. – Focus on what you do want to happen. Positive thinking is at the forefront of every great success story. If you awake every morning with the thought that something wonderful will happen in your life today, and you pay close attention, you’ll often find that you’re right.                                                                                                                         
30. Stop being ungrateful. – No matter how good or bad you have it, wake up each day thankful for your life. Someone somewhere else is desperately fighting for theirs. Instead of thinking about what you’re missing, try thinking about what you have that everyone else is missing.

Editors’ Recommendations:
10 Sentences That Can Change Your Life.
21 Habits Of Happy People
Seven Ways We’re Tricked By Time
19 Signs You’re Doing Better than You Think
Do You Make These 10 Mistakes in a Conversation?

source: Marc and Angel Hack Life

7 Ways We’re Tricked By Time

Ever felt like time stands still while you’re waiting for something, or that as you get older, the years slip through your fingertips with much more ease? With swaths of tech around us and virtually everything being available on demand, it’s a very real possibility that our body clocks and perception of time have changed.

Time Doesn’t Fly

As the adage goes, ‘Time flies when we’re having fun.‘ In reality, though, we know fully well that it does not. Nevertheless, psychologist James J. Kellaris conducted his own experiment to find out whether there’s any truth to the aphorism. Kellaris had people listen to a piece of music they liked, and when he later asked them how much time they thought had passed, the listeners’ estimates were usually longer.

Kellaris suggested that when we’re enjoying ourselves, we pay more attention to the event and our minds perceive that as extra time. That’s how we get the saying ‘Lost in the music.’ On the other hand, the adage might lend itself to a self-fulfilling prophecy: if we believe that time is meant to fly when we’re having fun, we’re more likely to think we’re enjoying ourselves when it passes faster.

We’re Tricked by Tech

As if we didn’t warp time enough on our own, a recent study has suggested that technology, too, is capable of altering our perception of time. In a world where we lead virtual and physical lives, it is hardly surprising that social media sites lend themselves to becoming veritable time sucks. A 2012 survey carried out by the clever folks at Cisco revealed that 60% of 18-30 year-olds check their smartphones compulsively for updates, with each glance taking with it bits and pieces of the day.

Stanford University psychologist Dr. Phillip Zimbardo thinks that this newfound obsession with the ‘right now’ moment has altered our idea of time. Having so much information readily available at out fingertips speeds up our internal clock. Likewise, each time we check Facebook or log in to Twitter, we subconsciously note the time, making us more aware of how much of it has passed in our day-to-day habits. Talking to the Huffington Post, Zimbardo said that ‘Technology makes us impatient for anything that takes more than seconds to achieve.’

Moving in Slow Motion

We’ve all seen thrillers where actors walk away from an explosion in slow motion for dramatic effect, but these slow-mo moments might also be experienced outside the of the silver screen. In life-threatening or dangerous situations, people often say that time seems to slow down, and there’s a fairly logical reason why.

In 2007, a group of psychologists carried out a test where people fell 50 meters into a safety net and then were asked about their experience. Aside from being obviously terrified, researchers found that the test subjects recalled the experience as longer that it actually was, largely due to the way our bodies respond to danger. The adrenaline we produce allows us to concentrate better when in a life-threatening situation so that we can stay alive. As a result, everything seems to pass in slow motion because we remember far more details over a short period of time.

Speeding Up With Age

It’s commonly said that as we get older, time passes in the ‘blink of an eye.’ Aside from the part that technology plays in speeding up our understanding of time, another factor affects our perception of time as we get older, and it’s something we can’t really change.

When young and fresh-faced, we’re constantly discovering new and exciting things that we’ve not experienced before, and we naturally pay a lot more attention to them. As we get older, though, those ‘new’ experiences grow pale. By extension, time seems to pass more quickly. Interestingly, a study carried out in 1997 by Mangan and Bolinsky went some way to proving that older people really do perceive time differently. While people in their 20’s could guess when three minutes had passed fairly accurately, those in their 60’s overestimated the time elapsed by about 20%, giving some credence to the idea that time really does speed up with age.

Afternoon Naps

One of the smallest but most enjoyable pleasures in the world is the humble afternoon nap. A quick, 20-minute power nap can revitalize us just enough to carry on with the rest of the day, but any longer than that and our ability to tell the time goes out the window.

When we’re tired, our perception of time goes completely off-kilter. That’s because when we’re sleep deprived, our brains just can’t keep up with discerning between short and long stretches of time. The length of time we nap is also key to how our mind keeps time. After 20 minutes of napping, we enter something called slow-wave sleep. If you break the wave mid-way through, it will take a while for you to accurately perceive time again, which is precisely why they call it a 20 minute power nap.

Time Stands Still

Remember watching the clock in high school and waiting for the bell to ring? If it felt like time was standing still, that might be because your brain genuinely thought it was. The ‘optical’ illusion of time standing still is something that happens when our eyes move quickly from one point to another. According to Kielan Yarrow and a whole host of other psychologists, when our gaze fixes suddenly on the second hand of a clock, our perception of time stretches slightly backwards to compensate for that movement. As a result, your mind tells you that you’ve been looking at the second hand for longer, and thus fills in the blank with what it thinks should be there.

Getting Emotional

Many like to think that they’re not ruled by their emotions, but they do affect our bodies more than you think—at least in terms of how we perceive time. At the bottom of a long list of ways in which our brain is constantly finding new ways to trick us, negative emotions in particular can wreak havoc on our time-keeping abilities. While boredom can make time seem to stand still, just about any emotion will change how fast or slow the time goes—especially anxiety.

For a few years now, psychologists have carried out studies on the subject and have concluded that individuals experiencing negative emotions concentrate more on the passing of time than those who are in a good mood, which makes a particularly anxiety-filled moment seem longer. That might explain why after we argue, the room’s tension-ridden atmosphere makes time seem to drag on and on.

Editors’ Recommendations:

Happiness Tips: 6 Steps To A Success-Filled Life

Neurocam Headset Automatically Records Interesting Moments [VIDEO]

How Successful People Stay Calm

source: All That Is Interesting

33 Amazing Ideas that Will Make your House Awesome

We’ve all got some sort of idea of how our dream home might look. Some of us have just got to have a pool, while others want clever modern design, sustainability, or integration with natural elements. No matter what it is that makes your dream home unique, here are a few examples of homes where people have been able to realize some of their greatest home design fantasies.

These ingenious home improvements run from pools and aquariums to cleverly-hidden storage spaces, multi-purpose furniture and… cat transit walkways. Maybe you’ll recognize something that you’ve always wanted to see, or maybe the pictures will get your juices flowing and inspire you to come up with or even build something new.

Warning – viewing some of these images may make you feel dissatisfied with your current home!

1. Aquarium Bed

Image credits: Acrylic Aquariums

2. Chandelier That Turns Your Room into a Fores

Image credits: HildenDiaz

3. Indoor-Outdoor Pool

Image credits: Unknown

4. Swing Set Table

Image credits: PSFK

5. Beach Sand Under Your Work Desk

Image credits: Justin Kemp

6. Spiral Staircase Slide

Image Credits: Unknown

7. Cat Transit System

Image Credits: Because We Can

8. Glass Floor and an Open Shaft Below Your Bathroom

Image Credits: Hernandez Silva Arquitectos

9. Fusion Dining And Pool Table

Image Credits: Amazon

10. Hammock Bed

Image Credits: Le Beanock

11. Understairs Storage

Image Credits: Deriba Furniture

12. Backyard Cinema

Image Credits: Fancy Material

13. Ping Pong Door

Image Credits: Tobias Fraenzel

14. A Wall That Plays Music When It Rains

Image Credits: Ingenium Et Ars

15. See-through Bathtub

Image Credits: Stern McCafferty

16. Vertical Herb Garden in Your Kitchen

Image Credits: Unknown

17. Bookcase Staircase

Image Credits: Levitate Architects

18. Back Yard Beach-Themed Fire Pit

Image Credits: Unknown

19. Spiral Wine Storage

Image Credits: Spiral Cellars

20. Treehouse Room For Kids

Image Credits: My Tropolis Design

21. Pirate Ship Bedroom For Yourself

Image Credits: Unknown

22. Walk-In Pool

Image Credits: Houzz

23. Door of Swatches

Image Credits: Armin Blasbichler Studio

24. Hammock Over the Stairs

Image Credits: OODA

25. Ice Cave In Your Room

Image Credits: Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture

26. Skate-park Room

Image Credits: Pierre Andre Senizergues

27. Fire Pit Table

Image Credits: Moma Design

28. Backyard Office

Image Credits: Office Pod

29. Indoor Slide

Image Credits: David Hotson

30. Catwalk Around The House

Image Credits: Nekomemo

31. Table Firepit

Image Credits: Unknown

32. Kitchen Table Tennis

Image Credits: Hammacher Schlemmer

33. Balcony Pool

Image Credits: James Law

source: Bored Panda

The Effect Music has on the Brain

Contrary to popular beliefs, music is just more than sweet candy to our ears. It feeds our minds as well and has profound effects on the brain! Here are some of the mind marvels that you can expect just by listening to your favorite music:

Photo by: Max B/ Flickr Creative Commons

Music Boosts your Memory

Do you always forget where you put your keys? Memory loss might be a sign of aging, but you do not have to let it ruin your life. Boost your memory once more by listening to your favorite tunes.

So how does music enhance memory? According to experts, tunes can stimulate the many areas of the brain – including the Hippocampus – the district that governs the area of long-term memory. By treating your ears to familiar music, feelings and emotions related to the tunes are reincarnated by the hippocampus.

Music Improves your Spatial Reasoning Skills

Spatial reasoning is defined as the ability to reason depiction, measurement, navigation and shape accurately. As one of the “Nine Kinds of Intelligence,” it is characterized by the talent to recreate a visual experience.

With the help of music – specifically piano music – you can hike your spatial reasoning IQ points by as much as 9. Mozart’s symphony (among many others) makes this possible by improving focus in the listener.

Music Makes you Less Anxious

Do you have a big job interview on the way? Perhaps you are scheduled to undergo a life-changing surgery? Whatever your concerns might be, they are sure to put some stresses on your mind. Instead of popping that expensive anti-anxiety pill, a cheap and side effect-free way to say goodbye to apprehension is to listen to music.

In a study published in “Trends in Cognitive Sciences,” patients who listened to music – instead of taking the usual anti-anxiety drugs – demonstrated lower levels of cortisol: a hormone that brings about stress.

Music Repairs Brain Damage

Are you an unfortunate victim of stroke or other brain-related conditions? You will be glad to know that music can restore your brain to its former glory.

Music is especially helpful in victims of left-sided brain injury, with symptoms such as the inability to speak. In fact, therapists treat such patients with a program called “Melodic Intonation.” Here, the patient is prodded to sing until he can talk once again. Music is said to repair the damaged parts associated with language because it helps the mind correlate the tunes with verbalisms once again.

Apart from this benefit, music ushers the release of dopamine, a feel-good hormone that enhances brain function. This is especially advantageous in individuals who have suffered from major brain damage.

Music Reduces Seizures

If you are one of the unlucky few who suffer from seizures, physical manifestations that arise from abnormal electrical activities in the brain, you can actually get rid of them once and for all just by listening to music.

According to research, calming sounds – especially the piano masterpieces of Mozart – can significantly reduce seizure-causing signals in as short as five minutes. The song’s effect on the cerebral cortex is so profound, that it has made 23 of 29 significant seizure activity decreases possible. The dramatic results are published in the 1998 experiment entitled “Mozart Effect on Epileptiform Activity.”

Music is more than just soothing – it is brain boosting as well! Make the most out of your favorite songs’ benefits by listening to them as frequently as possible.

Cognitive Benefits

Research suggests that listening to music in the background prior to performance a task actually helps increase cognitive functions such as memory and attention—by increasing arousal and mood.  And seemingly, it doesn’t matter if you like the music or not—but it seems that music with just instruments helps people perform better than vocal music.

On the contrary, vocal music, especially at higher volumes is extremely distracting and can be a detriment to your focus, memory, and attention.

Editors’ Recommendations:40 Maps They Didn’t Teach You In SchoolMark Twain’s Top 9 Tips For Living A Kick-Ass Life10 Sentences that Can Change your Life

source: endoRIOT                                        

16 Habits that are Killing your Productivity

Did you know that some of your current habits could be sabotaging your ability to get things done? You could be slowing down your productivity without even realizing it!

Here are 16 habits that can kill productivity levels each and every day.

1. You don’t automate processes.

Are you wasting time and energy doing things the old-fashioned way; that is, compiling your website’s email subscriber information by hand, or relying on your memory to pay the rent at the beginning of the month? It’s easier than ever to automate processes, so why not take advantage of this great opportunity to do so? Consider any and all regularly occurring processes in your daily work. What items could be converted or automated to allow you to get more done in a day? You might decide to collect queries from your business’s website, using Google Docs or a similar program, in order to collect information into a spreadsheet for easy reference. You might also decide to set up automatic errand reminders for each month in your calendar or favorite productivity app to remind you when it’s time to pay the bills. The sky’s the limit!

2. You say “yes” all the time.

Always saying “yes” to projects, people, tasks, accounts and the like can quickly take its toll on your productivity. If you always say “yes,” you’ll eventually find you’ve taken on more work you can physically accomplish in a given period of time. Sometimes it is necessary to say “no” and put your foot down for your own sake. The next time you’re thinking of volunteering your time or energy, consider whether the item at hand is directly related to your ongoing projects or personal work. Will this item take you one step closer towards your goals, or is it pushing you towards somewhere else entirely?

3. You use ineffective tools.

There’s nothing more dangerous than cutting food with a dull knife and the same logic applies to your productivity. Granted, this isn’t so much an argument as to whether or not you should be using digital or paper tools, but whether they are actually helping you get things done. If you’re using a tool or system that is making you work harder, repeat yourself, or start work from the beginning each and every time, this is probably a sign you are using an ineffective tool. Make sure your productivity apps and programs are up to date and installed properly and regularly review work systems and processes to make sure they are providing you with the help or information you need.

4. You don’t have a system in place.


One of the most common productivity killers is not having a system in place for recurring processes. A system will make it easier for you to process and track incoming items, no matter your line of work. There’s probably something right now in your life you could turn into a system. For example, do you have a system in place for taking incoming phone calls and messages and referring back to them quickly and easily? Setting up a system doesn’t have to be complicated. Just take a look at the information you’ll need to refer to at a later date and find a way to “catch” it for easy future reference. In the example above you might decide to create a phone log in your calendar to keep track of who called you and when they called. Above all, make sure your system is easy for you to follow and suits your needs.

5. You always demand perfection.

You should always strive to produce quality work, but there are times when it’s okay to have less-than perfect results. Are you putting too much effort into something that really doesn’t demand utmost perfection? Does your first draft of a creative writing essay have to perfect? How about those preliminary sketches of a new clothing ensemble? Be choosy as to how you will extend and apply your energies towards your various activities. Think hard about where and when in your work should you bring out and apply your discerning eye.

6. You have too many meetings.

The purpose of a meeting is not to just sit there and waste time. I repeat, the purpose of a meeting is not to sit there and waste time! A meeting is meant to draw people together for a common goal, be it discussing new ideas, making upcoming plans of action, or reviewing a past event or situation. If you find yourself spending more time in meetings than actually getting the work you have to get done, well, done, it’s probably a sign you’re having too many meetings. Are you really accomplishing anything new in your meetings or are you simply rehashing old news? Does the meeting have to be held in the first place? Likewise, do you have to be present in the meeting yourself or should you be spending more time doing your work?

7. You don’t delegate work.

While you might think you can get everything done by yourself in a group work setting (who me, delegate?), holding on to work can actually slow down your ability to work well. Not delegating work causes productivity issues on two ends: all of that excess work lies fallow as you are working, while someone else is twiddling their fingers and not being used to the best of their capacity. Instead of approaching work from a personal point of view, consider looking at it from the big picture. Are things getting done or are they not? Can someone who is more skilled in the work or task than you complete the job in a more timely fashion?

8. You don’t track your results.

Your productivity levels don’t mean squat when you can’t accurately track where you’ve been before and where you are currently. Just how much of a change have you made in your ability to get things done? Relying solely on your memory can be a bit iffy, so consider actually writing down and recording your results from a project or task on which you’ve recently worked. You’ll have solid, quantitative and qualitative data at your fingertips. This information can also help you better organize and plot out your next plan of attack, be it how you should best spend your Tuesday evenings at home, or how you’ve been managing your time on emails at work.

9. You spend too much time fretting over your productivity.

One surefire way to kill your own productivity levels is to become super-obsessed with being super-productive! Of course it’s necessary to make plans and track your progress as you work, but if you are always concerning yourself with how productive you are being at any given point in time you may be doing more harm than good. There’s a time for planning and a time for action. Limit the amount of time you spend making plans for your work as well as researching new productivity techniques or skills. Sometimes the best thing you can do to be more productive is stop worrying about how productive you are and just get started working on something.

10. You don’t make changes in a timely fashion.

Ever heard of a TV station waiting five days to report breaking news? That’s not a very productive way of reporting the news, now is it? You can think of the need to make changes to plans or projects in a similar timely fashion. The more time you wait, the more time and energy you’ll have to apply to achieve just the simplest of results. The next time you receive time-sensitive information or instructions related to your work, don’t wait! Look to address the issue sooner rather than later. You may have to put other projects temporarily on the back burner, but you’ll be able to make changes with a minimum of effort, rather than having to clean up a giant problem down the road.

11. You don’t work well with others.

How well do you work with your colleagues, co-workers and clients? This may be a time for some honest self-reflection. Are you treating others as you would want to be treated? Are your work habits helping or hindering the efforts of the group or of your own goals and projects? Consider taking stock of your most recent work review to see where you might focus your efforts. You might also want to consider taking a course or reading a book on relating and working with others to hone your people skills.

12. You take too long making simple decisions.

Taking the time to weigh the pros and cons of an important decision is one thing; taking extreme lengths of time to make a decision on a very simple matter is entirely another. Do you spend too much of your energy deciding on what pen you’re going to use to write with during a meeting or whether or not to have Thai or Italian food for lunch? Get into the habit of differentiating simple daily decisions from more complex ones. Ask yourself, “Will my decision really matter in a week, month or even a year?”

13. You constantly change productivity apps.

Frequently switching apps actually wastes your time and energy; you won’t fully make use of or experience an app’s true capabilities if you’re constantly switching programs. Take a moment to evaluate the apps you’ve already downloaded and/or currently use. Which apps and features do you enjoy the most? Which features would you like to have? Learn as much as you can about an app’s capabilities before you decide to put it by the wayside. Looking to test a new app? Simply choose a small, time-sensitive project to test it out on, such as making preparations to bake a cake over the weekend for your best friend’s birthday. Once you’ve taken the time to try out an app, you can decide whether or not to make the big switch with the rest of your projects and tasks.

14. You don’t properly define your work time or hours.

Do you answer emails from work as you are watching TV in the evening with your family, or jump on a conference call while you’re on vacation? If so, then you’ve definitely got a problem when it comes to setting the boundaries between work and play. These blurred boundaries can actually pull away from your ability to rest and relax. Take a close look at your schedule: what are your regular work hours? Do you find yourself working when you should be resting? Help yourself better visualize your time spent working by blocking out your work hours in your schedule and then blocking out your off-hours. Separating the two items into this black and white scenario can really help you see how you are actually spending your time.

15. You don’t learn from your mistakes.
Mistakes are wonderful gifts in disguise: they provide you with hands-on knowledge and experience as to what you shouldn’t do in a given scenario. The worst mistake of all is to not learn from the mistakes you’ve made in past! Not learning from your mistakes actually wastes your time and energy because you’ll inevitably keep repeating the same mistakes over and over again. The next time something doesn’t turn out as expected at work or in your personal projects, ask yourself why you think things went askew. How can you learn from your mistake to help you better increase your productivity down the road? What can you do now to plan and prevent it from happening in the future? Can you check on an item’s status sooner rather than later? Can you use another program to track your work, back up your files or delegate work to someone else?

16. You compare yourself to other people.

If there’s one thing that will zap your productivity, it’s comparing your productivity levels to somebody else’s productivity levels. Each of us has our own ways of doing work and getting things done. Just because someone does something faster than you doesn’t necessarily mean they are more productive. Besides, why worry about someone else when you can directly control your own actions! Switch your focus from outside to inside and set productivity goals for yourself. Only compare your current productivity levels to past ones and make adjustments as necessary. You can become more productive: it’s all about knowing how you work and knowing the best ways to utilize your skills to get things done.

source: Lifehack