Health Tips Article

Back in 1969, a guy called Laurence Peter  made a shrewd observation and published a book on it - the Peter Principle. We are going to talk about this principle, and I am going to tell you why you should really care about it. In fact, if you are someone's boss, you probably know this. You can skip ahead to the part where I discuss how to counter the Peter Principle. I'm certain everyone has a friend who complains about how the seniors in the office suck and how incompetent people getting a higher pay are. What if I tell you that your friend is not exaggerating. There really is a reason why you feel your colleagues/co-workers suck at work and don't deserve their position & pay. Don't worry, not every employee is incompetent. I'm not saying YOU are incompetent. BUT, the closer you get to a great promotion, the closer you are to being that incompetent senior to s omeone else.  So what is the Peter Principle? L. Peter observed that people who excel at work are prom...

Considering this is the era of fact sharing and how people like 'quick bites' of information, I thought I'll compile some of the psychology facts that are almost never talked about. These are, well, not facts. These are robust research findings that are close to being facts. Truth be told, it's hard to call research a 'fact' in science. Because the evidence just keeps growing and it keeps changing the shape of information. More research adds a context. It adds limitations and generalizations. The line between solid evidence & facts is blurry. Nay, we don't really know where to draw it. Call me a skeptic. Scientific information has to be understood in a certain way. Perhaps I'll write on that someday, or you could just ask me in the comments section:) For all practical purposes, the contents of this article are research insights . We will use the term 'fact' loosely but in a more serious sense than most of the random, wrong, and unfalsifiable ...

Leaving all anecdotes aside, let us look at the scientific evidence. Considering the value of this question in our day-to-day lives, I’ll summarize music psychology research here. Research has given us quite a few valuable insights into how music affects our minds and behavioral output. One example is: Listening to slightly distracting music in the background which makes you rethink your thoughts could actually promote your creative thinking! The truth is that people do listen to music while working or learning. The questions we need to ask are: Is music detrimental to work?  Is music a creativity booster?  Is music good for learning & productivity?  Are certain types of songs better for work? Is listening to music in the workplace a smart choice? Let us find out. The effect of background music on work quality, productivity, learning, and creativity Here are 10 research findings on the role of music in creativity & productivity. Each point summarizes one academic ...

1 in 3 adults doesn't sleep enough. That's what the Center for disease control (CDC) said back in 2016 . I can only imagine it getting worse today. We know sleep is important. An abundance of research-based evidence exists that sleep is better for a myriad of aspects of being human. The lack of sleep has detrimental effects on us. Poor sleep: Deteriorates physical health Deteriorates mental health Compromises cognitive function Compromises daily functioning and relationships (a quick search in google scholar will show how vast the research is for the points mentioned above) Even though we know that a good night's sleep adds significant value to our lives, sometimes we can't sleep. We don't get sleep even if we are exhausted.  The question then emerges - how do we get some nice healthy, relaxing, cozy sleep?  In this post, I'll describe 7 ways to get a good night's sleep. These are research-based tips so you can rely on them.  How to get sleep faster? If you ...

Life gives you lemons and sometimes you can't make a lemonade, or have a tequila, or fling some dirt, or paint it black, or punch a wall. So this post will steer away from all motivational, inspirational ideas and give you mental techniques to combat anxiety, nervousness, and stress. Stress and anxiety is a fundamental fact about being human. We do feel stress, we do get anxious, we do get cranky. Be it a break-up, a proposal, a job interview, a moment of truth, an examination. It could even be a slow buildup of stress-induced anxiety such as approaching deadlines, financial crises, interpersonal fights, etc.  I'm sure you can list at least a 20 different ways you can experience some stress or anxiety. Do you want a way to reduce anxiety in those scenarios?  Sometimes anxiety is too much. And there lies the problem. We, humans, are capable of managing a fair deal of stress and anxiety, in fact, some of it helps us make wise decisions. It is when managing that anxiety and stres...

If one thing positive psychology has given the world, it's the assurance that humans can be in a state of unreal focus called the 'flow'. That moment where you are one with everything you are doing and you are in the zone. That perfect moment. I kid you not. I've been there a few times and I just got goosebumps writing the previous sentence. That's the popular understanding of 'Flow'. Btw, positive psychology has given us valuable insights into the human mind. Here are a particularly useful set of insights on how to be happy . Positive psychology: Flow and how to experience it What is flow? Flow is the mental and physical state where a person is fully immersed, focused, and enjoys the activity he/she is doing. When in flow, a person is said to be in the 'zone'. A person in flow could be one with the activity but disconnected from everything around. Hyper-focused and blind to unnecessary background information. Fully engaged and immersed in the activi...

Designers swear by the importance of fonts. They often see what most people overlook. At the superficial level, it could feel like fonts are about the beauty of the written word. But, as designers say, 'It reflects the character of writers and their written word. It is deeper than looks and can make or break a word.' In this short post, I'll summarize the research insights on typography from the brain sciences. Specifically, I've summarized the effect of typography on perception and memory. If you are hoping to find what psychological sciences say about fonts, you've come to the right place. Incoming research insights. Note: This is almost like a review of Literature. I've cited over 15 studies to draw insights. Ugly is not bad if it is useful Use Psychology to choose your fonts What is typography? Typography is the collective features that make up the style of printed material. This includes: Font style (Sans-Serif, Serif, Monospace, etc.) Font size Letter spa...