Thinking Humanity: Napping can Dramatically Increase Learning, Memory, Awareness, and More

As our day wears on, even when we get enough sleep at night, our focus and alertness degrade. While this can be a minor inconvenience in modern times, it may have meant life or death for our ancestors. Whether you are finishing up a project for work or hunting for your livelihood, a nap can rekindle your alertness and have your neurons back up and firing on high in as little as 15 to 20 minutes.Big name (and high-dollar) companies recognize this. Google and Apple are just a few that allow employees to have nap time. Studies have affirmed that short naps can improve awareness and productivity. Plus, who wouldn’t love a boss that lets you get a little shut-eye before the afternoon push? – See more at: http://www.thinkinghumanity.com/2014/04/napping-can-dramatically-increase-learning-memory-awareness-and-more.html#sthash.ErKYNuCf.MJHKrf69.dpuf

Thinking Humanity: Napping can Dramatically Increase Learning, Memory, Awareness, and More.

8 Ways to Get Rid of Unwanted Negative Thoughts

PsyBlog

It’s one of the irritations of having a mind that sometimes bad thoughts get stuck going around in it. It could be a mistake at work, money worries or perhaps a nameless fear. Whatever the anxiety, fear or worry, it can prove very difficult to control.

The most intuitive method for dealing with it is using thought suppression: we try to push it out of our minds.

Unfortunately, as many studies have shown, thought suppressiondoesn’t work. Ironically, trying to push thoughts out of mind only makes them come back stronger. It’s a very frustrating finding, but one that’s been replicated experimentally again and again.

8 Ways to Get Rid of Unwanted Negative Thoughts — PsyBlog.

Managers need to walk the talk to help staff find balance

WORK LIFE BALANCE

Courtesy: Special Report by HARVEY SCHACHTER  on The Globe and Mail: Published Thursday, Jun. 19 2014,

If you’re serious about achieving a healthier work-life balance, you have to be willing to set the example. If you are a Manager or Team leader, “Employees watch what a supervisor does and will mimic it. To get the entire workplace to follow, managers must exhibit balance,”

Harvey Sahachter  suggests the following seven excellent tips to help them do that.

1. Encourage employees to take those unused vacation days.

Employees are leaving a lot of vacation days unused, sometimes because they don’t feel they have the time for a vacation and sometimes because they want to cash them in for money. Either way, it’s a bad precedent, as they aren’t getting the time away from work they need so they can prosper. She blames our workaholic culture. She recalls considering an Italian vacation and being told not to take it in August because the country essentially shuts down as everyone heads for the beach. “Other countries have figured it out better than us,” she said.

What else you need to look for? Continue reading:

Managers need to walk the talk to help staff find balance – The Globe and Mail.