What causes insomnia?
very common yet overlooked cause is putting too much effort into trying to get to sleep: Via Dreamland: Adventures in the Strange Science of Sleep: The cause is often the brain’s refusal to give up its unequaled ability to think about itself, a meta-phenomenon that Harvard professor Daniel M. Wegner has called “the ironic process of mental control.” To illustrate this concept, imagine someone telling you that you will be judged on how quickly you can relax. Your initial…
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What 10 things should you do every day to improve your life?
in 25K+ subscribers. No spam, ever. Enter your email here: 1) Get out in nature: You probably seriously underestimate how important this is. (Actually, there's research that says you do.) Being in nature reduces stress, makes you more creative, improves your memory and may even make you a better person. 2) Exercise: We all know how important this is, but few people do it consistently. Other than health benefits too numerous to mention, exercise makes you smarter, happier,…
3 minutes
What 10 things should you do every *week* to improve your life?
eviously I posted 10 things should you do every day to improve your life. There are a number of other things research says we can do to make life better but we don't need to do them every day: 1) Create new good habits, kill bad habits: Changing your environment is the easiest and most powerful way to change your behavior. Altering the things in your home and your office and carefully picking the people you spend time with will…
3 minutes
What’s the most effective way to change your behavior and improve your life?
in 25K+ subscribers. No spam, ever. Enter your email here: Changing your environment is the easiest and most powerful way to change your behavior. Altering the things in your home and your office and carefully picking the people you spend time with will bring you greater and more effortless results than anything else. But you're an objective, self-determined, independent, unique snowflake, you say? No, you're not. Those around you affect more of your behavior than you think. Poor fitness,…
2 minutes
Which old sayings are true and which are false?
in 25K+ subscribers. No spam, ever. Enter your email here: "Men think about sex every seven seconds" Nope. More like an average of every 158 seconds. "Nice guys finish last" It depends. Over the long run, being a nice guy can lead to happiness, success and good relationships. On the other hand, they aren't as likely to end up in prestigious positions or to be chosen as leaders when times are tough. Rude people have higher credit scores and…
5 minutes
What does English sound like to foreigners?
in 25K+ subscribers. No spam, ever. Enter your email here: "An Italian singer wrote this song with gibberish to sound like English. If you've ever wondered what other people think Americans sound like, this is it." Hat tip More of his work is here. Join 25K+ subscribers. Get a free daily update via email here. Related posts: 5 things you didn't know about humor Why do we find things funny? Does Chris Rock understand men and women better than any scientist?
1 min read
How do men and women move when they’re flirting?
bsp; Via Fascinate: Your 7 Triggers to Persuasion and Captivation: In her aptly named book, Sex, Joann Ellison Rodgers describes Eibl-Eibesfeldt’s discovery on just how all women flirt. A female begins fascinating a male by smiling at him, raising her brows to make her eyes appear wider and more childlike, quickly lowering her lids while tucking her chin slightly down, in an effort to bring him closer. After averting her gaze to the side, she will, within moments and almost without…
1 min read
What happens when you stay awake for 11 days straight?
bsp; Via Dreamland: Adventures in the Strange Science of Sleep: The only thing stranger than the need to sleep is what happens when it is ignored. In 1965, a San Diego high school student named Randy Gardner stayed awake continuously for 264 hours, an eleven-day feat documented by a team of researchers from Stanford University who happened to read about his attempt beforehand in the local newspaper. For the first day or so, Gardner was able to remain awake without…
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