Think Tank: The Neuro Blog
How to Deal with Nosy Relatives Over the Holidays
With Thanksgiving well out of the way, we are knee-deep in the holiday season. This is a time of love, peace, and new beginnings. ‘Tis the season of delicious meals, creamy eggnog, and quirky gingerbread decorations. For many of us, it is also that time of the year when we travel home to have dinner with the family, reminisce about the past, and try our best to deflect intrusive questions from nosy relatives. If you’re in your early to mid-thirties and happen to be single, you can probably predict the torrent of awkward questions you are bound to face. From “Are you still single?” and the follow-up “Why?” to “When is the last time you were in a serious relationship?” and “Do you plan on having kids anytime soon?”, things can get deeply unpleasant at the dinner table. That’s not to mention a flurry of passive-aggressive remarks you’ll receive like “Did you gain some weight?” and “You’re not getting any younger”.
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How to Engage Your Office Colleagues to Build Better Relationships
There’s ample evidence that the relationships we build in our workspace directly affect how satisfied we feel about our job. Everyone has experienced some exceedingly awkward moments with their colleagues at some point. But if you’re a bit introverted, moments like these bring a weighty feeling with them. Feeling isolated while people are going up and down around you probably isn’t something you’d wish to prolong. Each of us is different and not all people mix. Moreover, it’s quite hard to pierce yourself into an already established community that might not know how to treat new employees. It isn’t necessarily your or anyone else’s fault Once you accept the fact that other colleagues might also be having a hard time socializing, you won’t feel alone anymore. You might even develop some true friendships through empathy and a more healthy approach. There are a lot of things you can do to become a better colleague and most of them involve being a better version of yourself.
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How to Learn Difficult Subjects Faster When It’s Hard to Focus on Them
Coming across a difficult subject that you have never even heard of can be profoundly confusing. It gets even worse when you’re expected to learn it in a short period of time. However, you needn’t spend hours and hours memorizing the subject. There are much better and more efficient ways to understand and learn complex subjects. Instead of approaching learning in such a stiff manner, find a more flexible and efficient approach. Here are a number of techniques that you can use for learning a difficult subject faster.
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Mental Blockades and What to Do About Them
Have you ever had that feeling of not being able to finish the project you’re working on? Or not being able to even start? If you do, don’t worry, as you’re not the only one. This is something that happens to virtually everyone, and there are many reasons for it. Here’s a scenario that’s probably familiar to you: You sit at your desk and you’re looking to study/work, when all of a sudden you realize that you need to wipe the table, drink some water, and check Instagram to see what’s new. After you do all that, you feel like going to the toilet, checking your phone again, and doing pretty much anything to avoid working. If this happens to you, you’re facing a mental blockade. There are many reasons why this can occur. To help you understand them, let’s go over the most common ones, followed by some solutions.
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How to Get into the Habit of Doing the Hard Things
Is your daily routine unproductive? It may be if you are in the habit of avoiding things that make you uncomfortable. Sure, you need to take the trash to the curb every Wednesday night. You know that. Your spouse knows that. Yet, you may avoid the task by putting it off until Thursday morning every single week. You still get it done so what does it matter? As it happens, it matters a lot because you are reinforcing the message that it is okay to avoid doing things that you don’t want to do. This goes beyond procrastination and turns into a habit. When you get into the habit of avoiding things you don’t feel comfortable doing, you set yourself up for giving up in the future.
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Tips and Tricks to Improve Concentration Power
While it’s one of the essential requirements for normal day-to-day functioning, concentration always seems to be in short supply. We get up in the morning and struggle through our assignments and projects, only to reach the evening and unable to wrap our minds around a movie’s plot. Problems of this sort plague everyone; some have it better, others have it worse. But the ability to change and improve the situation is common to us all. The good news is that mental endurance, like its physical counterpart, can be increased through dedicated practice and effort. There are many ways to go about, so make sure you choose the one that fits you best. Here are our favorite tips and tricks to boost concentration power.
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Ways You Can Substantially Increase and Maintain Your Motivation
Motivation is the inner driving force needed to do whatever that needs to be done. Motivation is something within us, yet we constantly look for it without. In any event, finding the motivation to do something can be draining. If this struggle is all too familiar to you, this might be your time to implement a different approach. The tips you find below are going to help you increase your motivation and enjoy a more productive and rewarding life.
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5 Tips to Improve Your Writing
There’s more to writing than just stringing random words together and inserting an occasional punctuation mark. Writing is hard work, no matter how easy it may look. It takes a lot of time, practice, and dedication. Being a natural born wordsmith is good, but sheer talent can only take you so far. To succeed as a writer, you must have a passion for the written word, the desire to learn and grow, and the strength to overcome creative challenges along the way. Sure, in this age of blogs, social media, and social journalism, everyone and their grandma can – and do – call themselves a writer. However, only few are truly great at what they do. If you want to join their ranks, these five tips could help you achieve that goal.
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5 Steps to Help You Finish What You Start
Failing to finish what you start can be a serious problem, one that can affect both work obligations and personal life. If it happens frequently or at a particularly inopportune time, it can take a serious toll on a person, which is why we’ve decided to use this text to try and lend a helping hand. Below you will find 5 steps which should help you come out on top the next time you find yourself in a situation where you absolutely need to get a lingering project done.
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