Useful Brain: 2009

Thursday, February 26, 2009

7 Basic rules of sleeping

How many times have you woken up more tired then you were the night before? Many people have the same issue and you must know that the main factors that cause this metabolism malfunction are the sleeping habits.

These habits are often causing more problems that they are solving. Still, this isn’t a lost cause, there are a couple of things that you could do to improve your sleeping style.

A good way to begin the change is to pay attention to a few rules and to prepare your sleep properly.

1. The pillow’s shape has a very important role for a proper resting during sleeping time, also the pillow’s filling matters a lot. You need to buy a good pillow with soft filling, and you have to position it correctly to avoid neck and back aches, chronicle fatigue and even insomnia.

2. The bed and the mattress must be comfortable. Chris Idzikowski, the manager of a research centre for sleeping problems has discovered that an uncomfortable bed can cause muscular aches and can shorten your sleep with an hour/night.

3. The clothing must be adequate, on our size, so it wouldn’t bother us during the sleep and it must be made from natural fibers, for example cotton, to allow the body to breathe.

4. Avoid eating, reading, watching television or studying in bed. You have to teach your body that the bed is for sleep and sexual activity only.

5. Choose wisely your sleeping position. You should avoid sleeping on your stomach or on your left side, because the liver, the lungs and the stomach are pressing the hearth with their weight. The most relaxing sleep can be achieved only if you sleep on your back, allowing yourself an excellent breathing process.

6. The ideal bed size is 1.80 m per 2.00 m, a smaller bed will cause an agitated sleep and you will be tired and in a bad mood all day long.

7. At last but not least, for ensuring yourselves a relaxing and peaceful sleep you must take care of your insomnia problems.

After reading and taking care of all these aspects, all you have to do is to … sleep tight and don’t let the bed bugs bite.

What rules do you follow before sleeping ? Do you have a recipe for a better good night sleep ? Tell us how the rules above helped you have a better goodnight sleep.

Related posts:

Written by: Liviu Moldovan

Sunday, February 22, 2009

How to “cure” Insomnia (II)

There were some methods presented on the post “How to cure Insomnia (I)”, and as I promised, I am writing some other remedy, and advice to help all of you insomniacs, cure and treat your Insomnia.

As a different method from the ones presented before, you can try aromatherapy for an aid, because it helps a lot. Scent of different flowers and oils are well known from ancient times, as a remedy for those who find it difficult to sleep, or to stay asleep. Lavender is one of the most known and used aroma therapies in curing insomnia, and helping people having a good night sleep.

Relaxation is another method that will help you sleep. Practice relaxing, falling asleep faster and staying asleep longer techniques and you will get a great night sleep. Read more about relaxation techniques here and here.

Visualization is also a great method. As I said in the Photography relaxation post, by visualizing a picture that you like, or a peaceful scene. As this method involves mind relaxation it is best to practice it by staying in bed, and concentrating of a relaxing scene. Most people think about tropical islands, the sand, the sun, the waves, the wind.

Mind sensing and listening method. This is a personal method that I generally use together with the visualization method, since these are both mind techniques. For example try and listen to the wind in the scene that you are looking at (in your mind of course), listen the waves, and feel the hot sand, the sun, the wind touching your skin, imagine that it is warm and a perfect day for a relaxing day in the sun – this is one of the best methods used by me, when I try to sleep while having insomnia.

How did these methods work for you ? Share your method with us ! Have you succeeded treating insomnia ? Have you cured it ? How ?

On the same subject:

Related posts:

Written by: Alexandru Hategan

Saturday, February 21, 2009

How to “cure” Insomnia (I)

As I said in a precedent post, Insomnia is bad for your health, for your mind, and for your body. Try to avoid getting insomnia, but anyway if you have it, or got it from any reason, in this post I will present some methods that will help you get rid of it, and help you get a good night sleep.

Useful Brain will not put you to count sheep, and we will never put you to count backwards from 1000. The above methods do not work, so don’t try counting to get rid of insomnia, because you will get concentrated on counting correctly and you will not achieve the peaceful state of mind, that helps you sleep.

First of all, if you want to get rid of Insomnia you need to organize your day schedule, that you can set a time for sleep, and respect that time (hour) set. Let’s say for example, 10 pm. It is best to choose an hour before 11 pm , because, if you get to sleep before 12 am, the toxins from your body are processed easier, so you body is and will be more healthy if you respect this rule. One of the reasons you get insomnia is that you don’t have a certain sleep schedule remember ? So why don’t we solve that problem now, for a change ?

As a second step, it will be perfect if you would prepare a little drink for a good night sleep. The “sleeping potion” is made with 3 ingredients, and is very easy to do. All you need is some milk (not more than a cup), some poppy seeds. Squeeze the seeds, warm the milk, and mix them together. Drink a cup of warm milk with poppy seeds and if you like you can put some sugar in it. I advice you not to put cocoa into the milk, because the cocoa is an energizer, and will not let you sleep, but instead it will make you active, just as chocolate does.

Try these methods above and tell us if you succeeded in curing insomnia. Have you got any other suggestions ? or methods ? Any other ideas of how to cure insomnia ?

To be continued...

On the same subject:

Related posts:

Written by: Alexandru Hategan

Thursday, February 19, 2009

5 Benefits of a good night sleep

Even though we spend a third of our life sleeping, that doesn’t mean that we lose that part and we can’t get any benefits from it. That is entirely false, because if you manage to rest during your sleep, you will improve the results of your daily activities.

So here are some benefits that you can get by sleeping “by the book”:

1. The sleep is a primary need of your body so if don’t sleep you will die. That means that the most important benefit of sleeping is the advantage to be alive.

2. All the professional bodybuilders know that the muscular mass grows during the sleep, not when you are weight lifting. If you are used to party late and you don’t let your body relax, the entire workout routine will be in vane and you won’t spot any notable results.

3. The lack of sleep destabilizes the immunity system of your body making you more exposed to diseases. A nap during the day may also increase your health condition and it can even offer you an increased protection against heart diseases.

4. According to scientist, sleep is necessary because it helps the body to regenerate certain parts, especially the brain. After prolonged periods of deprivation of sleep, neurons are affected, which is manifested by behavior problems. Each stage of sleep is necessary for the regeneration of neurons in the cortex and to enhance the memory.

5. A recent study, published in Journal of the American Medical Association by Christopher King and his colleagues from the University of Chicago, had shown that the length of the sleep can influence your heart condition. The study results revealed that every additional hour of sleep reduce heart attack menace by 33 %.

In addition, a good night sleep can improve your social life, because it is easier to communicate when you feel and you look fresh and energized.

Therefore, I have only one thing left to say: ready, set, fall asleep !

Related posts:

Written by: Liviu Moldovan

Monday, February 16, 2009

Useful Brain's team got Bigger

We are proud to announce that Useful Brain's team just got bigger. We have a new oficial member, who is a writter and brain-stormer here at Useful Brain. He's name is Liviu Moldovan, and I will let him introduce himself:

liviu moldovan, alexandru hategan, useful, useful brain, blog, life, positive, enthusiasm, daily, life, helping, people, environmental, engineering

"My name is Liviu Moldovan, I am 23 years old and I am a future graduate of environmental engineering. I am a co-writer at Useful Brain, and I enjoy helping people in their daily life. I like to think that by writing articles here I can improve the reader’s way of living and their self esteem. I am a novice blogger, I started one year ago, but I think the enthusiasm can compensate the lack of experience. I am looking forward to see your opinion regarding to our blog, also I want to find out if you manage to make positive changes in your life by reading it."

Written by: Alexandru Hategan & Liviu Moldovan

Friday, February 13, 2009

Do you feel sleepy?

Every person needs to sleep in average 8 hours every day to ensure itself a full capacity functioning of its body. Have you ever wondered if this is the best way to spend a third of your life, or it is just a waste of precious time? Is it really needed to sleep so much, or so less, if you are a sleepy person? Why is the sleep such an important aspect of our life?

These are common question that we all have asked ourselves at least a few times in our life, especially when we were affected by the lack of sleep or by the abundance of it.

Regular people aren’t so preoccupied by the sleep’s interference in our life but they are many scientists that had tried to find an answer for these question and they are trying even nowadays.

The scientists have studied every aspect of the sleep and there even have been created organization like The American Sleep Medicine Foundation (ASMF) that offers the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) Physician Sleep Scientist Training Awards to stimulate researches in this domain. So you could say that sleep costs a lot of money.

I think at this point you are asking yourselves how important sleep is as a part of a human being life. The scientist had provided us this answer, after making a series of experiments.

Quantitative research, the study groups have shown the same things: subjects who slept eight hours a night have given yield, both physically and intellectually, very good, however, if those who slept only five hours, the ability data storage has fallen significantly after only one week of deprivation of sleep, as psychological tone and physical skills.

If you want to avoid this sort of problems you should know at least the recommended average sleep length depending on age:

New-born 20 hours / day
under 1 year: 14 hours / day
Children under 6 years: 12 hours / day
Child and adolescent (up to 18 years): 10 hours / day
Young adult (18-24/25 years): 9 hours / day
Adults 25-35 years: 8 hours / day
Adults 35-45 years: 7 hours / day
Adults 45 - 60 years: 8 hours / day
Adults> 60 years: 9 hours / day, increasing to 1h/day every 5-10 years

It is your choice, you can apply this recommendations or you can sleep as much as you feel like, the important thing is to keep your body and mind prepared to face the daily issues.

Or should we go to sleep again?

Related posts:

Written by: Liviu Moldovan

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Insomnia and the problems caused by it

Insomnia is a symptom of sleeping disorder, and it is characterized by persistent difficulty to fall asleep. I want to underline the fact that Insomnia is not a disease or a stand-alone diagnosis as some of you might think, but instead, Insomnia is a symptom. By definition “insomnia is difficulty initiating or maintaining sleep or both”.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in year 2007, aproximatively 64 million Americans suffer from insomnia on a regular basis each year. And it’s been known also that insomnia occurs 1.5 times more often to woman than to men.

There are different degrees of insomnia, but three of them are the most common identified: transient, acute and chronic.

Though there are three types of insomnia the most common is Transient Insomnia, which can last from days to weeks. In most cases it can be caused by another disorder: here are some examples will be the changes in the sleep schedule, or environment, changing the timing of sleep, stress, depression. Having transient insomnia, can have some consequences like impaired psychomotor performance, sleepiness, tiredness, can also get the stress in scene, and that is not good at all.

I decided to write this post because last week, I was suffering from insomnia a couple of days, and it got consequences on the whole week, and messed up all my schedule.

I got insomnia by not having a normal sleep program, and by not sleeping at night, followed by days of work. The funny thing is that when you have insomnia, you’re never really awake, and never really asleep. Having insomnia feels like sleepwalking, or maybe like being drunk.

Insomnia is bad for you. So try having some sleep, try relaxing and focusing on how to sleep and rest. Not sleeping will make you tired, and tiredness can make you stressed, and all these factors cumulated can make you sick.

After some days of not being able to sleep and suffering from insomnia I managed to relax and to rest by following some methods to fight insomnia (one of them really worked for me).

Related posts:

Written by: Alexandru Hategan

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Black and white photography in 5 easy steps

It is known from the past that black and white photography is not so easy to take, to look good, but when you do, it looks so classy, clean and nice. When taking black and white pictures you have to consider shades and lights, because in the end only the shade and light game will make the picture beautiful, attractive, and somehow interesting.

Taking black and white pictures can be done with most usual cameras, but you can always return to the beginning of photography and we shall not forget the film photo-camera which, if you ask me is the best device to take such pictures.

An interesting experience about this film camera was when at the photography course, that I was following, we had a, let’s say homework, on which we should take pictures with a film camera. It was very hard in the beginning to start and think how to take a manual picture, thing that my brain was not doing automatically (at that time I wasn’t used to set my camera manually). But after figuring out how it worked I tooked some great pictures.

There are some rules you have to consider before taking black and white pictures if you want your photos to look real nice.

First rule is that first of all, you need to consider the light around you, the light around the object that you want to shoot, the shade produced by the object. Open your eyes, and just as you do when you take color photography, just like that, in case of taking black and white photography, you should view, study and think before you shoot.

Second rule sais that the best moment for black and white photography is when low light moments appear. Like a rainy day, or an overcast period. Try and shoot some pictures then and see how you do. I prefer taking black and white in hight contrast as well, but those pictures are not so well-defined, shaped and clear as a low contrast one.

Third rule sais to shoot in RAW, and that is because in a RAW picture you have all the information you could possibly use from that frame, at home when processing, and deciding to correct some mistakes, like exposure, back-light, fill-light, etc

Forth rule talks about shooting color, because after all with every camera you see color on the viewfinder (except the cameras with LCD viewfinder). So try and shoot color, and then decide which pictures fit the best to a black and white conversion. This is a technique I use very often.

Fifth rule is an imperative rule, which states that you should be very careful with the ISO when shooting in Black and White, because using a high ISO will make noise present and visible, and even more visible, on black and white pictures, because of the contrast. So be careful with that, more careful than you are with usual color photography.

If you want good photos you should respect these five rules above and even make your own rules, that work best for you, and for the way you shoot, the time you shoot, etc.

Last but not least don’t forget about composition. And because there are cameras that don’t have features to view black and white as you shoot, take care about the light and shade, darkest and lightest part of the object. Try to see and realize the importance of shades in a black and white photography. As I said in the beginning, analyze, open your eyes, think before you shoot, and after doing all this you have the best chance to take some great black and white pictures.

Related posts:

Try an comment about the rules above, about other techniques that you know, and you want to share with us.

Good luck with your Black and White photo shooting - relaxation session !

Written by: Alexandru Hategan

Photography relaxation. Is it possible ?

It is commonly known that focusing your mental view on an object, picture, or on a beautiful thing that you like, or liked in the past, can make you relax, or at least it helps you relax along with other methods of relaxation.

As I said pictures can and will relax, if you use them the right way. Try and imagine for a second a sunny day on a tropical island with lots of palm trees, sand and the ocean surrounding it. Or for example try to focus on a beautiful sunset, or sunrise. Close your eyes, take a deep breath, and try to mentally view a picture of a landscape scene that you liked (visualize a winter landscape, since we are still in the winter, perhaps some snowed fir wood, with the sun shining above).

As I experienced, black and white pictures also helps, because the colors are missing, and I can focus better on what happens in the picture instead of the chromatic view of it. A black and white picture is more balanced than a color picture, and it inspires calm and relaxation state.

Taking pictures is also a relaxing thing to do. Whenever I feel angry or stressed, I grab my camera, go out, and picture things that I like. Taking pictures is a very strong method to reduce the stress, and to relax, because whenever I press the shutter button, my mind also takes a mental picture. And then I can view it over and over again, anytime I feel I need to relax, or to lose the stress.

Try and take pictures also in black and white, it helps you to relax, and makes you calm down. Or if it is not possible or you to take pictures in black and white, take color pictures, and then convert them in black and white at home. You could also print them and put them in your office, or at home, in the zones where you feel stressed. And whenever you feel the stress coming in, look at the pictures, or mentally view a picture that you like, as I said in the beginning, and with time you will get used to relax just by thinking of a picture, or of a sunset.

Related articles:

How well did you managed to relax with photography ? Did you succeed relaxing with photos ? Tell us your story, or what you accomplished.

Written by: Alexandru Hategan

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

5 ways to dodge the hiccup attack

As I wrote in my last post, I had a hiccup attack a few days ago. It made me think about my health condition, because there was posted on the web a vast list of diseases and health condition problems and I got scared and I have tried to get rid of the hiccup.

Theoretically, it sounded very well, but it got a bit tricky when I began to fight against this annoying, but still funny, at least for the others, sound. I tried numerous methods to stop the hiccup, some heard from my friends, some seen on the web, but there was at least one good thing I have learned, and that is that there aren’t any universal methods.

There are few people that react in the same manner to the same method of hiccup annihilation. Our bodies are different, and each person has a perfect way to stop a hiccup attack. It took me a while to find mine. Here is what I have tried:

1. Eat a slice of lemon. The lemon will create a strange sensation that the body can’t understand, and the acid from the lemon will make your stomach reduce its size, making the diaphragm relax. It should stop the hiccup in most of the cases, even for a short while.

2. Crouch and hold your breath as long as you can. Although it can cause dizziness and you can pass out if you push yourself to the limit, still it is a good way to relax the diaphragm and suppress the hiccups.

3. Drink water. This one has a lot of variables, because there are many techniques to drink. You can drink in repeatedly small sips, or drink when you feel like hiccup, or drink slowly but continuous.

4. Eat a spoon of sugar. This method has something to do with the action of sugar upon the stomach, and it also give a boost of energy to the body cells, helping them to carry away faster the surplus of carbon dioxide that causes the hiccup.

5. Apply to your both ear lobes pressure with your thumb and index together for approximately 40 seconds. This is the most surprising tip regarding the hiccup that I ever heard and it has nothing to do with breathing in a certain way or eating certain things, it is all about pressure points. With a background in acupuncture, I think this can be the most efficient advice.

Related posts:

So how well did you do against the hiccups? Do you know others ways to lose the hiccups?

Written by: Liviu Moldovan

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

The hiccup terror

Today I had an attack of hiccup and I can say it was the worst experience I ever had. It lasted for almost 8 hours, with a few interruptions of course, and it was driving me crazy. I wasn’t able do work properly, I could not have a conversation without making everyone around me laugh, and I was starting to be worried about my health state.

So, the first thing that I have done when I got at home, it was to organize a brainstorming trough my friends for any advices about ways to get rid of the hiccup, and I even tried to find out the possible health issues that could have caused the hiccups.

For those of you that don’t know what hiccup really is, the hiccup is a sharp noise caused by a sudden spasm of the diaphragm, commonly cause by digestive disorder.
Whenever you experience an attack of hiccup, I advise you to stay away from medical explanation and try not to read about the problems that could have caused it.

If you ignore my advice, you will find a long and scary list with diseases and other factors that could have cause the hiccup, like this one: abdominal disease–gastric distension, GI hemorrhage, bowel obstruction, esophagospasm, or inflammation including hepatitis, peritonitis, gastritis, enteritis, appendicitis, pancreatitis, abrupt temperature change, alcohol, inferior wall MI, irritation of tympanic membrane, metabolic derangements–azotemia, hyponatremia, uremia, diaphragmatic irritants, diseases of chest wall, lung, and heart–mediastinitis, tumors, aortic aneurysms, subphrenic abcesses, pericarditis, foreign bodies, excess smoking, excitement or stress, toxins, drugs–general anesthesia, barbiturates, diazepam, α-methyldopa, tumors, pneumonia, herpes zoster, central and peripheral nervous system disease–encephalitis, tumors, meningitis, brainstem infarcts, phrenic nerve compression, cervical cord lesions.

When you hiccup the next time, you will surely panic and think that you are having an heart attack if you are taking that list as granted. I don’t say you should not, but actually, the hiccup means that there is a slight increase of carbon dioxide in the blood, and your body is trying to get more oxygen. So there is no need to panic, in most of the times, at least.

I want that people who read this post will share with us their worst hiccup experience, and I promise that I will soon make a list of ways to get rid of the hiccup terror. At the moment I am testing some of them, and maybe I will find one that work.

Related posts:

Written by: Liviu Moldovan

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

The ultimate fattening factor - Stress

You can gain weight by exposing yourself to a stressful situation, or by working, studying or living in a stressful environment. As shocking as it sounds, this is a certain fact. I’m sorry to shatter your illusion, but you aren’t going to lose any weight by pushing yourself to the limit and letting the stress to take over your life.

Beside the fact that stress is ruining your social life by making you gloomy and tempestuous, and that is interfering with your thinking capacity, unfortunately, the stress is also messing with your body like an one-eyed painter.

It has been proven by a series of lab research that a stressful situation triggers the release of cortisol, which is a stress hormone. This hormone can slow the metabolism, causing you to gain more weight than you would normally do. It will also mess with your current diet, if you are trying to lose weight.

Prolonged stress affects your blood sugar level, causing fatigue or even hyperglycemia. On a long term bases, it can cause heart diseases or diabetes. It also affects the location of the fat storage, because if you are a stressed person, you will surely start to develop a fluffy tummy, and beside the unaesthetic look, it can also cause serious sanity problems.

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A stressful way of life can also influence the quantity and the quality of your meals. Although food can unleash chemical reactions, for a short period, that make you feel calm and confident, stress eating will trigger the guilt feelings and you will request for more food. That can be the disastrous start of a long road of weight gaining and you must avoid it.

Another problem of the stress eating is the fact that you eat even though you are not really hungry, just to compensate other things that you should to, like taking a walk in a park, or going to swim, because you get stressed at work, and you can’t run away from there to the park, so, you reach for a cookie, or a box of cookies, depending of the gravity of the situation.

The quality of the food is actually related to an old modern people problem – fast-foods. Most of the people are too stressed and busy to choose a healthy dinner in their family, then they refuge themselves in a shack with a big sign that says McD’s, to eat a big bowl of grease and drink a 3.5 pH coke. Then they will wine all night of stomach aches.

The last but not least of the problems is the lack of exercise, because many people state that they are too busy to work out, they work from 9 to 5 and spend another one or two hours on the way to and from work, so, by the time they get home, they are too exhausted.

In conclusion, if you are living a stressful life, and you are too busy (in translation too lazy), you will develop an oversized tummy (like me).

Related posts:

Did you encounter stress as a fattering factor ? Tell us your story, and ask us questions, so we can clear things that you are not clear with !

Written by: Liviu Moldovan

Monday, February 2, 2009

Stop biting your nails by identifying and eliminating the stress factor

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I ran into a forum where someone asks for help about how to stop biting her finger nails. So I decided that I can help many other people, that read my blog by telling them how I stopped biting mine finger nails.

“I am a professional very well respected business woman, wife and mother. I cannot stop biting my fingernails! The only way my hands look decent is to wear acrylic nails from the nail salon. I have done this ever since I was in first grade according to my parents. I am now 40.I want to stop and just grow my own healthy nails, but I bite them without even thinking about it. My husband continually corrects me about this in public and I get embarrassed. Please help me stop this terrible habit is you can.”

“I bite mine too, probably since I was 8 or 10. Same situation, but I don't pay to have mine done, I just go to Wal-Mart and get the cheap ones. I would like to quit, but i just keep doing it even though I tell myself I'm not going to anymore. I've tried the nasty tasting stuff too. I don't know, my nails are paper thin, so even if they grew long they'd probably break right off anyway. It drives me crazy that I can't stop.”

“I think it is anxiety...I know it is hard, I am considering seeing a doctor because perhaps I need help to conquer anxiety. Well, I don't know your history and stress levels but I know that stress can make you anxious and nail biting is an induction of anxiety which can be caused by stress...”

These are only three testimonials of people that bite their finger nails and the last one even agrees that the factor causing this is the stress. So if you want to have success in losing this habit fight the stress and then try to stop biting nails, not the other way.

So here is my story and how I stopped biting my finger nails:

I began biting my fingernails long ago, when I was like 8 or 9, just after I stopped sucking my thumb. It was interesting at that age, but with time I realized that I had to stop because my nails began to hurt, bleed, and my skin began to harden and replace the nail in some way.

Later, after doing some researches, reading some psychology books and going to some doctors, I found the answer to my problem: I was biting my finger nails because I was stressed, by any small thing, a test in school, talking in front of the people, presenting my projects, etc.

At the age of 16 I had problems dating girls, and at the age of 19 I had problems when showing my artwork to others, because of how my nails looked. So I decided to lose this habit. It was harder for me, because biting my finger nails went along with smoking. And I could not stop biting my fingernails, until I stopped smoking (but that’s another story).

After solving the smoking problem it was really easy to drop this habit. But I have to admit, that any stressful situation makes me put my finger in my mouth and taste my nail, and even try to bite it with my teeth if I am stressed enough, but I can control myself, and I am not biting my finger nails any more.

I saw guides that state that you can lose this habit by placing bitter solutions on your finger, etc. I disagree, because you can never lose a bad habit if you don’t solve your brain problem first. So in this case, try to realize what you are doing, understand that it doesn’t bring any benefit to you or your health, and that it’s bad to bite fingernails. Analyze what makes you put your finger in your mouth, identify that factor, which in 90% of cases is the stress factor.

The last step is to eliminate that stress factor, by fighting it your way. I have discussed how to relax and get out of a stressful situation on many topics (more about this topic here - How to work in stress, and under pressure). You can fight it by doing something that relaxes you, by drinking the “usual glass of water”, by disconnecting your mind from the problems and try to find the solutions later, and trough different methods, you name the method regarding to the situation you’re in.

Tell us the method you used to stop biting your finger nails !
Have you succeeded identifying and eliminating the stress factor that was causing you to bite your nails ?
Tell us your story, or ask for our advice, and we’ll help you. Write or call and we’ll answer.

Written by: Alexandru Hategan

Sunday, February 1, 2009

How to relax when your boss is stressing you in 5 easy steps

Going through a stressful period made me realize that one of the most important stress-factors in my life was my boss. As a student I am stressed because I have exams in this period, and also have to go to work, but it seems that this stressful period never ends, and it even gets worse when the boss asks me to do things faster, better, finish tasks sooner, etc.

My days at work seem endless when my boss is stressing me. Working under pressure feels awful, but when my boss is also stressing me, it seems that the work I have to do, doubles.

I think that I am not the only person in this situation, and because I think that there are many in similar situations, with bosses that stresses them, I decided to write this little guide to help you all pass those hard periods at work, at school, at college.

1) STOP. Evaluate the situation. First of all, when your boss asks you to do something fast, to finish a task sooner or other stressful requests, first of all STOP ! Ok, now evaluate the situation, and try to find the best possible way to do that without freaking out, try to keep your calm, get a breath of fresh air, drink a glass of cold water (water is your best friend when you are stressed, Do we use water and it’s benefits the proper way ? ).

2) Ignore the "you have to finish this till X time" - don't get your mind trapped, thinking that you have to finish that, because that will get you stressed, and will make things even worse. Think of the task that you have to finish, find the best way to do it, break it into smaller doable parts, then start finishing those smaller tasks, and you will see the "puzzle" assembling faster than you could imagine. (this is a trick, that if you trap and block your mind on the time factor, your mind will freeze instantly and you will run out of ideas, and lose your originality, etc, so instead of gaining time, you will lose precious time, and never get that task done in time).

3) Have self confidence ! Instead of thinking that your boss is stupid, that you should quit your job, or that nothing goes well, try thinking that you are just the best person for that job, because compared to others you know how to manage stress (yes you do !), and you know how to solve all the problems, even under stress. Don't even think that you will not finish the task, or that you can't do it, because your mind works on the principle - "Your wish is my command" - which means that if you think negatively about yourself, that thing has 99% chance of happening right away.

4) Think positive. Never give up. Trust yourself and every time you will get more confidence when you'll see that you can do things that you didn't think you could do. Positive thinking is a great process that helps you fight the stress. (more on this topic here - Think positive, act positive!)

"Positive thinking can be a way to overpass all your obstacles and fulfill your hopes and dreams. It is a way of living, an attitude that can accomplish the best results.By thinking positive you can draw upon you happiness, successes, an excellent health and you can obtain whatever you are willing to."

5) Relax ! The most important thing on the list. Never freak out, never get nervous, trust yourself ! Now close your eyes, and repeat these words in your mind: "I am calm, and relaxed, and I know the answer to all my problems. I know how to solve them, and as soon as I will open my eyes I will feel more relaxed, and I will start working better and with higher efficiency. (more here - Relax, take it easy! )

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Friday, January 9, 2009

Relax and have fun in the winter !

Here I am again, it is 2009, a new year, full of hope, and of dreams, future plans, and if you ask me this year will be benefic in all ways, for those who know how to live a moderate life, who know how to work, and for those who are not lazy.

Happy New Year! to everyone. I apologize for not being able to write sooner, but I was out of the city, had no internet. But here I am, with you, telling a little part of my holiday and teaching you the benefits of taking a break, or a short holiday (or why not, a longer holiday).

Here is the place, that we called home for an entire week

snow, mountain, break, relaxation, ski, snowboard, work, school, exam, stress, winter, new year, 2009, break, write, friends

Some friends relaxing in the snow, laughting

snow, mountain, break, relaxation, ski, snowboard, work, school, exam, stress, winter, new year, 2009, break, write, friends

Here I am again, it is 2009, a new year, full of hope, and of dreams, future plans, and if you ask me this year will be benefic in all ways, for those who know how to live a moderate life, who know how to work, and for those who are not lazy.

Happy New Year! to everyone. I apologize for not being able to write sooner, but I was out of the city, had no internet. But here I am, with you, telling a little part of my holiday and teaching you the benefits of taking a break, or a short holiday (or why not, a longer holiday).

I decided to write this post because on this winter holiday, I went up in the mountains, and went to snow, fresh air, some of us skiing, others snowboarding.

We had such a great time, it is true that we were a little tired after an entire day of skiing, imagine, a full day in the snow, climbing the mountains, skiing, joking and having great time with your friends. It was great !

What I learned from this experience and what I want to teach you is that the fresh air from the mountains, the freshness provided by the cold snow, and the 3 to 5 days trip in the mountains is very benefic for your body, for your mind.

Want to hear the best part ?

Not only that, but when you come back from such a trip (or holiday) and go back to work, or school, or in some cases when you go back to college, and have exams, you will be more efficient, you will work and learn faster, better, and fatigue will not install so fast in your body. A trip like that help and makes you feel more relaxed compared to a late night walk after a hard day of work, or after an exit with your friends in the city.

My advice for all of you:

If you have not went to ski or have not taken a trip in the mountains recently, my advice for all of you is to take a weekend off, put your stuff in the car (or train) and go to mountains, skiing, snowboarding and snow fighting with your friends. In addition, I am not exaggerating when I say that you will come back transformed, full of life, with a desire to work, and to do more around you.

Want to see some pictures ?

Here are some pictures from our trip, I hope you like it, and for all of you who cannot afford to go on such a trip, these pictures are especially for you. Even watching these pictures should make you feel more relaxed, and help you go to work tomorrow and have a wonderful day.

The best day of skiing in the cold snow

snow, mountain, break, relaxation, ski, snowboard, work, school, exam, stress, winter, new year, 2009, break, write, friends

A friend of mine with his snowboard in his hand

snow, mountain, break, relaxation, ski, snowboard, work, school, exam, stress, winter, new year, 2009, break, write, friends

Another friend of mine, making a nice air with his snowboard, in the middle of the forest, late at night

snow, mountain, break, relaxation, ski, snowboard, work, school, exam, stress, winter, new year, 2009, break, write, friends

Do you like these pictures ? Please feel free to comment !

We apreciate the time you spent reading this article and we encourage you to read more on this topic.

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About Me

Hello, and wellcome to Useful Brain.

My Name is Alexandru Hategan and I am the person who's writting the UsefulBrain Blog.

This blog was created to help all those who want, to gain self confidence, to understand how their body works, and to understand the right way to use your mind, and to improve your ideeas.

I am a law student on my forth year, photographer since 2006, and blogger since 2005.

To contact me, please e-mail to graphxro@gmail.com, or post a comment on any article and i will respond as soon as possible.

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