How To Make The Best Of 2021

With 2020 now behind us, it is time to start looking ahead into the new year, 2021. In order to make the best of the year ahead, we have to make sure to set our goals, our intentions, and establish a vision in terms of what we want to achieve for this year.

Creating the "best year of our life" is not something we are just given, so we have to input effort and work into making it the "best" we can.

With this blog post, I hope to share some advice on how to make this year great and full of amazing opportunities, how to set goals for the new year, and how to get what we want from this year.

If you want to join me in the journey of making 2021 an amazing year, I encourage you to read on and I hope to fill you with inspiration, motivation, and ideas to power you up for the upcoming year.

You got this :)

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SETTING GOALS - THINGS TO CONSIDER BEFOREHAND

• Consider the 5 W's:

  • What resources will I need to achieve my goal?

  • How long will I need to get to my goal?

  • Why do I want to achieve this?

  • How will I achieve this?

  • When will I make time to work towards my goal?

• Have a source of feedback throughout the process of getting to your goal

• Identify some potential problems, setbacks, and distractions before starting

• Breakdown long complex goals into simpler and shorter ones

• Frame the goal as a learning task and not just a performance task

• In order to make sure that you get to the end, consider potential outcomes and rewards you will give yourself to motivate your progress further

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THE PROCESS OF SETTING GOALS

START WITH SOMETHING GENERAL

• I am pretty sure that the majority of you who will be reading this will have already been familiar with the SMART format of setting goals, where the S stands for Specific and requires us to set a goal that is primarily specific and requires us to know exactly what we want to achieve.

• However, whenever I try to use this template, I find that trying to be too specific in the beginning is not the right approach because a) I’m either not sure how specific to get about a goal and b) because it actually hinders my process of getting to the goal because it encourages the mentality of having to have everything figured out before you can start moving towards your goal. I am not however saying that this is a problem for everyone, however, if you do find this issue familiar, then I suggest first set a general direction in which you want to go.

• For example in the case that you want to be more of a physically active person, say that you want to start running more. This is your general direction. If you instead straightway force yourself to be super specific about what you want to achieve, you are more likely to get stuck before you even start.

GET SPECIFIC

• Once you have a general goal in mind, start thinking about the specific of it and begin to narrow down what exactly in that field you want to achieve. This stage is also where you implement all the other aspects of the SMART goal format which are also essential to consider when setting goals.

• Other areas to consider:

  • Measurable: How can I measure my goal? When will I have known that I have achieved my goal?

  • Attainable: Is this goal realistic with my current circumstances and will I be able to properly manage my time and energy to achieve it?

  • Relevant: Is the goal that I am heading towards relevant to me and meaningful enough for me? If it is not relevant enough to your personal interests, you are likely to lose motivation in the initial stages

  • Time-bound: In what time period do I want to achieve my goal? How frequently will I be working towards achieving my goal? On a daily, weekly, monthly basis?

IMPLEMENT

• Now that you have made your goal much more specific and you are much more precise in terms of what you want to achieve, start to implement the necessary actions that will take you towards your goal.

• Put aside one week to test out and see how you do with sticking with your goal and how realistic it is for you. This is the time where you are able to see all of the faults in your goal and all the other things you did not take into account during your goal-setting process.

• For example, if your goal was to read 50 pages of a book each day for 7 days a week, and you found out that realistically you were only able to read that 4 days in a week, then that is a sign that you need to adjust your goal.

• The point of this step is not to make you guilty that your goal was set inadequately, but instead to allow you to see the ways in which you have to alter your goal in order to actually achieve it. The theory is often very different than when we practically apply something in our life.

ADJUST AND IMPLEMENT AGAIN

• After you have tried to implement the necessary actives on a daily basis you would have likely noticed that more adjustments have to be made to your goal. Maybe you were expecting too much from yourself, maybe too little. Perhaps you did not have enough disposable time in your day, or you simply did not find the goal enough interesting or meaningful by the end of the week.

• This is all okay and all should be treated as valuable feedback towards creating more realistic and relevant goals.

• Now take these adjustments and changes and input them into your initial goal. Change things around based on your previous experiences, and give things another shot. Set aside once again another couple of days of experimenting and see whether this time you do better with sticking to the goal.

• If you find yourself still slipping back and not sticking to what you set out to do, look towards making changes once again or perhaps considering other areas that may be preventing progress, such as maybe not having enough personal discipline to stick with it. This simply means that you have to improve on some other areas before starting out on achieving your goal since you will need some other skills r knowledge in order to get to the finish line.

• For example, if your goal is to make 3 drawings per week in order to make you fit for an art competition and you are a beginner at drawing, maybe the issue is not that you don’t have enough time or motivation, but perhaps you would need a little more work on your art technique in order to enhance your drawing ability. This will later then greatly help you out with coming closer to your goal.

GO AND ACHIEVE IT

• Once you have made your goal specific, have tried it out in practice, and had made sure to make any necessary alterations to it, now is the time to go out, commit to your goal, and also achieve it.

• You will with no doubt encounter setbacks and delays in between the progress, but just keep pushing, adapting, and pursuing your goal. Let your goal be flexible because life around us is constantly changing so make sure to take that into account when moving towards the finish line.

• I recommend that you do this exercise with a maximum of 3-5 goals per time because otherwise it just becomes too much to handle and think about, especially if we have already got plenty of other work on our back.

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QUESTIONS TO REFLECT ON

1. What are my top 5 intentions for this year?

2. What am I going to continue doing?

3. What do I want to change completely?

4. What will I do to step out of my comfort zone?

5. How will I make sure to learn from my future mistakes?

6. What are the top 3 things I want to accomplish this year in my academic life/ career?

7. What are the top 3 things I want to accomplish this year for my health and personal wellbeing?

8. What are the top 3 things I want to accomplish this year in terms of my health and personal interests?

9. What will be my purpose this year?

10. Which existing relationships do I want to focus on and strengthen?

11. What kind of new people do I want to attract into my life?

12. In what ways will make this year matter to me when I look back?

13. How will I help and provide value to others?

14. What personal qualities do I want to strengthen?

15. What skills do I want to learn?

16. How will I take care of myself?

17. What places do I want to visit?

18. What occasions and opportunities will I say “no” to?

19. Who will I ask for help and support from?

20. What kind of person do I want to become next year?

Reflecting On The Year 2020

Although many of us would agree that 2020 certainly was a weird and unpredictable year, full of different setbacks and unimaginable experiences, what f instead of dreading 2020, e decided to look back on the year of 2020 and see all the ways in which we have grown and everything we have achieved for ourselves and for others.

Reflection in this way can be such a powerful tool and habit, as you will see below. I encourage that you take time to reflect on yourself and your own life at least once a year, however, if you are able to do it on a monthly or weekly basis as you see fit, then that can be even more effective if done with the right reason.

Do not underestimate the power that a simple quiet time spent reflecting can hold; it can literally be life-changing in the long run.

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WHY SHOULD WE TAKE TIME TO REFLECT?

1. Remembering the most memorable and important events that happened

   Often so much happens to us in a single year, that without taking time to reflect on it, we are likely to miss on everything that happened and in the end just forget about it all. With reflection, you can strengthen your memory as well as be so much more grateful, for realizing all of the beautiful things that happened to you and shaped you into who you are today

2. Very useful for setting future goals

   Through reflection, we are able to see all that we have achieved in the past year and also all things that we perhaps did not achieve yet with which we are immediately able to see all of the things and areas which we have to work on for the next year. Furthermore, you are able to look back on the mistakes you have made and the wrong decisions you took, from which you can learn and not repeated them again in the future.

3. Being able to see progress and improvements

   One great aspect of reflection is that you are able to step back in time temporarily and acknowledge all the areas in your life for which you have improved at, learned something new, or got to experience a novel sensation. As was discussed in my previous post on motivation (Losing Motivation? Here Is How To Get Back On Track), we are also much more likely to be motivated if we see progress in the things we do, and reflection turns out to be great for that.

4. Temporarily slows the passing of time

   When we are busy with our occupations, we seem to just lose track of time, and days weeks and months seem to just pass by in one collective blur, but through reflection you take your time to pick apart separate events that occurred in different times of the year, allowing you to stop the rush of time, even if just for a little while

5. Seeing if you are actually headed in the direction you want to go in

   So often we continuously do things either out of habit or routine even though they are either not beneficial to us or no longer meaningful to us. When we take time to reflect on what we spend our time doing in the previous year, we are able to decide whether we are spending our time well, and foremostly intentionally - in other words, if we are headed towards the goals which we set ourselves.

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20 QUESTIONS TO REFLECT ON 2020

Here are a couple of questions that you could use as a guideline in order to reflect on the past year. Feel free to answer as many of them as you need and also use some of your own.

If you make good use of this exercise, it can yield you a lot of positive changes and life lessons.

1. What are some of the best lessons you learned during last year?

2. What are some of your most memorable moments that happened?

3. What difficulties and challenges were you able to overcome?

4. What did you do for your personal growth?

5. What did you do for your academic/ career growth?

6. What new positive habits did you start?

7. What were your biggest achievements and accomplishments?

8. What were you able to learn about yourself?

9. What were some of the best decisions you took?

10. What were some times you made mistakes and failed?

11. How did you react when you made the mistake or experienced failure?

12. What was something that got in the way of your success last year?

13. In what ways are you a different person compared to the previous year?

14. How did you take care of my physical and mental health?

15. What were some of the most valuable resources you had?

16. Who were the people last year, who made the biggest impact on you?

17. What beliefs, mindset or attitudes did you let go of from last year?

18. What are 5 things that you are grateful for from last year?

19. What projects, promises or work did you leave unfinished last year?

20. What advice would you give yourself one year ago?

Losing Motivation? Here Is How To Get Back On Track

Have you ever thought to yourself "I wish I just had more motivation to get this done" or "I would be so much more productive if I was more motivated during the day? " These are usually all things most of us experience, some more frequently than others, but it's no secret that our level of motivation experiences ups and downs, especially during this quarantine, where a lack of motivation is becoming a commonly observed phenomenon.

With this post, I hope to shed some light on what are some of the reasons for why we lose motivation in the first place, a common misconception that we hold for motivation, and what are some practical methods of becoming more motivated.

Without too much ranting, I hope you find the following information valuable and that you can put it to good use because I the tips that I have included here are from my personal experience.

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WHAT IS MOTIVATION?

To begin with, motivation can be explained as being any reason for us to act a certain way or produce any wanted outcome.

Example of motivation: If we are thirsty, we will want to drink a glass of water therefore we will be motivated to get ourselves a glass of water because that is our desired outcome at the moment.

The process of motivation is one that requires the combined effort of emotional, biological, cognitive, and social input in order to execute an action.

Simply speaking, if we never had any motivation, nothing would get done and most human activity would be completely stationary because there would be no reason for us to do anything in the first place.

Therefore we need motivation. So why do we lose motivation in the first place?

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WHY DO WE LOSE MOTIVATION?

Here are some common reasons for why we lose motivation, see if you can identify any for yourself:

• We do not care enough about the action we are doing, or it does not interest us enough.

• The end goal not being aligned with our true wants, passions, and purpose in life, causing us to essentially chase a false dream.

• The action could be too hard or seem too time-consuming to even bother starting.

• Following the same daily routine all the time, making it feel like every day is the same.

• Feeling powerless and that our work, in the end, does not matter as much, and it would not make a difference in the world.

• Not seeing enough progress or the progress you thought you would have been seeing by that time.

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THE MYTH BEHIND MOTIVATION

While motivation is essential to getting anything done and I think all of us would not mind getting an extra boost of motivation, there is one common misconception about the motivation that we have to clear up.

Motivation is commonly thought of as needing to be in place before we start doing something, since how else are we meant to start something if we are not motivated, but in reality, it is actually the opposite way. When we start doing something and start progressing towards an end goal, that is when we will pick up the motivation steam. Action leads to motivation.

Therefore we have to replace the thought of needing motivation for initiating action, instead, we should just start with the work and motivation will arise as a result of it.

This idea has been cohesively summarized inside the book, The Motivation Myth, which I am yet to read, where the author Jeff Haden describes motivation in this way: "Most people are confused about the source of motivation. They think motivation is the spark that automatically produces lasting eagerness to do hard work; the greater the motivation, the more effort you’re willing to put in. Actually, motivation is a result. Motivation is the pride you take in work you have already done—which fuels your willingness to do even more."

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10 WAYS TO GET BACK ON TRACK

1. Keeping a to-do list and checking things off as you get them done.

2. Switching up your routine when you feel that it gets repetitive.

3. Establish a clear reason for why you do the things you do and evaluate whether they are really something that is important for you and would like to spend your time doing.

4. Setting deadlines and using timers (Known as Parkinson's law).

5. When feeling unmotivated, take a 15-minute break to do something unrelated to work and then get back to the task at hand.

6. Listening to the right music for what you want to do (If working with music is something you do).

7. Setting goals and achieving them (Daily/ weekly/ monthly/ annual goals)

8. Having a designated workspace where you feel productive, creative, etc. This means that this space is only used for working which allows your brain to make associations with what you usually do when you enter that place.

9. Reflecting on your past and acknowledging your improvements, growth, and achievements you have had (This allows you to see progress).

10. Looking at your past mistakes, disappointments, and failures as opportunities for growth.

Stress Management: The Why And The How

We all experience stress and it is a regular and unavoidable part of our life. Everybody experiences stress in different amounts and reacts to it in different ways, however, what each of us can do about stress, is earn to control and manage it.

With more stress building up in our daily lives, this is becoming more and more of a necessity, as you will see below, long term chronic stress or chronic stress, can have seriously detrimental effects on our health and well being.

Stress is all something we are familiar with, however not many of us place enough importance on its proper management.

Below I have included all of the relevant information about stress and its effects on our whole body and mind, as well as practical ways with which we can learn to properly manage and control it.

But before all that, let’s start with the basics of stress - What even is stress?

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WHAT IS STRESS?

In simple terms, stress is how our body and brain respond to any external demand or challenge that we face, which requires our attention to deal with.

With this, I want to point out that while many of us commonly only associate stress with being loaded with work and having to juggle too many things at school/ work at once, stress is present more often than we may be aware of. Any task or "challenge" as said above, no matter how small or large will pose stress on our body and mind. Although it may not be a big stressor in our life, it is still counted as stress.

Here I want to say that stress to some degree is important in our lives, after all, if there was absolutely no stress in our lives, not even in small amounts, nothing would get done and nothing would change. Stress for our body is yes, stressful, and our body wants to get rid of the feeling of being stressed as quickly as it can, which ultimately causes us to change something in our environment to stop the stressor. Our body and mind can react to stress in many different ways, such as physically, emotionally, or mentally, depending on the individual.

In this way, a certain amount of stress is actually healthy for our well-being, as it keeps us alert and more proactive beings, however, the issue is when we experience persistent stress that almost never subsides. This is where all of the negative effects of long-term stress come in, and believe me, reoccurring or chronic stress has more effects on your health than you may initially think.

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TYPES OF STRESS

ACUTE STRES:

This is the stress that is felt for a short period of time and is more infrequent. When we do experience acute stress, our body will respond as it usually does, to try and combat the stress where the effects of the stress may ware-off in a matter of hours, a day, or a couple of days, depending on the severity of the stressor.

An example of acute stress would be getting into an argument with someone and our body responding in a negative and arrogant way. Our anger will usually subside as time passes, however, the stress is generally only present for a short period of time.

CHRONIC STRESS:

This is the more problematic type of stress, which also impacts our whole body and mind, while it being constantly present in our life. Those who experience this type of stress, may not even be aware of it, as could have just accepted it as a part of our being and life - forgetting how it feels to be free of chronic stress.

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MAIN STRESS HORMONES

When it comes to regulating and controlling stress in our body, everything comes down to our biochemistry, where hormones and various other chemicals are responsible for initiating our response to stress. The two most common regulating hormones of stress are adrenaline and cortisol, which work hand in hand to handle stress inside our body, every single day.

CORTISOL:

• It is the primary stress hormone

• Increases availability of glucose in the bloodstream for energy

• Enhances your brain's use of glucose (quicker processing)

• Increases availability of chemicals that repair tissues

ADRENALINE:

• Increases your heart and breathing rate (Delivers more oxygenated blood to muscles)

• Elevates your blood pressure

• Boosts utilization of our energy supplies (glucose)

• Makes us more alert to our surroundings (Our senses become more activated)

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HOW DOES STRESS WORK?

The process of dealing with stress in our body goes something like this:

• When a stressor or potential threat is registered by our brain, a vitally important region of our brain called the hypothalamus, signals to the adrenal gland, that adrenaline and cortisol have to be released into our bloodstream, which would cause the effects described above.

• Our hypothalamus is not only involved in hormone regulation but also plays a vital role with our bodies homeostasis, ensuring that it happens correctly and when needed.

• In the case of experiencing acute stress, when the perceived fear is no longer there, our hypothalamus signals to our body that it is time to return to a normal state of functioning.

• However, in the case that we are not good at managing stress in our lives, chronic stress results, where the effects of stress do not return back to normal, and we continue to experience the effects described above (elevated heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature, blood glucose levels, etc).

• In other words, we are never able to fully calm down and return our body to a state of normal functioning.

This, as you will see below, is the state that puts our whole well being into an even greater health risk.

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SYMPTOMS OF EXCESSIVE STRESS

Emotional:

• Being easily irritated

• Feeling overwhelmed

• Low self-esteem

• Finding it hard to calm down or relax

Physical:

• Low energy

• Headaches

• Digestive issues

• Insomnia

• Decline in libido

• More frequent illness and infections

Cognitive:

• Inability to focus

• Worrying or thinking about things all the time

• Forgetfulness and disorganization

• Pessimistic tendencies

• Impaired decision making

Behavioral

• Changes in appetite

• Procrastination

• Showing signs of nervous behaviors (pacing, fidgeting, nail-biting)

• Greater use of alcohol, cigarettes, or drugs as coping mechanisms

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HOW CHRONIC STRESS AFFECTS OUR HEALTH

Chronic stress has many negative effects on our health, which occur both in men and women, regardless of age. It is really important to not take the topic of stress lightly, as the sooner we can learn to control and manage it, the better off we will be physically, mentally, and emotionally. Here are some direct ways in which chronic stress interferes with your health.

EXPERIENCING INSOMNIA MORE FREQUENTLY

Those who are often under stressful conditions are much more likely to suffer from insomnia, as stress prevents our body from calming down and getting into a restful state, as stress raises our heart rate, body temperature, and fires up our brain with activity - all things which we do not want when we are trying to fall asleep. The resulting inability to fall asleep can make us even more stressed out, leading only to an unhealthy cycle. You can read more about the importance of getting good sleep in this article: Hidden Power Of Your Sleep.

WORSE HEART HEALTH

Stress is able to negatively impact our heart health, because stress, due to adrenaline, increases our heart rate and consequently our blood pressure. When over an extended period of time we experience an increase in blood pressure, it damages our blood vessels, leading to not only more cardiac issues down the line but also shortness of breath as our breathing muscles tense up more.

EMOTIONAL INSTABILITY

Chronic stress has been linked with more frequent occurrences of anxiety, depression, moodiness, irritability, and feelings of helplessness (being overwhelmed). These are often indicators of experiencing too much stress, which makes it even harder to manage our stress.

WEAKER IMMUNE SYSTEM

Although many other factors influence our immune system, stress comes out high on top. This is because when we are heavily stressed, our body responds by producing fewer lymphocytes (White blood cells), which declines the effectiveness of our immune system and makes us much more prone to infections and illness. If you would like to know more about how to additionally take care of your immune system, check out this blog post here: How To Naturally Boost Your Immune System.

INCREASES CHANCES OF DEVELOPING EATING DISORDERS

Stress is known to have effects on our appetite, by messing with our hormones, including our hormones responsible for our appetite. In the long term, this can either go two ways: We can either become more prone to overeating, causing us more likely to be overweight or leading to a decrease in our appetite that can make us underweight - either way, an unhealthy scenario.

ABNORMAL HAIR LOSS

Excessive stress has also been correlated with an unhealthy amount of hair loss, where too much stress has been shown to negatively affect the life cycle of our hair follicles on our scalp, which causes them to prematurely turn to a rest phase, during which the hair is shed.

DIGESTIVE ISSUES

Experiencing excessive stress has also been linked with more abdominal issues, such as more frequent stomach aches, along with more constipation. Furthermore, we may be more prone to feeling nauseous during the day, which of course negatively impacts our performance during the day

RAISED BLOOD SUGAR

As was said before, stress initiates our flight or fight response, which reflexively releases glucose into our bloodstream and makes it more available, which leads to a build-up of excessive glucose in our bloodstream and over time makes our body more resistant to insulin - the hormone that is responsible for allowing cells to uptake glucose from our blood. Overall this increases our chances of developing type II diabetes.

FERTILITY ISSUES

Stress has also been shown to have a negative impact on both the fertility and sexual health of men and women, where when exposed to high levels of stress, women may experience harder conception as well as an interruption in their menstrual cycle, leading to missed or irregular periods, due to hormone fluctuations. In men, this is seen in a greater prevalence for having erectile dysfunction, as well as a lower sex drive, which hurt their reproductive health.

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STRESS MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES

• Doing relaxing activities you enjoy

• Performing moderate exercise

• Trying out meditation or breathing exercises

• Prioritizing your work

• Managing your time better

• Surrounding yourself with positive people

• Talking it out with someone

• Spending time in nature

• Taking a warm bath or shower

• Accepting the fact that some things are out of your control

• Try to keep a positive attitude

• Prioritizing your health

The Power Of Your Gut Flora

A rather newer topic in the world of science, but an increasing amount of research is coming out confirming a link between our gut and our health. Inside our digestive tract, you can find several hundred types of microorganisms, and all of them seem to-play vitally important functions to our health and well-being.

Below you find out all about the ways in which these microorganisms impact our health and how you can increase the variety of your gut flora, ultimately benefiting your health in many different aspects.

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ABOUT OUR GUT

Gut flora or also called your gut microbiota are all of the microorganisms (bacteria and fungi), that live inside your body, specifically in your intestines and colon.

While not all bacteria and micrograms are good for us and our health, we certainly do need a certain healthy level of microorganisms inside our digestive tract in order to be able to process and digest our food properly. It is estimated that a healthy person on average has about 300 to 500 different species of bacteria that live in their digestive tract. Apart from that, a healthy gut microbiome has been found to not only positively impact our bodies digestion, but many other parts of our health such as several chronic diseases, our skin, our immune system, and our mental health.

Microorganisms can be found in various places inside our body, however, their numbers and variety are most plentiful inside our digestive tracks, as that is where all of our food passes through. Here it is not only about having adequate numbers of microorganisms inside your digestive tract but having a high variety of microorganisms. The more types the better.

Before we are born, our intestinal tract is completely sterile, however, after birth, we are exposed to bacteria in your environment, where most of the good bacteria end up colonizing our gut. After birth there are a couple of factors that determine the extent to which our gut is populated with bacteria which are:

• Gestational age (Time between conception and birth)

• Mode of delivery at birth

• Diet (Breast milk or no)

• Level of sanitation

• Exposure to antibiotics

Later on in life, when we are older and our intestinal tract is fully developed, the variety of all of the bacteria and fungi that are found inside our intestines is heavily linked to the type of food we eat and our eating habits, as among a part of their many functions, one function of microorganisms in our digestive tract is to breakdown food.

Even though research in this area of science is still in its infancy, there is a great deal of potential and promise that keeping a healthy gut flora can be the key to preventing or reversing various medical conditions or diseases.

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WHY IS A HEALTHY GUT IMPORTANT?

Here are a couple of reasons why maintaining a healthy and versatile gut flora is really beneficial to your overall health:

DIGESTIVE HEALTH

Microorganisms are greatly needed for the proper digestion and absorption of the food we ingest, meaning that without these microorganisms our food would not be able to be broken down and thus utilized by our body. In the case that we fall short in the variety of our gut flora, we greatly increase our chances of developing Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) and Chron's disease.

WEIGHT CONTOL

It has also been found that our gut microbiota plays a part in our bodies metabolism, which is the sum of all the biochemical reactions that take place within our body. As a result of having an impact on our metabolism, scientists and health professionals are suspecting that our gut flora can also regulate our weight levels and thus potentially be able to reduce obesity rates with a healthy gut biome.

MENTAL HEALTH

Scientific trials and experiments have proven that in fact our brain and gut communicate all the time, establishing a strong connection with each other. This connection means that if our gut flora is out of balance, our mental health will suffer, making us more prone to experiencing anxiety, depression, or greater levels of stress. Some research is even coming out promising a link between our gut and our emotions and mood, however more scientific data is needed to confirm that link.

HEART HEALTH

Researchers have found that when we eat too many high-fat foods that carry a lot of saturated fat in them, our body metabolizes them into a problematic substance called trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO), which has been shown to possibly elevate levels of cholesterol in our blood, potentially being able to contribute to more incidences of stroke, coronary heart disease, and unwanted blood clots.

IMMUNE SYSTEM

Just like with our brain, our gut also communicates with our immune system, where it has been shown that a healthy gut biome supports a healthy immune system. Studies in babies have shown that babies who were fed breast milk during their first couple of years had a more diverse gut flora, which had contributed to a stronger immune system.

If you are interested to find out more about how to take care of your immune system, check out my latest post: How To Naturally Boost Your Immune System.

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WHAT TO EAT FOR A HEALTHIER GUT

Now let’s take a look at some ways in which we can individually improve our gut health through the food we choose to eat, as what we eat is heavily correlated with the kinds of bacteria that are present in our gut.

Remember the greater the variety of good bacteria the healthier our gut, and the better we will feel both inside and out.

PROBIOTIC FOODS

These kinds of foods have been altered with microbes by humankind, and have been shown to positively stimulate the growth of bacteria in our gut. Many are already consumed on a daily basis as part of a normal diet.

Examples: Fermented foods: Natural yogurt, sauerkraut, kefir, kimchi, kombucha.

PREBIOTIC FOODS

In contrast to probiotic foods, prebiotic foods are foods that promote the growth and proliferation of good bacteria in our gut. They are rich in fiber and complex carbohydrates that can not be broken down by our small intestines, but instead, have to be broken down in our colon (large intestines).

Examples: Fruits, vegetables, whole grains.

WHOLE FOODS OF PLANT ORIGIN

Apart from their dense micronutrient profile, whole foods also offer plenty of fiber that stimulates the growth of good bacteria in our gut.

Examples: Fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains.

FOODS HIGH IN POLYPHENOLS:

Polyphenols are naturally occurring compounds in plants, which in many scientific investigations, have proven to have a positive effect in not only colonizing our gut but also improving our health in terms of reducing blood pressure, alleviating inflammation, helping with oxidative stress, and maintaining our cholesterol at a healthy level.

Examples: Dark chocolate (Cocoa), grapes, green tea, almonds, onions, blueberries, broccoli, extra virgin olive oil.

AVOID HIGHLY PROCESSED FOOD

These foods have been shown to commonly either decrease the numbers of good bacteria in our gut, out populate our gut with more numbers of bad bacteria - which are not good for our health. Of course, eating a processed food here and there is not game over, however, it should be a concern if you are eating many highly processed and artificially sweetened foods on a regular daily basis.

If you would like to know more about the effects of excessive added sugar on the human body and your health, you can take a look at this article The BitterSweet Truth About Added Sugar.

Examples: Artificially sweetened sodas, sugary breakfast cereals, microwave-ready meals, prepackaged snacks, and desserts.

How To Naturally Boost Your Immune System

With the cold winter months coming before us, it is now a good time to start thinking about how best to protect and reinforce our immune system for this winter, and to prevent any unnecessary sicknesses in the times of this pandemic.

As you will see, our immunity largely depends on external factors such as food, exercise, and lifestyle habits, meaning that it is well within our control to promote and maintain a healthy and strong immune system.

If you are interested in finding out how to take care of your immune system and how to prepare it for the colder months ahead of us, then read on.

Hope you enjoy : )

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ESSENTIAL MICRONUTRIENTS FOR IMMUNITY

VITAMIN A:

• This vitamin has been linked with lower levels of inflammation in our body, which is directly linked with a healthier and stronger immune system. Not only that, but scientists believe that it has a role in the way our immune system responds to pathogens and how our white blood cells

• Sources: Eggs, cod liver oil, orange and yellow colored vegetables and fruits, broccoli, spinach

VITAMIN C

• It enhances white blood cell functioning and is needed for initializing cell death of old and unuseful cells. Apart from that it also protects against oxidative stress as it functions as an antioxidant, where lower levels of oxidative stress have been linked to lower incidences of chronic diseases.

• Sources: Red bell pepper, citrus fruits, kiwis, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, spinach, green peas

VITAMIN D

• Enhance the ability of white blood cells in our blood to fight pathogens and prevent our immune system from becoming too sensitive to the environment around us.

• Sources: Salmon, sardines, egg yolks, mushrooms, sunshine (outside)

VITAMIN E:

• Vitamin E is also an antioxidant and a crucial substance that plays a part in almost 200 biochemical reactions inside your body. It is well recognized as a contributing factor in the development and healthiness of your immune cells.

• Sources: Sunflower seeds, almonds, sunflower oil, hazelnuts, olive oil, pine nuts, avocado, brazil nuts

ZINC:

• Zinc is required for the development of white blood cells as well as the communication between your immune cells in combating inflammation inside your body.

• Sources: Oysters, beef, seafood, legumes, pumpkin seeds, natural yogurt

SELENIUM:

• A rather understated mineral, but selenium has more recently been shown to have a role in regulating inflammation and overall immunity in our body, where sufficient levels of this mineral have been linked with resulting in a less over-reactive immune systems and being able to treat chronic inflammation

• Sources: Brazil nuts, seafood, and organ meats

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5 PILLARS OF A STRONG & HEALTHY IMMUNE SYSTEM

1. NUTRITION

2. ADEQUATE SLEEP

3. MODERATE EXERCISE

4. HEALTHY LIFESTYLE HABITS

5. STRESS MANAGEMENT

1. NUTRITION

EATING WELL

• Perhaps food is not the first factor you expected to see on how to maintain a healthy immune system, but it is a crucial and often an understated factor. Food has been used for millennia as not only a source of energy and time for socializing but as a way to treat, regress, and prevent diseases and sicknesses. Back then, medicine as we know it today was not available, so they had to take care of illnesses with what they had around, which was most of the time food in some shape or form.

• The food we eat plays a crucial role in our health and consequently also our immune system, as whatever we input into our bodies, we absorb and use, so we have to be mindful of what we eat.

• In terms of food that has been scientifically shown to have a positive effect on our immune system, you will see foods in their whole food (unprocessed) form, many of which are rich in micronutrients such as vitamin C and zinc, as well as foods naturally rich in antioxidants and probiotics. Here are some of the best foods you can eat to maintain a healthy immune system:

  • Red bell peppers

  • Spinach

  • Citrus fruits

  • Ginger

  • Natural yogurt

  • Almonds

  • Turmeric

  • Broccoli

  • Seafood and shellfish

  • Kiwi

  • Green tea

DRINKING ENOUGH WATER

• Unsurprisingly, drinking water also affects our immune system just like at large it affects our overall health. Water plays many vital roles in our body, which is why it is so important to keep hydrated throughout the day. You can read more about the importance of water and why it is relevant to our health in this blog post: Why Drink Water

• In short, water plays a few key roles in terms of our immunity. Firstly, keeping hydrated makes us less susceptible to germs and harmful bacteria as when our body is well hydrated it functions better all together, meaning that our immune system can fight off pathogens and viruses much more effectively.

• Secondly, water is needed to allow our body to naturally detoxify itself and remove any unneeded metabolic waste products out of our system.

• Thirdly, drinking enough water also makes sure to keep our blood healthy as our blood is predominantly made out of water so that our blood can effectively transport the needed nutrients and micronutrients to our body’s cells whenever they are needed. Linking with the previous point on food, if we want to be consuming foods with a high vitamin C content, it is additionally advised to drink water during your meal or your day, as vitamin C is a water-soluble vitamin, meaning that without water, our body will not be able to absorb it and thus make use of it.

CONSIDER SUPPLEMENTATION

• Although I am a strong advocate for getting your nutrients straight from their raw source - food - as that brings along with it the most health benefits, it may also be worth considering supplementation in the case that you fall short of the recommended daily dosage of any of the important micronutrients for your immune system.

• Supplements can come in the form of tablets that you take with a glass of water or tablets which you dissolve in water, but do your own research in terms of which nutrient you may be lacking and what dosage do you have to take, to cover your needs.

• Regardless of whether it is our diet, our lifestyle our the weather outside (Vitamin D), we have to make sure that we are doing our best job of getting sufficient amounts of these micronutrients every day. Always try to first source your nutrients from food and then resort to supplements in the case that you may be deficient in any nutrient, especially if that nutrient is important for your immunity.

2. ADEQUATE SLEEP

• More and more research is coming out reporting a strong link between poor sleep quality and a weaker immune system. The main reason behind this is that during sleep our body both produces and releases special immune proteins called cytokines, which are heavily responsible for controlling and fighting both inflation and infection in our body.

• If we sleep less than what we should be or if our sleep is of poor quality, our body produces less of these cytokines, leading to a weaker immune system. Furthermore, sleep plays an important role in regulating our internal environment, where it also affects the efficacy of other immune cells.

• In addition to this, sleep in general is very important for our health, as it performs a variety of different functions in our body. Inadequate sleep has also been correlated to a greater incidence of developing chronic diseases as well as greatly impacting our mental well being. You can read more about sleep and its importance here: The Hidden Power Of Sleep

3. MODERATE EXERCISE

• It has been found that doing moderate exercise every day not only improves our cardiovascular health, lowers blood pressure, and reduces our chances of developing chronic diseases, but it also positively contributes to the well being of our immune system. The reason behind this is still being researched since there are a lot of factors to take into consideration here.

• One idea may be that doing exercise improves our blood circulation, which may help in expelling unwanted toxins and inflammatory molecules from our bodies. Better circulation also delivers more oxygen to our cells, which can directly impact their functioning as our cells need oxygen for respiration and for staying alive.

• Since our breathing rate is faster during exercise, exercise may actually help clear up our lungs and airways, by flushing out harmful bacteria through having to breathe faster.

• Lastly, since exercise has been effectively shown to decrease levels of stress in our body, that has also been linked with better immunity, as you will see below, stress has a direct impact on our immune system

4. HEALTHY LIFESTYLE HABITS

QUIT SMOKING

• Smoking has been for a long time now labeled as a hazard for our health, including our immune system. Smoking and inhaling smoke has been linked with our body being less effective at fighting disease and inflammation, making us more susceptible to falling ill.

• Furthermore, smoking distorts the balance of our immune system where it increases the chances of us developing autoimmune diseases (Diseases where our body will attack its own healthy tissues and cells). Overall smoking is not a healthy practice as it impacts a myriad of other aspects of our health and acts as a major carcinogen for our body. Abstaining from this practice is one of the best things you can do for your health.

KEEP ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION MODERATE

• Excessive alcohol consumption has more recently been linked with a poorer immune system, whereby immunologists have observed that drinking too much alcohol, destroys different types of cells throughout our body, such as those in our respiratory pathways that are responsible for clearing up our airways of trapped dust particles and bacteria.

• Furthermore, alcohol has also been shown to kill healthy normal gut bacteria, that otherwise have a positive impact on our health, but due to excessive alcohol consumption, their functioning is inhibited.

• Apart from that, alcohol also interferes with our sleep where it has been shown that it impacts the REM part of our sleep cycle, and as we have seen previously, whatever impacts our sleep also impacts our immune system.

HYGIENIC PRACTICES

• Keeping a good level of hygiene is important for general well being and preventing seriously harmful pathogens from entering our body.

• This however does not mean that our environment should be excessively sterilized and sanitized, as our body needs to be exposed to a certain degree of uncleanliness for our immune system to stay active and also for it to not become over-reactive.

• Generally, try and keep yourself clean and avoid having your hands in contact with your face, as our hands usually carry the most bacteria, but however do not go overboard with your sanitation practices, as that can also have an adverse effect.

5. STRESS MANAGEMENT

• You might be surprised to hear this, but high levels of stress have been associated with a weaker immune system, which might be making you more susceptible to infections and illness.

• A reason for why this may be happening is that when we are stressed, our body produces different stress hormones such as cortisol and corticosteroids, which have been shown to suppress the effectiveness of our immune system.

• Stress impacts our body in more ways than you may initially think, ranging from slower digestion, headaches, higher blood pressure, raised heart rate, and raise blood cholesterol levels. All of these individual factors do not only contribute to a higher incidence of developing chronic disease, but also resulting in a weaker immune system.

• Apart from this, people also use different coping methods to handling stress, such as excessive alcohol drinking, poor diet choices, sleeping less, or not taking time to exercise, all of which additionally add on top of the stress and worsen our immune system even more.

Working From Home - A Practical Guide

During this time, many of us will find ourselves working from home, whether we go to school or work a job, it has become one thing that unites us all. Because of this transition to more home-based working, I am sure that a lot of us have gained more time in our schedule and probably increased our hours spent sleeping, both of which are good things, however, I am also sure we have encountered many downsides during this quarantine, specifically in terms of our productivity and perhaps our health status.

Since the quarantine seems to be staying with us for a while, how can we best make use of our time during it and turn it into actual productive output? While you can view this quarantine as a disaster and blame it for all of your problems, you can also shift your focus and start viewing this quarantine - this valuable piece of time - as a chance for you to grow and improve as a person. It is up to you as to which road you take.

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10 TIPS FOR EFFECTIVE WORKING FROM HOME

SEPARATE WORK AND LEISURE TIME

Now that most of us are working from home, it is very easy for us to spent the whole day doing work-related things, without leaving any time for our hobbies, leisure time and time spent socializing. Without physical shifts in locations and strict schedules, our work and personal lives blur and blend together into one, whereas as a result, we can easily fall out of balance with our work.

To fix this issue, there are a couple of solutions you could implement

First, try following your previous work/ school schedule at home, which will create a clear and defined time boundary between the time where you focus on work-related things and personal time. If for example, your usual workday previously finished at 3 pm, you can do the same thing at home where you will aim at finishing all of your work-related tasks by 3 pm, leaving the rest of the day to do as you wish.

Secondly, try structuring and splitting your time in a way that will work best for you, allowing you to make time for both your work and personal life. If you have the chance and would rather spend some extra time in the morning in bed getting sufficient sleep, then accommodate that into your routine. If you need additional breaks from work in between or like to spend time outside, then make that a priority and build your schedule around that.

Now that you are at home, you have much more freedom in terms of your schedule and when you want to do things. Use this opportunity to your advantage, to try and find the best balance between your work matters and personal endeavors.

HAVING YOUR OWN PRODUCTIVE WORKSPACE

In the case that we used to commute to school/ work to a different location, we were used to having a space and a desk for where we performed our work. It is best to also implement this practice in your own home, where you should dedicate a space or a tabletop for where you will do the majority of your sitting down work.

Having a separate space for working is crucial because upon entering that space it creates an immedite shift in your mindset, allowing you to get into a "work zone" much faster than without having a designated space for working.

On this topic, we also have to make sure that our working space is optimized for productivity, where we want to try and reduce distractions as much as possible, so that we can complete our work not only faster but which much fewer interruptions in the process. You can read more about dealing with distractions and how to create a clean working environment in this post: Avoiding Distractions Like A Boss.

CREATE ROUTINES THAT WORK FOR YOU

Transitioning to a home-based working style can lead to a loss of your previous routines, as you begin to lose the previously mentioned divide between work and personal time.

With more control over our schedule and how we choose to spend our time, we can design our time in a way that will work best for us. This is done by installing simple yet effective daily routines for us to follow, which simplifies our life and makes sure we are still finding balance in our everyday.

I suggest integrating a simple morning and evening routine, that is up to you to design and fill up with activities that you feel will do you best at that moment.

• A lot of people like to have their mornings be "their" time for doing personal projects and self-care, while other people prefer to get straight to work upon getting up.

• If your focus levels are better in the afternoon or evening, then use that to your advantage and structure your routine so that you do some of your work during that time.

• If you like to do some sort of movement in the morning, then that’s great, design your time so that you can fit in an exercise routine that energies you and keeps your fitness levels up

Everyone here will have a different routine since we all live different lives with different obligations, but the key here is that routines allow us to make the best use of our time by considering both our internal and external state, which ultimately allows us to reach a greater balance with the work we perfrom.

Routines are not meant to restrict you or limit your potential. Keep them flexible and simple, but also realize that not everything will always go accordingly to plan, so be prepared to adapt.

Design your time in a way that will allow you to get the most out of your time.

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PUT NEW EXTRA TIME TO GOOD USE

Since starting to work from home, you have probably noticed that you have much more time available on your hands, which is likely due to having no commuting time or unnecessary breaks that were too long and were not a good use of your time.

So now comes the question: What will you do with all this extra time? how will you use it?

Perhaps you already know and are already doing things to fill it up, but for a second reconsider the question and really think about what you would like to use that time for. While it is easy to use up that additional time doing unnecessary work and simply procrastinating, that is not the point here.

Below is a list of ideas of how you can spend this additional time:

• Improve or learn a new skill

• Start a new passion project

• Implement a new habit

• Join an online community is something that you are interested in

• Set new goals for yourself and achieve them

Treat working from home as a rare opportunity to spend your time doing things that will give your life more purpose and more intentionality. The opportunity of quarantine is something that happens at most once in a lifetime, so do not take this extra time for granted; use it well because if you do, amazing things await for you.

PLAN OUT YOUR DAY IN ADVANCE

Planning your day in advance is a great way to use some of your extra time you may have in the mornings or evenings, as this will allow you to be even more intentional with how you spend your time and also allow you to spend less time procrastinating.

An additional benefit is that you are regualrly reviewing what needs to still be done in the upcoming days, making your up to date with your work and as a result, even more in control of your schedule.

When planning out your day, you want to keep in mind to not plan it out too much and make it a schedule that is too restrictive for your own good. Also make sure to be realistic in how much work you set yourself and the time limits, as otherwise, it can lead to more work being postponed than getting done.

Here are some ideas for how you can plan out your day. Write down:

• What you want to accomplish that day (Work and personal tasks)

• Roughly how long you will spend on each task/ activity

• A couple of ways how you will keep focused and away from distractions

• In what ways will you include time for self-care

BE MINDFUL OF THE CONTENT YOU CONSUME

This is a crucial point that is not only applicable in these times of quarantine but in general all aspects of your life. Each day, whether you realize it or not, you are exposed to information incoming from different sources (TV, radio, social media, news, magazines, etc.), which you end up consuming as content. This content can be positive in nature or like most of the time it can also be negative, full of dissatisfaction, and complaining. When we choose to consume content that carries with it negative energy, we also end up reflecting that negative energy out to the world.

The key takeaway here is to keep in mind the kinds of media and content you are viewing and consuming because all of us consume content in some ways. Curate your content feed so that you limit negative energy and instead fill it with content that inspires you and fills you with positivity. This is especially linked with social media, where you have a certain degree of control in terms of what gets recommend on your feed pages, so designing that space for positive thoughts, leaving no room for unnecessary negativity.

The media that we view has a greater impact on our mental health than we might initially think, but it is true that what every information you absorb, you also start believing in and reflecting that energy to the world around you.

DO NOT NEGLECT SELF CARE

Self-care is something that must definitely not be neglected in your life because if it is, it leads to a decline in both your mental and physical well being. Try fitting at least some self-care time each day, or if that is hard to fit into your schedule, try and dedicate a self-care day such as Saturday or Sunday.

The point of self-care time is time that is spent doing things you like and preferably things that relax you and take care of your health.

Some examples may be:

• Taking extra time to sleep or to take a nap

• Relaxing with a shower or bath

• Listening to music you enjoy

• Unwinding with a favorite activity such as reading, watching a movie, or playing some video games

• Cooking or baking something for yourself or others

• Taking time to go out on fresh air

• Getting in exercise or time for stretching

• Putting more care into your skin, hair, nails, or any other external feature

EXERCISING

During a time of quarantine and working from home, it is very easy for us to completely neglect our exercise routine and habits, especially since any nearby sport/ fitness centers and parks are closed down now. However, this is not an excuse for you to completely abandon your exercise routine, because once again now that we work from home, we have more time to spare, which should theoretically make it more likely for us to include some movement in our everyday.

We all have different ways that we enjoy moving in, some of us prefer high-intensity team sports while others prefer more calmer and lower impact exercises that are more individually orientated. Both are fine, it just depends on which is your style.

Being physically active brings so many benefits to us, making it one of the sigle best uses of your time, which is exactly why I am such a big advocate for fitting at least 30 minutes of movement into your day. If you are able to perfrom exercises out on fresh air of good quality then that is even better, as good quality fresh air beats indoor air in all aspects.

If you are unsure of how to implement exercise into your routine, give the following ideas a go:

• Speed walking or walking uphill in your local area

• Light running, jogging or high intensity running

• Using online workout videos for working out inside the house

• Performing stretching exercises inside or outside

• Making use of public parks, gardens, forests, running tracks, stairs or any other feature that may challenge you physically

• Try out online yoga guided exercise tutorials

• Get a skipping rope and challenge yourself with difficult jumps

• Spend a day out hiking or walking longer trails in nature (You can also bring a bike here if that’s an option for you)

TAKING BREAKS

On the other hand of the spectrum, if we spend our whole days just working, we can also end up burning out or just exhausting ourselves which is obviously not something we should be striving for.

One of the best ways that you can prevent this is by taking regular breaks in your work, which creates a clear division between "work" time and "leisure" time. You can easily do this by setting a timer during which time you will work and a timer for taking a short break.

Stepping back from your work doesn’t only prevent you from overworking yourself, but it also gives you a more objective overview of your work, allowing you to spot any mistakes and notice ways in which you can improve your work. In this way, it also encourages you to think of new ideas, making it in the long term an even more worthwhile process.

KEEPING SOCIALLY CONNECTED

Although during quarantine social distancing is advised, it should not mean that our social life completely disappears as nowadays more than ever we have access to a whole spectrum of online social platforms, each of which servers their own function. Some specialize in texting ad messaging, while others are more focused on video calls or group talks.

Humans are by nature social animals, so use the socializing software you have on hand to stay connected and in touch with people, both your friends and important people from your school or workplace.

This is also a great way to still be able to obtain feedback for your work, which is vital for making sure you are headed in the right direction and for identifying areas for improvement.

PROCRASTINATION: Why We Do It & How To Stop It

WHAT IS PROCRASTINATION?

I am sure that if you are reading this right now, you are familiar with procrastination and might be finding that it is creeping into your life a little too often than you would like. Don’t worry, we have all been there, including me. Procrastination is becoming more and more of a common waste of our time, alongside the rising levels of distractions that are found within our environment and our own minds. I am convinced that most of us would like to be procrastinating less - since procrastination leads to basically no productive output- so how can we take control of our procrastination and not let it control our lives instead?

Before we start out, lets just briefly go through what procrastination is actually formally defined as being.

Here is the definition for it:

⇒ Procrastination is the deliberate practice of postponing events, tasks, and activities for some later time, while occupation our present time with unnecessary work that keeps us busy.

Therefore we can see that procrastination by nature does nothing good for us, so why do so many people struggle with it today and how do we fix that?

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WHY WE PROCRASTINATE?

The reasons why we procrastinate can firstly be explained from a biological/ psychological perspective, where we can see that procrastination is an issue that arises from incorrectly regulating our emotions, instead of it being the commonly though problem of time management. Secondly, we can try and explain procrastination through a more in-depth perspective, that deals with linking our emotions to our actions.

BIOLOGICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL REASONS:

1. Our brains are wired for short term gratification

   • This means that biologically we are more likely to make a decision that will bring an immediate positive reward to us, instead of working on something more long term for a great reward down the line. Short term gratification means that we want results and rewards immediately after an action, but that is often not the case with doing any type of work.

   • Work usually follows the pattern of starting the work, completing it, and only after some time, seeing results that are due to our input of effort. Because of this delay in reward and results, it makes starting work that much harder.

     Easy work → Shorter completion time: Reward is smaller but immediate

     Hard work → Longer completion time: Reward is greater, but not immediate

   • You would naturally prefer to scroll through social media to get immediate hits of dopamine, instead of starting a difficult piece of work and getting the same hit of dopamine much later.

   • Short term gratification is not only one of the main reason to blame for procrastination, but it also negatively impacts our decision-making abilities in all other aspects of life, where we risk losing much more valuable opportunities and larger rewards in the future, for doing easier works that immediately satisfies us.

2. Our brains like to save energy whenever possible

   • It is also a fact that even though our brains are of not great size, they can take up to 20% of our daily energy expenditure, which is exactly why they want to be the most energy-efficient they can. Because they need a lot of energy to be powered, they want to make sure that energy is used the best it can be, so that the least amount is wasted. In other words, they are wired for efficiency.

   • This exactly explains why it is much more daunting and harder for us to get started on a task that requires more energy, focus, and though; because it requires more energy from our brain.

   • The trick as to how to combat this issue has to do with how to trick our brain into not being afraid or daunted by initiating hard work but instead wiring it to start liking to perform difficult tasks.

3. Our own personal qualities and external factors

   • Whether we procrastinate is also linked to our own personal qualities and in what amounts we have them, as well as external factors in our environment that will cause or influence those qualities.

   • Some of these qualities and external factors include:

     • Our self-control

     • Our motivation

     • Demotivating and hindering factors

       • Examples: Rewards being far way int he future, feeling overwhelmed, anxiety, perfectionism, fear of failure, perceived lack of control, depression, lethargy

     With these three factors, we can sum up procrastination in the following equation:

     If Demotivating + Hindering factors > Self control + Motivation ⇒ Procrastination will result

REASONS FOR RESISTANCE

Other than biological reasons we can also try and explain procrastination from the perspective of resistance, where anytime that we try and start or complete an extensive and difficult task, we have four main sources of resistance that determine how likely we are to procrastinate on something:

• Difficulty: Task is too hard OR too easy

• Interest: Task is very interesting OR boring

• Ambiguity: Task is specific and clear OR undefined and ambiguous

• Motivation: Task is meaningful (motivating) OR un-motivating

If we can correctly manage these four levels that determine the likeliness of us procrastinating, it will be much easier for us to get started on the task and as a result, get it done. However, if we do not manage these factors, we will be much more prone to succumbing to procrastination and falling into the trap hole of it that may of us find too familiar.

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QUITTING PROCRASTINATION

PRACTICAL STEPS:

1. Become aware of when you are procrastinating

2. Identify why you procrastinate (Rationalization of actions)

3. Identify your sources of procrastination

4. Implement anti-procrastination strategies (Mentioned below)

ANTI PROCRASTINAITON STRATEGIES:

• Get into a flow state:

  • As I mentioned before, flow is a state that is the optimal balance between a task not being too boring and not being too difficult, allowing us to function at peak performance. We can ease ourselves into a flow state by adopting the two-minute rule that says that if a task will take us less than two minutes to complete we should do it right away and get it off our minds. The second way we can enter flow is by splitting up larger tasks into smaller time chunks such as 5 or 15 minutes, which will make the overall task seem less daunting and will encourage us to keep doing the task even after the time mark we set for ourselves.

• Task management

  • Specifying a task and splitting it into smaller manageable subtasks: This creates less resistance towards starting the task and makes us more likely to fully finish the task because we know exactly what has to be done.

  • Determining "next steps": Get into the habit of immediately after completing a task, to determine "next steps" or follow up tasks that are not necessarily supposed to be done immediately, but prevent us from procrastinating in the future whenever we are working on the same task.

  • Categorizing your tasks: This allows you to micromanage your tasks by grouping them into 3-5 generalized categories, such as "work", "school", "leisure" etc, which allows you to have a more simplified overview of your work and what categories take up the majority of your time.

  • Task Prioritization:

    • Urgency/ importance

    • Difficulty

    • Our focus/ energy levels

    • Our current situation (Resources and people on hand)

• Environment design

  • Your environment plays a large role in terms of your work habits and works ethic, which is why it is really important to keep your environment clean and free from any unwanted distractions such as technology, irrelevant work, or loud notifications. By keeping our environment as much distraction-free as we can, we will be less tempted to procrastinate and it will tell our brains that this specific space is associated with work and not with scrolling on your phone, allowing you to get a task done sooner.

• Energy management

  • You want to first ensure that you are recharging your energy levels well and frequently by getting adequate sleep every night, eating energizing foods, and staying active to keep your brain alert. Whenever you feel a burst of energy/ inspiration/ motivation to work, use it on your most difficult and time-consuming tasks as those require most mental/ physical energy, allowing you to finish that task with optimal performance and obtain great results from it.

• Setting deadlines

  • Setting time limits for our projects and tasks is crucial because it creates a sense of urgency for the task to be done, which makes it more likely for us to put our mental capacity to use at that time and get the work done. This idea is based on "Parkinson’s law", which states that work fills the time allocated to it. This means that if you set aside one hour to do a certain piece of work, psychologically you are going to try your best to complete the task in the given time frame, while if you were to only say "I want to complete this task sometime today", it means you could spend an unnecessary amount of time on a single piece of work, leaving your schedule even busier and less time for leisure and relaxation.

• Setting end rewards

  • Not only does setting rewards for completing work stimulate the development of a habit loop, as it rewards to encourage our brain to repeat an action, but it also gives us something to loop word to and as a result work faster, with more motivation and more efficiency - all ultimately allowing us to avoid procrastination in the future.

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CONCLUSIVE ADVICE

While procrastination is a common practice today, due to both biological/ physiological factors as well as external factors in our environment, it is crucial that we take procrastination under our control and replace it with higher quality tasks that fill our life with meaning.

While at the moment, doing nothing and just mindlessly scrolling through never-ending content sources may be amusing, in the long terms it is getting us nowhere and is likely also negatively impacting both our mental and physical health as well. All in all, procrastination is never a long term solution, since with it we only miss valuable opportunities and unique life lessons that we would learn along with them.

I hope that with the above tips and advice on how to reduce/ stop your procrastination, you are able to find more balance between your work and your personal endeavors while maintaining a clear and focused state of mind.

Minimalism Movement

WHAT IS IT?

If you have been anywhere near the internet recently, you would have noticed a steady rise in the minimalist culture. Although the concept of "Minimalism" initially started out in music where it referred to music that was composed of simple music theory and used minimal instruments, I am not talking about that kind. When I say minimalism, I am thinking of minimalism as a lifestyle, which influences our everyday habits, decision-making skills, and our relationship with materialistic goods.

As previously said, minimalism works as a lifestyle and mindset, which at its core, prioritizes things that we truly value instead of just buying things either because we can or because we are tempted to buy it. In essence, minimalism is the opposite of the commonly found consumerism, which encourages more spending as it is seen to positively contribute to the growth of the economy.

More is often not better, and minimalism does just that; It puts greater focus on the quality of things we own, instead of the quantity that it comes in

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WHAT IS IT ALL ABOUT?

Even though minimalism does put so much emphasis on not owning a lot, that does not mean that it is inherently wrong with owning many material possessions. The issues come when we assign meaning or self-worth to our material possessions, where as a result our own health, relationships, personal growth, and hobbies suffer.

Minimalism encourages buying goods that genuinely provide value to us, meaning that we focus on quality over quality. Because with minimalism we are much more intentional with the things we buy and we put much more thought, into our purchasing process, it is often also referred to as internationalism.

The idea of minimalism is becoming increasingly popular, because through minimalism we are not only positively contributing to ourselves, but also having a positive impact on our social relationships and the environment - that is becoming increasingly important to other people.

Below I have highlighted the 5 main benefits, all of which have come from personal experiences from implementing more minimalistic approaches in my life. That is not to say that you need to be considered a perfect "minimalist" to get these benefits, because neither am I one, and I still found it brought me a lot of good. I think that no matter to what degree you decide to implement minimalism, you will gain something positive from it.

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5 MAIN BENEFITS

INCREASED FOCUS AND CLARITY

By purchasing and owning fewer things, you are able to have better focus and more mental clarity, as there are fewer external distractions in your environment as well as internal disruptors from worrying thoughts.

This can be an incredible feeling, as you can fully put your mind to work and turn on all focus towards what you are doing which allows you to get your work done faster and at a much higher level fo quality.

FASTER AND EASIER DECISION MAKING

This is a big one, whereby incorporating minimalism into your life, you end up with owning fewer things - and more important things that you value - which makes it that much easier to make decisions.

Studies have often shown that the more choices you give a person, the slower and poorer their decision-making abilities will be. This is often demonstrated in stores and supermarkets where you have on offer at all times a mass amount of products, which leaves your brain tired and unable to make good decisions, a phenomenon known as decision fatigue. Minimalism greatly eliminates or at least lessens this.

INCREASED HAPPINESS

Many people have experienced higher levels of happiness and general satisfaction from incorporating more minimalist approaches into their life. One reason for this is because you simply own more of things that you truly value and get real use out of. As we have touched upon before, more is often not the answer to digging us out of a hole, but it will often just dig the hole deeper.

Secondly, though minimalism you are able to be more appreciative and be grateful for what you have, as you put more attention into your purchasing habits and generally make fewer impulse buys. By being more considerate of what you have it shifts your perspective into being thankful for what you have and that may be the answer doesn't lie in getting more of something.

SAVES RESOURCES

Minimalism can greatly cut down on your need and reliance on resources, whether that be material resources such as money, water, electricity, or natural materials or it can also help save you more time in the long run and space around your home.

Through avoiding impulse buys and really considering in what ways we use our money, we are able to tremendously cut down our spendings, as we are not just spending money here and there, which on a monthly basis can add up to a decent amount.

The counterpart to materialism; consumerism, is also heavily blamed for depleting or using up the world's natural resources as well as contributing to more environmental damage in the forms of deforestation, water/ air pollution, incorrect waste disposal, and loss of biodiversity. Through conserving materials, these impacts can be reduced.

Furthermore, with minimalism you can save your most valuable resource; time, as you spend less time shopping, making decisions, and worrying about our materialistic possessions.

Lastly, through owning less but owning more of what makes us happy, we free up a to of room in our home that was previously taken up by random space fillers, which allows us to bring even more intention and purpose into our living or working space.

MORE FREEDOM

The last benefit to minimalism that I have come across is just that you are freer and have less attachment to things, which makes you more flexible with your time and that much less likely to worry about forgetting something or not taking care of another thing. It frees your mind from so many of the worries that arise from heavy consumerism and your possessions no longer hold you back from truly living.

Through all of these combined, by having fewer concerns clouding your mind and being more intentional with the way you choose to spend your time and money, you start living and being more present at the moment. You are able to make every living moment intentional and purposeful to you in whatever way that may be.

With minimalism, you clear up so many of the unnecessary distractions of everyday life, and it can radically make a positive impact on your life by bringing back mental clarity and a reason for why you do things; your larger intention.

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5 MINIMALISM MISCONCEPTIONS

YOU HAVE TO OWN A MINIMAL NUMBER OF THINGS

If you have ever encountered minimalism before, you have probably heard of people who own less than 100 things and are perfectly content with what they have. As someone who likely owns more than 100 things, you immediately went "Oh I could never do that, that simply would just not work with me", and here it is important to realize that it is okay because maybe owning less than 100 things is really not compatible with your lifestyle and maybe it wouldn't even make you happier in the end. We are all different.

The point I am trying to make here is that if you would like to become a minimalist, you can still own more than 100 things, but let them be meaningful to you. Let them provide you with some sort of value and not just take up space. There is no point in just hoarding things or even depriving yourself of things if that simply just doesn't work for you.

Everyone has got a different lifestyle with different preferences, which is why there is no perfect idea of minimalism that would suit everyone.

IT IS TOO EXTREME AND HARD TO IMPLEMENT

Also, many people have the idea in their head that they have to turn full minimalist overnight and immediately get rid of the majority of their belongings and simply their life to the fullest all of a sudden. That is simply just not true. Because of these thinking patterns, people get scared of minimalism and see it as too extreme and difficult to achieve, but the truth is that minimalism is a longterm learning journey of improving your relationship with materialistic possessions.

YOU HAVE TO SAVE MONEY AT ALL TIMES

Minimalism also does not only limit you to buying things that you need basic necessities), because everyone has things that they want, but not necessarily need. It is important to also take care of our wants as they can bring a lot of happiness into our lives, but that doesn't mean that we should buy every single thing that we want, because that just leads to more consumerism.

Its perfectly fine to treat ourselves to a gift or a purchase every so often, but buy something because you will get use and happiness out of it, not because you feel the need to just buy something.

Apart from that, minimalism is also commonly mistaken for us having to be very frugal with our money at all times, by once again it just comes down to spending money on the things we care about. Often when focusing on higher quality of goods, the price is automatically higher, meaning that you are either choosing between purchasing fewer products of higher price and quality or buying more products that are cheaper and have poorer quality, meaning they last you less time.

EVERYONE IN YOUR SOCIAL CICRCL NEEDS OT BE A MINIMALIST

Upon adopting a minimalist lifestyle, it is common to think that from now on you have to only surround yourself with other minimalists and in all ways, keep away from heavy consumers. With that approach, you will see that at the end of the day you will not end up with many friends at all, because not everyone in the world will be inclined to try or adopt minimalism.

It is important to respect the choices that others have made for their lifestyle and to not force them into something they are not interested in. it is best to try and explain and educate them about the topic and your reasons for doing it, but by no means do you now have to force them into becoming a minimalist.

Learn to live with each other’s lifestyle choices and support each other in making responsible choices.

MINIMALISM AS AN ACTION

• Minimalism is a type of lifestyle and mindset, instead of a single action that defines us as a minimalist. It is not the shorthand action of purging your closet that will make you an immediate minimalist, but it is more of a longterm change in mindset, habits, and other lifestyle factors, such as choosing to intentionally buy less clothing. As a lifestyle, it encompasses more than just your purchasing habits, but also your thinking and relationship with the world around you.

• Anything worth changing for does not happen overnight, because rewiring your thinking habits is hard and takes time, therefore expect that this is a long term journey and positive lifestyle change that you are taking on.

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MINDFUL IMPLEMENTATION PRACTICES

It is not about becoming a minimalist overnight, but a gradual transition process into becoming more mindful with our purchases and possessions. Here are some tips and advice on how to try to start implementing some minimalistic practices into your life, so that you too can experience some of the benefits it carries.

• When going through your current possessions, ask yourself:

  • Does this bring any form of value to me?

  • How often do I use this?

  • Could someone else appreciate or need this more than me?

• Have a declutter day or spend 5-10 minutes decluttering something each day

• Find ways in which you can simply aspects of you rife (cooking, cleaning working)

• Give away things you down want/ need anymore to people in need

• If you don’t like or use something anymore, try to reuse or fix up so that you will give the item a second chance for use

• Invest in quality pieces instead of quantity of pieces that will save you more money in the long run

• Have a limited number of clothes hangers available in your wardrobe

Organic Food: What's The Buzz All About?

In today’s modern society, just stepping into the supermarket can leave your mind boggled and confused with several labels, descriptions, and special words used to identify products: Organic, non-GMO, free-range, eco friendly and the list goes on, but what do all of these mean?

This is why I will first go through what these words mean so that we can keep on track with the topic and understand all of the content thoroughly. I don't want to be confusing commonly misunderstood words such as "Organic" and "Non-GMO" for each other since they mean different things, which is why we have to first define them to avoid any confusion.

In this article specifically, I will be focusing on "organic" food, and more specifically whether it actually carries the promised benefits or it is all just a marketing fad used to promote more customer spending.

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WHAT EVEN IS ORGANIC?

Although each country has its own regulations and standards for what can be classed as "organic", we can generally define organic food as:

Food that is produced in the absence of man-made fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, synthetic fertilizers, growth enhancers, and chemically additives. It excludes Genetically modified Organisms (GMO) and promotes food production that is more environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable in the long term.

In terms of animals, livestock is not fed antibiotics or growth hormones, as well as needing to have access to the outdoors for grazing.

While all of these things sound great for both environmental and health concerns, research and opinions are mixed about whether these "magical" foods carry as many benefits as they get praise for. This is what we will be discussing in more detail, below.

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DO NOT CONFUSE ORGANIC WITH…

NON-GMO:

• A Genetically Modified Organism (GMO), is an organism, either plant, animal, or microorganism, whose genetic makeup has been altered through laboratory practices and experiments, in order to produce an organism with more desirable characteristics. these characteristics can mean a better appearance, a more appealing taste, being more nutritious, or becoming more resistant to disease.

• Even-though foods advertised as being "healthy", often have both labels such as "Organic" and "Non-GMO", they are not the same things, since Non-GMO does not follow the same farming and raising practices.

• While GMO's have their list fo benefits, people have also expressed concerns towards them, such as:

  • Increased rate of allergic reactions

  • They could possibly promote the development of cancers

  • Their ability to be more resistant to herbicides, which leads to more herbicide being sprayed, which ultimately means we consume more herbicides

ECO FRIENDLY:

• While this one most commonly refers to non-food products, it can nevertheless still be found on food labels. Eco friendly simply means that it is good for the environment, in terms of encouraging practices that conserve energy, limits resources, tries to decrease waste production, as well as not contributing to water, air, and land pollution.

FREE RANGE:

• The term "free-range" refers to a style of raising livestock and animals that assures that animals have access to outdoor space either for movement or for grazing.

• Although the regulation for "free-range" food differs for every country, food labels like "free-range" do not always guarantee that animals are actually "free-range", so you have to double-check the practices of the producer or farmer to be certain.

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ORGANIC IN NUMBERS

• Since the 1900s, organic food consumption has been increasing for about 20% each year, with also more land becoming dedicated to growing organic food.

• In 2018, the total sales of organic food have amounted up to 95 billion USD.

• So far in the year 2020, more than 60 billion USD has been spent on organic foods.

• The largest markets for organic food are found in the US; Germany and France, with the biggest consumers of organic products being Denmark, Sweden, and Switzerland.

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CURRENT NUTRITIONAL BELIEFS

Since organic food has been and is on the rise of consumption, what makes people want to buy it more? What are these convincing factors, which may or may not be true at all?

Some of the currently believe and potentially promised benefits of organic food include:

• Better nutritional profile

• The lower presence of pesticides in food, that makes it safer to eat

• Better taste compared to conventional food

• Perhaps an improved nutritional profile with a higher nutrient content

• Better animal welfare

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WHAT IS THE TRUTH?

ACTUAL BENEFITS OF BUYING ORGANIC

FEWER PESTICIDES:

• The majority of research studies have concluded that organic food indeed does contain and is sprayed with fewer pesticides, as is part of the organic food guidelines, but that does not mean that organic food contains no pesticides. Pesticides are still in organic food, there is just less of them and they come in different natural varieties that are not chemically or synthetically based.

• For example, researchers in a study from a couple of years ago looked and analyzed over 94,000 food samples and found that on average, organic food contains one third as many pesticides as conventional food.

• On the topic of pesticides, it is true that conventional foods contain a higher level of them, but many still do not cross the line of being "unhealthy" or bad for our health. The question that follows however is if long terms consumption of standard levels of pesticides is unsafe or harmful to our health, as a result of a build-up of pesticides in our body through time.

• Many scientists do think that long term pesticide exposure and consumption can be harmful to us, as literally pesticides are designed to kill (small) organisms. However, we also have to consider the accumulation of pesticides in our environment such as our soil and water, which further goes into the growth of new plants that are further sprayed with pesticides, and the cycle repeats.

• Therefore we have to view the issue in terms of how it impacts our health and what kind of consequence it will have on our environment, as we critically depend on both for our survival.

• For your convenience, below I have made a list of the produce that has been shown to have the greatest concentration of pesticides. Whether organic or not, it is most recommended that you thoroughly wash these fruits and vegetables, and still consume them as apart of a healthy and balanced diet:

  • Leafy greens

  • Strawberries

  • Peaches

  • Berries

  • Grapes

  • Pears

  • Apples

  • Celery

  • Green peas

BETTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT:

• It is by no doubt that true that organic food that by default contains fewer pesticides which in turn leads to less pesticide buildup in our soils and eventually means that we ingest fewer pesticides - meaning its also better for our health.

• Organic farming is said to contribute to soil of higher and healthier quality, reducing erosion - a critical issue in today’s farming, improving water pollution in rivers by preventing eutrophication, and generally encouraging greater biodiversity among plants and animals.

• The reason why these environmental benefits of organic farming sound so promising, is because it has been shown that farming of conventionally grown food contributes to soil erosion, loss of biodiversity, and increasingly more water pollution due to the leaking of fertilizers and pesticides.

• On the other hand, a safety concern about organic food has arisen, debating whether using manure as a fertilizer is safe to use for humans, since it may increase the spread of harmful bacteria such as E. coli. Many studies however have shown that through comparisons of organic and non-organic foods, organic foods tend to have fewer numbers of bacteria on them, especially harmful bacteria.

• Even though all of this sounds great in a perfect world we would all be practicing organic farming and consuming more organic foods but that is just not the reality. While promoting organic for the longterm is more sustainable for our planet, organic farming is harder to achieve or to make it a standard of farming, simply because of its lower yields, greater usage of water, and the need for more land for growing.

BETER ANIMAL WELAFERE:

• Organic farming has indeed been shown to contribute to animal welfare and ensure that through organic standards, animals are given suitable movement space, organic and Non-GMO feed, fresh air, and are generally "raised in conditions that suit their natural behavior", as was stated by the Soil Association.

• Meat and animal products that fall under the organic regulation also contain minimal to no antibiotics and growth hormones, since in theory organically raised livestock is not allowed to be routinely fed antibiotics; only in the case that the animal is sick.

MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT ORGANIC FOOD

BETTER NUTRITION PROFILE:

• In terms of the nutritional profile of organic food, there have been studies that have found that organic produce does not necessarily contain more micronutrients such as vitamins and minerals, but is predominantly richer in polyphenols and antioxidants.

• The reason for this is that because the plants are not sprayed with synthetic pesticides, they have no external protection against pests from pesticides, meaning that the plants have to produce their own chemicals for warding off pests. And these chemicals happen to be antioxidants - molecular substances that have been shown to be good for our health, cells, and preventing skin aging, by reducing oxidative stress. This way, researchers found that in comparison to conventional food, organic produce can contain up to as much as 40% more antioxidants, meaning that it is better for our health.

• Either way, whether organic or conventional, it is best to eat our produce when it is fresh, as otherwise certain nutrients such as vitamin C can start oxidizing and lose their health benefits as well as their fresh taste over time

• "If you want to get the most from your food, eat it while it's fresh."

BETTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT:

• Even though I have previously mentioned, organic farming does offer some environmental benefits such as reduced water pollution and less soil erosion, the strict regulation for organic food also brings about many disadvantages to the environment.

• Primarily, organic farming has been shown to contribute more to greenhouse gas emissions which we all know contribute to global warming. For example, organic milk and dairy products have been shown to not be very environmentally conscious, as based on the Study of Life Cycle Assessments in the United Kingdom, found that "A liter of organic milk requires 80 percent more land than conventional milk to produce, has 20 percent greater global warming potential, releases 60 percent more nutrients to water sources, and contributes 70 percent more to acid rain".

• On the topic of greenhouse gases, animals are also to blame here, where organically raise livestock produces twice as much methane as conventional farmed cows and chickens are close to that number as well. Raising organic cattle comes at a slightly lower greenhouse emission value, where they produce about 12% more of these gases in comparison to conventional cattle.

• Here it is also important to consider the contribution that fossil fuels have to greenhouse gas emissions, where it has been found several times that farming equipment used for organic produce most commonly runs on fossil fuels, which just like any other fossil fuel, contributes to air pollution.

• It is generally observed that organic production uses up more energy, more water, produces lower harvest yields, and requires more land space. For example, in terms of yields, a hectare of conventionally farmed land produces 2.5 times more potatoes than its conventional competitor. In the United Kingdom where tomatoes are most commonly grown in greenhouses, the organic yields are up to 75% less than conventionally grown tomatoes, while needing twice as much energy to be grown.

• All in all, while organic produce does have a positive impact on the environment, we have to also be aware that organic food can act as a double-edged sword, where it also has environmental downsides.

SUPERIOR TASTE:

• Based on a 2016 study done by the Pew Research center, it was discovered that upon asking supermarket shoppers the question "Why do you buy organic", about 30% said that they buy it for the better taste but interestingly about 60% said that in their opinion organic and conventional food taste about the same.

• So is it true that organic tastes better? Let’s take a look.

• In terms of the taste, if organic food is said to taste better it is most likely because the food is usually more fresh at the store, meaning there is less time between harvest and selling. This by no doubt makes a difference in taste since everyone can tell apart when a piece of fruit or vegetable is fresh or not.

• However just because a food is grown and labeled as organic, it does not mean that it automatically tastes better; Taste is predominantly determined by the organism’s genetic makeup. Meaning that if you take a bland tasting species of tomatoes and grow them in organic conditions, at the end of the day they will still taste like bland tomatoes.

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CONCLUSIVE ADVICE

Buying organic may not be a priority for everyone, so it will depend on your personal preferences and choices; precisely, what you value most. For example, if you are concerned with consuming pesticides, then eating organic may be your best choice, however, if animal welfare is not the first on your list of priorities, then you may have to look for a different option.

Besides personal choice, there is also the factor of price, where based on research done by the USDA, organic food can cost 10-30% more than conventional food, which can make it an expensive investment in the long run, especially for a large family. If you would still like to buy more organic food, that does not mean that all of your products have to be bought organic, but simply choosing to buy some products as organic may be a smart move for you and your wallet.

Generally speaking, if you choose not to purchase as much organic food, it is always good advice to wash your produce before eating it and also choosing to buy in-season products that are both good for your wallet and the planet, due to smaller transporting distances.

Either way, at the end of the day it comes down to personal choice. Both conventional and organic have advantages and disadvantages, so it all really is based on personal choice and your lifestyle.

Never Stop Reading: Here's Why

You have very likely heard that reading is good for you and that you should do it more often, but why exactly is it "good" for us, and what is it about reading that still makes it a valuable skill in our society?

Whether reading paper-based literature or digital, both can have impactful and long-lasting positive impacts on our life. If we start young and build a steady reading habit of reading at least a couple of average length books per year, then that just means we will reap even more benefits as the years go on.

Reading is an action so simple and "basic" that it is often neglected, but scientific research is, again and again, proving just how much of a positive effect it has on our life and overall well being.

So if you are interested as to why it is worth to put aside some time each day to read, keep on reading. A long term habit of reading can be one of the best things you can do for your mental, physical, emotional and social health.

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LITERATURE FACTS AND STATISTICS

To start off, I want to first bring out a couple of statistics on reading that show how reading has progressed in our society throughout history, how big the global literature industry is and how many of us actually read on a regular basis.

• In the year 1820, only about 12% of the world above the age of 15 was literate, meaning that they knew how to read and write, but in 2016, that figure dramatically increased to 86%.

• Since the year 2017, more than 1 million books have been self-published in both paper and digital format.

• Between the years of 2017 and 21018, the sales of audiobooks in the world increased by almost 25%.

• In 2018, 44,500 audiobooks were produced which is 5% more than in 2017.

• An American study has shown that "Over 80% of people who read books have at least some college education, if not a degree".

• Based on a study done in early 2019 by Pew Research Center, they found that 27% of adults did not read a single book in the previous year, 2018.

• It is estimated that there are more than 90 million e-reading devices in the United States

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BENEFITS OF READING

DECLINE OF MENTAL CONDITIONS

• Mental stimulation, in various forms, has been shown to have a beneficial effect on our brain health and cognition, wherein elderly people it has reduced rates of cognitive decline; ultimately slowing an ageing brain. Mental stimulation can come in many forms, one of them being reading, but generally, it is any time that we use our brain muscle and keep it active. Its either use it or lose it.

• In relation to this, it has been scientifically shown that those who regularly read have lower rates of mental conditions such as dementia and Alzheimers that appear in the later years of life.

ENHANCED MEMORY

• Memory is something that we often begin loosing with age, but that can be slowed down if we keep our brains mentally active and fit.

• In order to understand what you are reading, your brain has to interpret that information and visually represent it. All of these different levels of information processing mean more work for your brain and more time going through that information - both of which make the information more memorable and likely to stick.

MAKES YOU SMARTER

• Many times it has been proven that those who read, generally have high er IQ scores and a greater depth of knowledge in various fields. it is not to say that in order to read you have to be nerdy, but it’s actually the opposite; the more you read the smarter you get.

• It does not matter what you read on, whether it is fiction, autobiographies, historical accounts, self-help books or travel guides, whatever it is, you will learn from it and your brain will become enriched with new knowledge.

• This becomes useful, especially when we read a wide variety of books, ranging both from fiction to non-fiction, which not only raises the quality of our knowledge but also the quanitity.

ENHANCED PROBLEM-SOLVING ABILITIES

• Reading allows us to gain new knowledge and more penalty, new ideas about how to tackle and view problems. It enables you to become more open-minded and welcome to new solutions - a skill that is always looked for.

IMPROVED IMAGINATION AND CREATIVITY

• With reading, we also develop a more vivid and adventurous imagination, especially if we commonly read fantastical fiction, which is often written ina creative fashion with high levels of description, which makes us immersed in the story and lose track of time.

• Being imaginative and creative are again appearing as really valuable skills, where they are useful for the previously mentioned problem solving and any creative work such as writing, painting, playing or writing music etc.

IMPROVES OUR FOCUS AND DISCIPLINE

• Reading is an activity that requires consistency as if we want to finish a book from start to end we have to regularly set aside time to read it, which is why a long term reading habit can also help develop discipline and a greater ability to focus - two crucial life skills that are useful to anyone

RAISES YOUR SELF ESTEEM

• As we previously said, reading makes you smarter and raises your intelligence since you generally learn more just from the literature that you are reading. And the more knowledge we are able to acquire both about our world and about us, the more self-aware we become, which in turn raises our self-esteem and confidence levels.

BECOME MORE EMPATHETICAL

• Seeing a story from the perspective of someone else

• Development of feelings and emotions

• Empathy: the ability to understand and relate to someone’s feelings is a very important quality and skill, that allows you to make more meaningful social connections and just generally makes you a more compassionate and approachable person.

• Through reading, we can develop empathy by reading a narrative through someone else perspective and trying to imagine the story from their shoes, which allows us to develop emotions and feelings towards the storyline and characters in it.

BECOME A BETTER COMMUNICATOR

• Better speaker and writer

• More knowledge of vocabulary, grammar, intonation and sentence structure

• The more we read, the better we become at communicating, both through speaking and though writing.

• The reason for that is because when we read, our brain is exposed to new vocabulary, sentence structure, grammar and intonation, all of which your brain is able to remember and use in your writing or speaking. Therefore the more you read, the more you remember and the more efficient you can become at communicating

REDUCED STRESS

• You have probably experienced that reading before bed makes you drowsy and your eyelids heavy, that makes it easier for you to drift off to sleep.

• The reason why we become sleepy is that usually when we read we are sitting or laying down in a comfortable position and the actual act of reading is a demanding activity for our brain; Having to move our eyes to follow the lines, having to interpret the words, making sense of the paragraph etc. This makes it a perfect combination to fall asleep, especially if we read in the evening when we are at our most tired from the day behind us.

• Apart from that, reading also makes us calmer, since we have to focus on what we are reading, which is why it makes us more clear-minded and potentially even rational.

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HOW TO READ MORE

• Make it part of your morning or evening routine and decide for how long you will read, what you will read and where.

• State why you want to start reading

• Read about what interests you; Don't force yourself to read something you don't want to read. Reading should not be a chore but an enjoyment

• Set realistic reading goals

• Listen to audiobooks on your commute to work or school, such as Amazon Audible

• Keep a book or e-reader with you in a bag, so you can read it when you have some spare time

• Share what you read with others online or in real life

• Studies have shown that people who have an e-reader tend to read on average more books

• Stock up in an inventory of books you want to read

• Make a reading list of books you want to still read and books you have read

• Find a place with minimal distractions and a quiet environment

• Enrol in a reading challenge or book club

• Don't feel forced to finish a book if you don't enjoy it

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CONCLUSION

Reading is such a simple exercise that can be done by anyone who can read, but it offers an incredible amount of benefits for various aspects of our health.

Done underestimate the power of reading because a little can go along way. Even just having a habit of 10 minutes of reading per day can stack up to a lot in the long run; A little is always better than nothing, especially since many of us do not necessarily have a couple of spare hours each day to read. Set a target for 10 or 20 minutes each day and that is already a fantastic start.

The sooner you start the better and the more time you have to learn more. Pick up a book you are interested in or start listening to an audiobook on your way to school or work.

Happy reading :)

The BitterSweet Truth Behind Added Sugar

For a long time now, we have known of the health issues that can arise when we overeat on added sugar, that is by now found in almost all processed and packaged foods, whether sweet or salty. With the globalization and industrialization of the world, sugar has become more accessible, easier to trade and increasingly more processed. We now have and use different types of added sugars, whether that is sugar which comes from sugar cane or other sources such as beets, artificial sweeteners and various syrups made from plant material. Either way, no matter what kind of added sugar we are talking about, we are consuming a lot of it.

Although between the years of 2018/2019 and 2019/2020, the world sugar consumption had slightly declined from 172.6 million metric tonnes to 171.6 million metric tones, the average American is still consuming about 70 grams of added sugar per day - in any form - which is about 17 teaspoons per day that adds up to a staggering 60 pounds or roughly 30 kilos of added sugar consumed in a single year by a single individual.

This is heavily out of proportion to what is the recommended upper limit of our added sugar intake, which is why we have to be aware of how excessive added sugar consumption impacts our longterm health, be able to identify the hidden sources of added sugar in our diet and learn how we can eat less of it.

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WHAT ARE ADDED SUGARS?

To those who may not yet be familiar with the term "added sugar", added sugars are simple sugars that are not naturally present in our food, but have to later be manually added into our food for various reasons during the processing of the food. Added sugars are the opposite of natural sugars, which are naturally found in foods such as fruits, vegetables, dairy products, grains, legumes and starches.

Sugars, whether added or natural in their simple form are all eventually broken down into simple carbohydrate molecules by our bodies enzymes and biochemical reactions, which enable us to use the food we ingest as energy. Because added sugars are primally sourced from processed foods, they are high in calories without having a great nutritional profile since they lack the intrinsic nutrients such as water, fibre, vitamins, minerals and other micronutrients.

Some examples of added sugars include:

• Syrups (High Fructose Corn syrup, malt, maple, agave)

• Artificial sweeteners

• Honey (Even-though honey is technically a natural sugar because it comes from a natural source, it is still regarded as an added sugar as it is often used as an additive in our food to sweeten the flavour)

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DIETARY SOURCES

As previously mentioned, added sugars are mostly obtained from processed foods, which is nowadays more available than ever before, meaning that it is very easy for us to overeat on sugars if we are not mindful of what and how much we are consuming. Sugary drinks such as sodas, fruit juices and sports drinks are all heavily sweetened either with syrups or artificial sweeteners, which makes them a major source of added sugar in our diet.

To put things into perspective, a 12oz or 350ml can of Coca Cola has 39 grams of sugar which is a single serving surpasses what is the maximum recommend a daily intake of added sugar for us. And 39 grams is only from a small can that can easily drink in one sitting, so you can only imagine how much sugar you can easily consume by drinking more than one can.

Secondly, after sweetened drinks, are processed snacks and cereals such as highly processed breakfast cereals, granolas, chips and crackers. Although plenty of snacks are savoury and salty, sugar is still added to them to balance out the flavours and make the taste more addicting, to get us to buy more.

Lastly, we also get added sugars from deserts such as cakes, cookies, pastries, ice creams and even yoghurts - many of which claim to be "natural" and "healthy" but can often be loaded with extra sugars.

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WHY SO MUCH ADDED SUGAR?

While sugars are obviously added to food to sweeten them and make the taste more appealing to consumers, there is also plenty of other reasons why food manufacturers use more sugar.

Apart from improving taste, adding sugar improves the texture, colour and general appearance of the food. Just like salt, it also acts as a preservative in foods such as jams and jellies, as well as providing the energy for bacteria that enables the process of fermentation to begin, which allows for the making of bread, pastries and beer. Besides that, it also increases the size of food by acting as a bulking agent and lastly, sugar has the property of reducing the acidity of food, such as food counting tomatoes or vinegar.

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PROBLEMS OF ADDED SUGARS

POOR NUTRITIONAL PROFILE

Since added sugars are predominantly obtained through the processing of food, they lack important nutrients while being heavy in calories. Because they lack nutrients such as water and fibre, it is easier for us to overeat on them, since they do not satiate our hunger for long.

Also, because we have established that added sugars are most commonly found in heavily processed food, if we eat a lot of added sugars, it means we are consuming more of already packaged foods that besides from being high in sugars are also high in sodium, artificial additives, chemicals and other substances that our bodies do not thrive on.

HEART DISEASE

More and more research is coming out, indicating a relationship between high added sugar consumption and a greater incidence for developing heart disease.

One study concluded that adults who ate 12-30 teaspoons of sugar each day had a one third increased risk for developing heart disease, while adults who consumed more than 30 teaspoons of sugar in a single day, had a three times higher risk for dying from heart disease. What was interesting however is that age, gender, physical activity or their BMI, had no effect on the risk of developing heart disease; meaning that you could have been otherwise a healthy individual who was active, fit and had no health conditions, but if you added sugar intake surpassed a certain level, your incidence of heart disease was much greater.

This tells us that lifestyle factors are one part of the equation, but the main part is reducing our added sugar intake

Exactly why added sugar contributes to more instances of heart disease is still being researched with many open possibilities currently circulating as explanations.

1. One explanation is that when we eat high amounts of sugar, our liver metabolizes that sugar into fat for storage (if there is not enough sugar being needed by the body at the moment). When our liver stores too much fat, it turns into a health condition known as Fatty liver disease that not only makes you more prone to developing diabetes but you guessed it; also heart disease.

2. Another possible explanation is that when we over a long period of time consume too much-added sugar, it increases our blood pressure and with that, inflammation in our bodies, both of which ave been correlated with developing heart disease

3. Additionally, a third explanation has arisen which states that excessive added sugar consumption through our diet increases the prevalence of triglycerides in our bloodstream which are specialized fat molecules that circulate through our blood and if we have too many of them, they overtime cause our arteries to stiffen and contract, which increases our chances for stroke or heart disease.

Before, when talking about the sources of added sugars in our diet, we have mentioned High Fructose Corn (HFC) syrup that by now is found in almost all commercially processed foods, and has been shown to be linked with diabetes, fatty liver disease, weight gain and later on even heart disease. HFC syrup is a sweetener derived from corn starch and is by composition, roughly half in fructose and half glucose, that makes it an ideal sweetener for beverages and food. Because of the high concentration of fructose that we are ingesting with heavily processed foods containing HFC syrup, our liver converts and stores more of that fructose as fat, making us more likely to develop fatty liver disease and heart disease.

DIABETES

Researchers have said that drinking 350 ml of any sugary soda every single day increase your risk for diabetes by 26% as well as your risk for high blood pressure, which has also been linked with higher instances of heart disease

Fructose from processed foods that lack fibre, water and micronutrients, as opposed to fructose naturally found in whole foods, is one of the main factors in escalating your risk for developing diabetes. As previously said, when our body is flooded with fructose, our liver metabolizes it into fat and stores it, which over time leads to fatty liver disease, inflammation as well as insulin resistance - that is greatly linked with type 2 diabetes. If we are insulin resistant or prone to becoming insulin resistant, our chances of getting diabetes are very high - especially if we continue to make poor lifestyle choices.

WEIGHT GAIN AND OBESITY

it is also worth mentioning that food and drinks that are high in added sugar make our blood sugar levels spike soon after ingestion, but also make them plummet not long after that, which makes us reach for another cookie or another can of soda to get our energy levels back, but that only worsens and repeats the cycle of rising and falling blood sugar levels.

As general information, carbohydrates such as white sugar and syrups carry about 4 calories worth of energy for every gram. Previously where we used Coca Cola as an example, we saw that roughly a 350 ml bottle contains 39 grams of sugar which adds up to around 150 calories per can - almost all of which is from added sugar.

With processed food being so widely available today, it is easier than ever to overeat on sugar. This is not only observed in the adult population but also in the younger demographic where we are seeing increasingly more younger children becoming overweight, obese or even developing chronic health conditions that usually appeared later on in life.

Besides the satiety factor that processed food lacks, the fructose which we ingest via processed food encourages our liver to metabolize and store more of it as fat, that makes it easier to put on weight, but much harder to put off.

TOOTH DECAY

Since the day that you first grew teeth, you were encouraged to wash your teeth properly and not eat too many sweets, because you were told that it is bad for your dental health - and that still holds true.

Studies done on the dental health of American adults showed that adults who drank 1-2 sugary drinks each day had 30% more dental diseases as in comparison to adults who consumed no sugary drinks.

If we have poor oral and dental hygiene as well as consume large amounts of added sugar, it promotes bacteria in our mouth to multiply and feed off any sugary debris that is left in our mouth. While feeding on sugar, they release acids that corrode our teeth and result in dental cavities. One thing you can directly do is take proper care of your teeth, while also being mindful about how much processed sugar you consume.

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IDENTIFYING ADDED SUGARS

On modern-day nutrition labels, added sugars come disguised under many different names and forms that we initially would not even recognize as being sweetening agents.

Here are some general rules for locating added sugars on food labels:

• Any mentioning of "syrup"

• Words ending in "ose", such as maltose, fructose, dextrose, galactose etc.

• Various juices like cane juice

• Evidence of direct sugars such as palm sugar

• Syrups, most commonly in the form of High Fructose Corn syrup, agave or maple syrup

• Honey

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HOW MUCH SHOULD WE EAT?

Now that we are aware of all of the main ways of how added sugars impact our health, where they are found and under what names they come hidden as, how much is actually advised to eat? How much is too much?

First, let’s establish that our body can live perfectly well without added sugar. If we are obtaining our carbohydrates or sugars in their whole natural form we are not only getting more natural sugar varieties but we also plenty of other nutrients along too, such as water, fibre and micronutrients. However, if we treat ourselves every so often to a serving of added sugar whether that be cake, ice cream or something savoury it’s not an issue as long as it doesn't become a habitual practice that quickly leads us to consume more than what is advised for our well being.

The maximal recommended serving of added sugar is varied, where there is no exact single recommend serving size, as different health association around the world will recommend different amounts. For example, the American Heart Association states that the maximum amount of added sugar that should be consumed in a day is 36 grams (9 teaspoons) for men and 24 grams (6 teaspoons) for women. The Dietary Guideline for Americans says that added sugar should not exceed 10% of your daily calorie intake, which comes to about 12 teaspoons for a diet that is 2000 calories.

As a general rule of thumb, the less you can eat the better but exceeding the limit of 9 teaspoons per day seems to be regarded as being harmful to your health. Be mindful and aware of how much you are consuming, especially since sugar has now become so well hidden in our food culture.

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HOW TO DECREASE YOUR SUGAR CONSUMPTION

• Replace store-bought ketchup with salsa and swap out sugary salad dressings with homemade healthier varieties

• Switch out sodas for sparkling water, normal water, flavoured water with fruit and herbs, tea or even coconut water

• Sweeten your deserts with apple sauce, whole fruit or dates

• Instead of using sugary condiments, use half of an avocado or a dollop of humous that can satisfy your cravings just as much

• Store-bought cereals and granolas can often be loaded with sugar, so try out more natural varieties like muesli, plain oats or even making your own granolas at home for several servings

• The environment around you is key, so if it is hard for you to initially build a responsible relationship with sugar, get rid of it completely in your kitchen cabinets or replace it with better alternatives such as honey

• Try dark chocolate instead of milk. Start at around 70% cacao and work your way up as you start liking the taste

• Buy full-fat yoghurts, dressings, sauces or any other product, because often when a product is reduced in fat, it is higher in added sugars to compensate for the loss of appealing flavour that fat brings

• Start incorporating more whole foods into your diet instead of heavily packaged foods

• Learn how to read nutrition labels and identify all the various names that sugar hides behind

• Try out natural artificial sweeteners such as Stevia, Erythritol and Xylitol, which do not cause an increase in blood sugar spikes but still provide a sweet flavour

• Get enough sleep. Sleep has been shown to be a critical component to balancing your hunger and satiety hormones that control your hunger signals during the day

• Don't shop for food when hungry because then you are much more likely to make impulsive food purchases that are often higher in sugar and generally worse for your health

Avoid Distractions Like A Boss

DISTRACTION REALITY

In the last 100 years, the average pace of living has increased substantially. Everything now is happening much faster and is speeding up even as we speak. Each year the world is becoming more connected, easing the distribution of information, money, jobs, products and resources. Not only that, but we are now also well part of the digital age, where the things mentioned above are promoted and encouraged even more, purely because technology makes life easier and more convenient for everyone who has it.

However, with this interconnectedness and an increase in the activity of our surroundings, we are exposed to more and more distractions each day. The frequency and amount of these distracts will continue growing, which is why one of the most treasured skills nowadays is the ability to stay focused on a task for a set period of time.

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BENEFITS OF STAYING FOCUSED

BETTER WORK OUTPUT

The primary benefit of being able to avoid distractions is the ability to have a greater work output, where we are able to get more done in a shorter amount of time. Not only that, but the work which we do produce will end up being of higher quality, as we have poured in more concentrated work that has fewer errors and mistakes in it. Another benefit is that if we are in a focused state then other people who are around us will notice that and will be more inclined to stay focused as well. This is because our environment plays such as a key role in our work, influencing everything from our productivity, focus and our thinking. In order to see and make a change around you, you have to first adopt that change in yourself, since the external world is a reflection of your internal state.

IMPROVES US AS A PERSON

Apart from improving the work we produce, the ability to stay focused also benefits us as a person, improving our personal qualities. Fore mostly, it gives you more mental clarity in the moment as we are more likely to enter a flow state with our work, in which we have enhanced creativity and problem-solving skills.

In order to achieve a state of focus, we have to first make a couple of decisions which allows us to reach this state of focus. Due to this decision making, process, we are able to improve our decision-making skills, as we learn to make the right decisions based on the moment, and we strengthen our will power muscle as we are able to resist the tempting distractions of the outside world, to choose to instead focus on doing something valuable.

Not only that, but when we are fully concentrated on something, we direct our full attention to it, meaning that we are more present in the moment with it, and as a result remember more useful things connected with what we are doing, which overall helps improve our memory recall of an event or task.

Lastly, due to the fact that when we are in a flow state, we experience higher levels of happiness, since we are living and working in the present moment and not focusing on ten things at once, which really only diverts our focus.

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COMMON DISTRACTIONS

ELECTRONICS

In terms of electronics, we mostly get distracted by notification rings, whether that is from our phone, computers, tablets or pretty much any other device that notifies us about something. By hearing a sound or a ring, we are tempted to see what it is, which diverts our attention and focus away from the task at hand.

When talking about notifications, it is integral to mention the process of instant gratification, which works on the bass of our brain releasing the pleasure chemical dopamine every-time is anticipates success. This anticipation of "success" can come in the form of a notification or simply viewing photos or videos, like those found on many social media networks. When our brain does come across this content that we associate with "success", we get a short term hit of dopamine, which further enforces our brain to continue scrolling through our Instagram or any other social media feed, even though a fair chunk of time has already gone by. What initially only starts out as "Just 5 minutes of scrolling" can easily end up being half-hour or even more. This is one major "pulling in" factor of social media and the reason why it has so many consistent users.

This year alone, in 2020, there is an estimated number of 3.6 billion social media users globally, where that number is only expected to rise even higher in the future. In terms of how much time we spend on average per day scrolling through our curated feeds, heavily depends on the country, with the average in the US being around one whole hour.

Apart from notifications and the alluring magic of social media, we also have to consider the popularity of email checking and just how much of a distraction this can be. Although email can be useful and is certainly a major communication force today, it can also quickly turn out to be a very big waste of your time, simply because of how its built and the sheer amount of information that is sent to our inbox on a daily basis.

Many studies continue to prove that the average person during a workday can spend up to several hours on email, where they check it several times per hour and most of the time keep the email tab open in the background, further acting as a distraction.

BACKGROUND NOISE

Being surrounded by a noisy and distracting environment, whether in a school, work or home environment can be detrimental to getting anything done.

Disturbing noises can include anything from people around you that are loud talkers or laugh and argue frequently. Furthermore, noises of traffic, people passing by, catchy music or other sounds that are in your environment such as construction work or someone cleaning, can also directly distract you.

It is crucial to try and minimize these noises, as if they are constantly persistent in the background, they can disrupt us and make us lose our focus and attention.

MESSY ENVIRONMENT

Often when having cleaned our room or workspace, we often immediately feel more organized, clear-minded and easier to focus on whatever we are doing in that space. That is simply because the space we are in is less crowded and cluttered with objects and materials that simply cloud and distract our mind whenever we lay our eyes on them.

The reason a messy environment distracts our attention is because whenever we see something in a space, we acknowledge it which makes us think about the object, thus making us lose focus on what we were originally working on.

I always recommend that you try and keep your living and working space cleaned as it really does heavily impact your mindset and mood throughout the whole day.

NOT TAKING CARE OF YOURSELF

While staying focused during your work is heavily dependent on external factors such as your environment, we often also like to neglect that is it heavily determined by our internal environment, in terms of how we are taking care of ourselves and our health.

A lack of sleep, for example, has been shown to seriously impact our thinking abilities and creativity the following day while eating a diet high in processed foods has been shown to make us more tired and experience more blood sugar spikes that makes-our levels of concentration waver throughout the day.

• Taking care of your health involves:

  • Sleeping enough each night

  • Drinking enough water

  • Eating a balanced and varied diet that suffices your daily needs

  • Including exercise and movement in your day

  • Taking regular/ scheduled breaks from work

  • Managing your stress and taking time to relax

  • Having a social circle in which you feel welcome and happy

MULTI-TASKING

While at first glance, getting more things done at once by multitasking may seem to be the way to go, research from the last decade is emerging saying that multitasking has serious long term drawbacks on our work output and focus abilities.

Our brain finds it hard to focus fully on two or more things at once, as our attention is constantly located form one thing to the next, never really giving us time to get int he zone and enter a fully focused state.

• Multitasking has been shown to

  • Result in more mistakes because we are less focused

  • Produce lower quality work

  • Hinder our memory of the task at hand

  • Inhibit creativity while we work

  • Waste our time in the long run

  • Make us not live in the present moment, as our attention is constantly on other things

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HOW TO GET INTO A FOCUSED STATE

• Make one space only serve one function

• Try to keep a clean environment around you

• Before starting a task, determine what is the purpose of doing it and what do you want to get out by achieving it

• Write out a to-do list, instead of keeping everything in your head. Your brain is meant for thinking not storing

• Prioritize your work

• Split large tasks into smaller more manageable chunks

• To get more mental clarity, try out meditation; Even just five minutes could get you into a different headspace

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HOW TO SAY FOCUSED

• Mute electronic distractions

• Try playing calming background music while you work

• Keep caffeine during the day moderate

• Avoid the distraction of a noisy environment by closing your doors (if possible), relocating to a different work environment or buying a pair of noise-cancelling headphones

• Take care of your wellbeing and health in terms of your sleep, diet, social well being, drinking enough water, exercise and taking breaks

• Avoid multitasking

• Take regular breaks from working

• Time yourself while you work, to know when to stop and take a break

• Install special apps or internet blockers on your devices that temporarily make sites or apps unavailable (Such as social media)

• Schedule time only for checking emails (If you have a lot of them)

Qualities Built For Success

WHAT IS SUCCESS?

Success means different things for different people. For some, it means endless money and fame, while for others it may mean raising a family well or being able to be independent in today’s world. The key take away here is that each of us has to define what success means for us. There is no "correct" definition of success as we all like different things and are at the end of the day, very different people, but if you don't define what success means for you - what you consider to be enough for yourself - then how will you know when to stop? When will you have enough and be satisfied?

While I do not necessarily believe in labelling success as a single point in time or a final goal we have in life, but instead that we should rather try and make every day a small success that would contribute to our long term goal of success. If we just focus on the end goal, our happiness will depend on whether we reach our definition of success or not, instead, if we focus on the process of attaining that level of success and make sure that we make the majority of our days are a "win", then our satisfaction levels will be much more stable.

However, to reach the success that we defined for ourselves, we need to either have or develop certain qualities that will contribute to our success, no matter how we defined it in the first place. This is why I have composed together a list of the 15 most crucial qualities you have to put into practice in order to achieve your idea of success.

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QUALITIES NEEDED TO SUCCEED

DRIVE AND PASSION

Passion and drive go hand in hand for a good reason. Passion is having an intense burning desire or interest about something, while having a drive, means that you are intensely motivated about something, which is why when we combine the two together, they form the very essence of our reason for existing; Our purpose in this life.

Having a drive and a passion for something means that you are highly dedicated to pursuing that idea or whatever it may be. You are motivated to try and do everything in your will to pursue this interest and to avoid any unwanted roadblocks. Being passionate about something gives you the very reason for waking up every morning because you want to pursue that deep craving as soon as possible. It is a cure for procrastination since it reduces the amount of motivation needed for you to start doing something, as well as making you feel fulfilled and satisfied since you are spending your time on something that you care deeply about.

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PERSISTENCE

Nothing great and big in life ever came quick. There is really no such thing as "overnight" success because all of these seemingly instantaneous bursts of success once required some input of work in the first place, which is where persistence comes into play.

Persistence is the ability to be resilient and consistent with something, no matter how many setbacks we experience in the process. What makes the difference is not whether you do something once, but how often you repeat that action. For example, eating one low-calorie meal will not make you lose weight in the long run, however cutting back on let’s say 100 calories each day consistently, will lead to a much more noticeable and in the long term, a more sustainable result.

While it is hard to initially start doing something, it becomes much easier to keep that action continuous and regular once it is a part of our routine and once we gain enough motivational momentum to keep going forward, even when it may not be easy. Turn your actions into a habitual routine and being persistent with something will be a much more effortless process.

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BEING ACTION ORIENTATED

While planning and thinking things though are essential to making good decisions and making sure you are headed in the right direction, what makes the difference at the end of the day is whether you take action and do something. Being proactive can be one of the most difficult things to do, but is one that surely pays off in the long run. Without it, nothing would ever get done, and the world would remain unchanged.

I believe it is best to both plan things in advance and have the ability to assert action and create change. The right balance of those two forces creates an incredible amount of momentum that not only drives you in the right direction but also makes sure to get you there.

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TIME MANAGEMENT

They say that time is our most valuable resource; it can’t be created or controlled, but only spent. So this only means one thing: We are in charge of how we spend our time. And As Henry David Thoreau said: "It is not enough to be busy. The question is: what are we busy about?". While being busy is commonly mistaken for being productive, the key difference between them is that when we are productive we are intentionally choosing to do work that is of most importance to be done at the moment and will also provide the most value to us.

Knowing how to manage your time is a skill that we spent the majority of our lives learning, adjusting and improving. No one can be in control of their time all the time, because there are always unexpected events that come up, but there certainly are people who have found what time management techniques work for them. There is no single "formula" for the best time management, because everyone schedules, occupations and lives look different, so you have to find what time structure works best for your lifestyle.

Ask yourself: How many hours per day will I intentionally dedicate to doing ....? How long can I really stay focused in a single working period? How often do I need to take breaks from working? How much time will I spend working, in comparison to the time spent on leisure activities and socializing?

These are all questions that are individual to us all, so its the job of every individual to find what balance of work and leisure works best for them. Take it hour by hour, day by day, and really think about how you are spending your time and how you could improve that because after all, don't we all want to do more valuable things with our time?

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EVALUATION

This is a crucial step, but one that is either neglected or under-appreciated. The ability to evaluate means to take a step back, put things into perspective and readjust your route. It is to make sure that what you are currently doing makes sense and that it aligns with your long term goals. So often, we spend our time lost and secured within set routines that provide comfort and familiarity in our lives, but without us even realizing it, those routines could actually be hindering our process in the long run.

Only when you truly take a step back and take time to slow down, is when you can begin to analyze what you are doing. Sometimes you just have to slow things down in this fast-paced world, to see a clear picture behind the blurry lines.

While evaluating and reconsidering the things you currently do, can be a time-consuming process, it certainly is one that is worth it in the long run.

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ADAPTABILITY

I this ever-changing world, the only constant is change. The world around us is constantly changing, evolving and transforming - faster than it has ever been. What is the best way to deal with these changes? Become adaptable. Learn how to turn setbacks into positive experiences and find out how to create opportunities for yourself. Do not become too fixated on only one thing, as nothing stays forever, so its best to spread your feet wide apart on solid ground, to get a good scope of everything. This way you are less affected by the ongoing changes around you and you also gain more perspective as to where you could potentially find opportunities.

Even evolution proved it to us: Those who didn't adapt, simply just did not make it out alive. It is the same situation today, except everything is happening at a faster rate. Learn to become agile and flexible in this ever-changing world can be one of the useful qualities you can master.

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GOOD COMMUNICATION

Being able to speak is one thing, but being able to communicate well is a whole another topic. While it is much easier to just keep our mouth busy talking the whole day, it is much harder to be an effective communicator. To be an effective communicator means that your listener fully understands what you are talking about and that you are able to communicate your message in an efficient manner, without wasting unnecessary time.

Here are some tips on how you can become a better communicator:

• Define ahead of time, what it is you want to to tell that person

• Think through what you are going to say, before saying it

• Be straightforward and use language that both you and your listener will understand in the context

• As you are speaking, ask your listener if what you are saying makes sense, or whether you need to repeat or clarify something

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GOOD LISTENER

While it is an important skill to know how to communicate efficiently, it is just as important to know how and when to listen. If we don't listen to what other people are saying, we not only appear arrogant and impatient, but are also more likely to transmit our message across incorrectly, when it is our time to speak, and thus inefficient communication results. Listening to others allows cooperation to build and new ideas to be generated while your mind is opened to the ideas of other people.

Learn when it is the right time to speak up and make your voice heard but also be aware of when it is best to stay low and listen to others around you. Both you and your listener will benefit from this.

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SOCIAL NETWORKING

They say that our personalities are determined by 5 of the closest people in our lives, which is why it is important that we consider who we are hanging out with? Who are we spending our time with? Ask yourself: Are the people I hang out with inspiring me? Challenging me to grow and improve? Supporting me? If you mostly answered no, you might want to reconsider your social circle.

Your social circle is so vitally important because humans by nature are social animals, where we need social interaction and mixing with others. This doesn't mean that you necessarily need to have an overwhelming number of friends with whom you hang out with on a regular basis, but it can just mean having a couple of really tightly knit close friends with whom you get along well and spending time with them do you and them well.

Not only that, but having more social connections makes your life easier in many ways. You are exposed to more foreign opportunities, and you have more mutual security as the more good friends you have, the more helping hands you have when you need help. But most importantly, social connections make your life worth living. The ability of people to experience and view your work and share experiences with each other gives you a sense of belonging, support and appreciation - which are all feelings we as humans crave.

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DEALING WITH DISTRACTIONS

In today's distraction-filled work, one of the most worthwhile and searched for skills is your ability to stay focused and keep your brain concentrated on a task, without getting sucked into the plethora of social media feeds that consume our days. Many studies are confirming that on average, we are spending more than two hours every day on social media platforms. Mindlessly scrolling through these infinity pool networks where there is a never-ending content supply, does us more harm than we may initially think.

Using too much social media on the daily has been shown to negatively impact our self-esteem, our ability to talk and make social connections in real life, increase our levels of stress and anxiety, as well as potentially expose us to cyberbullying.

It seems as though social media will not be disappearing any time soon, as each year there are more social platforms being generated and more users joining every day, so it comes down to us to keep a healthy relationship with it. This also means that we know when and how to unplug from social media, to get actual work done and not get distracted every time we get a notification or an alert. Staying focused for long periods of time is steadily becoming a more difficult task, so those who develop their ability to do so, are on the right path.

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CURIOSITY AND WILLINGNESS TO LEARN

Through the process of transitioning from a child to a teenager and then into an adult, we often lose the drive to learn about the world us, as we get occupied with work and other time fillers. Deep down we all have a desire and curiosity to learn about this world we live in, it is just often masked by daily occupations. It is important to nurture that need by reading, listening or viewing content that interests us and expands our knowledge in those fields.

If we have the drive to learn, it means we are proactive and have the want to acquire information about our environment. The more you learn, the easier it is for you to adapt to exterior circumstances and make more well-informed decisions, since you generally know more. All in all, a good quality to have.

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CRITICAL THINKING

Critical thinking is defined as our ability to reason, where we have to question and verify all of the incoming information and be rational with how we choose to view this information. It is more based on analyzing and solving problems instead of relying so much on our instinct and intuition. It puts you into the perspective of a judge or critic, where you have to determine what makes sense and what doesn't in the context.

This is important in today’s world because it allows you to step into a more proactive mindset where you are actively analyzing all of the activities you do, instead of just doing things out of habit or routine. It allows you to discern the real from the fake, in terms of information and news. It enables you to make wiser decisions and most importantly, it broadens your perspective on things as you have to filter all of the incoming information.

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SELF RELIANCE

It is nice to rely on others every so often, but if that becomes too much of a habit we may all of a sudden be let down when we can no longer rely on someone. Finding good people to rely on is becoming quite a challenging task with everyone living such busy lives, which is why at the end of the day, the only person who you can truly rely on, is yourself.

Learn to not blame others for your current situation as more often than not, it is your own action and decision that have brought you to where you are today. Self-reliance means holding yourself accountable and being responsible for your actions, where you know that your work output is a result of your own self-reliance instead of the reliance on others.

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CONFIDENCE

A while back I read a quote saying "The most beautiful thing you can wear is confidence" which many times I have found to be true. When you are comfortable in your skin and yourself, you have a different energy about you and people just view you differently. Approaching life with confidence means that you are not afraid of problems but rather view them as challenges. It makes you more susceptible to making new social connections, as people are naturally more inclined to talk to people who are outspoken and confident; confidence is often attractive. Not only do you attract more people, but you also attract more potential opportunities your way, as we have previously mentioned that more social networking brings you more opportunities.

By being confident you also inspire others to be confident, which as a result also does good for them. Be confident to the extent where you are self-assured but not boastful, and you will see how your life takes a different turn.

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OPTIMISM

As Dr Seuss said, "Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened". Here the main take away is that in life we can always choose how we want to look at the situation; We can either complain and be negative about something, or we can choose to look at something through a positive lens and treat is an opportunity. This shift in mindset can be the greatest change-maker in our lives.

By being more positive and optimistic, our perspective on life shifts and everything else from work, social connections, opportunities and mental attitude, as a result, changes too.

It doesn't take much, but it certainly does have an impact on all aspects of our life.

10 Things To Not Take For Granted

IMPORTANCE OF GRATITUDE

Gratitude is by definition, the quality of being thankful and sincerely appreciative of receiving a benefit from someone or something. It is a non-selfish act of appreciation, where you are focusing on what you have in life, instead of diverting your attention to what you don't have. You focus on abundance instead of scarcity.

Many studies have found a link between people who regularly express gratitude and living a happier and more satisfactory life. Gratitude can be such a small and simple act, however when we choose to intentionally practise expressing gratitude for the things we have, it can have drastic changes on our life, ranging from our personal and work life to our relationships, health and our general attitude towards living. Gratitude shifts your perspective on life, which as a result, can completely change around your life.

"Gratitude turns what we have into enough"

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BENEFITS OF GRATITUDE

Research is continually proving that those who express gratitude, gain a lot of benefits from doing so. Some of these benefits include:

• An improved mood and being generally more happy and satisfied with life

• Having a more optimistic outlook on life

• Having more deeper and meaningful relationships

• Being able to deal better with negativity and setbacks

• Remembering events more vividly

• Better athletic performance

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WHAT NOT TO TAKE FOR GRANTED

YOUR HEALTH

When I say to not take your health for granted, I mean to not take for granted both your mental and physical health. If you are in good mental shape, meaning that you can think clearly, speak well, have a bold imagination and you can make decisions on your own through your own judgements, that is amazing already on its own. While we all are born with a brain, not all of us are fortunate enough to have a good working brain, so if you have one, use it; Don't take it for granted. Do something with that amazing brain you have; it is the best asset you have, so grow and develop it.

As for your physical health, If you are in good physical condition, where you can walk, run, jump, move on your own and have control over your muscle movements, that is also something that many of us take for granted on a daily basis. Don't, because as you get older many of your previously effortless and agile movements and muscle coordination will begin to falter and not be as smooth as before. So use your body and take care of it while you are young, to keep it in the best shape for when you are older.

You only get one brain and one body, so take care of them.

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FAMILY AND GOOD FRIENDS

If you get along well with your family and have strong bonds with them, make sure you keep strengthening them. Poor family relationships are becoming more and more frequent, with many families experiencing a lack of love, cooperation and the necessary "family" bond, which results in more divorces and breakups.

The same can be said for your friends; If you want good friendships that bring value and benefit to your life, you have to input time and effort into them; nothing will just happen by itself. This is why you have to make sure you appreciate your friends and tell them that frequently. The more often you do, the stronger that bond will get and the more satisfaction you will get out of that relationship; more trust, honesty and integrity - All things which we want.

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YOUR NATIVE SKILLS AND TALENTS

Everybody is naturally good at something. We all are, and some of us identify our strengths sooner in life, which gives those people more time to work on them and become even better at doing them. You can not to be a professional at all things in life and excel in every single aspect all the time, but finding what you are good at is the first step to take towards reaching your full potential.

What sets apart a regular individual from a "Superman" individual full of success, is their ability to recognize their strengths and then intentionally choose to work and grow them.

Use your strengths to your advantage, because while we may not all be good at the same things, all skills and talents are in some way useful in life. So be grateful for your natural competencies, work on them and don take them for granted because there is always at last someone out there in the world who would love to know how to do the skill or have the talent that you have.

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YOUR TIME

Even though we all know this, not many of us like to admit it. Our time on earth is finite and limited, which is why it is so important how we choose to spend our time. When you are younger, time seems to stretch on forever and you would rather skip ahead in time than live in the moment. However, as adults usually say, time really does fly as you get older, so you have to be really intentional as to how you chose to spend your time because while you can get more money, resources and friends, you can never get more time back.

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TECHNOLOGY THAT WORKS

Having at least one piece of working technology is taken as a complete no brainer in today’s developed world where you are seen as “underprivileged” if you only have a phone and no computer, or other electronic devices to go with it. This idea and perspective is completely false, as having access to at least one piece of functioning technology - no matter its brand, age or reputation - is already a huge advantage. Many people in today’s world dream of having the luxury of owning technology, but they can’t afford it or have to share a device with a large number of other family members.

Technology is amazing when used correctly and with good intent, and it can bring so many benefits to those who have access to it. However just because we are living in the digital age where it is a norm to change your perfectly good phone every year for a new one and keep updating your gadgets whenever a new one comes out, that is not an excuse to forget the devices we currently have and take them for granted.

Only when your devices stop working and you don't have any working ones, is the time when you realize how much convenience and value technology brings to you.

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MONEY

While you can always make or earn more money in life, it does not mean that having money should become something you take for granted. The ability to pay for yourself and spend money on others, such as your family and friends, is a luxury. Money can be made quicker than ever today, but it can also be lost or wasted just as quickly. There are plenty of useless incentives out here that pressure and bribe us to purchase useless junk, but many of us still buy it. To earn money takes effort and work, so if you have money right now - no matter what amount - treat it fairly and take care of it, because money is always useful at some point when it’s needed.

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THE OPPORTUNITY OF CHOICE AND DECISIONS

This is another complete no brainer in today’s developed society, but having the freedom of choice and the freedom to live life the way you want to, are such grand ideas that they are far too big and important to take them for granted.

Having the option to choose what you want to wear, eat, live, do and think is the largest form of freedom. No one likes the idea of living their life by someone else's design and standards because we are all so different and individual as individuals.

Use this idea to your advantage, by choosing and building piece by piece the life you want; you are the creator of it. It is up to you how you choose to live it, so make sure you design it so that you find enjoyment and pleasure in living it, otherwise, what’s the point? While you may not start with ideal choices and complete freedom if you are under the care of your parents, as time passes, you gain more freedom of choice and more independence that allows you to design the life you want.

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BASIC RESOURCES

Having resources such as water for drinking and washing, a roof above your head, money, social company and good food supply, are all often taken for granted in the modern world, but in reality, they are luxuries that many can only dream of having.

It is estimated that worldwide up to 150 million people are homeless and then about 690 million people are undernourished, based on the Action Against Hunger organization. These are luxuries that form the foundations of our living and we greatly rely on a daily basis, which is why if they would all of a sudden go missing, we would be the first to notice.

Be thankful for these little opportunities that make your life a great deal easier and enable you to live it to your best abilities.

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GOING OUTSIDE INTO NATURE

People living in countries and cities with extremely bad air pollution have significantly elevated risks of dying, especially in developing countries where good medical care is limited. In 2017 alone, 5 million people worldwide died to air pollution. Besides that, regular exposure to air pollutants encourages the development of several medical conditions and diseases such as heart disease, stroke, various respiratory conditions and certain respiratory cancers.

If you are fortunate enough to live in a country or town with clean air and a clean outdoor environment, take advantage of that. Go spend time outside in the sunshine or simply just spend time in fresh air. It does you more good than you might at first believe.

With more of our days being spent inside workspaces and commuting, we have to make it a priority to spend time outside. To make the experience even better, invite along some friends or involve some exercise that will do good for both your mental and physical health.

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YOUR LIFE

As much of a cliche as this may sound, but the opportunity to be able to be alive and live a life is absolutely incredible. In my view, life is like a giant opportunity to live to our fullest potential, learn things, meet people, travel to new places, see sights that inspire us, challenge ourselves, and experience things that are simply only available to those who are alive. All the opportunities you get in life - no matter how small or coincidental - happened to us for a reason and let us take advantage of them.

Treat life as an opportunity and a challenge with which you exceed the expectations of others and yourself, and you will see yourself grow. Life is meant to be an opportunity to discover yourself, others, and the world in which you live in. Living in fear and doubt gets you nowhere and just ends up being a lost opportunity for what could have been an amazing experience.

It is up to you how you spend your life.

Our Plastic Planet

Plastic is by no doubt a material that has exploded in popularity in the last two decades, from its useful properties and versatile applications in industry, it has become both the result and encouragement for the spread of globalization.

However, only in the last couple of years, we have started realizing just how dependent we are on plastic and what kind of effect this has been having on the well being of our planet.

One issue is the sheer amount of plastic that we are producing each year, while another issue is how we choose to manage and dispose of that plastic. In fact, quite recently National Geographic has said that up to 91% of plastic is not recycled, meaning that much of the plastic we produce - the billions of tones of it - ends up as litter and eventually in our oceans. With plastic's tendency to take a long time to biodegrade, plastic has started to seriously damage ecosystems and the species living there.

Soon if it has not already, plastic will be seriously affecting our lives too.

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PLASTIC IN NUMBERS

• On average, 500 billion single-use plastic bags are used per year

• It is estimated that each day, 13,000-15,000 pieces of plastic are deliberately dumped into the ocean

• Every year, more than 8 million tones of plastic are dumped into the ocean

• The bioaccumulation of plastic microfibers is a real issue, where marine scientists have stated that up to two-thirds of the worlds fish stocks suffer from plastic ingestion

• It is estimated that in each square kilometre of the ocean, there are four billion pieces of plastic microfibers

• Half of the plastics in the world have been manufactured in the last 15 years

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WHAT EVEN IS PLASTIC?

Even though plastic is such a big part of our daily lives, how many of us actually know what plastic even is? How do we define what counts as a plastic?

Well, generally speaking, plastics are materials that have the ability to be malleable and be moulded into a different shape. They are made up of synthetic or half synthetic organic compounds, that act as polymers and can be linked up to form different types of plastics.

Plastics are mostly derived from a group of substances known as petrochemicals, which are chemical substances that are made in the process of refining petroleum; Another major driving force in our world. There are also some plastics that are manufactured from renewable materials that are made from plant sources, however, those are greatly outnumbered by petrol derived plastics.

The number of years it takes plastic to naturally degrade and break down depends on what type of plastic it is and in what sort of environment it is degrading in (Whether it is exposed to external factors such as sun, wind, rain, the cold etc.), but the breakdown of plastic can take anywhere from 50 to 600 years.

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PLASTIC POPULARITY

Plastic being a very versatile and highly useful material in our industries today has dominated our world to the extent that for many things we can’t imagine a world without it. The rise in its popularity can be illustrated by the rise in its global production and usage. For example, in the year 1950, the world had produced a negligible 2 million tones of plastic however by the year 2015, the worlds produced up to 7.82 billion tonnes of plastic - a number which is still rising.

There are several reasons why plastic has had such a dramatic increase in usage throughout history:

Useful properties: Plastics are known to be lightweight, have a high strength to weight ratio, can be mass-produced with no significant cost, they are water-resistant and are good as thermal and electrical insulators. These are all properties that make them very applicable to industrial uses today.

Various uses: Because of the widespread number of properties that plastic has, it has many uses in today’s industrial world. For example, in developed countries, roughly 30% of the plastic produced is used in packaging, however, plastic is also used in our clothing, such as various polyesters and nylon-based pieces of clothing. Apart from that, plastic is used in plenty of packaging, plumbing systems, wire insulation, carpets, stationery, working equipment, toys, machinery and various car parts.

Globalization: While globalization has brought plenty of benefits to our society and the functioning of our world, such as improved access to information, better transport links and generally a wider availability of products, it also comes with a downside. By having more products being available and the rise of the internet, more packaged products are able to be bought and sold all over the world, which increases the overall number of plastics used in both the making of goods and packaging of them. Furthermore, globalization has enabled countries to grow and develop which has fostered industries, many of which either rely on plastics to operate or are responsible for producing plastic in the first place. By having plenty of useful properties and being inexpensive to mass-produce, it has become the perfect commodity to produce since it can be moulded into almost anything and can serve plenty of functions that are a daily part of our lives.

Growing population: We have to also take into consideration the growing global population, which encourages the use of even more resources that promotes the rise of industries, while alongside it producing a mass amount of waste that is degrading the natural environment. To put things into perspective, in the year 1960, the world population was just about 3 billion, and just 60 years later today, the global population has surpassed 7.6 billion. With the global population is expected to increase, we can only imagine what that will do to the number of waste produced.

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THE PLASTIC PROBLEM

DAMAGED MARINE ECOSTYEMS

As previously said, it is estimated that each year up to 8 million tones of plastic ends up floating around in our oceans - the largest waste sink in the world. Generally speaking, human waste mainly comes from land-based regions such as urban and storm runoffs, tourism, inefficient waste management, industrial activities and illegal dumping of waste. Most plastic found in oceans is due to fishing boats, nautical activities and aquaculture - the farming of fish and seafood.

These plastics are hurting and often even killing many of the marine species living in aquatic environments. Choking, ingesting or getting tangled up in plastic, are all things that much of the sea world is experiencing. The United Nations have at that at least 800 species around the world are currently affected by marine waste and that 60% of all sea bird species have eaten at least one piece of plastic in their lives.

With plastic being exposed to the sun and harsh weather conditions, it breaks down quicker, however, it does not disappear fully and instead turns into microplastics which are tiny pieces of plastic that are smaller than 5mm in diameter. These pieces are easily ingested by various marine species - small and large - which means that over time the species at the top of the food chain end up with the largest concentration of plastic in their body from having consumed plenty of smaller consumers below them. This is the process of bioaccumulation, which puts species that are at the top of the food chain, at a higher risk of dying.

Additionally, because the production of plastic is an activity that promotes global warming due to the release or production of greenhouse gases, oceans are up-taking more CO2 gas, making them more acidic, which severely damages sea corals that provide an essential ecosystem for other aquatic beings.

POORER WATER QUALITY

Microplastics are found in almost all water sources today including our drinking water. So far, research done by the World Health organization is inconclusive about how microplastics in our drinking water affect the human body, but we can most definitely say that they do not provide any positive effect since plastic in the water is not natural. United Nations suggest that more research and studies are needed in the field of microplastics and human health to establish a clear connection between them.

WORSENED AIR QUALITY

One of the primary ways in which plastic worsens air quality is during the process of oil extraction - the substances from which plastic is made. During the process of oil drilling, a spectrum of harmful and often toxic waste gases are released into the atmosphere that have been stored underground for millions of years. Some examples of these gases include benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene, carbon monoxide, hydrogen sulfide, ozone and sulfur dioxide.

Because plastic takes so long to break down, one method of how we currently dispose of plastic is by incinerating or burning it which is extremely harmful to the atmosphere as it releases fumes of heavy metals, persistent organic pollutants and various toxic chemicals, that harm both our lungs and the lungs of animals. People living in environments where plastic is burned have significantly higher risks for asthma, cancer and plenty of other respiratory conditions.

Plastics take up a lot of energy and resources to be made, where they leave behind a large carbon footprint that is further contributing to climate change and doing no good for ourselves and our environment.

DECREASED FOOD QUALITY

Although more research needs to be gathered, there are two primary chemicals of concern; Phthalates and Bisphenol A (BPA), in relation to how plastic impacts the food we eat. Phthalates are chemicals that are responsible for making plastics soft and flexible and are most commonly used in children's toys, food processing equipment and medical instruments. This chemical has been found to be toxic to the reproductive health of both males and females.

BPA or bisphenol A, on the other hand, has raised a lot of attention recently, because it is widely used in both hard type plastics and inside of food cans and it as been observed that it can leech into the food that is in contact with it, especially if it is heated up like in microwaves.

Even though the doses of exposure for these two chemicals are small, more and more pieces of microplastic are being found in our food sources and could in the long term after having accumulated, have a negative impact on our developmental, endocrine, reproductive and neurological health.

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WHY CARE ABOUT THIS ISSUE?

We as humans have the tendency to only care about an issue if it directly has an impact on our lives, which is why some of us would be raising our eyebrows to the concern of plastic since, for many of us in the developed world, plastic does not seem to directly be harming us, in fact, it has made our lives so much easier and more comfortable. Therefore, why should we care about this issue?

While plastic may not yet be affecting you or the planet to its maximum extent, it may very well start doing so in the upcoming decade. With the plastic production and consumption increasing each consecutive year, the potential negative impacts of plastic do not seem to be dissolving any time soon. In fact, plastic is already having current impacts such as contributing to global warming, endangering species, worsening the quality of our air and water as well as being a potential hazard to our own health. This is why you should care; because you are part of the issue and we are all to some degree responsible for it.

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WAYS TO REDUCE YOUR PLASTIC CONSUMPTION

I don't want to come across as a person who has never in their life contributed to the making and wasting of plastic, but I do try and make a daily effort to reduce my plastic footprint. In this case, as with many, it is not about being perfect and trying to force yourself to not use any plastics whats so ever and live as though you were a caveman. No, that’s not the point and nor is it the right approach. The point is for all of us to give our best effort in minimizing our reliance and usage of plastic, as small amounts can stack up and in the end result in a positive global change.

If we want to encourage a change in our behaviour and attitude towards plastic, we have to make it easy and applicable to the lifestyle of an ordinary person. To become less reliant on plastic, we have to positively encourage this change and make sure that we are making our best effort to reduce our waste when we can.

Here are a couple of examples of how you can begin to reduce your plastic waste today:

• Reusing your current plastic products

• Buying food in bulk stores with your own bags

• Replacing your plastic bottles and cups with materials like glass, metal or porcelain

• Investing in reusable cloth-based bags for long term use

• Not using plastic straws

• Reducing your consumption of chewing gum

• Buying eating utensils that are made of metal or wood

• Investing in glass or metal food containers for lunch boxes

• Not using plastic bags in stores, when you don't need them

• Returning back plastic food containers

• Bringing your own container for meat and prepared foods to the store

• Refilling your shampoo and detergent bottles in specialized stores that limit plastic waste

• Reducing your consumption of processed and heavily packaged food

• Visiting your local farmers market with your own shopping bags

• Having at least one reusable bag in each of your most commonly used bags

• Always bringing along a reusable bottle that you can refill where ever you go

Mindful things to consider:

• Do I want this or do I need it?

• What impacts will my choices make?

• Am I making an effort to try my best here?

Weekend Mountain Escape

About two weeks ago, I and my family had spent an extended weekend in the mountainous region of Slovenia, where we both explored the areas around the mountain Sorica and all of the natural beauties the mountainside itself had to offer. I wanted to document the trip as it is not often that my family decides to spend the summer up in the mountains, but in my opinion, it definitely was worth it, I got the chance to take some incredible photos of the landscape there and got to experience new hidden corners of my home country.

This will be a shortened recap of my trip, taking you along with the places we visited and the things we did during our time spent there.

Enjoy :)

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IDRIJA MINE

Beginning our trip on the morning of Friday, 10th July, we had decided to spend the majority of the morning hours stopping by and taking a look at the towns and places that were conveniently placed along the way to our final destination. With the summer having arrived, were in no particular rush so we first decided to stop by in the small town of Idrija, that is world-famous for its historical Mercury mine and other associated attractions situated there.

We were lucky enough to be able to squeeze in a 1.5-hour tour of the mine shafts, with a local guide who informed us on the historical and functional aspects of the mine.

The mercury mind of Idrija was the second largest mercury mine in the world (Before it had closed down), with the largest one still being in operation, in Spain. It is estimated that the mine in its prime years of working, had produced up to 13% of the worlds mercury reserves, which is a huge percentage for a country that is so geographically and demographically small in size.

The history of Mercury mining in Idrija dates back to 1490, where during the roughly 500 years that it operated, it exported about 107,700 tonnes of the liquid metal. The mine had closed its doors int he year of 1995, where it had since become part of the UNESCO World Heritage List (in the year 2012) and some of its 700km long dug tunnels are open today for tourists to see what it was like to spend 8 hours as a miner, working in cold, wet and dark conditions.

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BRIDGE OVER THE SOČA RIVER

After having taken a look at Idrija, we had stopped at the en-route town of "Most na Soči", which translates to Bridge over river Soča. From all of the locations that we had visited throughout the entirety of our trip, this one was one of the most memorable and scenic, simply because of the irresistible Azur-like blue colour of the river and the sunny weather conditions that we had on the day.

The area along with the town, is quite small, taking up about 1.6 km squared and having a population of 236 people. The town today is surrounded by the river Sočca, which due to the flat surface on which the town is built, stays still and stagnant, making it perfect for water-based sports, boat rides and fishing activities to go on there.

The water, although cold, is an incredibly vividly clean blue, where if you choose,e you can swim in it or take a canoe or SUP with you. We, unfortunately, did not have the time to go swimming, although I would have loved to experience it there. I guess that just means I will have to go there again sometime int he future :)

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MOUNTAIN TOP SORICA

With the time around 3 pm, we had to start making our way to our final destination, the Sorica mountain top, where we would be spending the night for the next three days, and exploring what the nearby natural sights have to offer.

Upon arriving at the mountain top, we first unpacked our things at the mountain lodge we were staying at - which was completely brand new and had been recently renovated to hold more of a modernistic cabin vibe to it. Finishing the day off there, we had dinner and quite so went to sleep as we were sincerely tired from the extensive driving and sightseeing we had done on that day. Onto the next day we go.

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HIKING TRIP

We woke up the following day and the weather had transitioned overnight from being brilliantly sunny to a dull and cloudy sky, that seemed ideal for the activity that we would be doing that day - hiking - as it was not too hot or too cold.

To wake me up and to do some additional sight seeing, I decided to go take a quick hike up t the complete tip of the mountain, which I actually ended u doing for the remaining two days that we spent there. The views from the complete top were superior, even with bad weather conditions, and it was the place that I was able to capture my best photos of the nearby mountains and unforgettable jade green landscapes, as you see on the photos.

A short breakfast followed my descent from the mountain top and soon after we would begin the main hike of the day, that ended up taking us about 5 hours but it was absolutely worth it as we were constantly surrounded by amazing views of the valleys and towns that lay below us. The lush green mountainsides were at that point covered by vibrant spring flowers that bloomed with the colours of the rainbow and added the scent of meadows to our hiking trip.

During our hike, we had come across several abandoned bunkers that were dug deep into the sides of the mountain by Italian soldiers during the First World war (as we were not far away from the Italian border). We were able to explore some of those, going into the now-abandoned tunnels and rooms that they had excavated out of the mountainside, uncovering a hidden gem of history that still lays uncovered to many people today.

With the transition into the early afternoon, the weather had started to worsen and dark storm heavy clouds started to clump together over our heads, that would soon mea rain. And sure enough, it did. Within 10 minutes of us having descended down the mountain top, a torrential storm deluged the surrounding area, leaving anything and everything that was left outside, completely soaking wet within five seconds.

Having escaped the rain the last minute and being safely inside the lodge, we finished the day with a simple meal and once again headed off to bed quite early as our feet were exhausted from the hike. This certainly was an active weekend, as that day alone, I had walked about 14 kilometres, but nevertheless all the blisters and painful feet were worth it for the one of a kind views we experienced.

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VINTGAR GORGE

Being just 20minutes away from Bled, this gorge is a must-see for anyone who loves Bled but is annoyed by the number of tourists or traffic that are often found there.

The gorge itself is 1,6km long with the teal blue river Radovna running and twisting in between the rocky sides of the gorge. In 1893, a walking path was constructed inside the gorge, on which tourists today can walk and take pictures of the magnificent rive and occasional waterfalls they come across. In fact, the Vintgar Gorge is home to the largest river waterfall in Slovenia; waterfall Šum, where its heigh reaches up to 16m.

This landmark was amazing to see, especially since we had great weather and it was my first time seeing the gorge. I would highly recommend anyone who has not yet been, to spend about 2 hours here and take in the natural sights.

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LAKE BOHINJ

Towards the end of the day, we made a quick visit to the nearby lake Bohinj, that was far less busy than Bled, but still beautiful in the sunset hours, with people swimming and doing water sports on the lake. Just from the number of camper vans and tourist busses, you could tell that the summer season was in full kick and everyone decided to soak up some sunshine while it was still there.

Once again having had an active day full of walking, exploring and driving around, we had decided to make our way back to our sleeping quarters and spend our last night there. That night, we crashed onto our beds like heavy logs from the tiredness and decided to call it a day there.

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TOWN OF ŠKOFJA LOKA

The last morning had come and the weather for our trip home was once again looking well and pleasantly sunny. After a morning cup of coffee and our last breakfast, we decided that instead of driving straight back home, we would again use this time to stop by at interesting locations on the way, the first one which would be the larger town of Škofja Loka.

Škofja Loka is today an active town with about 12,000 people and area of 4.5km squared. While being there, we spent time exploring the historical city centre and going up to the castle where we walked on the paths that coiled around the castle walls. The city centre was laden with pedestrian and cyclists, or people enjoying their Sunday mornings with a cup of coffee at a nearby coffee shop.

Since it was approaching midday, we finished off the trip with lunch at a local restaurant and soon after decided to head back home, towards Ljubljana that was roughly half-hour away.

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MY OVERALL EXPERIENCE

Since we don't often spend our holidays in the mountains - especially during the summer months - I had enjoyed this trip greatly, mostly because of the great number of new places and natural sights that I discovered and experiences, as well as having the chance to capture some great photos of the trip to keep the memory alive in a photographic form. More than that, it was time well spent with my family away from the busy hustle and bustle of the daily life we are so accustomed to and to be able to take a break fro three days to step back and recharge.

Overall trip rating: 8.5/10

Why Drink Water?

WHY WATER?

Many of us realize and acknowledge that water is important for us and life in general, however, most of us still do not drink enough of it. You may have heard before that the human body is largely made up of water, with us being made up roughly 60% water, which goes to show just how important water is as a factor for creating and supporting life. Even hard tissues and structures in our body, such as bones and connective tissues are made up of water, with our organs being made of roughly 70% water.

Water is found in every one of our cells, mainly in the cytoplasm and it plays many roles as we will see below. However, the human body can not store water for long and it continually loses it during the day, which means that it is our job to make sure we continually rehydrate and replace the water that we lose through daily activities, as otherwise we become dehydrated and the functioning of our body is slowed down and impaired.

No matter how many times you have heard this advice, but really make sure you are drinking enough water for your needs; It really does make a difference to your well being and health in the long run.

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HOW MUCH WATER?

How much water you require on a daily basis, depends on several factors, however, it is generally recommended that a moderately active person with no special medical conditions requires about 2-3 litres of water per day.

You will, however, need to drink more water if:

• You are very physically active and sweat a lot

• You are pregnant or breastfeeding

• You are ill and experiencing vomiting or diarrhoea

At the end of the day, there is really no perfect measurement for how much water you should consume, however, it is best to drink when you are thirsty and stop when you are no longer thirsty, as too much water in a short time span is also not good, just like too much of anything is not good for us.

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FUNCTIONS OF WATER

MAKES UP THE BUILDING BLOCKS

As was previously mentioned, water is found within every cell in our body, meaning that water is largely the building block that makes up our body. In our body, water is an essential medium for the transport of soluble substances, acting as an ideal solvent for biochemical reactions that occur within us. Apart from that, it has been shown that up to 90% of our blood is made up of water, most of which is plasma and goes to show that water is a transport medium.

Apart from that, water also forms saliva and mucus, both of which are water-based substances that are heavily needed in digestion and preventing our internal environment from drying out.

REGULATION OF BODY TEMPERATURE AND BLOOD PRESSURE

When we are involved in strenuous exercise, we start to sweat because sweat is our bodies way of cooling us off, as it allows excess that to evaporate out and for us to get a "cooling" effect when exposed to wind. Since sweat is mostly just water and salts, we have to make sure to drink plenty of extra water if we are often physically active, as that is the only way water can get replaced.

Other than that, as we become dehydrated, our blood becomes thicker, which raises our blood pressure - another factor that has to be maintained at healthy levels by our body and is impacted by our intake of water.

REMOVAL OF WASTE

Waste is primarily removed from our body in three main ways. Firstly, drinking enough water ensures that we remove waste through our urinary system and it keeps our kidneys healthy as well as preventing the formation of kidney stones.

Secondly, we remove excess water and salts through sweating, as well as keeping our body temperature cool.

Lastly, adequate water levels ensure healthy bowel movements and prevent constipation, which is more common than you may initially think.

JOINT LUBRICANT AND SHOCK ABSORBER

Another neglected function of water is that it is an important lubricant for our joints, that makes movements in our joints easier and effortless. Scientists have found that roughly 80% of our cartilage is made up of water, which makes movements that much easier.

Apart from that, water also acts as a shock absorber, protecting many sensitive tissues and organs, such as our brain. This is also seen in unborn babies, that are surrounded by a water-based liquid, that protects them from exterior shocks and bumps that could otherwise damage them.

ABSORPTION OF WATER SOLUBLE NUTRIENTS

Apart from vitamins, it is also important to consume water-soluble fibre, that is able to uptake water into our intestines and thus prevents constipation. The best sources of water-soluble fibre are legumes such as beans and lentils, vegetables like brussel sprouts and green leafy vegetables as well as fruits such as avocado.

COGNITIVE FUNCTION

Apart from our physiological health, water is also crucial for our cognitive functioning and thinking skills, where it has been scientifically shown that if we consume enough water, our focus, alertness and short term memory are improved, which is because water is largely needed for the synthesis of chemical neurotransmitters that are a critical component to proper cognition.

DIGESTION

Apart from the fact that water keeps our bowel movements healthy, it is also a requirement in digestion, specifically for hydrolysis reactions that break down nutrients by the use of water, which allows you to make use of the nutrients we consume and it keeps the insides of our intestines smooth and flexible.

SKIN HEALTH

The benefits of drinking water for skin health have been widely linked. Drinking enough water prevents our skin from becoming dry, thus looking less wrinkly and having a younger and fresher appearance.

Furthermore, drinking more water has been shown to have a "brightening" effect on our skin and reducing the amount of acne, which overall gives a healthier skin complexion.

EXERCISE PERFORMANCE

Water is especially necessary for athletes and heavily active people who perspire a lot, since being dehydrated lowers our endurance levels, meaning that it is harder to maintain our levels of activity and water is needed for proper muscle contraction that allows for easier movements and faster and more responsive reflexes. With enough water, our brain can make faster decisions, so our muscles are able to exert more motion in a shorter span of time.

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CONSEQUENCES OF DEHYDRATION

Dehydration is the direct consequence of not drinking enough water.

Even though you may not realize it, but you are very likely dehydrated if you:

• Feel very thirsty all the time

• Do not go to the bathroom often

• Have urine of darker colour

• Feel tired or dizzy

• Have generally dry skin and a dry mouth

• Find it hard to think clearly, stay focused and have slow reflexes

In the case that you are severely dehydrated, you may experience a feeling of fainting, rapid breathing or a fast heartbeat, so its crucial to rehydrate multiple times during the day; not just once per day.

Generally speaking, if we lose about 3-4% of our body water, we experience no major health setbacks. However, loosing 5-8% can cause us to become tired and lethargy and a loss of more than 10% can cause serious mental and functioning impairment. A loss of water of more than 15-25% is fatal.

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HOW TO DRINK MORE WATER

• Bring a water bottle with you where ever you go. If you use a bottle that you like, you are more likely to drink from it

• Drinking more teas and water-based beverages (Preferably ones that are low in added sugar)

• Drinking homemade flavoured water with herbs and refreshing fruits and vegetables

• Always have water on the table during meal times

• Using an app for water tracking and setting water drinking reminders

• Opt for natural sparkling water over-processed sodas

• Eating water-rich foods like fruits and vegetables. Buy them when in season, and buy them by the bulk. Vegetables and fruits with the highest water content are: lettuce, celery, zucchini, melons, cabbage and cucumber

• Drink a glass of water first thing in the morning when you wake up

• Investing in a water filter that can help you improve the taste of your water (In the case that you do not enjoy the taste of your tap water)

The Hidden Power Of Your Sleep

A year ago I was a person like many others today, who thought nothing in particular about sleep apart from the fact that I knew we needed it. I did not prioritize my sleep nor did I take care of it, because I simply thought that sleep only had one function - to “recharge our batteries”, whatever that meant. Until about three months ago, I did not put much attention towards my sleep quality or quantity but that all changed when I read the book “Why we sleep” by Mathew Walker.

By reading the book I was shocked to find out how much research was emerging in the field of sleep and showing not only the importance and the myriad of biological and psychological functions that sleep plays in or bodies, but also daily actions and activities that on a long term basis, seriously hinder our sleeping patterns, leading to irreversible damage. It is estimated that in the United States alone, roughly 35% of adults report sleeping less than 7 hours per night and studies across the United States have concluded that 50-70 million US citizens have a sleep disorder, Insomnia being the main one.

Taking care of your sleep might just single-handedly be the mos timprotant thing you can do for your long term health. From improving your energy levels, mood and concentration to keeping your immunity and brain healthy, sleep is the last thing you want to be neglecting.

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PHASES OF SLEEP

The science behind how we sleep is actually quite complex and more detailed than you might think, however here I have split it up into four basic sections of “sleep cycles”, in order to illustrate the phases we go through in our sleep and the individual roles that each of them plays for our health.

NREM SLEEP

The first stage of sleep we encounter is NREM sleep which is Non-Rapid Eye Movement sleep. This stage is split into three sub-stages, as described below:

STAGE 1: RIght after we fall asleep, we fall into stage one of NREM sleep, which is where our brain experiences alpha waves that have a frequency of 8-12 Hz. This initial stage os very short, often being less than 10minutes long and during this stage, you can still easily be wakened up.

STAGE 2: The second stage of NREM sleep is longer than the first one, ranging from 20-60 minutes and is predominantly the time where our brains go through theta waves that have a frequency range of 3.5-7.5 Hz. In this stage, your body begins entering a deeper stage of sleep where your muscles start relaxing, your body temperature decreases and your brains starts producing “sleep spindles”, which are in simple terms, short periods of quick but rhythmic brain wave activity that happens between frequencies of 12-15 Hz. Sleep spindles have been shown to be a critical component of memory consolidation, a topic which will be discussed more later.

STAGE 3: The last stage of NREM sleep, also known as “deep sleep”, is a stage that lasts between 20-40 minutes and in this stage, there is a large increase in brain delta activity where we may experience some unconscious movements of our muscles. on the other hand, this stage is where our muscles are fully relaxed, we have a drop in body temperature, blood pressure and breathing rate, all of which makes it very hard to wake someone up in this stage of sleep. lastly, the stage of deep sleep is responsible for restoring our energy levels, repairing our cells and regenerating our muscle tissue which is needed for growth and repair.

REM SLEEP (STAGE 4)

The stage of REM sleep is known as the Rapid Eye Movement stage, where a couple of critical changes take place; First, our eyes and eyelids begin to move and flutter and neural activity in our brain increases.. Secondly our breathing patterns change and become more irregular. lastly, this is the stage where we may experience dreams and our muscles have become so relaxedly that they become immobilised and in other words, our body is temporarily paralyzed.

ABOUT OUR SLEEP CYCLES

During a single night, we will first enter all stage of NREM sleep and then transfer into REM sleep. It takes us about 1-2 hours to first enter REM sleep and after that, the whole cycle starts again so that we repeat the same cycle 3-4 times in a single night. The differences between the cycles are that our first REM sleep stage will be very short and will gradually get longer as we progress through our sleep cycles.

This highlights an important point: In order to experience the benefits of sleep, most of which come from a adequate time spent in REM stage sleep, we have to spend a decent portion of our night in good quality sleep to allow us to progress through all the sleep stages and obtain enough NREM and REM sleep for a single night.

Just relying on NREM sleep is not enough, we need both sleep phases for optimal performance.

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COMMON SLEEP DISRUPTORS

BRIGHT LIGHT EXPOSURE

Numerous studies, again and again, have shown that exposure to bright lights or to LED screens from our devices, considerably delays the release of the main sleep-inducing hormone, melatonin. This is because, in the retinas of our eyes, we have specialised photosensitive cells that are able to tell our body whether it is day time or night time and set our sleeping patterns accordingly.

Therefore it is advised to keep digital screens limited or restricted before one hour of your bedtime, to ensure a well-rested night. concerning other lights, it is preferred to dim down bright lights and switch to warmer tones instead of blue-toned lights.

STRESS, ANXIETY AND PAIN

If we are stressed or anxious, our body is in a state of hyperarousal where we experience the inability to calm down with an increased pulse and body temperature - both of which prevent us from sleeping. Furthermore, if we start to worry and think about the fact that we are stressed and can’t sleep, that generates more stress for us, making it additionally harder for us to sleep properly.

Before you head to bed, it is advised to destress and get rid of any worrying or sleep-disrupting thoughts that would otherwise persist through the night.

LOUD NOISES

It is no doubt that loud noises can be disrupting to our sleeping patterns, and researchers have proven that loud sounds are much more likely to wake us up from the first two stages of our sleep compared to the last stages, where we are in a state of deep sleep. Interestingly enough, we are also much more likely to respond or get woken up by a sound if we have a specific emotional attachment to it, such as if we hear someone crying or getting hurt.

If you can hear the sounds of outdoor traffic or city life, try sleeping with ear plugs or better sound-insulating windows. In the case that the sound still persists, try some of the other sleep-inducing methods that are mentioned at the end of this article, to ease you into a sleep state.

IMPROPER TEMPERATURE

In order for us to enter into a sleep state, one of the factors that has to change in our body is our core body temperature has to lower. In fact, a temperature of about 18 degrees Celcius (65 degrees Fahrenheit), has been shown to be the best temperature to sleep in since it is neither too warm nor too cold.

To help cool down our body, as counter-intuitive as it may sound, we can try wearing warm clothing such as socks which will dilate our surface blood vessels, so that more heat is able to escape out and cool down our body.

MEDICATION

Often, drugs that are used to treat cardiovascular issues and high blood pressure can impact our sleep by causing sleeplessness and being more prone to experiencing nightmares. Furthermore, the same consequences have also been attributed to using antidepressant and thyroid medications.

On the other hand, we also have a class of drugs called stimulants, that include ADHD medication, asthma medication and certain pain killers most of which contain caffeine compounds, that keep us awake and alert.

EATING AND DRINKING TOO LATE

If we regularly eat too late, it can result in us having stomach acid reflux, also know as heartburn, or we either can experience stomach pains that cause us to not be able to fall asleep. Also, we ave to be mindful of how much water we consume right before sleep as otherwise, we can take frequent bathroom trips during the night, that undoubtedly disrupt our sleep.

Apart from eating and water, we have to also be very wary of our caffeine intake. Caffeine, as mentioned before, is a stimulant that has been shown to decrease both our sleep quality and quantity. Furthermore, caffeine has a half-life of 3-5 hours, which is the time taken for our body to eliminate hold of the drug in our system, which as a result means that in order to get rid of all of the caffeine in our body, it can take up to 6-10 hours.

lastly, alcohol consumption before bed has also been extensively researched and has been shown to have profound impacts on our sleep. While drinking alcohol right before bed has been shown to create more delta brain activity that is usually associated with deep sleep, it also promotes the simultaneous production of alpha brain wave activity that happens in the first stage of entering sleep. These two different wave frequencies undoubtedly conflict each other and create sleep disturbances.

Furthermore, alcohol consumption has been linked with releasing a chemical called adenosine that has sleep-inducing properties and then leading to a quick decline in adenosine levels throughout the night, which explains why we initially find it easy to fall asleep but then can experience multiple awakenings during the night.

Alcohol has also been shown to block the stage of REM sleep, which is a crucially important phase of our sleep that is responsible for cellular regeneration and memory consolidation.

EXERCISING LATE

While exercise is definitely a positive factor for our health, vigorous exercise done between 1-2 hours of our bedtime has been shown to disrupt our sleep and make it harder to fall asleep because during exercise our core body temperature and pulse are raised as well as our nervous system being more stimulated, which makes it much harder for us to initiate sleep.

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SLEEP CONDITIONS

INSOMNIA

This is the most common sleep disorder, where the person either can not fall asleep or has trouble staying asleep for longe periods of time. Insomnia comes in two different forms: acute or chronic, where acute insomnia is experiencing insomnia on an occasional basis, but chronic insomnia is where you repeatedly find it hard to sleep, causing great long term health setbacks.

Some of the main causes of insomnia include stress, travel (which disrupts our natural circadian rhythm), having poor sleep habits, taking sleep affecting medications and the consumption of alcohol before bed.

The magnitude of the consequences depends on how extensive the insomnia is and how much it impacts our sleep, but long term chronic insomnia can seriously hinder our performance, focus and productivity during the day, where we experience less creativity and have been shown to have slower reaction times. Furthermore, insomnia and inadequate sleep both in quality and quantity have been linked with a greater risk for mental conditions such as depression and chronic health conditions like elevated blood pressure and heart disease.

SLEEP APNEA

Sleep apnea is a sleeping disorder that comes in three different forms and causes you to briefly stop breathing during the night, before starting to breathe again. Often these disruption in breathing are minor and we don't even notice them but they do cause sleep interruptions.

Types of sleep apnea:

Obstructive sleep apnea: This is the most common form of sleep apnea and it is where our through muscles relax during our sleep, causing a brief inability to breathe that can lead to us waking up or snoring.

Central sleep apnea: This type occurs when your brain does not send proper brain signals to the muscles that control breathing mechanisms in our body.

Complex sleep apnea syndrome: This is a more rare case, but it is where we experience both obstructive sleep apnea and central sleep apnea.

The consequences of long term sleep apnea include fatigue during the day, a higher blood pressure, type II diabetes and having more liver functioning abnormalities.

NARCOLEPSY

This is a chronic sleeping disorder where we constantly feel tired and exhausted during our days, which causes us to experience sudden attacks of sleep or naps, making it hard to stay awake for long periods of time, independent of the circumstances we are in.

The causes of narcolepsy are so far unclear, however, the consequences are severe where a person suffering from narcolepsy will experience more mental fogginess, and impaired memory, hallucinations during the day and finding it harder to learn. Furthermore, the person's social life can seriously be impacted, as sleep can disrupt social events and plans unintentionally.

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FUNCTIONS OF SLEEP

The functions of sleep for our well being are many and they explain just why sleep is so important for us.

Firstly, several studies have linked adequate sleep levels with improved mental cognition, in the form of improved memory, better concentration, a faster learning rate and more neuroplasticity, which is defined as the ability of our brain to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections. Furthermore, if we sleep enough and have good quality sleep, we have better decision making, problems solving, controlling our emotions and enhance our ability to cope with change. lastly, being chronically sleep deprived increases our chances for developing depression, suicide risk and risk-taking behaviour that encourages more accidents.

The reason why so many studies link sleep with better memory is that sleep has been shown to be responsible for memory consolidation, where our short term memories are transformed into our long term memory, and as a result, we are able to learn and eventually retrieve more information when we need it.

Another function of sleep is to get rid of all of toxins and waste products that accumulate in our brains during the day, which would otherwise pile up and could over time causes serious cognitive decline and inability to concentrate. In infants, sleep plays an especially critical role where it is responsible for the growth and maturation of their brain.

For our body, sleep has functions such as repairing and restoring our cells and tissues in our body, which is largely connected with our cardiovascular and respiratory health. Undoubtedly, sleep also has a big role in promoting growth and development of our organs, cells and tissues, because during sleep our body secretes growth hormone that is responsible for initiating cell growth.

Apart from regulating the growth hormone, sleep also regulates plenty of other hormones such as the hunger and satiety hormones; ghrelin and leptin, as well as the blood sugar controlling hormone insulin and the working of our sex hormones.

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CONSEQUENCES OF SLEEP DEPRIVATION

Because sleep plays so many functions for our body and is so vitally important for our functioning if we skip on our sleep or experience regular poor quality sleep, we have the risk of developing a plethora of health issues. Of course, one night of bad sleep is only a short term issue, but the issue arises when we experience repeated sleep loss that then over time accumulates to form larger health issues.

BRAIN HEALTH

Foremostly, continual poor sleep quality has to no surprise been linked with a decline in our general cognition, where we find it harder to focus, concentrate and just generally be productive with our time. Furthermore, we find we have more impaired memory, lower levels of creativity and experience more mood shifts during the day that can lead to poor decision making and irrationality. Because we have poorer focus and worse decision making, we have a slower reaction rate that greatly increases our risk of accidents, which can often result in an unnecessary loss of life, such as in car accidents.

CHANGES IN HORMONE LEVELS

Since our brain is weakened, we experience changes in hormone secretions that are ultimately responsible for influencing or initiating almost any biochemical reaction within our body. For example, the production of sex hormones drops, which leads to a lower sex drive and we experience a decline in our growth hormone levels that are is otherwise responsible for the repair and growth of cells and muscles, so our tissues heal and repair themselves slower.

WEIGHT REGULATION

Sleep has also been shown to have an impact on our weight, as it is responsible for controlling the hormone ghrelin and leptin that provide our body with hunger and satiety cues. With inadequate sleep, it has been shown that we have higher levels of the hunger hormone ghrelin and lower levels of the satiety hormone leptin, which is why we are more prone to snack during the night and thus overeat, which can over time result in unwanted weight gain. Apart from that, if we get less sleep than necessary, it has been shown that we suffer from lower insulin levels, where insulin is the hormone responsible for lowering the concentration of blood sugar in your blood, therefore with less insulin, you become more insulin resistant as you always have more blood sugar in your bloodstream, which ultimately raises your chances of developing type II diabetes.

CARDIOVASCULAR CONDITIONS

In terms of other chronic health conditions, sleep deprivation has been linked with a greater risk of having cardiovascular issues for a couple of compelling reasons. Foremost, sleep deprivation has been linked with impaired healing and regeneration of cells, blood vessels and heart tissues as well as being involved in processes that regulate sugar, blood pressure and inflammation levels, all of which raises our chances of heart disease.

RESPIRATORY ISSUES

In terms of our respiratory health, poor sleep has been correlated with more instances of the sleeping disorder Obstructive Sleep Apnea, which undeniably can have a negative impact on our sleeping patterns.

WEAKENED IMMUNE SYSTEM

inadequate sleep mainly impacts your immune system in two primary ways: The first one being that your bodies production of specialized proteins that fight infections of inflammations in our body, called cytokines, is reduced, meaning that we have a harder time healing and have more instances of long term infections. Secondly, if you are sleep deprived, it has been shown to lower the amount of infection-fighting antibodies and cells in your system, which leaves you more prone to becoming sick.

POORER SKIN HEALTH

There is a reason why a good nights rest is related to “beauty sleep”, and specifically the outlook of our skin. A decrease in quality of our sleep causes an increase in cortisol levels, which is our main stress hormone, that has been shown to break down collagen, that is the main protein found within our body that makes up our skin, bones, muscles, ligaments and tendons. The quality of our skin is further worsened by the fact that when we lack sleep, we produce even less growth hormone which is responsible for cellular regeneration and growth, to keep our skin young.

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IMPROVING YOUR SLEEP QUALITY

Avoiding exposure to bright lights before bed: Bright lights before bed suppress the release of melatonin, which as a result makes us tired much later in the night. Avoid the use of bright cool lights and looking at LED screens right before bed.

Limiting alcohol and avoiding caffeine before bed: If you do decide to consume either, drink them well before your bedtime during the day instead of later at night, as otherwise, they can disrupt your sleep or even cause you to not be able to fall asleep.

Doing something that relaxes you: This is crucial because, as in order to initiate sleep, we have to be in a calm state; a state that does not raise our core body temperature, pulse or blood pressure. Some ideas for calming evening activities include: Reading, taking a walk outside, taking a bath, drawing, meditating, journaling or relaxing with some music.

Exercising during the day: If we choose to intentionally do exercise during the day instead of before sleep, we are able to stay awake and alert during the day which allows us to focus and concentrate on our work, but will lead us to becoming more tired and in need of rest towards the evening, which is perfect for getting us ready for bed. Avoid activities that raise your pulse and body temperature right before bed such as vigorous exercise, and instead choose more calming exercises like as walking, yoga or stretching.

Eating a lighter dinner: We often have the tendency to overeat and especially towards the evening during the time of dinner. However eating too much too late can not only lead to overeating and eventually weight gain, but can also negatively impact our sleep as we may find it hard to fall asleep. Opt for finishing dinner no later than 8 pm to get a good nights rest. It has also been shown that the consumption of dairy before bed can make us fall asleep faster because dairy products contain both melatonin and tryptophan, where tryptophan is an amino acid that plays a large role in the production of the neurotransmitter serotonin that then aids in the further production of melatonin, the reason why we usually start to feel tired after a glass of milk.

Having a set morning and evening routine: This is a good tip because it creates regularity in our schedule and allows our body to get used to waking up and going to bed at the same time, so we start to naturally feel more tired towards the evening and more alert in the mornings, ready to start off a brand new day.

Avoiding having longer naps in the afternoon: Even though naps are generally recommended by sleep scientists and there has been a decent amount of research showing the many benefits of taking short naps during the day, however, it is important to consider when we nap. It is advised not to take a nap in the later afternoon as otherwise, that makes us unable to fall asleep during the night, so take your naps in the early afternoon or at noon for maximum sleep later on at night.

All About Intermittent Fasting

The idea of intermittent fasting has exponentially exploded in the last ten years, in terms of its popularity. Although not a new practice, intermittent fasting is a new approach in the diet culture, that focuses predominantly on when we eat, instead of what we eat. One of the reasons why fasting has become so popular is because there is versatility in terms of the types of fasts available and people are not daunted by the idea of having to omit a specific food, which makes it that much more likely to implement as a daily lifestyle habit.

Intermittent fasting when done right, in accordance with other aspects of a healthy lifestyle such as adequate nutrition, movement and sleep, can serve as an energizing and revitalizing boost to your daily life, bringing alongside many potential health benefits.

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WHAT IS INTERMITTENT FASTING

To begin with, what does intermittent fasting even mean and how do we correctly define it?

Intermittent fasting is primarily a pattern of eating where we mindfully choose to focus on when we eat instead of what we eat. To be more specific, “intermittent” refers to something being irregularly spaced in time and “fasting” is a period where we abstain from eating, so intermittent fasting focuses on eating during a set eating window and then having a period of non-eating after that.

Although some fasts also focus on the number of calories you can consume, most fasts that are based on times of eating and non-eating and do not specify the number of calories you should consume, the number of meals you should have or the frequency of your eating patterns - Those things are all up to you to decide, as long as you stay inside your eating time frame. Even though this eating approach emphasizes the timing of our meals instead of the content of our meals, that does of course not mean that we should abandon all of our knowledge of a healthy and balanced diet. Alongside our fasts, we should still be incorporating a healthy diet full of whole grains, vegetables, fruits, lean protein sources and healthy fats to keep our body and mind at their peak performance.

In terms of the history of the diet, fasting has been around for millennia, in fact even from the times of hunter-gatherers, we presumably implemented fasting on an almost daily basis, as our food was not always available and when it was, we simply ate. Even today, some religions still incorporate fasting as a monthly practice during the year, which goes to show that the idea of fasting is anything but new.

During the time of your fast, generally ingesting anything that is below 50 calories will keep your body in a fasted state and your metabolic activity low, meaning that is it allowed to have water, cooffee, tea or any other drink that does not impact your metabolism to a great extent.

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TYPES OF FASTS

There are many different types of fasting styles out there and below I have provided some of the most common ones, to help you identify which one is most in alliance with your current goals and lifestyle

5:2: This is where for five days per week you eat your normal diet but for two days a week, you limit your calorie intake to 500 calories per day

16/8: This is the most common fasting style, where we have an 8-hour eating window and a 16 hour fasting period that follows after it

15/9: This style is similar to the last one, just that in this case we are allowed to eat for 9 hours while fasting for 15 hours

Complete fast: A slightly more extreme version, this is where we choose to fast for 1 or 2 full days during a week and eating our normal diet for the remainder of the week

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POTENTIAL BENEFITS OF FASTING

In terms of the scientific research behind fasting, so far most of it is inconclusive in terms of its impacts on human health since the majority of the research was done on rats and not directly on humans. However, from doing fasting tests on rodents, we were able to discover many positive impacts, which could potentially also be replicated in humans. Below are some of the promising health benefits that fasting could bring, with their being more research on the way that connects the science behind fasting and how it impacts our health.

CELLULAR REGENERATION

• Extended periods of fasting promote a process called autophagy, which is known as the cellular repair of tissue, organs and blood vessels, which could potentially protect against several diseases like cancer and mental illnesses such as Alzheimer’s disease

• Fasting gives cells the time to remove used up or even toxic metabolic waste products that accumulate during the times that our body is digesting food. Apart from this, because during fasting our body is obtaining energy, not from direct glucose stores ingested through food, we have lower levels of oxidative stress which means lower levels of inflammation - something that is good for all aspects of our health

• Even though it is a bold statement, due to the compelling research on the potential ability of cellular regeneration and internal detoxification of our organism, long term fasting could perhaps promote longevity, which was also proven by an experiment done on mice, where those mice that were put through phases of fasting, lived dramatically longer than the rest

WEIGHT AND FAT LOSS

• Because during fasting we are relying on two secondary sources of energy - firstly glycogen and then fat stores - we are telling our body to use up our current energy stores for its functioning which undoubtedly will make us lose body fat and eventually also body mass in the case that we are overweight. Roughly, scientific research has concluded that on average it takes our body about 12 hours for us to switch from using glycogen to fat as our main source of energy, which is when the process of fat burning can commence

• Furthermore, fasting induces changes in the levels of certain hormones circling in our blood. More specifically, our levels of insulin decrease dramatically as there is no direct food ingested, which promotes fat burning and apart from insulin, the level of our growth hormone increases which encourages the build-up of muscle tissue and once again using up fat as a energy source.

LOWER CHANCE OF CHRONIC ILLNESSES

• Some research has stated that due to significantly lower insulin levels in our blood, we are less likely to become insulin resistance meaning that we are less prone to becoming type II diabetic

• Additionally, fasting has been proposed as a way to treat heart disease because it decreases the concentration of triglycerides and LDL cholesterol in our blood, alongside lowering our blood pressure, blood sugar and inflammation levels all of which compound to protect our heart health

BRAIN HEALTH

• A couple of research reports done on rodents have pointed out that longterm fasting may protect against brain degenerative illnesses such as various brain targeting cancers and Alzheimer’s disease

• Furthermore, fasting has been shown to increase our level of Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor which is a hormone that has been linked with playing a large role in preventing depression and various other mental conditions

MY PERSONAL BENEFITS

• Personally I predominantly use the 15/9 or 16/8 fasting method on a daily basis and having done fasting regularly for about a month now, I have noticed some other benefits, most of which are centred on a change in my mentality and relationship with food.

• Firstly I have found that fasting has enabled me to listen to my bodies food cues, where most of the time now, I eat when I am hungry and stop when I am full

• Because I choose to have breakfast at 9 am and wake up somewhere between 6 or 7 in the morning, I have developed an enjoyable habit of exercising or going outside for a walk or run in the morning which is then rewarded by a nutritious and filling breakfast afterwards

• Since my hunger cues have improved, I spend less time thinking about food, since I know roughly when and what I will eat, which allows me to have more focus and greater levels of energy for making more important decisions in my day

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WHO IT IS NOT RECOMMENDED FOR

Even though intermittent fasting comes with potentially some very positive and impactful changes to your overall health and well being, it is not advised to do for everyone. Here is a list of people who are advised to speak to their doctor first if wanting to start intermittent fasting, in order to avoid any greater health setbacks.

Consult with your doctor before fasting, if you:

• Have a past in disordered eating or any other mental related food disorder

• Are currently underweight and have a lower than a healthy fat percentage

• Are pregnant, breastfeeding or trying to conceive

• Have a past in or currently have heart disease, type II diabetes or persistent low blood pressure

• Are younger than 15 years old

• Are older than 70 years (elderly people)

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DOWNSIDES OF THE DIET

Everything has upsides and downsides, and intermittent fasting comes with a few setbacks of its own, which come in different sizes and effect based on the individual’s previous lifestyle tendencies and personal experiences with the diet. It is not to say that ever will experience these downsides, however, they are most common to newcomers and for people for who intermittent fasting is a large lifestyle shift. Experiencing some of these in the initial stages is normal for a shift in lifestyles such as this one, simply because your body is adjusting to a new routine and lifestyle.

Here are some things you may experience during your first month of starting intermittent fasting:

• Experiencing feelings of hunger, slight irritation, frequent mood changes and occasionally lacking focus

• May negatively impact your social eating times and get-togethers

• Being more prone to overeating during your eating period from increased hunger signals

• Not eating an adequate amount of calories during your eating window, so make sure you are eating nutritionally and calorically dense meals in smaller but more frequent portions, especially if your eating window is small and you are an active individual

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FAST TIPS FOR INTERMITTENT FASTING

• Identify why you want to start fasting: There are plenty of reasons why you would want to try it out, but defining this is crucial since you have to remember that you are doing this for yourself, so if you don’t know what you want to get out from fasting, then why would you even start?

• Starting small: it is easy to be ambiguous and say that you will start with a 16/8 fasting style, but that may be a bit of an ambiguous start, especially if you have never done serious fasting in the past. Choosing a shorter fasting period will make it more realistic for you and will make it easier for your body to adjust, meaning that you are much more likely to stick with it

• Using an app: health-specific apps nowadays are more versatile than ever and there are plenty of fast-tracking apps out there that can help you keep on track with your progress and provide you with more information about the science behind intermittent fasting. Furthermore, it can connect you to a community of other people that are also on their fasting journey, which can motivate and inspire you to keep up your progress. I personally am I big fan of the app Zero and have been using it on a daily basis, because it is very simple to use and provides me with everything that I would need in a fasting app

• Keeping hydrated: It is crucial that you drink enough water during your fasts, otherwise being in a dehydrated state can make you lose concentration and increase feelings of dizziness and tiredness

• Adjusting you fasting style: Not every fasting style will work for everyone so it is important to adjust your fasting style to your current lifestyle, meaning that if have serious occupations like a full-time job, a family and long commuting times, you will have to adjust your fasting style to accommodate for those factors

• Considering exercise: Exercising is not an issue during fasting, however, some people might prefer to opt for slower-paced exercises instead of a hard strenuous workout, simply because they prefer to have some fuel in the tank before exercising. It is important to consider and plan out your exercise roughly in advance since after exercise you soon become hungry and your muscles need nutrients and energy to replenish, so make sure you keep those things in mind while fasting

• Meal planning: This point is linked slightly to the previous one, wherewith fasting we now have a new eating schedule to follow, which means that it will be really helpful for us to roughly know ahead of time what we will be eating and when, so this is where meal planning and food preparation come in handy because it saves us time with deciding what to eat and the length of the cooking process itself.