5 Ways to Hold on to Your Energy

Energy is a precious commodity. It's what we use to get things done, to work, to think, to get from A to B and to actively engage with our family and friends. When we are low on energy we don't achieve much and we don't feel so good about ourselves. So how can you look after your energy levels and avoid feeling washed out before you're halfway through the day?

 

The Energy Budget

Energy is like money, once it’s spent we have to earn more. We know that energy is earned by having a healthy diet and enough good quality rest, but what many of us remain unaware of is the fact that we may be squandering our energy, making bad energy investments, or hanging out with expensive company that will spend it fast and leave you with an energy debt.

Setting yourself an energy budget is a good way to keep your body running well without over taxing it.

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4 Reasons to Tune into Your Alpha Brainwaves

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alpha brainwaves are produced in the unique alert yet relaxed state that we often experience just before falling asleep or just as we enter waking consciousness in the morning. If you’ve ever noticed that you recall your dreams from the night before just as you are settling down to sleep, you have  experienced the alpha brain state in action.

In the alpha brainwave state your mind is lucid and clear while your body is calm and relaxed. Some key benefits of increasing alpha brainwaves in your own brain include:

Enjoying Calm

The alpha brainwave is the natural brain state that accompanies the relaxation response. That means it’s the perfect anti-dote to stress. Alpha brainwaves naturally boost serotonin levels and can relax the body and mind in just minutes. One good way to enter the alpha state is to use specially recorded music. Although you can feel deeply relaxed when in an alpha state, you will also experience awareness of what’s going on around you, this state of relaxed awareness is unique to the alpha brain state which makes it valuable for getting in touch with your higher thoughts and aspirations.

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Flow: The Fluid & Happy State of Getting Things Done

Have you ever found yourself completely absorbed in a project or creative activity; so much so that you lose sense of anything but what you are doing and time seems to fly? If you have, you have experienced what professor and author Mihály Csíkszentmihályi describes as the state of FLOW. In his book, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, Professor Csíkszentmihályi explains that people are most happy when they are in a state of  concentration or complete absorption with the activity, or situation, at hand.

When people refer to being “in the zone” that is exactly the same thing as the state of flow. But, stressed and distracted as we are, feelings of total and happy immersion in what we are doing often pass us by. Shame.

Read on to discover how flow works and find out how you can enter the contented state of fluid accomplishment…

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Productivity in a Distraction Filled World

My local library now offers free internet access. I used to go there because it was a naturally distraction free place to write. I could use my laptop without twitching to click “check mail”, because it couldn’t check mail. Now I have to exercise steely resolve not to Google when I know I should be writing.

I’m sure there will be times when I find the connection useful, but I’m noticing that more and more of us are getting into the habit of constantly checking emails, blog stats, myspace messages etc and as the wireless age kicks in, there are fewer and fewer places where the temptation to Twitter isn’t there.

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Learn Faster: 12 Effective (and super easy) Ways to Do It

Learning doesn't have to be a slow and painful process. There are things we can all do to get information settled where we want it to go quicker than you may have thought possible. Here are 12 ways to accelerate the learning process.

1. Jump the Pain Barrier

Learning usually follows four stages. Stage 1 is referred to as unconscious incompetence. That's where you know so little about a new thing that you don't even know what you don't know yet!

Stage 2 is conscious incompetence. This is where you realise that you don't know anything. You're new to the subject matter, it seems vast and you realise just how far you have to go. This is usually where most people get overwhelmed and learning grinds to a halt just before you start to get it.

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