You’re reading How To Hack Your Writing Brain, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

Writing has always been the art that most intimately reaches out to people and asks them to create. Let’s be honest; we are more than aware when we can’t paint or draw or shade. We have relatively good indications of our futility in a great many arts because commonly, we can’t envision ourselves creating that art. If you can’t dance, you don’t think about your ability dance all day.

Additionally, many arts matter less in our daily lives due to a defined lack of practical application. Sure, you might need to help a sketch artist draw a bank robber’s headshot, but even then, you aren’t doing the drawing. There are rarely times where painting a picture of the snow falling in your front yard would be more practical than simply using your smartphone to take a picture and sending it, with love, to your friend in Florida. Your boss might say “write up a proposal and cover letter by the end of the day” but isn’t likely to say, “Please paint a picture showing how are meeting looked this afternoon.”

Writing is different because while it is an art (think Hemmingway), it is also a basic need (think writing a check or passing elementary school courses). And it can also be vindication (think about that time you went through that breakup and really wanted to put it all into words). The Internet is now in content overdrive. The competition for page views and sales is mostly funneled either via the written word, or video. Because video requires more laborious technological endeavors and skills, a greater challenge exists to accomplish it, leaving writing, once again, as the web’s driving art.

Writing has value in common daily application (think web marketing, your Facebook status, that cover letter) and art application (think that novella about growing up a small town girl in Kentucky, eventually ending up a pilates instructor in NYC, only to suffer the consequences of a fast-life suffering heart).

Because of this, I hear the phrase, “I wish I could write like you do” all the time. The written word is powerful and versatile, and for some, it seems unaccomplishable. Well, being a seasoned writer who has been published in USA Today, among other outlets, I can assure you, writing is something you can do. The problem is, you just don’t know how to hack your writer’s brain. And when I tell you how to mine your brain for writing ability, you may just not want it anymore. That’s because some would view hacking the writer’s brain as something that sits somewhere between an inconvenience and absolute annoyance.

But wait, I’m a writer, so how would I know if these tips work? Because writers just like me get writer’s block and I’ve learned that writer’s block is mostly just not following the below tips.

You decide. Here’s my list of ways to hack the writer’s brain.

1) Honesty Fuels Creativity

Writing, of course, by most every standard, needs a creative infusion. Words don’t just magically appear. But often, people think of “creative writing” as only writing for specific circumstances, such as a novel or a poem. But writing on all fronts typically requires creativity. And creativity is spawned from one’s ability to be insightful. And the only way by which you can be insightful is, to be honest with yourself.

If you want to create characters, the best place to start is by understanding your own self. If you need to write something that manipulates another party’s position (think writing a letter to a landlord), then you need to be in tune with how a real human thinks, not how you want them to think. A strategic writer need not be a seasoned writer, rather, someone who understands the emotions of other people.

You can’t create a character built on human emotions when your own interpretation of human emotions are built on lies. Wait, what? Yes, get over it, we all lie to ourselves about how think, how we feel, how we react to things. We are revisionist when it comes to considerations made about our day’s events.

Really good writers step out of their own body and judge themselves without bias. And they expose themselves to the elements. If you want to learn to write powerfully, start by writing about the real you. You have an inside track to human character (yours), to human emotion (your happiness and sadness and frustrations), and to human error. By writing about yourself in candor, without the constraints of ego, you begin to understand how other’s feel and interpret. This changes how you write a letter to your boss asking for a raise. This changes how you develop a character in your novel.

And what’s great about this? It is what writing classes have said all along: keep a diary. I don’t tell anyone to write a daily journal, but I do encourage writing when you feel impassioned about something in your life. Nobody needs to see it; this is your training to hone a skill.

When you went to the grocery store this afternoon, you might tell people you were savvy and got a great deal using a coupon (you are smart), and on the way out, you gave a dollar to a homeless person (you are giving). These are things, which while genuine and relevant, are often just us living in a shell and protecting our self-worth from being devalued by the world. We want people to think we are great. Great writers don’t think like this; they are commonly comfortable in their own self-deprecation.

“I went to the store this afternoon. As I was checking out, I noticed that the checker wasn’t going to scan in my case of water bottles because they were under the cart. I knew if I could just hold tight, I’d save $8. But I folded, I felt scared of getting caught, so I alerted the checker. Does the fact that I wanted to not alert the checker put me on the fringe of moral depravity?”

That’s loaded with real, human emotion. It is relatable and honest. It’s interesting. An entire character could be built from just that excerpt (I made that up, by the way). By writing honest things, you get access to the most interesting human being on earth: YOU.

2) White Noise Is Writer Brain Food

I can’t write anything while there is a TV or radio on, I tend to start following those scripts or beats. I can work on my laptop at a great non-writing related tasks and have a TV on, but I can’t write a well-thought out sentence if an episode of Friends is on in the background.

Silence is golden, but there might be more gold in white noise. When I used to fly a lot, I began to realize that my creativity seemed to be elevated (pun intended). I loved the sounds of the engine as my background; I felt immersed inside my own little brain. Well as it turns out, that “noise” seems to be pretty healthy for writers. Check out this full article in Fast Company discussing ambient noise and productivity, they related it directly to writing.

This hack is super easy. You can purchase apps, or, do what I do and hit up Youtube.

Here is an Arctic Blizzard, definitely one of my favorites.

Thunderstorms out at sea (this is thinker’s gold).

There are also some cool alpha brain waves one (these don’t work for me, but reviews are insanely good). Here is one.

Just search “white noise” in Youtube’s search bar and find what you like. I have some Bose Noise Reduction headphones that I pair up with these white noise videos, and it feels as if I am in a new world or a far, far away land. My productivity, my creativity, and my focus all feel elevated. This also allows you to work near a TV, radio or in a busy cafe without being subjected to hearing unwanted noises.

3) Reading Can Break Writer’s Block

If you deploy the above tips and still find you are trapped in writer’s block anyway, pick up something creative and read it. Or, if you are attempting to write something more formal, find some formal pieces of writing and read those. The new, focused stimuli will help shift your brain’s mode to that gear. When I offer this advice to people, they often respond with “I never thought of that.”

To be honest, I forget it as well. Its very basic, but very powerful.

4) What You Eat Fuels The Brain (Boost it with MCT oil or Coconut Oil)

We are going to get started where it hurts: your diet. I want to make sure I’m clear here; I’m giving you an essential writer’s brain hack tip, I’m not advising you on health. You can see your doctor if you want to lose weight or develop amazing biceps, I’m here to make you a pound for pound writing champ.

When I was growing up, one of my writing teachers used to tell me that if I wanted to achieve a more creative writing state, I should eat candy. He kept candy on his desk. This might be true, but the problem with it is you will have little endurance. Your writing tank will run out. Refined carbs aren’t great for endurance. Often, we think of diet and exercise as related (because they are). If someone is going to play basketball or run a marathon, they think, “what should I eat that offers me endurance?” The same should be true for writing. Writers need to be able to focus and concentrate for extended periods of time.

Stay with lower carbs or complex carbs. This means proteins such as meats, or carbs such as raw (or unsweetened nuts). Your brain will run more efficiently in this mode and eliminate that “crashing” feeling that refined carbs induce. You need your brain to have stabilized energy. The brain, is in fact, a much sharper machine when it runs lower carb. Here’s a great article from Authority Nutrition  explaining how the presence of ketones in the brain is healthier for the brain (ketones are the result of super low carb diets that go on for extended periods of time).

So the hack? Get the ketones going and sharpen up that brain for the long haul. You can do this by ordering some MCT oil, or some coconut oil. For added effect, put either in your coffee. Don’t bust out sugary carbs until you are done writing. This focus is so intense that I often find myself 4,000 words deep and not even realizing what time it is, or how much time has passed. Writers, just like athletes, need endurance. And the writer’s main muscle is focus. Often, writer’s block is merely the result of a brain that can’t focus.

5) Hack Your Perception

I’m going to say this as candidly as possible: every person and every situation are interesting. If you think you are boring, it is the fault of your own perception skills, rather than the fault of who you are. If you think the store is boring and without any substance, that’s your perception missing life.

Life is interesting, always, unless you make it not so. I always tell people to go to a store and stop and look around and think, “what could I write that would make this experience more interesting.” This will help tune your perspective on matters to be a bit more intuitive. Most books ever written are about things, people and situations which are boring, the writer chose to not be bored.

Wherever you are, if you see a dull horizon, that’s always on you. Making a habit out of seeing the interesting factors in everyday situations and in yourself will help to hack your writing brain. It grants you greater self-awareness and refined intuition. Practice having increased intuition and watch the words flow for anything you choose to write about.

Conclusion: In the end, everyone is a writer. Sure, some of us are born with a little more prowess than others, but everyone can get better at it with practice and creating the right conditions.

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Cory is a seasoned writer who currently writes for a prepping website called PrepForThat.com.

Photo credit: Daniel McCullough

You’ve read How To Hack Your Writing Brain, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’ve enjoyed this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

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You’re reading When the Doctor is Away, Incident-To Billing is Out of Play, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

When your physicians are out of the office, it’s easy to forget taking incident-to billing out of the lineup. Failure to do so, however, is a violation that can land your medical practice in hot water.

What is Incident-To Billing?

Incident-to billing refers to billing services provided by a nonphysician practitioner (NPP), such as a physician assistant, nurse practitioner, midwife, therapist, etc. Qualified NPPs can perform services under the name and National Provider Identifier (NPI) of the supervising physician—providing that the supervising physician is in the office. In this sense, the patient is under the physician’s care, with the NPP serving as a physician extender.

With the supervising physician in the office suite—and immediately available if called upon—medical practices can claim incident-to services performed by a NPP, code the services under the supervising physician’s NPI, and receive maximum allowed payout. The NPP, of course, must have an employment relationship with the physician or the physician’s employing agency.

When the physician is out of the office, services provided by the NPP must be reported under the NPP’s NPI. In this instance, the medical practice will receive only 85% of the allowed payout—which, tongue-in-cheek, is why it’s easy to forget to adjust NPP billing when the physician is away. It is definitely why the OIG, armed with penalties, is vigilant.

New Patient, New Problem

Other stipulations that limit NPP billing involve seeing a patient for the first time, which includes seeing an established patient with a new problem. Incident-to guidelines do not allow a NPP to file incident-to services under a physician’s NPI when a new patient or new problem is addressed. The NPP may see the new patient or attend to the new problem, but the visit must be filed under his or her NPI. Only after a supervising physician has establish a plan of care from a prior visit can the NPP serve as a physician extender.

NPP Services

Is the NPP limited in terms of the incident-to services he or she can provide? No, not if the NPP is qualified to perform the services. NPPs aren’t constrained to taking vitals and medical histories. As physician extenders, they can provide and bill incident-to services ordinarily performed by the supervising physician, so long as the supervising physician is on site. Some examples from Medicare’s Internet-Only-Manual (IOM) include reading X-rays, setting casts, minor surgeries… activities required for effective evaluation and/ or treatment of a patient’s condition.

A Final Caveat

Incident-to guidelines were developed by Medicare. Though Medicare tends to set the standard in the billing and reimbursement realm, not all payers follow suite. Some payers have state by state policies, as well, and may require all providers, NPPs included, to bill under their own NPI.

Always check with your insurance carriers before billing incident-to services.

Author bio: Deborah Marsh, JD, MA, CPC, CHONC, is a senior content specialist for TCI SuperCoder, working on everything from online tool enhancements and data updates to social media and blog posts. Deborah joined TCI in 2004 as a member of TCI’s respected Coding Alert editorial team.

You’ve read When the Doctor is Away, Incident-To Billing is Out of Play, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’ve enjoyed this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

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You’re reading 7 Ways of Thinking That Perpetuate Your Social Anxiety, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

If you suffer from social anxiety you probably have a lot of negative thoughts and beliefs going through your mind on a daily basis and especially in social situations. You may not even be aware of those beliefs most of the time. Anxiety also makes it more difficult to stay mindful and be aware of your thoughts. However those thoughts and beliefs are what your social anxiety ‘survives on’. Once you become aware of those false beliefs and cognitive distortions and replace them with more realistic ones the social anxiety will decrease. However that may take some time and practice because our brains need time to get used to new thought patterns.

Here are a few distorted ways of thinking you probably engage in if you suffer from social anxiety :

1.You Believe You Can Guess What Other People Think of You

People with social anxiety have a tendency to try to ‘read other people’s minds’. They jump to conclusions about what other people think of them without having any evidence. And those conclusions are almost always negative.  You cannot possibly know what other people think of you. Most of us don’t know. You can assume but not without any evidence. So as long you don’t have any real evidence someone doesn’t like you, you can relax and stop jumping to negative conclusions.

2.You Feel as If People Are Constantly Paying Close Attention to You

You are aware of every move and facial expression you make and feel like it’s being closely monitored by everyone while in reality most people don’t even notice what you are doing. And even if they do pay attention to you, it isn’t necessary for the purpose of judging you.

3.You Tend to Interpret Every Behavior as a Judgment Towards You

Whenever someone does or says something you are wondering if that is somehow directed to you. That paranoia is a side effect of your social anxiety. You are hyper vigilant to any form of judgment, and you see it where it doesn’t exist. That unfortunately perpetuates your low self-confidence. For example if someone is naturally sarcastic to everyone, you make take their sarcasm personally and think they act that way because they think you are stupid.

 4.You View Other People as Super Social and Super Confident

You think that everyone has perfect social skills and you are the only one who can’t get it right. You may find yourself wondering how other people can act so carefree and be so confident. In reality other people also have insecurities about social interactions, just maybe not at a high level. Instead of thinking everyone is constantly evaluating and judging you remember that other people are also worried about being liked and accepted by you.

5. You Set Perfect Standards for Yourself

You want to be able to make a good impression on everyone, and even if just one person doesn’t like you, you feel disappointed with yourself. No one in this world is liked by everyone they meet, and the more people you know, the more likely it is you will find ones that don’t like you. In fact those people that are outgoing and social, and that you think have perfect social lives, they are probably disliked by many people they know. People dislike other people for many reasons. They may be jealous of you, they may not like your friends, they may have different ideological beliefs etc. As long as you are a respectful person and don’t give anyone a good reason to not like you, you shouldn’t worry too much about some people disliking you.

6. You Focus on the Negative Parts of Social Interactions

Even if the whole social interaction was going well, but there was just one moment where things got awkward, you will still ruminate about those awkward moments and feel like the whole interaction was unsuccessful. For example if you held a presentation successfully but forgot your speech once or twice you will mostly likely spend the rest of your day thinking about those moments and feel bad about yourself. So instead of focusing on the negative parts of your social interactions, try to focus on the general picture.

 

7. You Underestimate Your Social Skills

People with social anxiety underestimate their social skills and believe themselves to be socially incompetent. You may believe that everyone has better social skills than you.  Other people probably don’t have any better social skills than you. You just falsely believe it and inhibit yourself from interacting and proving to yourself that you do have good social skills.

Photo credit: Nicholas Green

You’ve read 7 Ways of Thinking That Perpetuate Your Social Anxiety, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’ve enjoyed this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

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You’re reading 7 Ways of Thinking That Perpetuate Your Social Anxiety, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

If you suffer from social anxiety you probably have a lot of negative thoughts and beliefs going through your mind on a daily basis and especially in social situations. You may not even be aware of those beliefs most of the time. Anxiety also makes it more difficult to stay mindful and be aware of your thoughts. However those thoughts and beliefs are what your social anxiety ‘survives on’. Once you become aware of those false beliefs and cognitive distortions and replace them with more realistic ones the social anxiety will decrease. However that may take some time and practice because our brains need time to get used to new thought patterns.

Here are a few distorted ways of thinking you probably engage in if you suffer from social anxiety :

1.You Believe You Can Guess What Other People Think of You

People with social anxiety have a tendency to try to ‘read other people’s minds’. They jump to conclusions about what other people think of them without having any evidence. And those conclusions are almost always negative.  You cannot possibly know what other people think of you. Most of us don’t know. You can assume but not without any evidence. So as long you don’t have any real evidence someone doesn’t like you, you can relax and stop jumping to negative conclusions.

2.You Feel as If People Are Constantly Paying Close Attention to You

You are aware of every move and facial expression you make and feel like it’s being closely monitored by everyone while in reality most people don’t even notice what you are doing. And even if they do pay attention to you, it isn’t necessary for the purpose of judging you.

3.You Tend to Interpret Every Behavior as a Judgment Towards You

Whenever someone does or says something you are wondering if that is somehow directed to you. That paranoia is a side effect of your social anxiety. You are hyper vigilant to any form of judgment, and you see it where it doesn’t exist. That unfortunately perpetuates your low self-confidence. For example if someone is naturally sarcastic to everyone, you make take their sarcasm personally and think they act that way because they think you are stupid.

 4.You View Other People as Super Social and Super Confident

You think that everyone has perfect social skills and you are the only one who can’t get it right. You may find yourself wondering how other people can act so carefree and be so confident. In reality other people also have insecurities about social interactions, just maybe not at a high level. Instead of thinking everyone is constantly evaluating and judging you remember that other people are also worried about being liked and accepted by you.

5. You Set Perfect Standards for Yourself

You want to be able to make a good impression on everyone, and even if just one person doesn’t like you, you feel disappointed with yourself. No one in this world is liked by everyone they meet, and the more people you know, the more likely it is you will find ones that don’t like you. In fact those people that are outgoing and social, and that you think have perfect social lives, they are probably disliked by many people they know. People dislike other people for many reasons. They may be jealous of you, they may not like your friends, they may have different ideological beliefs etc. As long as you are a respectful person and don’t give anyone a good reason to not like you, you shouldn’t worry too much about some people disliking you.

6. You Focus on the Negative Parts of Social Interactions

Even if the whole social interaction was going well, but there was just one moment where things got awkward, you will still ruminate about those awkward moments and feel like the whole interaction was unsuccessful. For example if you held a presentation successfully but forgot your speech once or twice you will mostly likely spend the rest of your day thinking about those moments and feel bad about yourself. So instead of focusing on the negative parts of your social interactions, try to focus on the general picture.

 

7. You Underestimate Your Social Skills

People with social anxiety underestimate their social skills and believe themselves to be socially incompetent. You may believe that everyone has better social skills than you.  Other people probably don’t have any better social skills than you. You just falsely believe it and inhibit yourself from interacting and proving to yourself that you do have good social skills.

Photo credit: Nicholas Green

You’ve read 7 Ways of Thinking That Perpetuate Your Social Anxiety, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’ve enjoyed this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

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You’re reading 5 Daily Habits That Will Transform Your Life (And How To Adopt Them), originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

Peter Economy is quoted as saying that “habit building (and breaking) is one of the hardest things we can do, but it’s also (very) important for our long term success and happiness”. He’s not wrong. When you’re trying to escape from old habits the road can be a long one. With the right mindset, however, your life will undoubtedly be filled with successes. You’ll be able to attribute those successes to new habits in your life.

But where do you even start with habit building? There are lots of places to start that can get you set off in the wrong direction and with the wrong frame of mind. That’s why we’ve come up with 5 habits for you to perform each day that are easy to start and easier to keep up with.

Make a Morning Routine

One of the simplest things you can do to pre-emptively improve your life is to make a morning routine. The 2018 diary from Saint Belford is a big advocate for this. This could involve waking up earlier and writing 500 words (on no set topic), taking a stroll, making a to-do list for the day, taking an icy shower to wake up, or quietly meditating. We often get sucked into the snooze alarm vortex, which can throw off entire days of positive energy if we aren’t careful. Making a new morning routine is as easy as setting your alarm to go off 30 minutes earlier tomorrow morning.

Set Daily Goals & Review Them

This is a nice addition to the first habit. As mentioned, it’s good to try and set a to-do list up right when you rise in the morning. This doesn’t take a long time at all. Maybe 5 to 10 minutes at the most. Be sure to take the time each morning to set up what you need to accomplish each day. With a concrete list, you’ll stay on task and get the satisfaction of stroking off a goal once it’s completed.

At the end of each day – before bed – go over your list of goals again. Whether they’re your goals for today, for the week, the month, or the year, you should take some time to look over them. If you want to achieve them, you need to focus on them as much as you can. Set your mind to “achieve mode” so that these goals are always on your mind – whether consciously or unconsciously.

Focus on One Goal At a Time

It can be tempting to try and do many things at once – especially if you’re on a deadline or you’re stressed out. Working on more than one goal at a time can spread thin your focus and energy, which you need to achieve a goal in the first place.

Instead of multitasking, try single-tasking and work on one goal at a time. You can break that goal into smaller parts in order to achieve it, but be laser focused on that specific goal. By doing this, you’re more likely to accomplish it and stroke it from your list of goals.

Exercise

When making a monthly, yearly, or 5-year plan, many people will include something about “getting in shape” or “losing X amount of kilograms”. Exercise is one of the best daily habits you can form. Just ask Mark Zuckerberg and Richard Branson.

The only thing stopping you from making exercise a daily habit is you. Daily exercise comes in many forms and can start very small. Take a walk as part of your morning routine, or join a weekly or bi-weekly class at the gym. Stretching and yoga are excellent options too. Surfing tends to cleanse the soul as well (if that’s what you’re into of course). Regular exercise clears your mind and reduces stress, making it an excellent daily habit to form.

De-Clutter

Lastly, having a clean workplace makes thinking and working a lot less stressful. Get in the habit of thinking minimally when it comes to your workspace. A notepad, a pen, your laptop, your phone…you don’t need much more to get work done. Invest in a program like Evernote to store your important files, keeping them handy without them taking up any desk space.

Old Habits Die Hard, New Habits Live Long

These are just 5 daily habits that have worked for us. By making them part of your daily routine you’ll be surprised just how full of positivity your life will be. With a new set of habits under your belt, your goals will be accomplished faster than you’d imagined, and your headspace will be clearer than ever.

 

You’ve read 5 Daily Habits That Will Transform Your Life (And How To Adopt Them), originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’ve enjoyed this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

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You’re reading 5 Daily Habits That Will Transform Your Life (And How To Adopt Them), originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

Peter Economy is quoted as saying that “habit building (and breaking) is one of the hardest things we can do, but it’s also (very) important for our long term success and happiness”. He’s not wrong. When you’re trying to escape from old habits the road can be a long one. With the right mindset, however, your life will undoubtedly be filled with successes. You’ll be able to attribute those successes to new habits in your life.

But where do you even start with habit building? There are lots of places to start that can get you set off in the wrong direction and with the wrong frame of mind. That’s why we’ve come up with 5 habits for you to perform each day that are easy to start and easier to keep up with.

Make a Morning Routine

One of the simplest things you can do to pre-emptively improve your life is to make a morning routine. The 2018 diary from Saint Belford is a big advocate for this. This could involve waking up earlier and writing 500 words (on no set topic), taking a stroll, making a to-do list for the day, taking an icy shower to wake up, or quietly meditating. We often get sucked into the snooze alarm vortex, which can throw off entire days of positive energy if we aren’t careful. Making a new morning routine is as easy as setting your alarm to go off 30 minutes earlier tomorrow morning.

Set Daily Goals & Review Them

This is a nice addition to the first habit. As mentioned, it’s good to try and set a to-do list up right when you rise in the morning. This doesn’t take a long time at all. Maybe 5 to 10 minutes at the most. Be sure to take the time each morning to set up what you need to accomplish each day. With a concrete list, you’ll stay on task and get the satisfaction of stroking off a goal once it’s completed.

At the end of each day – before bed – go over your list of goals again. Whether they’re your goals for today, for the week, the month, or the year, you should take some time to look over them. If you want to achieve them, you need to focus on them as much as you can. Set your mind to “achieve mode” so that these goals are always on your mind – whether consciously or unconsciously.

Focus on One Goal At a Time

It can be tempting to try and do many things at once – especially if you’re on a deadline or you’re stressed out. Working on more than one goal at a time can spread thin your focus and energy, which you need to achieve a goal in the first place.

Instead of multitasking, try single-tasking and work on one goal at a time. You can break that goal into smaller parts in order to achieve it, but be laser focused on that specific goal. By doing this, you’re more likely to accomplish it and stroke it from your list of goals.

Exercise

When making a monthly, yearly, or 5-year plan, many people will include something about “getting in shape” or “losing X amount of kilograms”. Exercise is one of the best daily habits you can form. Just ask Mark Zuckerberg and Richard Branson.

The only thing stopping you from making exercise a daily habit is you. Daily exercise comes in many forms and can start very small. Take a walk as part of your morning routine, or join a weekly or bi-weekly class at the gym. Stretching and yoga are excellent options too. Surfing tends to cleanse the soul as well (if that’s what you’re into of course). Regular exercise clears your mind and reduces stress, making it an excellent daily habit to form.

De-Clutter

Lastly, having a clean workplace makes thinking and working a lot less stressful. Get in the habit of thinking minimally when it comes to your workspace. A notepad, a pen, your laptop, your phone…you don’t need much more to get work done. Invest in a program like Evernote to store your important files, keeping them handy without them taking up any desk space.

Old Habits Die Hard, New Habits Live Long

These are just 5 daily habits that have worked for us. By making them part of your daily routine you’ll be surprised just how full of positivity your life will be. With a new set of habits under your belt, your goals will be accomplished faster than you’d imagined, and your headspace will be clearer than ever.

 

You’ve read 5 Daily Habits That Will Transform Your Life (And How To Adopt Them), originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’ve enjoyed this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

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You’re reading 5 Signs Your Therapy Is Working, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

Most people take that initial plunge into therapy with the highest of hopes. We want to make real changes in our lives. We want to be more successful. We want to be in control of our emotions. In short, we want to BE better than we are today, right at this very moment.

For therapists, it’s a requirement of their own success to ensure that they are providing treatment that will steer their patients toward a positive outcome. When they finally see that something “clicks” during treatment, it’s more than just the stereotypical light bulb coming on. It’s validation that their methods are improving their patient’s lives.

But once we start putting in all of that effort as a patient, how do we know that our hard work is paying off? Everyone likes a little positive reinforcement every now and then, right? So, let’s take a look at a few tell-tale signs that we are all moving in the right direction.

Your Relationships With Others Are Improving

As a patient progresses in their treatment, one of the first noticeable improvements is in interaction with others and how relationships are maintained. While we all experience problems at work with clashing personalities or that relative that just pushes your buttons every year during the holidays, what matters is our reaction to them.

As patients work through their therapy and discover underlying causes for not necessarily always reacting to others in the most positive of ways, then the motivation behind their actions will change. Relationships will grow stronger, which in turn, will support the overall mental health of the patient. Patients will find that they are building nurturing, positive relationships, rather than negative, destructive ones.

During this process, therapists will be able to set forth a treatment plan, focusing on relationship goals and how the patient will build new relationships and repair existing problems. This is also a time period when the therapist can see the progress that has been made with his or her techniques, especially if the patient is working with the therapist toward this outcome.

Your Overall Health Is Growing Stronger

When we are physically unhealthy, there can be many underlying reasons. You can probably think about that one person at the office who always seem to catch the latest bug that’s going around, or, no matter if it’s allergy season or not, always has the sniffles. Our mental health can most definitely be a contributing factor to how easily or often we experience illness.

However, not only can our mental health affect our susceptibility to a sickness, but it can also be an underlying cause. The New York Times recently published a post that discusses  how mental health disorders can affect a patient’s physical health in two primary ways. Mental health conditions may mask a physical ailment with depression or anxiety, not allowing the clinician to give the proper diagnosis, or they can actually be the direct cause of the ailment.

A therapist or other mental health professional can research these issues and determine whether a psychological problem is in fact a primary cause for a patient’s condition, or if it could be a side effect of a physical illness. As the patient’s physical health strengthens, the therapist and primary care physician can often work hand-in-hand to determine a course of treatment that benefits both conditions. Integrated care is so instrumental in the healthcare realm.

You Are Taking Responsibility for Your Actions

As you therapy continues, you should soon find that you no longer find it comforting to “play the blame game”. Often, when we are trying to make excuses for our own actions or our poor behavior, we tend to try to rationalize certain situations or scenarios. We can do this within our own minds, or we can express these “excuses” openly to anyone who will listen.

When we finally start admitting that there is no real rationale for a sudden burst of emotion or a day spent in bed with the covers pulled over our heads, a therapist can then begin to dig into the real reason that we are finding certain actions so difficult to take responsibility for. This can be a real process to work through, especially if this is breaking decades worth of self denial. Many therapists will implement behavioral assessments to further monitor your progress.

However, in the end, the benefits are endless. You’ll find that you spend way more time ensuring that you make the best decisions possible, rather than clocking in hours trying to come up with reasons to offset your mistakes. Plus, you’ll even find that, after some work, this will all become second nature

You Are Clearing Up the Clutter

Therapy can work some real magic, but anyone who has ever been in a therapeutic environment knows that you have to put in the work. There has never been a better example of “you get what you put in” than your personal therapy treatment. Yet, this new take on things will begin to spread into other facets of your everyday lives as well.

Let’s look at the mind. By removing all of the things that take up space, like worries over difficult relationships or anxiety over repeated poor decision making, you can free up plenty of room for all of the important things in you life. Think of it as a bit of spring cleaning for the mind!

Your therapist will also love you when you get to this point. You will think more clear-mindedly, enabling a clinician to really understand your thought processes and better set forth a line of treatment to address your particular mental health condition.

Engagement in Your Therapy Is at an All-Time High

We have already touched a bit on the hard work that goes into making sure that your therapy leads to a positive outcome, but is it possible to actually get to the point where you look forward to learning ways to put this into motion? Absolutely! And this is a sure sign that your therapy is headed in the right direction.

The more a patient progresses into therapy, it may become more clear which techniques work and which are more of a struggle for that particular individual. Each person is different, which is why therapists are trained experts who can quickly access a situation and take action.

Specifically with the use of questionnaires and surveys that the patient can utilize from their smartphones or tablets, there are even more ways to track a patient’s progress, even after they leave the office. This opens up even more options for successful patient engagement. Plus, as the field of mental health progresses and continues to look more and more to technology to offer even more ways for patients to stay engaged in their therapy, continued interest in treatment will hopefully soon be the norm, not the exception.  

---

Angela Ash is a professional article writer and editor, specializing in self improvement and health topics. She is also the Content Manager for Mentegram, a mental heaththcare company that has helped over 200 therapists provide better care to over 1,500 patients.

You’ve read 5 Signs Your Therapy Is Working, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’ve enjoyed this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

http://ift.tt/2w1SLgw

You’re reading 5 Signs Your Therapy Is Working, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

Most people take that initial plunge into therapy with the highest of hopes. We want to make real changes in our lives. We want to be more successful. We want to be in control of our emotions. In short, we want to BE better than we are today, right at this very moment.

For therapists, it’s a requirement of their own success to ensure that they are providing treatment that will steer their patients toward a positive outcome. When they finally see that something “clicks” during treatment, it’s more than just the stereotypical light bulb coming on. It’s validation that their methods are improving their patient’s lives.

But once we start putting in all of that effort as a patient, how do we know that our hard work is paying off? Everyone likes a little positive reinforcement every now and then, right? So, let’s take a look at a few tell-tale signs that we are all moving in the right direction.

Your Relationships With Others Are Improving

As a patient progresses in their treatment, one of the first noticeable improvements is in interaction with others and how relationships are maintained. While we all experience problems at work with clashing personalities or that relative that just pushes your buttons every year during the holidays, what matters is our reaction to them.

As patients work through their therapy and discover underlying causes for not necessarily always reacting to others in the most positive of ways, then the motivation behind their actions will change. Relationships will grow stronger, which in turn, will support the overall mental health of the patient. Patients will find that they are building nurturing, positive relationships, rather than negative, destructive ones.

During this process, therapists will be able to set forth a treatment plan, focusing on relationship goals and how the patient will build new relationships and repair existing problems. This is also a time period when the therapist can see the progress that has been made with his or her techniques, especially if the patient is working with the therapist toward this outcome.

Your Overall Health Is Growing Stronger

When we are physically unhealthy, there can be many underlying reasons. You can probably think about that one person at the office who always seem to catch the latest bug that’s going around, or, no matter if it’s allergy season or not, always has the sniffles. Our mental health can most definitely be a contributing factor to how easily or often we experience illness.

However, not only can our mental health affect our susceptibility to a sickness, but it can also be an underlying cause. The New York Times recently published a post that discusses  how mental health disorders can affect a patient’s physical health in two primary ways. Mental health conditions may mask a physical ailment with depression or anxiety, not allowing the clinician to give the proper diagnosis, or they can actually be the direct cause of the ailment.

A therapist or other mental health professional can research these issues and determine whether a psychological problem is in fact a primary cause for a patient’s condition, or if it could be a side effect of a physical illness. As the patient’s physical health strengthens, the therapist and primary care physician can often work hand-in-hand to determine a course of treatment that benefits both conditions. Integrated care is so instrumental in the healthcare realm.

You Are Taking Responsibility for Your Actions

As you therapy continues, you should soon find that you no longer find it comforting to “play the blame game”. Often, when we are trying to make excuses for our own actions or our poor behavior, we tend to try to rationalize certain situations or scenarios. We can do this within our own minds, or we can express these “excuses” openly to anyone who will listen.

When we finally start admitting that there is no real rationale for a sudden burst of emotion or a day spent in bed with the covers pulled over our heads, a therapist can then begin to dig into the real reason that we are finding certain actions so difficult to take responsibility for. This can be a real process to work through, especially if this is breaking decades worth of self denial. Many therapists will implement behavioral assessments to further monitor your progress.

However, in the end, the benefits are endless. You’ll find that you spend way more time ensuring that you make the best decisions possible, rather than clocking in hours trying to come up with reasons to offset your mistakes. Plus, you’ll even find that, after some work, this will all become second nature

You Are Clearing Up the Clutter

Therapy can work some real magic, but anyone who has ever been in a therapeutic environment knows that you have to put in the work. There has never been a better example of “you get what you put in” than your personal therapy treatment. Yet, this new take on things will begin to spread into other facets of your everyday lives as well.

Let’s look at the mind. By removing all of the things that take up space, like worries over difficult relationships or anxiety over repeated poor decision making, you can free up plenty of room for all of the important things in you life. Think of it as a bit of spring cleaning for the mind!

Your therapist will also love you when you get to this point. You will think more clear-mindedly, enabling a clinician to really understand your thought processes and better set forth a line of treatment to address your particular mental health condition.

Engagement in Your Therapy Is at an All-Time High

We have already touched a bit on the hard work that goes into making sure that your therapy leads to a positive outcome, but is it possible to actually get to the point where you look forward to learning ways to put this into motion? Absolutely! And this is a sure sign that your therapy is headed in the right direction.

The more a patient progresses into therapy, it may become more clear which techniques work and which are more of a struggle for that particular individual. Each person is different, which is why therapists are trained experts who can quickly access a situation and take action.

Specifically with the use of questionnaires and surveys that the patient can utilize from their smartphones or tablets, there are even more ways to track a patient’s progress, even after they leave the office. This opens up even more options for successful patient engagement. Plus, as the field of mental health progresses and continues to look more and more to technology to offer even more ways for patients to stay engaged in their therapy, continued interest in treatment will hopefully soon be the norm, not the exception.  

---

Angela Ash is a professional article writer and editor, specializing in self improvement and health topics. She is also the Content Manager for Mentegram, a mental heaththcare company that has helped over 200 therapists provide better care to over 1,500 patients.

You’ve read 5 Signs Your Therapy Is Working, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’ve enjoyed this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

http://ift.tt/2w1SLgw

You’re reading 10 Things Introverts Should Start Doing Today to Live a Happier Life, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

It’s not easy being an introvert, because our society seems designed for extroverts. Job interviews favor those who are personable, smooth-talking, and quick-thinking. Classrooms are noisy, busy places that reward the students who raise their hands frequently and dive into group work. The social scene lauds those who are confident, outgoing, and quick to make small talk.

How can an introvert live a happy, fulfilling life in an “extroverted” world? In my book, The Secret Lives of Introverts: Inside Our Hidden World, I explore how introverts can work with their introversion rather than fight against it. Here are 10 ways introverts can do just that.

1. Get over your guilt of leaving the social event early. Have you ever started saying your goodbyes at a social event only to have someone incredulously exclaim, “You’re leaving already? We’re just getting started!” These types of comments used to fill me with guilt. Why was I the only one getting drained and wanting to leave? Was there something wrong with me? Thankfully, I later learned that I’m an introvert, and introverts get worn out by socializing because they respond to rewards differently than extroverts (you can learn more about the science behind introversion in my book). Now, I have no problem calling it an early night and heading for the door.

2. Have more meaningful conversations. Introverts tend to loathe small talk because it feels pointless and inauthentic, but we feel energized by talking about meaningful topics and big ideas. And there’s good news for introverts: research suggests that the happiest people have twice as many meaningful conversations — and do less surface-level chitchat — than the unhappiest. You may even find that big talk doesn’t drain you the way small talk does.

3. Be okay with turning down social invitations that promise little meaningful interaction. We’ve all been there. An acquaintance invites you to such-and-such event. You feel obligated to attend because you don’t want to hurt that person’s feelings or seem rude. But you know that the birthday party for your friend’s niece’s toddler or the guys’ night out won’t be fulfilling. In fact, it will not only lack meaningful interaction but also leave you with an introvert hangover, which is when you feel physically unwell from overextending yourself socially. If you’re anything like me, you’ve spent a good chunk of your life saying yes to social invitations out of guilt — then you paid for it later with exhaustion and overstimulation. Of course, there are some things you probably shouldn’t skip, like your good friend’s wedding or your spouse’s birthday dinner with the family. Bottom line, to live a happier life, pass on any unnecessary get-togethers you feel will drain your introvert battery, not energize it.

4. Schedule your alone time to avoid hurt feelings. I had the pleasure of sitting down with introverted Indie rocker jeremy messersmith to interview him for my book. He told me about a smart practice he’s been doing for quite some time: He makes sure he gets enough alone time by scheduling it once a week on the family calendar. That way his extroverted wife won’t feel hurt when he says he wants to be alone, and they can both work together to protect his restorative solitude by not scheduling other obligations at that time.

5. Don’t force yourself to live the “extroverted” life. Research from the University of Maryland suggests that acting falsely extroverted can lead to burnout, stress, and cardiovascular disease. Turns out, embracing your introverted nature isn’t just a feel-good axiom — it’s actually good for your health.

6. Back away from one-sided relationships. Sadly, because introverts listen well and are often content to take the back seat, we can be targets for toxic or emotionally needy people. These relationships — in which one person is taking more than they give — drain our already limited social energy. If there are people in your life who continually exhaust you, consider spending less time with them. You’ll get the bonus of freeing up more time and energy for the people who do fill you up.

7. Stop beating yourself up for that awkward thing you said…3 years ago. Perhaps because introverts have more electrical activity in their brains than extroverts, they tend to ruminate. Our overthinking may take the form of playing embarrassing mistakes over and over in our minds. Sadly, rumination can give way to anxiety and depression — and it rarely helps you solve the problem you’re chewing on. To break free from the rumination cycle, do something to get the powerful engine of your mind chugging down a different track. Try calling to mind a positive memory, putting on music, going for a walk, or doing any different activity than the one you’re currently doing.

8. Give yourself permission to not do it all. I have an extroverted friend who always has her hand in something. If she’s not organizing a get-together with our friends, she’s volunteering at her son’s pre-school or taking on an extra project at work. I’ll admit that I’ve wished for her energy because she really does seem like she’s doing it all. But I have to remind myself that my talents lie in deep analysis, reflective thinking, and quality over quantity — not in running around doing all the things.

9. Occasionally push yourself out of your comfort zone. To my absolute horror, after writing a book about introversion, I learned that people wanted to talk to me about said book. They even wanted me to give interviews, go on podcasts, and give speeches! Let’s just say it was a very real lesson in pushing myself out of my stay-at-home-and-watch-Netflix comfort zone. Honestly, I hated almost every minute of it (I really did!), but I did those things because I knew it would be good for me. Taking the occasional jaunt out of your comfort zone can help you grow, too.

10. Protect your needs. Because introverts tend to be conscientious people who keep their thoughts to themselves, they may find their needs getting overlooked. Most people probably aren’t purposely trying to burden you or take advantage of you — it may be that they simply aren’t aware of what you need! Do you need a few hours to yourself to recharge from a busy week? Say it! Do you need someone to stop talking to you for a few minutes so you can concentrate? Tell them! Your needs matter just as much as everyone else’s.

My book, The Secret Lives of Introverts, has been called a “decoder ring for introverts” and “one of the best books [on] introvert empowerment.” It’s available for purchase on Amazon, or wherever books are sold.

You’ve read 10 Things Introverts Should Start Doing Today to Live a Happier Life, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’ve enjoyed this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

http://ift.tt/2wsx8Jj

You’re reading 10 Things Introverts Should Start Doing Today to Live a Happier Life, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

It’s not easy being an introvert, because our society seems designed for extroverts. Job interviews favor those who are personable, smooth-talking, and quick-thinking. Classrooms are noisy, busy places that reward the students who raise their hands frequently and dive into group work. The social scene lauds those who are confident, outgoing, and quick to make small talk.

How can an introvert live a happy, fulfilling life in an “extroverted” world? In my book, The Secret Lives of Introverts: Inside Our Hidden World, I explore how introverts can work with their introversion rather than fight against it. Here are 10 ways introverts can do just that.

1. Get over your guilt of leaving the social event early. Have you ever started saying your goodbyes at a social event only to have someone incredulously exclaim, “You’re leaving already? We’re just getting started!” These types of comments used to fill me with guilt. Why was I the only one getting drained and wanting to leave? Was there something wrong with me? Thankfully, I later learned that I’m an introvert, and introverts get worn out by socializing because they respond to rewards differently than extroverts (you can learn more about the science behind introversion in my book). Now, I have no problem calling it an early night and heading for the door.

2. Have more meaningful conversations. Introverts tend to loathe small talk because it feels pointless and inauthentic, but we feel energized by talking about meaningful topics and big ideas. And there’s good news for introverts: research suggests that the happiest people have twice as many meaningful conversations — and do less surface-level chitchat — than the unhappiest. You may even find that big talk doesn’t drain you the way small talk does.

3. Be okay with turning down social invitations that promise little meaningful interaction. We’ve all been there. An acquaintance invites you to such-and-such event. You feel obligated to attend because you don’t want to hurt that person’s feelings or seem rude. But you know that the birthday party for your friend’s niece’s toddler or the guys’ night out won’t be fulfilling. In fact, it will not only lack meaningful interaction but also leave you with an introvert hangover, which is when you feel physically unwell from overextending yourself socially. If you’re anything like me, you’ve spent a good chunk of your life saying yes to social invitations out of guilt — then you paid for it later with exhaustion and overstimulation. Of course, there are some things you probably shouldn’t skip, like your good friend’s wedding or your spouse’s birthday dinner with the family. Bottom line, to live a happier life, pass on any unnecessary get-togethers you feel will drain your introvert battery, not energize it.

4. Schedule your alone time to avoid hurt feelings. I had the pleasure of sitting down with introverted Indie rocker jeremy messersmith to interview him for my book. He told me about a smart practice he’s been doing for quite some time: He makes sure he gets enough alone time by scheduling it once a week on the family calendar. That way his extroverted wife won’t feel hurt when he says he wants to be alone, and they can both work together to protect his restorative solitude by not scheduling other obligations at that time.

5. Don’t force yourself to live the “extroverted” life. Research from the University of Maryland suggests that acting falsely extroverted can lead to burnout, stress, and cardiovascular disease. Turns out, embracing your introverted nature isn’t just a feel-good axiom — it’s actually good for your health.

6. Back away from one-sided relationships. Sadly, because introverts listen well and are often content to take the back seat, we can be targets for toxic or emotionally needy people. These relationships — in which one person is taking more than they give — drain our already limited social energy. If there are people in your life who continually exhaust you, consider spending less time with them. You’ll get the bonus of freeing up more time and energy for the people who do fill you up.

7. Stop beating yourself up for that awkward thing you said…3 years ago. Perhaps because introverts have more electrical activity in their brains than extroverts, they tend to ruminate. Our overthinking may take the form of playing embarrassing mistakes over and over in our minds. Sadly, rumination can give way to anxiety and depression — and it rarely helps you solve the problem you’re chewing on. To break free from the rumination cycle, do something to get the powerful engine of your mind chugging down a different track. Try calling to mind a positive memory, putting on music, going for a walk, or doing any different activity than the one you’re currently doing.

8. Give yourself permission to not do it all. I have an extroverted friend who always has her hand in something. If she’s not organizing a get-together with our friends, she’s volunteering at her son’s pre-school or taking on an extra project at work. I’ll admit that I’ve wished for her energy because she really does seem like she’s doing it all. But I have to remind myself that my talents lie in deep analysis, reflective thinking, and quality over quantity — not in running around doing all the things.

9. Occasionally push yourself out of your comfort zone. To my absolute horror, after writing a book about introversion, I learned that people wanted to talk to me about said book. They even wanted me to give interviews, go on podcasts, and give speeches! Let’s just say it was a very real lesson in pushing myself out of my stay-at-home-and-watch-Netflix comfort zone. Honestly, I hated almost every minute of it (I really did!), but I did those things because I knew it would be good for me. Taking the occasional jaunt out of your comfort zone can help you grow, too.

10. Protect your needs. Because introverts tend to be conscientious people who keep their thoughts to themselves, they may find their needs getting overlooked. Most people probably aren’t purposely trying to burden you or take advantage of you — it may be that they simply aren’t aware of what you need! Do you need a few hours to yourself to recharge from a busy week? Say it! Do you need someone to stop talking to you for a few minutes so you can concentrate? Tell them! Your needs matter just as much as everyone else’s.

My book, The Secret Lives of Introverts, has been called a “decoder ring for introverts” and “one of the best books [on] introvert empowerment.” It’s available for purchase on Amazon, or wherever books are sold.

You’ve read 10 Things Introverts Should Start Doing Today to Live a Happier Life, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’ve enjoyed this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

http://ift.tt/2wsx8Jj