7 ways to get rid of everything superfluous and get more pleasure from life (part 2)

Original author: Jeff Hicken
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In the first part of the article, we talked about the first three ways to make life easier and more fruitful. In the promised continuation - four more useful tips that may be useful to many.

4. Get rid of unnecessary things


Take a break from reading to go to the garage or pantry. Review things there. When was the last time you used them?

Everyone is subject to fear of loss. This term is used by behavioral economists and psychologists. Fear of loss means that it is preferable for people to avoid losses than to make a profit. Many studies confirm that the psychological impact of loss is twice as powerful as success.

Consider a simple example. For the New Year, you make yourself a present - you buy an expensive exercise machine to practice on it three times a week. A year has passed. You are about to move to a new apartment and pack. Should I take with me a simulator that was little used and dusted most of the time in the basement?

The research results show that, most likely, you will take the simulator with you, because you do not want to put up with the idea of ​​wasting money spent on it.

Wouldn't it be better to give it to someone?

5. Reduce your plans for the day.


Making crazy daily plans for doing urgent tasks is a hallmark of today's lifestyle. We often repeat: "I'm too busy." And each time, uttering this phrase, we experience some unhealthy effect of serotonin - “the hormone of good mood”. Because of our busyness, we often refuse to help people in need, or from something that we really would like to do. It’s so easy to say or think: “I don’t have time for this.”
Pay more attention to work productivity rather than quantity

- Timothy Ferriss

Below are a few tips to help you offload your busy schedule.
  • Shorten your work day.
  • Work at home when you have the opportunity.
  • Do not view email and media too often (and never do this in the morning!).
  • Focus on the most important things.
  • Use outsourcing (hiring an independent contractor) whenever possible.
  • Learn sometimes to say no.
  • Turn off your computer and phone from time to time.
  • Change the job.

Instead of tearing yourself at the work you hate, do your favorite thing better.

6. Shorten your goals list.


Many of you will probably make a long list of goals at the beginning of each year. However, by February the majority already forgets or puts off 90% of what is planned to be done .

Instead of thinking about making a plan for the year, think better about yourself - your self-improvement.

For example, "Until the end of the year, I can learn to play the guitar in a cool way." Imagining this picture, you will be distracted from compiling a list, and it will significantly decrease.

Of course, it is useful to make a list of the most important goals for the near future, but it should not contain more than two or three points.

Take a fresh look at planning your life.

7. Try to do fewer tasks at the same time.


The idea of ​​multitasking is more of a myth. Recent studies in neurology prove that the brain is not able to solve several problems simultaneously, as previously thought. In fact, it just can quickly switch from one task to another.

Here are some important points from the publication of Psychology Today .
  • It takes less time to complete tasks if done one by one. When performing several tasks at the same time more time is spent.
  • When you solve only one problem, you make fewer mistakes than when switching from one task to another.
  • If the simultaneously performed tasks are quite complex, the number of errors and the time spent on solving them increases.
  • Switching from one task to another takes an average of 1/10 of a second, but if you make a lot of such switches during the day, the productivity of the work may decrease by 40%.
  • When switching tasks, several areas of the brain are involved. By scanning it was found that when working in multi-valued mode, activity is observed in four zones of the brain.
  • The prefrontal cortex is involved in switching and concentration, determining what tasks to do and when. The posterior parietal lobe controls each task. The anterior cingulate cortex tracks errors. The premotor cortex provides preparation for switching.

Multitasking cannot increase your productivity for too long. Therefore, focus better on one, the most important task.

Do not try to do everything at once.

Conclusion


Nowadays, many people are sure that the more, the better. In fact, real wealth is small. If everyone lived according to the principle “the more, the better”, Gandhi and Mother Teresa would never become symbols of the wisdom of our era. And if this principle is correct, why then many wealthy celebrities often fall into deep depression and even commit suicide?

If you want to achieve a lot and work productively, change your outlook on life values, because they are much easier than you think.

If you read this article to the end, it means that the issues raised in it turned out to be important for you.

PS We recommend another useful article on the topic of working on yourself -Improving your memory for learning English: 11 useful tips .

The author of the translation is Vyacheslav Davidenko, founder of TESTutor .

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