The best way to manage work email stress

The best way to manage work emaille stressThe best way to manage work email stressNew research finds that weve been thinking about email all wrong. Commonly-held beliefs say that email is a time-suck on our energy and souls, a disruptive distraction from the real work we should be doing. But a new literature review of 42 studies on work email found that most work email is actually relevant to our jobs, and that we should be tackling it right away for our own peace of mind.Led by Dr. Emma Russell, Head ofthe Wellbeing at Work Research Group at Kingston geschftlicher umgang School in London, the review found that although allowing ourselves to continuously be interrupted by email has been shown to negatively impact productivity, limiting access to it also has negative implications, namely because of the build-up of tasks in the inbox. In the empirical studies the report reviews, Russell found that the incidence of non-work-critical email at work appears to be very low.In other words, e mail remains the superior form of work communication, so employees need to learn strategies to manage it before it manages you.Here are her research-backed takeaways on how employees can take back control of their inbox1) Address emails as they comeTo decrease email stress, some CEOs prefer to check their emails once or twice a day, but the WWK Research Group found that this can be counterintuitive for many employees working in environments where email is seen as critical to the job. When you work for an office that requires active use of email, the report finds that actively engaging with our email across the working day can reduce employees stressful sense of overload.How active do you need to be? The report suggests checking your inbox every 45 minutes during the workday. And actively engaging doesnt just mean looking at your new inbox count with mounting dread, it means addressing these emails. File away for later, respond, or delete. It not only helps you do your job more effic iently, it help you feel better about doing your job.2) Turn off email alertsThe ping or push notification of a new email alert doesnt actually help us feel more on top of things. As neuroscience research reminds us, were terrible at task-switching, and the more we do it, the higher our stress levels rise. When you read an email alert, youre self-interrupting yourself and making it harder for you to get back on task. By turning off email alerts and making time to absprache with emails at regular intervals, the report found that employees feel more in control.3) Delay emails sent after hoursThe working world runs on emails, but digital boundaries need to be set for your workers lives outside of the office for everyones sanity. By using delay send features on emails, emails can be addressed but not delivered. The report finds that these flexible email options send a message to your subordinates that work-life boundaries are clarified and respected.

3 ways people become stuck, undeveloped, and unsuccessful

3 ways people become stuck, undeveloped, and unsuccessful3 ways people become stuck, undeveloped, and unsuccessfulAre you born the way you are and never change?Or, are you always changing?In Western Culture, the predominant belief is that, for the most part, yur identity is a fixed characteristic. Its DNA-based, and possibly solidified through your experience in the womb and before the age of 6 or 7.Without question, your DNA, birthing experience, and childhood experiences are super important.But what about the rest of your life?And what about this fixed mindset?- - - In the book, THE BODY KEEPS THE SCORE, Bessel van der Kolk M.D. explains that traumatic experiences can freeze a parts rolleality.When a person experiences traumatic stress, they often have a difficult time disassociating themselves with that stress.The memory gets sealed into their long-term memory. Unlike normal memories, which are social and flexible, traumatic memories become isolated from context, isolated from o ther people, and are rigid.Your memory can get stuck - and then you get stuck.As a person, traumatic experiences keep you in the past.You stop looking forward.You stop integrating new memories in. You live in the past. You have a very difficult time fully embracing the present moment - and allowing present experiences to continue shaping your personality.Life is hard.Its projected that approximately 28% of woman are sexually abused in their lives.The world is constantly changing and highly demanding.When I welches 11, my parents got divorced. That shook me up pretty good. Then, at 16, I was in a car accident where my mom was almost killed. I was the driver. That was rough.Chances are, youve experienced some degree of trauma. Chances are, that trauma could be keeping you frozen as a person.Challenge to personality development 1 traumatic experiencesIf youve experienced trauma, there are a few powerful ways to be healed.One form of therapy is called Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, or EMDR therapy. Its based on the notion that memories are formed during R.E.M. sleep - which stands for rapid eye movement. When youre in REM, your eyes are moving back and forth really fast. This is why your dreams can seem random. But its how your memories are INTEGRATED into your long-term memory and how your identity develops.Yoga has also been found to be a powerful way to work through trauma. As has writing in your journal, getting massages, and other traditional forms of therapy. Physical touch is very powerful, when a person is embraced. Connection to self and others is very healing - and loving touch can be a powerful vehicle.The main idea is that you need to reframe your memory. You need to begin experiencing present moments again.You need to stop living in the past. This isnt easy. Eventually, you can get to the point where you see the past experience as the past.Its not YOU anymore.Its an experience YOU had. But thats not you anymore. Youre a new person now. The present is actually pretty great.Challenge to personality development 2 not creating peak momentsIn the book, THE POWER OF MOMENTS Why Certain Experiences Have Extraordinary Impact, Chip and Dan Heath explain that certain experiences in life have the power to totally alter your worldview and direction in life.Some scientists would call these experiences transformational learning experiences.Others call them disorienting dilemmas.Others have simply called them peak experiences.The main idea is that, while growing up, a person often has powerful and emotional experiences that inform their worldview and personality development.According to the Heath brothers (and all the research they cite in their book), most of these paradigm shifting experiences happen during a persons teens, 20s, and begin tapering off during a persons 30s. They become almost non-existent for people over 40. And thus, people become frozen at a certain stage of their personality - and assume thats how its supposed to be.However, the Heath brothers explain that this doesnt need to be the case. You can actually manufacture these experiences regularly, and throughout your entire life.The reason most people stop having peak experiences - which according to Dr. Abraham Maslow, is required to become fully actualized as a person - is because they settle into societal norms.They stop growing.They stop putting themselves into wildly new and demanding situations. They stop exercising faith after having life experiences - and grow to become skeptical or cynical.I was on an airplane with a woman in her late 60s yesterday. Shes been an acting coach for 20 years. Before that, she spent 20 years in human development jobs. Before that, she was an actress.I was explaining these ideas to her and she LOVED THEM. She said that shes very close to retirement, and is feeling really, really ready to begin LEARNING AND GROWING again.She doesnt want to plateau. She is ready for the next chapter, where she is a new person. Of course she uses all of her past experiences to inform whatever she does. Just like she uses all of her experience in human development to inform how she coaches actors and actresses. But she also develops radically new sides of her personality that never existed before.If youre not having life-altering and peak moments, youre frozen in time. Dont settle. Never stop evolving.Challenge to personality development 3 youve bought into the myth of a fixed personalityPersonality is not a fixed characteristic.In Western culture, weve become obsessed with personality and fixed traits in general. We love our personality tests. We love putting ourselves in boxes.We love diagnosing ourselves.Because in Western culture, there is an obsession with individualism and an utter ignorance of the context that shapes the individual. It turns out, this is actually a very costly mental mistake. According to Stanford psychologist, Lee Ross, Peoples inflated belief in the importance of p ersonality traits and dispositions, together with their failure to recognize the importance of situational factors in affecting behavior, has been termed the fundamental attribution error.Who you are in one situation is different from who you are in a different situation.Your authentic self is not some fixed trait- but who you feel you should be at a certain time and place. Additionally, your authentic self shouldnt limit growth - but be something that draws you to continual growth.Personality isnt a fixed thing.Personality is DEVELOPED. And it never has to stop developing.ConclusionThe belief that who you are at birth is who you ARE, is a fixed mindset.Dont buy into it.You can always change.You change bybelieving you can changecontinually creating peak-experiencesand overcoming traumas you have through life.Dont freeze your personality.Ready toupgrade?Ive created a cheat sheet for putting yourself into a PEAK-STATE, immediately. You follow this daily, your life will change very q uickly.Get the cheat sheet hereThisarticlefirst appeared on Medium.

5 countries where you can retire on the cheap

5 countries where you can retire on the cheap5 countries where you can retire on the cheapMillennials, you wont be surprised to hear that ur saving for retirement isnt going so great. And while its nice to think that well be able to turn this tide around, the reality is for many of us that just might not happen, and well have to look for other alternatives in our Golden Years.That could mean pulling up your roots and moving to another country. Or, maybe youre already fed up with the grind and want to take your job mobile and live super inexpensively starting now.Either way, if youre planning your future, rather than spending your time looking for a new place to go on a yoga retreat, hang out with your squad, or even get in an affordable vacation before the end of the summer, check out these countries where you can stretch out your hard-earned dollars and retire on the cheap.1. BelizeBetween English being the countrys first language, incredible temple ruins, gorgeous blue waters, and the fact that you can quite comfortably live there for $1,000 us-dollar a month - and much less, if youre willing to be especially thrifty - Belize has a lot to offer the budget-conscious over-65 set. These are just a few of the reasons it tops our list of inexpensive places to retire.2. ThailandThailand is a popular vacation destination, even for luxury travelers, because the prices are so reasonable and the country is beautiful. Okay, so youll have to contend with torrential downpours, but considering you can find a modern two-bedroom condo in Bangkok for around $600 USD per month (and even less outside of the city), were pretty sure youd get used to it.3. VietnamAnother Southeast Asian country worth considering for your retirement, Vietnam boasts spectacular waterfronts, rich history, and warm temperatures, and the cost of living per month hovers around $1,130 USD, with about $420 USD of that going toward rent. If youre concerned that your language skills arent up to snuff, do nt let that hold you back Although Vietnamese is still the first language in the country, more than half of the population is proficient in English.4. EcuadorHere youll find charming architecture, awe-inspiring volcanoes, stunning islands, and breathtaking lagoons. Plus its only a quick - and cheap - flight to the Galapagos Islands, if that particular destination happens to be on your travel bucket list. Not to mention that youll finally get the immersive experience youve been wanting in reservierung to learn Spanish.InternationalLiving.com reports that couples can live quite happily on $1,680 USD a month in the city of Cuenca.5. PeruContrary to what you see in peoples dating profile pics, theres more to Peru than Machu Picchu. From farmland to beaches to bustling cities, the country is vast and gorgeous - and the culinary options arent too shabby either. According to InternationalLiving.com, a couple can live there for $1,500 USD a month without watching their budget too closely .This article first appeared on Brit + Co.