Capturing the Power of Cute
Recently it has been uncovered that cute animal videos can help us reduce stress and anxiety. Although we always knew that puppies and kittens made us feel good, it’s great to know that there’s now research to back this up. Conducted at the University of Leeds last year during the winter exam period, this study […]
Creating Habits that Stick
Who said humans were bad at change? Just look at how we’ve adapted to new ways of working and living whilst facing this global pandemic. There are parents with full-time jobs, who are caring for their children and/or even helping with their learning. Then there are the small businesses like restaurants who’ve had to pivot to survive […]
How to Check You’re OK
Recently at the start of workshops I have run, I have been asking the audience to take a moment to consider how they’re feeling at that very moment… The words that come to mind are typed onto their phones, which are then displayed anonymously on the screen as a word cloud, for all to see […]
How to Manage Thinking Traps
Negativity is hard to escape these days. And unfortunately, we’re more likely to focus our attention on the bad around us rather than the good. We’re hard-wired to pay attention to the negative aspects of a situation due to the negativity bias that is inherent in all human beings. For our ancestors, this wiring helped […]
How to avoid burnout amid a pandemic
Burnout is one of the latest buzzwords, a front-burner topic amongst HR professionals, and it has featured in several articles and conversations lately as the biggest threat to our wellbeing, productivity and engagement. Yet do we know what burnout really is and how to avoid it? Ariana Huffington’s experience of burnout in 2007, whilst she […]
How to Measure Your Wellbeing
It goes without saying that most of us have seen an increase in our struggles over the past few months… Yet each of our experiences during this pandemic have been different, and so has the way we have handled what has been thrown at us. I have spoken recently with several people and teams, who have […]
An Attitude of Gratitude
With all the tragedy unfolding around us, it might seem a little odd or insensitive to suggest that we all need to inject more positivity into our lives right now. Yet positive emotions can help us cope during challenging times. A study of significantly distressed students after 9/11, showed that those, who experienced more positive emotions […]
Circles and Mindsets
As the novelty of being at home 24/7 starts to wear off, you may have noticed feelings of monotony and boredom starting to set in. You may also be more tired than usual given our mental bandwidths are being taken up by the coronavirus. What’s more, your stress may have sky-rocketed as we spend more […]
Priming the Tigers
The work of Barbara Fredrickson (2001), and other researchers, has told us how important it is to experience positive emotions like joy, hope, pride, amusement, love and gratitude, in order to be more optimistic, resilient, accepting, curious, happier and healthier overall. When it comes to work, positive emotions have also been found to build better […]
The Positive Side of Pain?
No life is free from challenges, stress or hardship such as losing a loved one, home or job. And when such events hit, they have the potential to change the course of someone’s future forever. But not necessarily always for the worse. Adversity can be a positive, it can recalibrate a person’s perspective for the […]