Brendon Cammell, Author at FocusMe

6 Actionable Ways To Unlock Your Full Potential

Brendon Cammell — Mon, 21 Feb 2022 10:06:41 +0000

What could you do if you managed to unlock your full potential, or even just a fraction of it?

The only way to know for sure is to try and find out...

We’ve all heard some (more likely many) variations of the “if humans could use 100% of the brain” hypothesis, and there are no shortage of quacks offering to help you “unlock your full potential”. The thing is, we already use 100% of our brains, while the idea of unlocking your full potential is so loaded with questions and contradictions as to barely be worth discussing.

For starters:

What exactly does someone at their full potential look like?
Is it even possible to unlock your full potential in every conceivable way?
And if not, does improving in specific areas count towards some kind of overall score?

You may be starting to think that you were lured here under false pretenses…

That us folks at FocusMe don’t even really believe it’s possible for you to unlock your full potential.

You should listen to your gut more often, it knows its stuff.

Believe it or not, for the most part, so do we.

And in our experience, when people set their minds on hard-to-define goals and godly ambitions, they miss the real opportunity.

Instead of trying to unlock your full potential, why not just focus on unlocking as much of it as possible?

Rather than aspiring to be the best you that you can be, why not just try to be a little bit better every day?

In short, don’t let perfect be the enemy of good.

Here are a few good places to start:

Focus on what you can do rather than what you can't

This is one of the most powerful shifts in mindset that you will ever make.

It’s also a super simple concept to understand, even if it is a little trickier to put into practice.

That’s because it’s all too easy to find reasons why things are impossible, or at least not available to us right now.

Worse yet, these myriad reasons also form the perfect excuse – cover for us to hide behind as we wallow in mediocrity.

It’s also natural for us as human beings to compare ourselves to others. In fact, making comparisons is part of what makes us human and is often a good thing.

Except when it’s not, and that happens a lot.

So, instead of spending the extremely valuable time you have (also known as your life) making excuses and comparisons, why not start focusing on things you CAN DO.

Start today: What one small thing can you do before you go to sleep tonight that will improve your overall wellbeing? Maybe it’s half an hour of exercise, or finally finding the time to video call that important yet almost estranged person in your life?

Then imagine what you can do this week, this month, this year or even in a decade or two if you really manage to adopt this attitude.

It really is that simple.

Become a master goal setter to reach your full potential

Goals are tricky things. We tend to think of any kind of goal setting as a positive, yet not goals are created equal and some can even be detrimental to your progress.

We laid out our ideas on this and how you can set achievable goals that truly enrich your life in our article on New Year’s Resolutions vs Goals, but the long and short of it is that setting airy, ill-defined goals that amount to little more than daydreaming is going to take you directly to the Square Root Of Nowhere, which is right down the road from The Sum Total Of Nothingville.

Instead, we suggest following our patented (maybe one day) and extremely simple three-step formula for setting goals that actually lead to successful outcomes and a better life for you, the setter:

1) Identify your true needs
2) Figure out what meeting them would look like
3) Employ micro-goals to guide you along the way

Like every other item on this list, it’s not rocket science – although it will take time, practice and probably a few failed attempts to truly reap the benefits.

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Get out of your comfort zone more often

Being the thoughtful and well-read person that you are, you’re almost certainly thinking right about now that this is the kind of advice that wins people Darwin Awards, and there may well be a grain of truth in that.

But you know what they say: nothing ventured, nothing gained.

And no, we’re not talking about free soloing El Capitan, joining a cult or becoming a handler of venomous animals, although if any of those things is what you’ve always dreamed of doing, who are we to stand in your way?

Courting death and becoming a menace to society and/or the natural world aside, trying new things and approaching your discomfort head on is a good thing.

You’ll never meet that special someone if you don’t actually put yourself into social situations and exchange words with flesh and blood people, or at very least switch from Tinder to a real dating app.

Everybody and everything starts from scratch, meaning that doing so should be the least intimidating thing in the world.

And as for finding your life’s purpose (or even something worth doing on a Saturday night), if you don’t go out and explore the world in all it’s depravity and wonder then why bother wondering why it seems to have nothing for you?

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Don't be an island

Of all the things that may or may not have contributed to humanity becoming by far and away the dominant species on planet Earth, one stands head and shoulders above the rest.

Hint: it’s not apposable thumbs, nor the mastery of fire, learning to use tools or our evolution into a bipedal species. Yes, you guess it! Our greatest strength and most valuable asset is our ability to communicate and thus cooperate on an unprecedented scale.

We’ve all heard the cliche that cliches are cliches for a reason, and one of the sayings that makes this true is that old gem no man is an island.

More accurately, and in line with 21st-century norms regarding language and equality, we might say that no person is an island (and everybody is a person).

In other words, don’t try to go it alone when there are a whole bunch of other people out there who can and are standing by to help.

You might not know them yet, but they exist and finding them should be high up on your priority list.

After all, it may not be possible to truly unlock your full potential, but when we work together doing so simply isn’t necessary.

Think holistically

Nothing exists in a vacuum. Everything in your life and in existence depends on other things.

Nothing functions without input and no single thing has meaning without relativity to other things.

If that’s too philosophical for you, think healthy body – healthy mind or a team is only as strong as its weakest link, etc.

The point is that it’s nigh on impossible to optimize just a single area of your life.

If you want to improve your memory, training your brain won’t get you there by itself. You’ll need sufficient sleep, good nutrition and low stress levels as well. If you want to create a successful business you’ll need more than just some startup capital and a few Richard Branson books. You’ll need stamina, discipline, leadership skills and the right support structures in your personal life.

A good example of how this works is the 10 000 hour rule (actually a myth), which has been called “the magic number of greatness”. It sounds logical enough that with enough practice you can master anything, and it’s undoubtedly true that practice and repetition help, but it turns out that people who start as generalists tend to match or even outperform those who specialize from a young age. This rings true from professional sports and the arts to academics and business.

In other words, it’s all about getting a balanced set of inputs and ensuring that you nurture body, mind and spirit. Who would have guessed right?

Make technology work for you, not against you

Technology plays an outsized role in humanity’s attempt to reach our full potential.

It already allows us to do things that our ancestors could not have imagined, and if we are to outlive our solar system and solve some of our more immediate existential crises we are going to need a lot more of it.

Yet in many cases, the hours of manual labor that our technology saves us from just end up in the hands of social media platforms.

For every useful app there is another that is trying to steal your time and attention.

FocusMe was created to solve this paradox, to make your tech work for you rather than against you.
How? It’s simple, the app employs powerful code that forces you to stay within the digital boundaries you set for yourself.

If you’re serious about improving your productivity while working online, this is the tool that you need. Of course, we don’t expect you to take our word for it, but maybe reliable third-party reviews by our many satisfied users will do the trick. So, if you’re ready to start unlocking your full potential by avoiding digital distraction, simply click the big shiny button below and we’ll guide you every step of the way!

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5 Ways To Truly Work Smarter Not Harder

Brendon Cammell — Mon, 31 Jan 2022 10:02:22 +0000

Many of us claim to work smarter not harder, but are we really practicing what we preach?

We’ve all done it – someone compliments us for completing a task in an simpler or less taxing way than the one they were aware of and we respond with something along the lines of “I prefer to work smarter not harder!”

But is that really the case?

Are you really doing everything you can to make your own life easier and ensure that your future is as bright as you like to imagine it?

If you can honestly answer that question in the affirmative, what are you doing reading an article like this one? Get out of here and go back to hanging out with the other perfect people in whatever alternate reality you came from.

For everybody else, here are some ideas about how to make work work for you:

1. Work less

It may sound too good to be true, but deciding to work less total hours each day, week or month is actually a viable strategy in the battle to work smarter not harder.

Concepts such as the four-day workweek, reduced office hours and other hybrid work models that allow employees greater flexibility are begging to gain traction. A cynic might conclude that any idea purporting to help people work less would obviously be popular, yet scientists are coming to the same conclusions.

It turns out that people really do tend to be just as productive or even more so than usual when offered the opportunity to gain additional free time if they can complete tasks faster. Nor does the quality of the work suffer. In fact, it tends to improve.

In other words, the carrot really is better than the stick. Wow, who would have guessed?

If you doubt that your job could be done in less time than it currently takes, try to take take a leaf out of the book of the growing number of ‘overemployed’ white collar workers who have found a way to hold down two, three, and in some cases even four full-time jobs at the same time (normally without the knowledge of their employers, of course).

If they can handle that, you can probably do just one job in less time if you really set your mind to it. If that really is impossible, either because your boss is a jerk who starts sentences with phrases like “Those millennial snowflakes” and “Back when I started out in this industry” or because the type of work you do simply can’t be done faster then you’ll need to consider some other options.

2. Invest in yourself

Investing valuable time and money into further education may not sound like a way to work smarter not harder, especially if you already have a lot on your plate and are looking for ways to lessen your load and not increase it. But sometimes you need to play the long game.

If you’re serious about creating a truly comfortable and sustainable life for yourself and your family, you need either substantial financial resources or a heck of a lot of knowledge – more realistically, you’ll likely be aiming for solid mixture of both.

To succeed in a hyper-competitive global economy you need an edge. Whether it’s mastering SEO, learning a new skill set that is in high demand or becoming a true expert in your current field, setting yourself apart from the crowd is the best way to shorten the otherwise long hard slog to rise above it.

On the other end of the spectrum, you could save up enough cash to buy a piece of land in a remote location and become a master of permaculture, natural building and fungi identification. Sure, you’ll spend just as many hours or more of each day ‘working’ to support your needs, but the type of work you do, where you do it, who you do it with and most of all your perception of it all play a massive role in determining whether it enriches your life or drains your vital energy.

Similarly, investing in your health and personal/spiritual growth will lead to all kinds of improvements in your life, state of mind and even your bank balance. Unfortunately, health and personal development often end up below what we consider more pressing concerns. Yes, it’s true that you need to make sure the bills are paid and get the kids to soccer practice, but perhaps the next time you’re about to turn on Netflix, play a sneaky round of Candy Crush or manage your Fantasy Football team you might want to ask yourself if that time could be better spent?

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3. Consider going freelance

Another increasingly popular option among those determined to work smarter not harder is to switch to freelancing. While leaving the security of contracted full-time employment behind may be daunting, what you give up in certainty you gain back in opportunity. You know, nothing ventured nothing gained, no risk no reward, and all that jazz.

There are more and more fields where this is becoming possible or even the norm, while there are no shortage of websites offering to connect freelancers of all levels with an entire world of employers.

It can take time to establish yourself as a freelancer if you’re not already well-connected within your industry and there can be ups and downs, especially in the beginning. Yet this way of life also allows you the kind of flexibility that single-employer jobs cannot. Better yet, if you can deliver results for your clients, your income and reputation will grow exponentially quicker than if you were stuck in long-term contract with a single company.

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4. Improve your time management

While the idea of switching to a four-day workweek, going freelance or retraining to become a data scientist or get a future-proof job in the green economy may sound great in theory, these strategies are not always achievable in practice or can take some time to pay dividends. If you need solutions RIGHT NOW, one of the best places to start is with good old-fashioned time management.

This route is neither glamorous nor particularly easy, but it works.

The first step to improving your time management is to do an honest assessment of your current habits. This will allow you to identify areas of your life where time could be saved and/or efficiency could be increased. This requires brutal honesty and maybe even some consultation with those who know you best.

Once you’ve identified areas that can be improved you’ll be better able to decide on viable solutions. Maybe it’s making better use of your calendar, or perhaps you need to get creative to solve issues unique to you. Here are some time-management skills you can work on and improve if you’re serious about working smarter not harder.

5. Streamline your life using technology

Technology is by definition “the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes”. In its purest form, it makes our lives easier by allowing us to do things that would either be impossible using the human body alone or would require many hands, much time and backbreaking labor. It’s our species’ #1 strategy for working smarter not harder.

Of course, you already know all that because you’re reading this on a device that even many alive now wouldn’t have dreamed possible a few decades ago, connected to a world-wide-web of other devices that allow people to send unimaginable amounts of data and communicate in real-time using signals that are invisible to the human eye.

Machine learning and Artificial Intelligence promise to make our jobs so much easier that we are no longer required to do them. Although thankfully we’re still a ways away from that eventuality. For now, they seem to be best at augmenting human work and increasing our creativity.

Like it’s creators technology also has a dark side. With one hand it offers us the promise of unimaginable productivity, while with the other it attempts to steal every moment of our attention by harvesting enough data points to know us better than our loved ones.

That’s where a productivity app like FocusMe comes in. If you struggle to maintain your concentration while working in front of a screen, this is the guardrail you need. It’s simple, really, the app employs powerful code that forces you to stay within the digital boundaries you set for yourself.

If you’re serious about improving your productivity, this is the tool that will help you to do it. Don’t take our word for it though. Check out reliable third-party reviews by our many satisfied users to see what FocusMe can do for you. If you’re ready to get serious about making your tech work for you rather than against you, simply click the big shiny button below and we’ll guide you every step of the way!

Download this article as a PDF

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Best Brain Foods For Focus, Memory & Mental Health

Brendon Cammell — Mon, 11 Oct 2021 09:00:54 +0000

The brain is the most important organ in the body, yet its also one that we often forget to consider when planning our diets.

As it turns out, there are some amazing brain foods that will help you to fuel your noggin with everything it needs to run smoothly!

Defining brain foods

The main thing to consider when talking about brain foods and food in general is nutrients, which are the myriad compounds within the food that are essential to life and health. These can further be broken down into macronutrients and micronutrients, the former consisting of compounds such as protein, carbohydrates and fats, and the latter vitamins, minerals and other important elements.

Using the analogy of the body as a piece of machinery, macronutrients provide the basic building blocks used to make it and the fuel on which it runs, while the role of micronutrients is to maintain the individual parts such as the organs and tissues, as well as ensuring that they all work in harmony to regulate bodily processes to keep the machine running smoothly.

In this analogy, our brains are the control center, the piece of hardware that organizes the system and sends instructions to individual parts of it, while our minds could be considered the software that controls it. Brain foods are thus any source of nutrition that provides the right mix of essential nutrients to help the brain function at maximum capacity, or as close to it as possible.

The brain-body connection

Before we move on to discussing the best brain foods in detail, it’s important that we also explore and discuss the brain-body connection. In that sense, using the above machine analogy may be doing the rest of the body a disservice. When it comes to inorganic machines, the control center is not usually dependent on the health of the rest of the hardware. In the case of biological machines like us, however, we know that the entire system is interlinked and interdependent.

Factors such as hydration and the oxygenation levels of our blood affect every organ in the body, including the brain. The study of gut microbiomes is one of the fastest growing fields in medicine and has established a strong link between gut health and brain health. In fact, we know now that around 95% of our serotonin (one of the most important brain chemicals) is produced in our gut, bringing the study of gut health to the frontiers of psychology and mental health as well.

What this all means for brain health

Accordingly, just as it is pointless to think about food only in terms of calories while ignoring the essential nutrients and potentially harmful compounds that accompany them, it is futile to discuss brain foods without considering the other factors that determine our physical and mental well-being.

To maximize your mental acuity, you need to look after your entire system well. Aside from having a diet that promotes good health in general, that also means exercising both the body and mind regularly, minimizing stress, staying hydrated and avoiding harmful contaminants wherever possible.

Above and beyond this general maintenance that allows the whole system to function properly, you can also consume specific foods that promote good brain health. In general, these so-called brain foods will contain one or more of the following essential nutrients in high amounts:

Omega-3 fatty acids
Antioxidants such as flavonoids and vitamin E
B vitamins
Healthy fats

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Seafood

If the term “seafood” seems deliberately vague, that’s because it is. Usually, when people talk about brain foods, fatty fish are right at the top of the list. There are good reasons for this, but they come with a few important caveats.

Many fish are indeed high in omega-3 fatty acids, which are the building blocks of brain and nerve cells. Omega-3s have also been shown to play an important role in learning and memory. They also likely slow age-related mental decline and help to prevent Alzheimer’s disease. Conversely, omega-3 deficiency has been linked to learning impairments and mental health issues.

There’s only one problem…

Most fish is highly contaminated with heavy metals, pesticides, industrial chemicals and microplastics. There’s also the not insignificant fact that we humans have removed around 90% of fish biomass from the Ocean in just the last century, meaning there isn’t a whole lot left and there soon won’t be any if we continue at the current rate.

Thus the term seafood.

Fish alternatives

Fish, like other forms of animal-based nutrition, are just middlemen. Almost all essential nutrients that we eat are either synthesized or made available by plants. The fish that we consume get their nutrition from sea plants including algae, seaweed and, at the base of it all, tiny phytoplankton. Even larger predatory fish who don’t consume plant matter directly are ultimately eating what was generated by these plants. This holds true on land and no matter how high up the food chain you go.

As always, you’re better off cutting out the middleman and going straight to the source. Skip the harmful contaminants and help to avoid ecological collapse by getting your brain food directly from plants. There are an increasing number of supplements made from farmed sea plants that are both nutritionally effective and have minimal impact of the environment.

Cacao & Dark Chocolate

For most people, chocolate is something you eat when you’re cheating during a diet rather than as part of a good one. While it’s true that most chocolate bars are not good for you, that can be put down to basically everything found in them except the chocolate itself. The main culprit, of course, is the sugar.

Cacao beans, main ingredient in chocolate, are actually somewhat bitter when eaten alone. They are also an incredibly nutritious food that seems to offer fantastic benefits to brain health.

The main way in which they do this is through combating oxidative stress with powerful antioxidants known as flavonols. They also contain other types of flavonoids, which are all antioxidants, as well as several other beneficial vitamins and minerals.

If you don’t fancy chewing on toasted cacao beans or nibs by themselves (they’re actually quite good once you get used to them), you can use them to add some chocolaty goodness to smoothies, add them to baked goods or throw them into granola or trail mix. Dark chocolate with at least 70% cacao is also considered an excellent brain food.

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Cruciferous vegetables

There are over 3000 kinds of cruciferous vegetables, many of which are among the most nutritionally dense foods on Earth. This is especially true of broccoli, brussel sprouts and leafy greens such as kale and spinach, offer a wide array of potential benefits when it comes to brain health. To be fair, you could replace the phrase “brain health” with just about any other kind of health and this statement would be just as true. These truly are extraordinary foods!

Many cruciferous vegetables contain compounds known as glucosinolates, which are know to reduce oxidative stress. They also have decent amounts of vitamin E, which protects cells from damage and slows the ageing process, as well as flavonoids and many other beneficial vitamins and minerals. The fact that they offer so much good stuff with so few accompanying calories also make them a perfect brain food if you’re watching your weight.

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Other noteworthy brain foods

Berries – Blueberries, blackberries, strawberries and others are all fantastic sources of antioxidants including anthocyanin, caffeic acid, catechin, and quercetin.
Nuts & Seeds – Many nuts and seeds are rich in omega-3s, vitamin E and other antioxidants, making them some of the most complete brain foods out there.
Turmeric – The active ingredient in turmeric, curcumin, is on of the most powerful anti-inflammatories on Earth and is able to cross the blood-brain barrier to absorb directly into brain cells.
Caffeinated drinks – Coffee and caffeine containing teas such as green tea are excellent sources of antioxidants and seem to improve brain function. That said, it’s also important to note that caffeine has been show to disrupt deep sleep (even if you don’t realize it), which is one of the most important aspects of brain health. In that sense, it’s best to use moderation and avoid drinking caffeine in the second half of the day.
Peanuts – While they are in fact a legume rather than a nut, peanuts contain high amounts of healthy unsaturated fats, high levels of vitamin E and resveratrol, a non-flavonoid antioxidant that seems to have protective effects on the brain.
Avocados – Another food with high levels of healthy unsaturated fats that appear to beneficial to brain health and aid in the absorption of other vitamins and minerals.

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Beyond brain foods

Having a diet and lifestyle that is conducive to good brain health and productivity should always be your first goal, however, it’s not always enough. In a world of digital distractions that are so powerful that they even have physiological effects on our bodies, sometimes you need to fight fire with fire.

That’s where a productivity app like FocusMe comes in. If you struggle to maintain your concentration because of social media, gaming, news or any other form of digital distraction, these are the guardrails you need. It’s simple, really, the app employs powerful code that forces you to stay within the digital boundaries you set for yourself.

If you’re serious about improving your productivity, this is the tool that will help you to do it. Don’t take our word for it though. Check out reliable third-party reviews by our many satisfied users to see what FocusMe can do for you. If you’re ready to get serious about beating your gaming addiction, simply click the big shiny button below and we’ll guide you every step of the way!

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3 Methods To Overcome Your Gaming Addiction For Good

Brendon Cammell — Thu, 16 Sep 2021 21:16:19 +0000

The concept of gaming addiction is just now beginning to enter mainstream consciousness. Yet, for the millions who experience it daily, the struggle has always been very real.

Understanding gaming addiction

Before you can overcome an addiction or unhealthy pattern of behaviour, it’s crucial that you first acknowledge what you’re up against and learn to identify the signs that you’re losing control. It may be glaringly obvious to you that you have a gaming addiction, yet there are also many people who are totally unaware of the fact that they have a problem and likely even more who have a sense that their passion for gaming is morphing into something unhealthy but don’t really know what to do about it.

If it’s any consolation, even the experts haven’t yet agreed that gaming addiction is a ‘real’ thing. In 2018, the World Health Organization (WHO), added “gaming disorder” to it’s medical reference book. The American Psychiatry Association’s (APA) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual 5th edition (often referred to as the ‘bible’ of psychology), however, hasn’t gone as far. While it includes guidance on the warning signs of “problem video gaming”, the only activity related addiction currently listed in the guide is gambling. Perhaps the authors aren’t really up to speed on the use of persuasive design and the fact that many tech companies have taken their strategies straight from the gambling industry’s playbook?

Signs of gaming addiction

In any case, the labels aren’t the most important thing to focus on. Whether it’s a problem, disorder or addiction, just about everyone now seems to agree that excessive gaming can be harmful to our health, productivity and relationships.

Luckily, there are warning signals you can look out for if you’re unsure whether you actually have a gaming addiction or not. Displaying one or two of these is not necessarily cause for concern, but if you display five or more in the space of a year, your relationship with video games is likely problematic. Things to look out for include:

You think about gaming all or a lot of the time.
You feel bad or down when multiple hours or days pass in which you are unable to play games.
You need to spend more and more time playing to enjoy yourself.
Playing games isn’t actually that enjoyable and sometimes you’re not even sure why you’re doing it.
You find it extremely difficult to stop playing and/or reduce your overall time spent gaming.
You have problems at work, school or home that are caused by your gaming habit.
You have problems with your relationships because of gaming.
You find yourself lying to people or avoiding your responsibilities so that you can spend more time gaming.
You use gaming to ease or block out bad moods and negative feelings.

You continue gaming despite experiencing some or all of the above issues.

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Overcoming gaming addiction

Overcoming a bad habit or addiction is never an easy task. The general rule of thumb is that it takes around 60 days to create or break a habit. This means that initially you’ll need to remain conscious and disciplined no matter what method(s) you choose to help you overcome your gaming addiction.

Below we’ll discuss various strategies that you can make use of. It’s possible to combine all of them, but you can also mix and match or even try them one at a time until something sticks. Ultimately, it’s up to you to analyse (honestly) the extent of your problem and then decide which strategies are are best for you. Remember, nothing you try will end your gaming addiction if you don’t genuinely have the will and intention to make a change. If you do, here are some ideas for how to make it happen:

1. Establish a new routine

One of the most powerful ways to break the cycle of addiction is to change your routine. At the end of the Vietnam War over 20% of US soldiers self-identified as heroin addicts. People began to panic at the thought that thousands of junkies with military training were about to show up on their doorsteps and start causing chaos. Yet it turns out there was nothing to worry about. Despite the fact that heroin is one of the most addictive substances known to man, less than 5% of these soldiers relapsed into addiction. So, how did this happen?

We now know that addiction of any kind is heavily linked to circumstance, mindset and routine. When the soldiers returned home, all of these factors changed. Once they were disconnected from the circumstances that drove them to become addicted, the Vietnam veterans largely just went back to their old lives or began creating new ones. This was a foundational lesson for addiction researchers and psychiatrists – it can be for you as well. Making changes to your routine, mindset and general circumstances is one of the most powerful tools you have in your battle to overcome your gaming addiction.

Find new hobbies, do more exercise, try to also socialise with people who are not interested in gaming. Spending more time outside the house, especially close to nature, not only distances you physically from your tech (leave your portable gaming devices at home and delete your mobile phone games!), but it also helps you to reconnect with the magic of the physical world that you have been neglecting for the admittedly also extremely cool digital one.

2. Seek help

Many of us are loathe to admit that we may need an intervention from an external source. After all, we all want to believe that we are in control of our own destinies. Yet there is nothing wrong with asking for help. In fact, our social constructs and ability to work together is one of the primary reasons for our incredible success as a species.

If you’re struggling to face up to your gaming addiction alone, there is no shame in seeking out the help of a psychologist, psychiatrist, spiritual healer, life coach or any kind of mentor that can guide you on your journey and provide you with tools that will empower you to break your habit.

It’s also a great idea to speak to your family and friends. Tell them that you’re trying to overcome a gaming addiction and you need their help.

This can come in both the form of moral support and reminders about your commitments from non-gamers, and asking your gamer friends to respect your decision by not pushing you to play excessively and agreeing to only play with you at pre-arranged times.

3. Set limits on your access to games

Let’s be brutally honest, one of the reasons you have a gaming addiction is because you struggle with willpower and have, at least until this point, failed to take proactive steps to make a change. Sometimes, force is required. Luckily, it’s not 1952 and nobody is talking about sending people to military school so that they can have the gamer beaten out of them. Today, there are far more subtle and much more effective ways to force yourself (or your kids) to change.

It’s no longer practical to advise someone to forget about the computer and rather work in a notebook or on a chalkboard. We all need the internet, with it’s search engines, email services and real-time calendar updates, to go about our daily business and do our work effectively.Fortunately, setting hard physical limits on gaming is not only possible, it’s actually quite easy to do. They’re called focus apps for a reason folks, and you’re reading the blog of one such program right now.

FocusMe is an all-in-one digital solution that helps to you to place hard limits on unwanted digital distractions. We’re not going to lie to you and say there aren’t other programs out there that offer the same or similar services. In fact, a quick visit to the Apple or Play stores will turn up a smorgasbord of free options. However, we stand steadfastly behind our claim that FocusMe is the most powerful digital productivity tool currently on the market.

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What makes FocusMe different?

It’s simple, really. Unlike other focus apps that simply encourage you to concentrate or use easy-to-beat lockout mechanisms, FocusMe employs powerful code that forces you to stay within the digital boundaries you set for yourself. It was created by a programmer who could easily wiggle his way out of any and all productivity apps available (paid or not), and so decided to build the real thing.

If you’re serious about beating digital distractions and improving your productivity, look no further. Don’t take our word for it though. Check out reliable third-party reviews by our many satisfied users to see what FocusMe can do for you. If you’re ready to get serious about beating your gaming addiction, simply click the big shiny button below and we’ll guide you every step of the way!

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How Binaural Beats Work – Focus, Meditate, Sleep

Brendon Cammell — Thu, 20 May 2021 10:45:11 +0000

In recent years, they've earned a reputation as a simple and effective life hack for better sleep, improved focus, greater productivity and more.
Here is everything you need to know about how binaural beats work and if they are indeed what they're hyped up to be.

What are binaural beats?

Before understanding how binaural beats work, or if they work at all, we need to unpack what they actually are. As the name suggests, a binaural beat is the combination of two distinct sounds that creates one indistinguishable beat. These two slightly different frequencies are played in tandem to create an effect in the brain called brainwave entrainment. Also known as brainwave synchronization or neural entrainment, this effect occurs when the brain synchronizes brainwave frequencies with an external stimulus. Proponents of binaural beats claim that this effect can be used to create neural firing patterns that correspond with various states of consciousness that are beneficial for everything from sleep to studying (more on this later).

The science is complicated yet the idea is really quite simple and possibly even brilliant, although the jury is still out on that last part. For now, despite the fact that a number of studies have been done on the subject, there is no hard scientific proof of the efficacy (or lack thereof) of binaural beats. However, there is plenty of strong anecdotal evidence that they do help people. Even if this does turn out to be largely a placebo effect, it might be one that works for you.

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How binaural beats work

As mentioned above, a binaural beat is the combination of two distinct yet similar sounds played simultaneously to create an auditory illusion that tricks the brain into only hearing a single, lower frequency beat. One sound is played into the right ear and the other the left, meaning headphones are required for this trick to work. When done correctly, the brain naturally perceives the difference between the two sounds rather than their sum or individual characters. For example, if a sound with a frequency of 200 Hz is played in one ear and another of 210 Hz is played in the other, the brain will focus in on the 10 Hz difference between them and hear only a single low-frequency beat. This is well understood and widely accepted by the scientific community.

The main point that is still up for debate is not even whether binaural beats do in fact lead to brain entrainment. The most comprehensive study done on the subject so far proves that they do alter brain frequencies as advertised. However, as the authors point out, it remains to be seen whether this entrainment actually leads to improved cognitive performance or changes to mood and sleep patterns. Luckily, there don’t seem to be any dangerous side effects to using binaural beats and all it takes to find some is a single YouTube search, meaning the best way to know for sure whether binaural beats are for you is simply to try them out for yourself. But, before you do, it’s worth understanding the different types of binaural beats and what benefits they may be able to provide you with.

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Types of binaural beats

There are five categories of brainwave frequency patterns that we use to describe the varying levels of consciousness and activity in human brains, namely delta, theta, alpha, beta and gamma. When we do things such as sleeping, relaxing and meditating our brains are in the lower frequency states of delta and theta. Alpha is a transitional state that bridges the gap between these lower frequencies and the higher ones of beta and gamma, which are associated with alertness and high-level cognition. There are thus five kinds of binaural beats, with each one corresponding to one of the above mentioned states.

Delta: The delta states frequency range is 0.5-4 Hz. It is generally associated with deep, dreamless sleep and the unconscious mind. It is claimed that binaural beats with this pattern can induce deep sleep, help to heal the body and may even lower cortisol levels, reducing stress and providing anti-ageing benefits.
Theta: The frequency range for the theta state is 4-8 Hz. Meditation, creative thought and REM sleep all happen when the brain is in this state. If you’re looking for a boost in these areas, this is the beat pattern for you.
Alpha: The alpha state takes place in the range of 8-12 Hz. The lower end of this range is associated with relaxation and calmness, while the upper end is best for focusing on tasks such as writing, studying and other similar activities.
Beta: The beta state ranges from frequencies of 12-35 Hz. Beats in this pattern can increase alertness and concentration, but can also lead to anxiety at the upper end of the spectrum.
Gamma: At a range of 35-50 Hz, this state is associated with arousal and alertness. Beats with this pattern should help to maintain these states, but be wary of jumping in at this frequency after sleep or meditation as this could also lead to anxiousness or other unpleasant feelings.

There are, of course, no hard boundaries between each of these states. The above information should thus be used more as a reference point than a rulebook. Ultimately, as already mentioned, all of these binaural beats are safe and listening to them shouldn’t cause anything more than mildly unpleasant side-effects at worst. At best, you may have just stumbled on to a life-hack of epic proportions. Talking of which…

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Hacking your attention with FocusMe

There are so many supposed ‘life-hacks’ out there, but very few actually stand up to scrutiny. At the end of the day, the proof of the pudding is in the eating (and of course reliable third party reviews). We’re confident that FocusMe delivers on both of these fronts. If you’re looking for a reliable way to take back your attention and beat digital distractions, you’ve come to the right place.

FocusMe is the most powerful tool available today for those who are serious about increasing their productivity while working online. Whether you need it yourself or would like to boost efficiency for your entire team, this is the software that will get you there. You can learn more about how it works, or get started right away by clicking the big shiny button below (don’t worry, we’ll still explain everything)!

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How To Stop Shiny Object Syndrome From Crippling Your Productivity

Brendon Cammell — Tue, 27 Apr 2021 16:58:38 +0000

Shiny object syndrome is a scourge of modern society and a major productivity killer.

Here’s everything you need to know about the causes, effects and how to kick the habit.

What is shiny object syndrome

Even if you’ve never heard of Shiny Object Syndrome, (not an actual medical condition), you’ve probably already got some idea of what it is based purely on the name itself.

If you’ve spent much time around young children, you’ll notice that not many things satisfy them for long. As soon as they get their hands on to the object of their desires, they’re after something else. It’s this constant desire for the “latest and greatest” that characterizes SOS rather than a biological attraction to shiny objects.

While it may just be a pop-cultural psychological concept, it’s real enough to do serious damage to your productivity. In it’s more extreme forms, SOS leads to massive wastage of time, money and energy. Besides our insatiable need for new stuff that we often don’t really need, many modern people living in developed societies also struggle to focus on just a single objective at a time or struggle to see projects through to completion. This is understandable when you consider that we live in a world so packed full of options and stimuli that it’s impossible to ever run out of new things or ideas to get attracted to.

In the rest of this article, we’ll explore some of the most common causes of Shiny Object Syndrome, the effects it can have on your productivity and methods for breaking free from the habit.

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Causes of shiny object syndrome

Although the root causes of Shiny Object Syndrome have probably always been ingrained in our psyches, the problem has become particularly pervasive in modern society. Here are some of the reasons why:

The craving for success
Yes, people have always had ambition, it’s a hallmark of our species. We chase after status success as if they’re the most important things in the world. The dominance of capitalism as an economic system has supercharged our desires for financial success as well. This insatiable need (or perhaps more aptly, greed) is one of the main causes of SOS.
Fear of falling behind or losing out
In a highly competitive world it’s easy to get left behind or lose out if you don’t keep up with the times. Of course, it’s equally possible that this will be your fate if you spend so much time searching for a leg up on the competition that you forget to focus on the core aspects of success and productivity.
The belief that newer is always better
Once again, technological advancements and our ability to come up with novel solutions to problems have been a huge driver of humanity’s success. That said, when these things become prized above all else, it’s easy to forget that newer isn’t necessarily always better.
Short attention spans
If you want to achieve success, however you define that word, maintaining your concentration and seeing things through is absolutely vital. Whether you want to call it ADHD or label it a symptom of fast-paced modern life, the inability to stick to a task until it is successfully completed is one of the primary causes of SOS.

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Consequences of shiny object syndrome

While we may all suffer from SOS to some extent, for many people it can be major hindrance. If you regularly experience any of the following issues, it might be time to admit that you need to make a change.

Inability to finish tasks or see projects through.
Underdeveloped executions and producing lower-quality work than you know you’re truly capable of.
Burning through cash and wasting excessive amounts of time on endeavors that ultimately turn out to be fruitless.
Feeling like you’re juggling too many projects at the same time and thus not giving any of them the attention you’d like to.
Failing to master new skills or tools because you’re constantly in the beginner phase of learning new ones.
Never actually achieving any of your core goals because you spend too much time thinking and researching and not enough time doing.

Perhaps you’ve experienced some or all of these things and never really considered that they might be part of a pattern or a larger issue. While Shiny Object Syndrome is a completely made concept (aren’t they all), it can be a useful way to recognize the patterns that are limiting your productivity and curtailing your ability to achieve your goals.

Kicking the habit

Of course, it’s not enough enough to simply identify your SOS tendencies. Ultimately, a diagnosis isn’t much use without a cure or at least some solid advice on how to manage your condition as best you can. Luckily, managing Shiny Object Syndrome is relatively straightforward once you integrate the following ideas into your work and life.

Take time to consider new projects, ideas and tools before jumping in
Once the initial excitement subsides, you’ll have a clearer idea of whether something new can actually add value or whether it’s more likely to make your life even more complicated.
Ask people you trust for their opinions
Other people may be able to help you realize when you’re moving too fast and provide you with a more objective perspective.
Don’t abandon projects on a whim
Before you ditch something because it “isn’t working”, try to do some honest assessment about whether you might actually be better off persevering with it rather than starting something new that will also cost valuable time, energy and resources.
Learn to see past the hype
Everyone wants to position their products, tools and companies as the next best thing, but how many really are? It’s best to adopt a “wait and see” approach if you’re not sure.
Improve your signal-to-noise ratio
Reducing distractions is less about discipline than it is about managing the sources of distraction. It’s far easier to remove temptation than to overcome it. Being part of too many groups or subscribing to every newsletter and website that catches your eye will inevitably lead to chasing after so called “shiny objects”. It’s always better to be proactive than reactive. Take the time to decide which sources of information provide real value and opportunities and ditch the ones that don’t.

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Increasing productivity with FocusMe

There are so many tools that claim to ADD to your life or business. Of course some really do, but the unfortunate truth is that most are either unnecessary or pure snake oil. What then to make of a tool that claims to REMOVE unwanted distractions and digital noise?

That’s exactly what FocusMe is – the most powerful tool on the available today for people who want to take back their attention and guard against digital distractions. You can learn more about how it works here, or get started right away by clicking the big shiny button below (don’t worry, we’ll still explain everything)!

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The Work From Home vs Office Debate: Where Are We Most Productive?

Brendon Cammell — Mon, 19 Apr 2021 14:45:09 +0000

If 2020 was the year of being stuck at home whether we liked it or not, 2021 is the one where the work from home vs office debate really ignites.

So... where are we truly more productive?

Before last year, working from home was seen as the preserve of small business owners, techies and freelancers. Now that much of the population and most businesses have had a taste of this totally different way of doing things and pandemic related restrictions are gradually being lifted, will we stick to it or return to our traditional places of work? The answer to this question will be different depending on the country, industry and company you work in. You may even have a say in this yourself if your employer decides to switch to the hybrid work model that is gaining traction around the world. In that sense, it’s important to get a handle on the work from home vs office debate as you aim to maximize your productivity by getting the best of both worlds.

Based on your personality, life circumstances and what you do for a living, you probably already have a decent idea about whether you prefer remote work, time in the office or a combination of the two. In case you’re still deciding or are simply interested in the nuances of this debate and how it might affect us on a societal level, here are some things to consider:

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Remote work isn't the promised land after all

Before the events of the last year, many of us dreamed of having the ‘freedom’ to avoid heading into an office or a traditional workplace every day. After all, who doesn’t want to avoid traffic and spend a little more time around the people they care about? Unfortunately, when our idealized versions of life come up against reality, there is only ever one winner.

It’s certainly true that many people have coped well while working from home. According to a recent report by Microsoft, over 60% of business leaders (who skew towards Gen X and Millennial males), have reported “thriving” during the pandemic and related lockdowns. In contrast, members of Gen Z, women, frontline workers and those just beginning their careers reported struggling much more during this time. If you’re single and have scraped by on minimal physical contact with others or have young kids that have been kept home from school and needed help with online classes you’ve likely felt the strain of being home all day much more as well.

For many, the novelty of being able to raid their own fridge between meetings and work in their PJs faded quickly. On the other hand, the difficulties of building new habits, focusing through increased distractions and making due with less opportunities to collaborate and socialize only became more acute with each passing day. Despite the clear difficulties people have had adjusting to working from home, productivity levels largely remained the same as they were pre-pandemic. However, that’s not the whole story. Workers have consistently reported increased stress levels and feeling overworked.

In that sense, it’s fair to say that the enforced switch has been far from a resounding success, but that doesn’t mean remote work is dead in the water.

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The office will never be the same again

While the experience of working remotely hasn’t exactly inspired a permanent shift away from offices, it has certainly exposed the unnecessary rigidity of our previous work paradigm. While many people miss connecting with their colleagues, having face-to-face collaboration time and simply getting the change of scenery that working outside of the house provides, nobody is queuing up to go back to the previous status quo either.

Traditional work schedules were already under attack by concepts such as the 4 day work week and the proliferation of online freelancing opportunities. Now, we know for sure that we don’t need to spend 40 hours or more each week in an office. While working on-site may foster innovation and camaraderie, there are also a number of ways that it diminishes productivity and well-being.

Long, grinding commutes are a scourge on our mental health and the planet. It’s fair to say this is one aspect of on-site work that nobody misses.
Even properly designed and well run offices have relatively high incidences of workplace injuries, while over 40% of employees admit to not telling their boss and coworkers when they’re sick for fear of mockery or lost opportunities.
While it’s true that having your family around (especially kids) can be a distraction, there are also real benefits to all involved when families get to spend more time together.
It’s also important to differentiate between working from home during a pandemic and a future where this happens by choice. Children will be back at school and public spaces will reopen, both of which will provide remote workers with more options and greater flexibility.

In short, there are solid arguments to be made for both sides in the work from home vs office debate. Luckily, we don’t have to choose between them. For once, it may be possible to have our cake and eat it.

The era of hybrid work is upon us

The last year has taught us a lot about work and productivity. We’ve confirmed our suspicions about our old work paradigms needing a reboot, while also realizing that we’d be throwing the baby out with the bathwater if we ditched offices entirely. It’s in the space between these two facts that a new idea has been born. The concept of hybrid work is simple yet powerful. It allows us to get the best and avoid the worst of both worlds. It also provides the kind of flexibility that allows each unique organization and individual to design their schedule in a way that works best for them.

How this can best be done is still up for debate. Synchronizing in-office time to allow teams to collaborate and innovate together is vital. It’s also important that new employees are given a chance to integrate themselves by making face-to-face connections with their colleagues and superiors. The shift to hybrid work will also demand a redesign of our workspaces. Offices will need to be downsized and individuals will need to commit to creating a dedicated workspace in their home or finding a suitable co-working space near to where they live.

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Increasing productivity with FocusMe

When it comes to the work from home vs office debate, the deciding factor will always be productivity. As we’ve already seen, there are multiple factors at play and many nuances to the discussion.

But what if there was a tool that could increase productivity no matter where it was employed?

That’s where FocusMe comes in. Whether you’re a remote worker who is looking to take back their attention or an employer who wants to guard against digital distractions for their entire on-site team, FocusMe is the most powerful and effective software on the market today. You can learn more about how it works here, or get started right away by clicking the big shiny button below (don’t worry, we’ll still explain everything)!

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Go With The Flow: Powerful Ideas For An Easier Life

Brendon Cammell — Mon, 14 Dec 2020 11:05:44 +0000

We've all been told at some point or other in our lives to "go with the flow". It sounds great in theory, but how exactly do you do it?

There are so many esoteric sounding sayings thrown around by people who barely grasp their meaning. “Live in the present”, “you’re perfect the way you are” or “there is no such thing as coincidence”. We’ve heard them all so many times that most of us simply switch off when our ears register these particular combinations of sounds. The phrase “go with the flow” epitomizes this phenomenon perhaps better than any other saying. It’s unfortunate, because as we all know, a cliche is often just that for a reason. In fact, there is another name for a set of sounds repeated frequently: Mantra. It’s a concept that has it’s roots in Eastern spiritual traditions such as Hinduism and Buddhism but can be easily translated to suit the needs of people in any society.

While a mantra and a cliche are created in almost exactly the same way, they are polar opposites in terms of meaning and intention. A cliche refers to a phrase or opinion that is overused and betrays a lack of original thought, while a mantra is a set of sounds that is repeated to reinforce meaning and aid in concentration. When using a phrase such as “go with the flow” as a mantra rather than thinking of it as a cliche, we acknowledge it’s innate truth. Instead of being dismissive of these tropes, we can harness their true power to alter our mindset, moods and behaviors.

Besides this general change in perspective, it’s equally important to distill the meanings of your mantras and learn practical ways to implement their teachings. Below are three ways you can reduce stress and anxiety by going with the flow in everyday life.

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Learn when to fight the current and when to go with the flow

Things are the way they are. That’s both an obvious and controversial thing to say, depending on who you say it to. There are countless interesting philosophical debates to be had about observers, objective reality and the source of existence. But, for the purposes of this article we’ll assume that there is at least some kind of objective or at least co-observed reality that exists regardless of whether any individual believes in or agrees with it. Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, the only thing left to decide is what to do with this information.

There is a line of thinking that says happiness, pleasure and all positive experiences are simply the result of a disposition that agrees with the way things are and that anger, displeasure and other “negative” emotions and experiences simply represent the opposite. This makes sense as phenomena like weather don’t seem to exist purely to satisfy (or frustrate) the desires of humanity, and certainly not a single person. This leads to us an obvious conclusion: it’s all about perspective.

Creating change and practicing acceptance

If you don’t like the way something is, you can and should attempt to change it. Whether that means changing someone’s mind when they label you or halting the climate crisis, the principal remains the same. Focus your energy on what you can do, decide on a path forward and do everything in your power (or within your moral boundaries) to create the reality you want.

If you’re already doing your very best, and this is where you really need to be honest with yourself, then surely that’s enough?

If you’re unable to create the reality you want, either because you are unable or it is impossible, then acceptance is the only other outcome worth considering. It’s literally the definition of futility to waste your time and energy on something that can’t be changed. Here are a couple of ways you can put this into practice in your everyday life:

- When you feel frustrated or stressed, practice consciously asking yourself: “Can I change this?” If not, it’s time to accept the way things are and find a new perspective. If you can’t change the way you feel, learn to accept your feelings rather than resenting them. A death or a breakup hurts and that’s OK. Acceptance is an important step in the healing process.
- Wear a ‘complaint bracelet‘ – Every time you find yourself complaining about something, switch the bracelet to the other wrist. You’ll soon become aware of how much needless complaining you do and quickly reduce it. Expect a corresponding increase in happiness and more appreciation for life and the people you share it with.

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Let go of irrational fears

Fear is the ultimate root of all negative emotions. Fear of being inadequate, fear of being embarrassed, fear of failure and ultimately, the fear of death. The interesting thing about fear is that there are two different kinds of the stuff: rational and irrational.

Overcoming fear

A rational fear is based on real and imminent danger. An irrational fear is based on imagined or possible dangers. For example, you don’t (hopefully) walk around with the constant fear of being hit by a car or struck by lightning. If, on the other hand, you see a car accelerating towards you or find yourself in the middle of an open field during a brutal thunderstorm, fear is a perfectly natural and helpful reaction. Just as pain works to stop you from sticking your hand into a fire (again, hopefully), fear is evolution’s way of helping you not to get eaten by lions and stop you from jumping off cliffs without a parachute.

Unfortunately, this important tool and the chemical signals it employs are so powerful that it can also weasel it’s way into our consciousness when it is not required. The first step towards overcoming irrational fears about hypothetical situations is learning to identify your thought patterns. What are the things you worry about? Why do you worry about them? If your fears are based on things you’re powerless to prevent, it’s once again to time to practice acceptance and acknowledge Truth. People with terminal diseases or those who live through great tragedies are often a great example of the healing power of acceptance.

Once you can accept the things that are out of your control you will empower yourself to make the most of the time you have, both as an individual and with the people you love. Once you’ve learned to identify your patterns, the next step is to practice making conscious interventions that help you to break them. You can do this by:

Practicing meditation.
Finding a simple activity or ritual that helps you to break the cycle (think mantra).
Exploring the roots of your fears by talking about them with a professional or someone you trust.
Being proactive and changing the things you can.
Empowering yourself with knowledge – just be weary of rabbit holes and echo chambers!

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Final thoughts

The phrase “go with the flow” might be abstract but the ways to do it are very real. It’s by no means an acknowledgement that the direction of your life is out of your hands. Our first goal should always be to create the world we wish to live in. There is absolutely nothing wrong with dedicating your life to a cause with only slim chances of success. After all, only people who believe they can change the world actually do.

That said, there is also no point in wasting your life swimming against the current and fighting the inevitable. Coming to terms with tough realities such as our own mortality or an uncertain future is a necessary step if we are to make the most of the time we have. That doesn’t mean absolving ourselves of moral responsibility and living a selfish life that harms others. It is possible to care about things and try your best to create positive change while not becoming too attached to the outcome. That’s the sweet spot we should all be searching for.

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5 Amazing Natural ADHD Management Strategies

Brendon Cammell — Mon, 26 Oct 2020 10:54:18 +0000

October is ADHD awareness month!

Whether you have a child that has been diagnosed with the condition or simply struggle to concentrate as much you'd like, these 5 natural ADHD management strategies will make your life easier.

ADHD is a controversial condition. Most mental health professionals and neuroscientists agree that it is a real disorder with a strong genetic and neurobiological basis. That said, a substantial number of these same people agree that it has become a blanket term for a wide range of issues that may or may not be related to a chemical imbalance in the brain. Many agree that today the diagnosis is often made too hastily or without proper justification. There are also some strong arguments out there made by serious people that cast doubt on whether the condition exists at all. One thing that everyone agrees on, however, is that the symptoms associated with the disorder are real and observable.

There is also a growing consensus that these symptoms can be managed through diet, lifestyle and environment rather than with powerful stimulants such as Ritalin or Adderall. If you or someone you know experiences severe ADHD symptoms, medication may have a role to play and shouldn’t be written off entirely. You could try to supplement medication with natural ADHD management strategies. If this goes well, you might even want to try to ween yourself or your child off the medication all together over time.

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1) Managing ADHD with diet and lifestyle

Managing ADHD with diet and lifestyle requires a multi-pronged approach. One of the most important things is having a diet that aids rather than obstructs your progress. The number one rule is to avoid an excessive intake of sugars. Studies have linked sugar to the worsening of ADHD symptoms and suggest that copious amounts of the stuff is like an ‘on-switch’ in children that display ADHD tendencies. Other things to avoid include artificial dyes & preservatives and allergy-causing foods such as gluten and soy.

A well-balanced diet will help immensely with managing ADHD symptoms. This includes plenty of vegetables, complex carbohydrates such as those found in legumes and whole grains, fruits (great for replacing sugary snacks) and plenty of protein.

There are two critical lifestyle-related factors that play a role in ADHD. The first of these is sleep. Restful, restorative sleep is extremely beneficial to health in general and plays a crucial role in concentration. It’s also important for regulating mood, building memories and maintaining healthy energy levels. Getting into a good routine and making your bedroom into an environment that promotes sleep are both important.

The second lifestyle factor that can either improve or worsen ADHD symptoms is physical activity. In fact, studies seem to suggest that regular exercise is more effective than diet in this regard. A highly sedentary lifestyle affects both mental and physical well-being. This is particularly true of ADHD and its related disorders. On the flip side of the coin, regular physical activity, even at a low intensity, is one of the best natural ADHD management strategies available. The most dramatic changes in the brain associated with exercise happen in the areas related to this disorder. These include executive functioning, attention, and working memory.

2) Time management, to-do lists and schedules

You’re never too old or too young to learn good organizational skills. This is particularly true of people who struggle with ADHD symptoms. One of the most noticeable of these is an inability to concentrate on one task at a time. Learning to use to-do lists and schedules effectively will enable you to stay on track with tasks and help you to remember those you left behind when something more interesting came along. This could be anything from the note app on your phone (or a real notebook) to a fully synchronized cloud calendar. No matter how you do it, keeping track of things is a great way to mitigate the worst effects of ADHD. If the devices that you work on are also the source of your distraction, you should try a time management app such as FocusMe.

If you’re trying to help your child to learn better organizational skills, a wall chart that keeps track of chores and other tasks can be really helpful. This could include a system of reward and consequences based on how well and in what time the tasks were completed.

You can even use this method on yourself. Reward yourself with down-time or something else you desire only once you’ve completed the objectives you have set. It’s difficult at first but like any behavior, your brain reinforces it the more you do it. For milder cases of ADHD, using lists and calendars in conjunction with a reward system can be just as effective as medication and has no negative side-effects.

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3) Creating a productive environment

Having a productive work or learning environment is vital for people that struggle with ADHD symptoms. A space that promotes productivity is free from distractions such as television, games and people who aren’t involved in whatever activity that space is designated for. It’s also especially important for people with ADHD to have a quiet place to work or study as sound can be particularly distracting. The exceptions to this rule include certain kinds of music (go Classical!), ambient noise and sounds from nature such as wind, rain or a background chorus of birds and animals. It’s also important to keep work and study spaces well ventilated as oxygen intake is directly linked to cognitive function.

When it comes to children, this can be a little more complicated. You don’t have control over the learning environment your child encounters at school. Even expensive private schools with the most qualified and knowledgeable teachers still exist within a system that is simply not suited to the needs of ADHD children. Today, there are lots of schools that eschew traditional models in favor of a more fluid learning environment. This is certainly an option worth considering if places like this are within your geographical and budgetary reach. If not, you’ll have to do your best to at least create a productive work environment for your child at home by using some of the techniques described above.

4) Getting a regular dose of nature

There is strong evidence to suggest that spending as little as 20 minutes in a natural environment drastically improves the concentration of children diagnosed with ADHD. In fact, the effects were even comparable to that of chemical stimulants. It was already well known that spending time in natural settings improves a number of cognitive abilities, including concentration. It’s now been shown that these effects are equally pronounced in people who display ADHD symptoms. While time ‘outdoors’ is beneficial, there is clear evidence that escaping the built environment in general is where the real benefits lie. That could mean just heading to your local park for a walk whenever possible and getting out of the city on weekends if that’s all that’s available to you.

Getting a regular dose of nature does not only improve cognitive functioning. It’s also beneficial for mental and physical health. Getting two hours of nature time a week has a comparable effect to eating your five-a-day of fruits and vegetables and getting regular exercise. It’s also been linked to lower risks of cancer, diabetes, heart disease, depression, eating disorders and many other common issues. It’s not totally clear why this is the case, but the best answer we have is that time spent in nature lowers stress levels. Whatever the reasons, the evidence is clear: This is an ADHD management strategy that works!

Natural supplements and remedies

There is certainly some evidence to suggest that taking increased doses of certain vitamins and minerals can aid in combating ADHD symptoms. These include zinc, L-carnitine, vitamin B-6 and magnesium. A number of herbs, roots and other natural remedies such as gingko biloba, ginseng and passionflower may also have a positive effect on people that struggle with hyperactivity or focus issues. One thing to keep in mind though is that the evidence supporting these types of treatments is mostly just anecdotal at this point.

If you want to try to use these types of supplements to replace medication, it’s important to speak to your doctor first. This is especially true when it comes to children. A doctor can order a blood test to check your nutrient levels. If they’re already at a good level, taking supplements will either have no effect or may even create an overload of a certain vitamin or mineral. In general, this strategy works best as a supplement to a good diet, healthy lifestyle and the other strategies mentioned above.

Gingko Biloba

Ginseng

Passion flower

Zinc supplement

Final thoughts

All of these natural ADHD management strategies could just as easily be used in a general article about productivity. But while they might help everyone, they are particularly important for people who struggle with symptoms related to this disorder. Whether you’re just trying to deal with mild ADHD and want to avoid medication or you’re looking for ways to compliment it, these three strategies will help immensely.

Practicing all of them on a consistent basis will help you to drastically reduce stress and increase productivity. This can be difficult to begin with, especially for children. The good news is that kids are also far more impressionable than adults and still have plenty of time to learn good habits. If you keep at it, eventually they will too. Best of all, these natural ADHD management strategies will also benefit you or your child in a host of other ways. Maintaining a good diet & consistent exercise regime, having good organizational skills and creating a productive work environment are all important aspects of a balanced life. ADHD or not, that’s what we all want, right?

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The post 5 Amazing Natural ADHD Management Strategies appeared first on FocusMe.

The Dangers Of A Sedentary Lifestyle And How To Avoid Them

Brendon Cammell — Fri, 02 Oct 2020 14:07:19 +0000

Of all the health risks we face in the 21st century, one of the least talked about is our increasingly sedentary lifestyle.

Here is why we need to move more.

Sedentary isn’t a word you hear thrown around a lot, which is rather ironic when you consider how much time we spend this way. It’s an adjective that describes time spent doing almost no physical activity, primarily in a seated posture. For a lot of us, this is upwards of 6 hours a day and in some cases much more. When we take time spent sleeping into account, this leaves us with just a fraction of our day left over for movement. The effects of this relatively new lifestyle on our health and even our evolution as a species are becoming more apparent all the time.

Compared to most of our ancestors who lived in hunter-gatherer or agricultural societies, our bones are thinner, our muscles weaker and our stamina diminished. “But!” you say, “our modern technology more than compensates for these losses.” That may be true, but diminished strength and stamina are not the only consequences of our lack of movement. The WHO states that sedentary lifestyles may be responsible for up to two million deaths a year and that between 60-85% of people live this way. Perhaps surprisingly, the problem is equally prevalent in both developed and developing countries. A virus anywhere near as deadly and widespread is considered a pandemic.

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Health risks associated with a sedentary lifestyle

This way of life doubles your risk of cardiovascular diseases such as strokes, heart attacks and a long list of others. It can cause diabetes or obesity and exacerbate both. It’s also associated with increased risks of colon cancer, high blood pressure, osteoporosis, lipid disorders, depression, anxiety and a host of other mental and physical disorders.

Another problem with sedentary lifestyles is that they go hand in hand with other unhealthy habits such as tobacco use, excessive alcohol consumption and a poor diet. All of these things also increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases, strokes and obesity. In fact, chronic diseases associated with these lifestyle choices are now the leading cause of death in every region of the world except Sub-Saharan Africa. Most are entirely preventable.

Unsurprisingly, the cure for the ill effects of a sedentary lifestyle is movement. That part may be obvious, but the whole picture is a little more complex.

Exercise vs Activity

Our modern conception of physical activity is quite different from that of most of the people that ever lived. For the majority of us, thinking about being more active conjures ideas such as joining a gym or pilates class. Yet these activities have only existed for a few generations. Even much older ones such as dance, yoga and pre-modern sports were mostly practiced for cultural or spiritual reasons rather than to exercise. The idea of doing intensive physical activity for health or pure enjoyment is relatively recent and has grown in tandem with our ever-increasing reliance on technology, unprecedented amounts of leisure time and the gradual realization that our sedentary lifestyle is literally killing us.

Today, we have countless sports and activities to choose from. We venerate professional athletes and strive to be skinnier or more muscular, fitter or able to lift heavier weights. But do these ideals actually have anything to do with health? The science says not. Olympic
athletes, for example, only live on average 2.8 years longer than an average Joe or Jane. In fact, many of the healthiest and longest-living people on the planet have never set a single moment aside for exercise.

Keep moving

So-called ‘Blue Zones’ such as the islands of Sardinia in Italy or Okinawa in Japan have become famous for being home to some of the oldest and healthiest people in the world. At first, scientists and demographers assumed that this was simply down to good genes. Then a famous study of hundreds of sets of Danish twins proved that longevity was only mildly heritable. Since then, hundreds of studies have been done examining the lifestyles of people living in Blue Zones in an attempt to figure out their secrets.

Some of the answers they came up with include a sense of purpose and belonging within their communities, not smoking, eating predominantly plant-based diets and spending their lives in relatively unpolluted environments. Ultimately, however, one factor seems to be more decisive than all the rest. Most of these people move constantly. Instead of intense exercise, they perform hours of low-level physical activity almost every day.

To match their output or that of our prehistoric ancestors, you would need to take at least 10 – 15 000 steps each day. That’s a number most of us will never reach unless you have time to go for a 7-mile walk at lunch. Fortunately, the research also tells us that 60 – 75 minutes of moderate-intensity activity every day seems to eliminate the higher risks for death and chronic disease associated with a sedentary lifestyle. There is also a consensus forming that says that excessive high-intensity exercise probably drives metabolism and cell turnover to the point where the ultimate effect is decreased longevity.

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What is moderate-intensity activity?

Moderate-intensity activity is anything that involves a lot of movement but does not increase your heart rate or breathing to high levels. If you can still talk just about normally while doing the activity, it is probably in the moderate category. Here are some examples of activities that can help you to avoid the worst effects of a sedentary lifestyle:

Brisk walking & easy – moderate hikes
Riding a bicycle at less than 10 mph
Gardening
Light dancing
Canoeing or paddling
Woodwork and other crafts
Some forms of yoga
Housework and light maintenance
Playing games in the garden with your kids

One of the best ways to ensure that you move enough is to integrate one or more of these activities into your morning or evening routine. Other great ideas include getting a standing desk for your workspace, trying to take the stairs as often as possible and purchasing a pedometer or smartwatch to track your progress and keep you motivated. Ultimately, you’ll need to figure out what works best for you. Always remember, life and movement walk hand in hand.

The post The Dangers Of A Sedentary Lifestyle And How To Avoid Them appeared first on FocusMe.

Brendon Cammell, Author at FocusMe

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The Dangers Of A Sedentary Lifestyle And How To Avoid Them

Of all the health risks we face in the 21st century, one of the least talked about is our increasingly sedentary lifestyle. Here is why we need to move more.

Health risks associated with a sedentary lifestyle

Exercise vs Activity

Keep moving

What is moderate-intensity activity?

What could you do if you managed to unlock your full potential, or even just a fraction of it?

The only way to know for sure is to try and find out...

The brain is the most important organ in the body, yet its also one that we often forget to consider when planning our diets.

As it turns out, there are some amazing brain foods that will help you to fuel your noggin with everything it needs to run smoothly!

In recent years, they've earned a reputation as a simple and effective life hack for better sleep, improved focus, greater productivity and more.
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Shiny object syndrome is a scourge of modern society and a major productivity killer.

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If 2020 was the year of being stuck at home whether we liked it or not, 2021 is the one where the work from home vs office debate really ignites.

So... where are we truly more productive?

October is ADHD awareness month!

Whether you have a child that has been diagnosed with the condition or simply struggle to concentrate as much you'd like, these 5 natural ADHD management strategies will make your life easier.

Of all the health risks we face in the 21st century, one of the least talked about is our increasingly sedentary lifestyle.

Here is why we need to move more.