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Tag: productivity

Use of Social Media: Benefits, Downfalls & My Manifesto

Use of Social Media: Benefits, Downfalls & My Manifesto

Introduction Social media plays such a central role in the way we engage with others and stay informed it’s sometimes hard to remember how we all functioned and stayed in touch before the likes of Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp and Instagram, to name but a few, established themselves. And yet, as they take over more and more of our mental effort and sit at the core of our cultural engagement, there is a growing body of evidence and opinion that we…

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Psychological Mental Models – How to Make Better Decisions

Psychological Mental Models – How to Make Better Decisions

Introduction to mental models I am standing on the shoulders of giants when writing this post, which is a similar pattern with many of my posts. Some of the most inspirational individuals I’ve listened to, read or heard about have given incredible insights which have been the basis of my thinking on this topic. The most important are: Daniel Kahnman & Amos Tversky, Charlie Munger, Shane Parish (CEO at Farnam Street), James Clear (author of ‘Atomic Habits’) & Gabriel Weinberg…

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Should I Start a Journaling Practice – Part 2

Should I Start a Journaling Practice – Part 2

This is part 2 of my post on journaling, if you haven’t already seen part 1, you can find it here, it’s the best place to start!  What I Tested & My Journal Habit  The more research I did on the benefits of starting a journal the harder I found it to not give it a go. Despite having a fairly good idea about which type of journal would work best for me I gave each of them a go,…

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Should I Start a Journaling Practice? – Part 1

Should I Start a Journaling Practice? – Part 1

Introduction Alongside meditation, journaling is one of the major trends within the arena of productivity and self-improvement which so many ‘successful’ people talk about being key to keeping them calm, collected and able to sustain such busy lives. Being a student of productivity, it’s something I’ve heard about on podcasts, and read about in books and articles over the past couple of years, but for many reasons I never seemed to be able to talk myself into actually trying it….

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Reviewing 2017 & Planning 2018

Reviewing 2017 & Planning 2018

  Introduction  This won’t be yet another New Year’s Resolution blog post, I’m sure your sick of reading or hearing about them by now.   I don’t like making New Year’s Resolutions, primarily because it often feels like people make them purely to break them! Often people know they need to make a change but don’t really want to, therefore proclaim to everyone that it will be their New Year’s Resolution, so that no-one is surprised – and the individual isn’t disappointed – when they give…

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Benefits of a Scottish Shower

Benefits of a Scottish Shower

Introduction Having a daily hot shower is a habit that is almost universally shared in developed countries and something most of us have never thought about, but it is normal to turn on the hot tap when you get into the shower? For the majority of human existence having a hot shower was abnormal, primarily because it isn’t necessary and it was very costly and time consuming to warm the water only to throw it over you for a couple…

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Moving to Irregular Posts

Moving to Irregular Posts

Since creating jablifestyle.net back in April 2016 I have posted new content, either a blog or book review, almost every week. However, in recent weeks, and moving forward, my approach is changing. I wanted to share with you what has led to this change in approach, what content I’ll be sharing in the future and also take the opportunity to review the best of what I’ve shared to date.  My reasons for starting this blog haven’t changed significantly over the…

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Harnessing the Power of Placebos: Belief Not Hope

Harnessing the Power of Placebos: Belief Not Hope

Introduction Placebo effects are fascinating things which often produce very divided and divisive views. But let’s start simply: what is a placebo? A placebo is best described as a ‘harmless’ remedy that has positive effects on an ailment that cannot be attributed directly to the remedy itself. When most people think of a placebo one of two things often comes to mind; (1) a parent kissing a child’s knee after they have fallen and hurt themselves (2) a patient being…

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Focus on Strengths not Weaknesses

Focus on Strengths not Weaknesses

Introduction:  There is a slight change of direction with this piece, I want to challenge the traditional view point that everyone should focus on improving and addressing their weaknesses not their strengths. I aim to show why this is actually the wrong way to be looking at things. Traditionally we are told to create two lists when summing up our current performance, a strengths list and a weaknesses list. The weaknesses list can sometimes be called a ‘development’ list if…

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Simplest Productivity Hack

Simplest Productivity Hack

  I often write long and detailed posts which go deep down the rabbit hole of the given topic to ensure I have covered it sufficiently. I do this because this is the way my brain works – I’m an analytical person and find I need to dig down as far down as possible to convey a topic and my views on it fully. This post will be different; it will be short and sweet (relatively!). This is because the…

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