All posts tagged: habits

How Birmingham pupils are helping to break bad travel habits

How Birmingham pupils are helping to break bad travel habits

Published by skeptic

Our school’s work on travel and sustainability was recently recognised when we were crowned Modeshift STARS national secondary school of the year. This followed local and regional awards last year. We’re a city school so most of our young people do not get to us by car. But we believe there is always more we can do to encourage sustainable travel among children and young people, families and staff. Traffic and congestion are key issues in our local area and our pupils have driven a wave of initiatives that are reshaping travel habits across the school community. Source link

2 Frustrating Habits of the Most Intelligent People

2 Frustrating Habits of the Most Intelligent People

Published by Jenni Sidey

We tend to picture intelligence as exemplary mental organization: crisp opinions, sharp delivery, and confident stances held firmly. The “smart person” in the room isn’t the one who hedges or backtracks. It’s the one who walks in already knowing the answer, delivers it cleanly, and moves on. But that picture, research increasingly suggests, has it backwards. Highly intelligent people are not always faster, calmer, or more decisive. Sometimes, their minds are busier, slower, and more conflicted. In my work as a psychological researcher, I’ve noticed that people with higher cognitive ability are often misunderstood simply because their mental habits don’t always look the way we expect intelligence to look. Two habits in particular tend to get them misread, and both are far more cognitively sophisticated than they appear. 1. Changing Their Mind Mid-Argument Few things irritate people more in conversation than someone who contradicts themselves. Someone who states a position with apparent confidence, then stops mid-thought and says, “Actually, I think I was wrong about that.” It reads as wishy-washy, underprepared, or lacking conviction. In …

3 ‘Lazy’ Habits That Actually Signal Intelligence

3 ‘Lazy’ Habits That Actually Signal Intelligence

Published by Jenni Sidey

Most of us have a rigid mental image of what an “intelligent” person looks like. They’re polished. Habitually organized. Quick on their feet. Always on top of things. The kind of person who color-codes their calendar, replies to emails instantly, and always thrives under pressure. Yet, as compelling (and popular) as this mental image is, it’s also inaccurate. This version of intelligence is, beyond being unrealistic, totally unsustainable. Human cognition doesn’t work like a machine that can run at full capacity indefinitely. In reality, people who are genuinely intelligent understand that their mental, physical, and emotional resources are finite. If they really want to perform well over the long term, they know that they have to protect those resources carefully. From the outside, though, this can look a little strange; sometimes, it even looks like laziness. Below are three such “lazy” habits that are, in fact, backed by research on intelligence. 1. Avoiding Hard Work This habit seems almost contradictory. How could an intelligent person avoid hard work? Isn’t that their precise modus operandi? But …

5 everyday habits fast-tracking your joint pain

5 everyday habits fast-tracking your joint pain

Published by Daniella Wilson

It’s estimated that at least one in three people over 50 live with the daily discomfort of osteoarthritis, a condition that can severely restrict our day-to-day lives.  What many of us don’t realise, however, is that this issue it isn’t just down to our genetics, nor is it simply the inevitable passage of time.  Simple factors in our daily routine, from bad posture to poorly executed exercises, can silently accelerate its progression, worsening the condition without us even noticing it. Leading rheumatologist Dr Cruz Fernández-Espartero has outlined the most significant, and well-documented, lifestyle factors that put us at risk. Is your behaviour hindering your healing? Here are the doctor’s 5 mistakes you could be making: A poor diet: Diets high in refined sugars and trans fats are major culprits, as they actively fuel chronic inflammation. For those living with osteoarthritis, mindful eating is an essential first line of defence. Chronic stress: Constant stress disrupts your hormonal balance, which can heighten your perception of pain and exacerbate joint inflammation. Ill-fitting footwear: Wearing the wrong shoes alters your natural gait …

11 Self-Defeating Habits Of Couples In Truly Miserable Marriages

11 Self-Defeating Habits Of Couples In Truly Miserable Marriages

Published by Jenni Sidey

Marriages don’t always fall apart in loud, messy ways. In fact, people often notice their marriage deteriorating over time, even if their partner doesn’t quite see it the same way. The relationship can erode at such a slow pace, couples don’t notice that the ground beneath them is slipping away. Whether it’s a betrayal of trust or conversations revolving solely around the kids, the connection isn’t the same as it once was. The self-defeating habits of couples in truly miserable marriages may not announce themselves right away. So, it’s important for couples to understand their needs and how they want to show up for one another. Expectations might change, but love and compassion should be core parts of a healthy marriage. Here are 11 self-defeating habits of couples in truly miserable marriages 1. They only have superficial conversations stockfour | Shutterstock Small talk is part of every relationship, but if your conversations only exist on the surface level, something is wrong. While not every text can be a love note with heart-eye emojis, and not every …

60s & 70s Parents Weren’t Perfect, But These 9 ‘Tough Love’ Habits Raised More Resilient Kids

60s & 70s Parents Weren’t Perfect, But These 9 ‘Tough Love’ Habits Raised More Resilient Kids

Published by Jenni Sidey

Constant discipline and punishment can harm mental toughness in children, but a dash of tough love might be exactly what all kids need. According to therapist Dr. Nicole McGuffin, a mix of structure and nurturing, as well as tough love, are exactly how great parents raise great kids. While 60s and 70s parents weren’t perfect by any means, their tough love habits raised more resilient kids. Compared to the overly coddling, overbearing parents and entitled kids of today, they figured out how to challenge their kids for the sake of growth. 60s and 70s parents weren’t perfect, but these 9 ‘tough love’ habits raised more resilient kids 1. Making kids play outside all day PeopleImages | Shutterstock Facing boredom is an important practice for kids growing up, not only to offer emotional regulation skills, but also to boost creativity and critical thinking, as well as a general sense of self. The “just go outside” mentality might have been annoying for kids who wanted to do nothing inside or play with toys, but it offered them …

You Can Tell How Wealthy Someone Will Or Won’t Be By These 11 Early Behaviors

You Can Tell How Wealthy Someone Will Or Won’t Be By These 11 Early Behaviors

Published by Jenni Sidey

Life rarely moves in a straight line, even when people wish it would. There are good moments, hard moments, weird setbacks, and times when nothing seems to be moving fast enough. But you can tell how wealthy someone will or won’t be by the way they behave early on, especially in how they handle their problems, money, and their relationships. Wealth, whether in finances or other areas of life, is built over time, not something that just shows up overnight. It’s made through small choices that don’t always seem all that exciting. Things like asking for help, learning from mistakes, using time wisely, and knowing when to rest rather than burn out. People who build real success tend to act differently long before they have anything flashy to show for it, and these behaviors can reveal a lot about where they are headed. You can tell how wealthy someone will (or won’t) be by these 11 early behaviors: 1. They believe they are capable of building a better life JLco Julia Amaral | Shutterstock The …

6 Expert Habits to Help You Build Something Big, According to Whoop CEO Will Ahmed

6 Expert Habits to Help You Build Something Big, According to Whoop CEO Will Ahmed

Published by Jenni Sidey

Foster a culture of disagreement “It’s important to foster a culture of disagreement in which people can challenge one another. They can certainly challenge me. Yet eventually, decisions need to be made and you’ve got to move forward—and you have to move forward as a team. So this idea of disagree-then-commit is, I think, very important for an organization to have, particularly as you grow, because you’re going to have a lot of different departments working with one another. You want people to feel comfortable professionally challenging one another. I think it helps you realize that you cannot be debating something forever. At the end of the day, you have to move ahead: there’s a debate, and there’s a decision. And once that decision is made, everyone is on the train. I think that’s been an important guiding principle with us. And, at times when the company was probably less efficient, it was because everyone thought that a full consensus was the way to make decisions, and that’s just inefficient.” Slow your pace to foster …

10 Odd Habits People Pick Up In Their 40s That They Probably Made Fun Of When They Were Younger

10 Odd Habits People Pick Up In Their 40s That They Probably Made Fun Of When They Were Younger

Published by Jenni Sidey

It’s a myth that we turn into our parents as we age. At least, most of the time. However, we still do have a tendency to adopt some of their behaviors, lifestyles, and personality quirks over time, because we grew up and were socialized into similar preferences. Even when it comes to the odd habits people pick up in their 40s, which they likely made fun of when they were younger, they were influenced by parents in one way or another. Here are 10 odd habits people pick up in their 40s that they probably made fun of when they were younger 1. Wearing comfortable clothes Geber86 | Shutterstock Instead of trying to fit every trend or chase every compliment by curating a hyper-specific style, many people choose comfort and convenience as they get older. They’re less interested in performing for the sake of external validation, and are more driven by a desire to feel safe and protected, even through clothing and self-expression. As a study from the Journal of Women & Aging explains, prioritizing …

5 writing habits that make you sound like ChatGPT (even when you’re not)

5 writing habits that make you sound like ChatGPT (even when you’re not)

Published by skeptic

I try not to judge people for using AI for writing. People may have different requirements, and different scenarios may have different rules. Yet, everyone would agree that it is definitely a disappointing situation when something you wrote is flagged as AI-generated. Sure, AI writing detectors aren’t always reliable, but there’s another possibility: your writing sounds like ChatGPT. As you probably know, AI content detectors work by analyzing the structure and writing patterns. So, if you use the same writing conventions as ChatGPT, your writing is likely to be flagged as AI-generated. You may have learned to write like that from the beginning, or the increasing amount of AI-generated content on the internet may have gotten to you — let’s not judge. Here, you will find five common writing habits that make you sound like ChatGPT even when you are writing on your own. Related 4 Reasons Why AI Checkers Might Flag Your Writing Many schools use AI checkers to flag students suspected of writing with AI. However, these are ineffective and often lead to …