The essential idea of white noise is to create constant and unchanging background noise to help us fall asleep or to study. From crickets chirping to distant thunder noises, white noises drown out any potentially distracting sounds. 
The adjective "white" was used to describe the sound because its ultimate combination has similarities to the qualities of white light.

White Noise

Many studies have been done to prove any correlation between white noise for studying and its effects. 
While there may have been positive links to some, it has been also proven that the effects of background noise depend on personal experience.

White Noise for Studying

Some people find the idea of total silence as a major distraction and this deprives them of sleep. Doctors often recommend white noise machines to treat sleep deprivation and often tinnitus. 
Noise is not essentially what wakes us up but it is the sudden changes in background noise. What the white noise machine does is that is blocks sudden changes in sound and helps people either fall asleep or stay asleep.

White Noise for Sleeping

Pros:
<ul>
<li>Some babies tend to fall asleep faster with white noise in the background</li>
<li>White noise helps drown out household noises during nap times</li>
<li>It helps newborn babies to relax by producing a sound mimicking their mother's heartbeat</li>
</ul>
Cons:
<ul>
<li>White noise doesn't work on all babies, it can also prevent them from sleeping</li>
<li>Newborns can become "addicted" to white noise and have trouble sleeping without it</li>
<li>The volume may exceed the baby's recommended noise limits</li>
</ul>

The Pros and Cons of White Noise On Babies

<ul>
<li>Many people tend to fall asleep while watching TV and some actually use it to help them sleep. However, unlike white noise, the volume, tone, colors, and brightness of the TV constantly change and it interferes with our sleep.</li>
<li>Studies show that although we are not conscious of it, parts of our brains continue to "watch" the TV even while we're asleep. </li>
<li>To get quality sleep, it is recommended that both the sound and lighting levels of our rooms remain consistent throughout.</li>
</ul>

TV Vs White Noise While Sleeping

White noise has been found effective in helping people fall asleep, study, and learn. But what is white noise and how does it affect your brain?

personaldevelopment

Personal Development

health

Health

What Is White Noise? Can It Help You Concentrate and Sleep Better?

We all have heard the cliche that ‘Good Things Come To Those Who Wait’ but not many of us are really fond of waiting.
Waiting is an institution by itself, imbibed in our very society and culture. The Doctor’s office, for instance, has a ‘Waiting Room’, and we can’t do much in it, besides waiting.

The Waiting Game

Awareness and mindfulness are something that can be brought in the act of waiting, making it less of an ugly feeling where we fiddle with our phones, and turning it into a beautiful opportunity to explore our surroundings.
<ul>
<li>We can check our capacity for patience, or appreciate certain moments, paying gratitude for the downtime our brain has got.</li>
<li>We could relax, finding new insights about ourselves and others with the brain going on a free-form mode.</li>
</ul>

Waiting And Mindfulness

<ol>
<li>W is for Watching yourself, your impatience and the feelings that arise in you.</li>
<li>A is for Allowing whatever is bubbling up to come to the surface.</li>
<li>I is for Investigating how this act of waiting is felt by your body/mind, and to relax, loosening your muscles.</li>
<li>T is for Taking a few deep breaths.</li>
</ol>

The Art Of The WAIT

Waiting is difficult, this mindful practice highlights the wisdom in waiting from exploring our relationship with time to insights about ourselves.

timemanagement

Time Management

The Wisdom of Waiting - Mindful

After studying the impact of art on our health, researches concluded that:. 
<ul>
<li>"Art filled occupational voids, distracted thoughts of illness."</li>
<li>"Reductions in stress and anxiety; increases in positive emotions."</li>
</ul>
The studies included everything from music and writing to dance and the visual arts. The benefits were seen in the physical body as well. The act of writing impacted the cells inside the patients body and improved their immune system.

The impact of art on your health

Art offers an outlet from the consumption of television and social media. And it's important to take some time to produce something. Express yourself by contributing rather than consuming.
Open a blank document and start typing. Sketch a drawing. Take a picture. Build something. Share something. Make more art. Your health and well-being will improve because of it.

Making art is good for you

moneyandinvestments

Money & Investments

problemsolving

Problem Solving

Make More Art: The Health Benefits of Creativity

Many of us have tried to fix an ongoing lack of energy. We get more sleep, but then still feel exhausted.Sleep and rest are not the same thing. We need equal restoration in the key areas of our lives.

Lacking energy

Physical rest can be passive or active. <ul><li>Passive physical rest includes sleeping and napping.</li><li>Active physical rest involves activities like stretching, yoga, and massage therapy to help improve the body's circulation and flexibility.</li></ul>

Physical rest

People who let conversations from the day fill their thoughts when they lie down to sleep often suffer from lack of mental rest. Despite sleeping eight hours, they still wake up feeling tired.Schedule short breaks every two hours throughout your workday. Consider keeping a notepad by the bed to jot down any nagging thoughts that would keep you awake.

Mental rest

Bright lights, computer screens, background noise, and multiple conversations can cause our senses to feel overwhelmed.This can be countered by closing your eyes for a few minutes in the middle of the day and unplugging from electronics at the end of the day.

Sensory rest

This type of rest is essential for anyone who must solve problems or find new ideas.Creative rest reawakens the wonder inside each of us. Allowing yourself to take in the beauty of the outdoors provides creative rest. Another simple way includes enjoying the arts.

Creative rest

Emotional rest means having the time and space to express your feelings and cut back on people-pleasing. It requires the courage to be authentic.

Emotional rest

When we fail to differentiate between relationships that energise us from those that exhaust us, we can suffer from a social rest deficit.To experience more social rest, connect with positive and supportive people.

Social rest

This is the ability to connect beyond the physical and mental and feel a deep sense of belonging and love.To receive this, engage in something larger than yourself. Add prayer, meditation, and community involvement to your daily routine.

Spiritual rest

Are you getting your seven or eight hours of sleep a night -- yet you still feel exhausted? Here's why that could be happening, according to physician Saundra Dalton-Smith.

mindfulness

Mindfulness

mentalhealth

Mental Health

The 7 types of rest that every person needs

The first thing to get you back in the work game is to get yourself organized.
After a wonderful rest at the end of December, getting back to work in January can feel like a struggle. But the beginning of the year is the time when your job probably starts to pick up, and so your productivity needs to pick up too.

Holiday Jet Lag

It is a simple task that will make you feel motivated.
<ul>
<li>List all your to-dos for this month and sort them by urgency. </li>
<li>Then decide how you'll spend 'today'. </li>
<li>Focus on one to three big tasks and keep the rest for later in the week.</li>
</ul>

Get Your To-Dos in Order

After a holiday, you probably have a lot of emails. 
<ul>
<li>Instead of trying to get to inbox zero on the first day, create three email labels: Need an answer today, Need an answer this week, Probably deletable.</li>
<li>Using the subject line alone, filter all the emails into these three folders, then only focus on the first folder today.</li>
</ul>

Getting Back To Work: Triage Your Inbox

<ul>
<li>Try to re-schedule meetings on your calendar for later in the week. </li>
<li>If the meeting is urgent, try starting the conversation over email.</li>
<li>Make sure you are taking lots of breaks throughout the day. The easier the first day is, the easier it will be to get through the rest of the week.</li>
</ul>

Work After Holidays: Meetings and Breaks

Feeling that holiday jet lag? Here's how to move past it and actually get stuff done today—because we know you need to be productive.

productivity

Productivity

How to Get Back on Track After A Holiday

<a href="https://heidimcbain.com/">Therapist Heidi McBain </a>tells Bustle that a variety of therapy sessions are particularly likely to cause "hangovers" afterwards. "Therapy hangovers often happen after a deeply emotional session," she says. "This can be the result of talking about something that feels very vulnerable to you. It can also be grieving the loss of someone or something close to you in your life. It can be coming to a hard realization of some changes that you want/need to make in your life."It's also a scientifically proven phenomenon. Researchers at NYU found in a 2016 study that <a href="https://www.nyu.edu/about/news-publications/news/2016/december/is-there-such-a-thing-as-an-emotional-hangover--nyu-researchers-.html">emotional brain-states after intense experiences </a>can persist for long periods of time, which is why you don't just leave your emotions in the space of therapy; you carry them with you afterwards. The hangover lasts for as long as your brain requires to process emotional information — which, in therapy, is often related to your memories. Raking through your past and making big emotional discoveries, even in a safe, therapeutic environment, has a cost.The therapy hangover isn't a signal you should stop therapy. In fact, it's a sign that you should keep going — and the rewards of going through the pain are worth it for the emotional clarity you get on the other side.

Therapy Hangover

What Is A Therapy Hangover? Here’s Why It's Common To Feel Exhausted After A Therapy Session

The phenomenon known as the Mandela Effect is characterized by the formation of false collective memories where many people share the same mistaken memory.
<ul>
<li>The name is due to the false memory some people have about Nelson Mandela, the South African leader. They believe he died in the 1980s while in prison. In reality, he died in 2013 at the age of 95.</li>
<li>Another popular example: The famous phrase attributed to Darth Vader in Episode V of the Star Wars saga, revealing to Luke Skywalker that he was his father: "Luke, I am your father." However, the fact is that this phrase was never said in this way. The phrase spoken by Darth Vader, in fact, is: “No, I am your father."</li>
</ul>

The Mandela Effect

Some understand memory as a storage location, but this understanding has some limitations.
It does not reflect the nature of mnemonic processes. Unlike a computer hard drive where saved information is 100% recoverable, the human memory has lost information, distortions, and new memories.

How To Understand Memory

We are continually creating memories of facts that don't exist. The creation of false memories is strongly influenced by imagination, beliefs, social influence, and suggestions from the environment.
<ul>
<li>People naturally change what they remember from the meanings they build when listening to other people's discussions.</li>
<li>Mass sharing of misinformation can shape people's memories. </li>
<li>The formation of false memories can be attributed to repeating misinformation in an intense way.</li>
</ul>

The Concept Of False Memory

Maybe what you remember did not actually happen. People’s memories are not reliable.

Understand yourself and those around you.

psychology

Psychology

scienceandnature

Science & Nature

“Luke, I Am Your Father”: The Formation of False Memories

Research is divided on the best way to boost creativity on a team.
<ul>
<li>Studies have found that great ideas come from combining insights from unrelated fields. Based on this thinking, a team can become more creative by encouraging employees to explore new areas or by hiring people who have a variety of experiences.</li>
<li>Yet, other studies found that it is the specialists who can better spot emerging opportunities. They suggest that it is better to hire employees with deep expertise in specific areas.</li>
</ul>

Boosting creativity on your team

<ul>
<li>Generalists are more able to come up with new ideas and identify opportunities in fields with a slower pace of change, such as oil, gas, and mining.</li>
<li>Specialists are better in fields with a faster pace of change, such as quantum computers and gene editing. They can more easily make sense of new technical developments and opportunities.</li>
</ul>

Generalists vs specialists

Two types of capabilities can improve creative performance.
<ol>
<li>The ability to connect ideas across subject areas, especially if the field is relatively stagnant.</li>
<li>The ability to efficiently build on progress in your field, particularly when things are progressing quickly.</li>
</ol>

Improving creative performance

It depends on how fast their field is changing.

teamwork

Teamwork

leadershipandmanagement

Leadership & Management

When Generalists Are Better Than Specialists, and Vice Versa

A food diary is a useful tool to help people improve their health. It can help you understand your eating habits and help you identify what foods you eat regularly.
In a weight-loss study, participants who kept a daily food record lost twice as much weight as those who did not keep a record.

Keeping a food diary

<ul>
<li>Write down what specific foods you are eating, your beverage consumed, and how your food is prepared (baked, fried, etc.) Include sauces and dressings.</li>
<li>List how much you are eating in household measures (cups, teaspoons, tablespoons.) If possible, weigh and measure your food.</li>
<li>Note the times you&#39;re eating to identify potentially problematic times, such as late-night snacking.</li>
</ul>
Also jot down where you are eating, what else you&#39;re doing while eating, who you eat with, and how you feel while eating.

What you should include in a food diary

<ul>
<li>Write down the food or beverage as soon as you consume it.</li>
<li>Be very specific. If you are drinking a latte, write down the type and size.</li>
<li>Include any alcoholic beverages you consume.</li>
<li>Use smartphone apps like Lose It! or MyFitnessPal for information on calories and other nutrients.</li>
</ul>

Tips for successful food journaling

Step back and look what you&#39;ve recorded. Look for trends, patterns, or habits. You might consider these questions:
<ul>
<li>How healthy is my diet?</li>
<li>How many servings of fruit and vegetables do I eat every day?</li>
<li>Am I eating whole grains each day?</li>
<li>Do I consume added sugar? If so, how frequently?</li>
<li>Do my moods affect my eating habits?</li>
<li>How often do I eat on the run?</li>
</ul>

After completing a food journal for a week

Once you know which areas you can improve, set one or two healthy eating goals using the SMART goal format. That is Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-based. For example:
<ul>
<li>Observing that you eat two servings of vegetables per day, a SMART goal can be to eat three servings of vegetables per day.</li>
<li>Or if you order takeout three nights per week, your SMART goal can be to order takeout only once or twice per week.</li>
</ul>

Set SMART healthy eating goals

For those looking to improve their diet or lose weight, keeping a food diary is a useful tool. Recording information for at least a week will help people identify habits and patterns that will help them set realistic goals.

food

Food

exerciseandfitness

Exercise & Fitness

Why keep a food diary? - Harvard Health Blog

Your internal monologue can be friendly, calm, and encouraging or critical and bullying.
It is possible to change your inner monologue. Fostering compassion on ourselves can benefit not only our individual health and happiness but also that of society.

Your Internal monologue

Self-compassion is not merely being kind. Compassion is best understood as turning towards suffering and taking action to reduce it.
Self-compassion is the ability to stand back and question why you feel this way, and a commitment to engage with pain at its source.

Self-compassion is not self-care

Our complex cognitive system is able to imagine and anticipate the objective self, but is also inclined to dwell on negative thoughts such as "If only I'd..." and "I should have..."
Self-compassion is a trade-off with self-criticism. For some people, the balance between the two is so skewed that the inner critic controls who they are in the world.

Accept your ‘tricky’ brain

Developing self-compassion is developing insight so you can see yourself, instead of be yourself.
Many of us have become used to avoiding uncomfortable emotions. The first step towards self-compassion is becoming aware of our inner world - what triggers the feeling of anger, disgust or shame, how we react to them, and the content and tone of our internal monologue.

Tune in to your thoughts

Ground yourself during discovery with soothing rhythm breathing, muscle relaxation or mindfulness exercises.
Soothing rhythm breathing: With your shoulders back and chest open, slow and deepen your breath. The key is to maintain the smoothness of breath: Four or five seconds in, and the same out again.

Support your mind with your body

Self-criticism is a dialogue between two aspects of yourself: the one side is attacking and angry, the other is receiving it and feeling upset and hurt.
Instead, imagine your inner dialogue as that of two strangers. As soon as you see it as external from you, you can see it more clearly.

Know when to step outside yourself

Validate, acknowledge, and reassure yourself.
If you wouldn't say it to a friend, don't say it to yourself. We would seldom tell a friend 'it's not that bad', or 'look on the bright side.' We need to recognise within ourselves when we're hurting.

Treat yourself as you would treat a friend

Speaking to yourself with warmth and kindness can feel like a verbal hug by triggering the physiological memory of feeling safe. 
A friendly facial expression and upright and open posture can positively influence your mind.

How your inner monologue speaks matters

Self-criticism is often underpinned by a fear of not being good enough, being dismissed or devalued, or seen as undesirable. This triggers our threat system and brings out the worst in our brains.
We also live in a society that is always judging and evaluating us. We are not taught how to deal with suffering.

Acknowledge the forces against you

Is your internal monologue friendly, calm and encouraging – or critical and bullying? Here is how to change it for the better

communication

Communication

Silence your inner critic: a guide to self-compassion in the toughest times

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