these have been quite popular lately, check this out!https://www.nytimes.com/crosswords

1. NY Times Puzzles and Crosswords

Its never too early in the day to challenge your brain!https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/all

2. Crosswords from The Guardian

these quizzes used to be a way to show we were smart back in primary school XDhttps://www.jetpunk.com/tags/highest-rated

3. Geography List quizzes

normal edition: https://play2048.co/cupcake edition: https://0x0800.github.io/2048-CUPCAKES/

4. 2048

Fun and unique music game!https://www.incredibox.com/demo/

5. Incredibox

Where your keyboard are the instrumentshttps://www.patatap.com/

6. Patatap

This AI image from prompt generator is really fun to use and has several art styles as well!https://dream.ai/create

7. Dream by Wombo

Make beautiful glowing art using your mouse. Experiment with colours and symmetry!http://weavesilk.com/

8. Weave Silk

I used this a lot during online school, alongside attending classes all day XDhttps://jacksonpollock.org/

9. Jackson Pollock Art

Travel through a very surreal, brain moving landscapehttps://www.anumberfromtheghost.com/always-here

10. A Number From the Ghost

Cute games which have frequent new additionshttps://artsandculture.google.com/play

11. Games from Google Arts & Culture

https://mrdoob.com/

12. Random Games on mrdoob

a lot of random short fun games interspersed with humourhttps://neal.fun/

13. a tiny website by neal

a recreation of a windows 93 desktop, nostalgia triphttps://www.windows93.net/#!/a/.config/

14. Windows 93

Tetris, but a bit coolerhttps://www.firstpersontetris.com/

15. First Person Tetris

Can Akinator guess which character/ object you have in mind?https://en.akinator.com/theme-selection

16. Akinator

Slither.io, Agar.io, Paper.io 1 and 2, Brutal.io, Powerline.io, Skribbl.ioPeak times were from 2015 to 2017

17. all the .io games!

Can you find all the elements?https://littlealchemy2.com/

18. Little Alchemy 2

Can you see if a dot is in the centre of an object?https://www.supremo.co.uk/designers-eye/

19. It's Centred That

Guess the top searches on Google! Can you guess them all?https://googlefeud.com/

20. Google Feud

Large range of free webcomicshttps://www.webtoons.com/en

21. WebToon

First time writing my own post in ages! I haven't entered Deepstash in about a year due to university commitments, and seeing the comments and interactions with the other articles I've curated has really brought a smile to my face :) This is more of an unusual stash. I feel like as we are getting older, we are getting less in touch with our child and creative side. Our brains feel monotonous in this systemic reality of education and then work. Here are some short free online games/ activities that I often turn back to and feel like you may enjoy them too :)) Note: best to access from a browser

creativity

Creativity

entertainment

Entertainment

artsandculture

Society, Arts & Culture

21 Quirky Fun Websites To Feel Like A Child Again

A creative hobby such as writing, painting, doodling, journaling, stitching, crochet, DIY crafts etc are good to keep one creative. Having a creative hobby is very important as it helps in improving brain function, improving concentration and emotional expressions.

1. To keep you creative

If you have turned your passion to profession, then it’s a different case but if not, try having a hobby that helps you make some extra money. So, in your free time you will do something you that love and it will also bring you some money. Examples for hobbies that can help you earn money are writing, singing, painting, photography, blogging, coaching etc.

2. To help you make money

Health SHOULD BE your PRIORITY. How about a hobby that keeps you fit? This means whenever you do your hobby, you will also be doing an activity that will keep you fit and without making you put an extra effort. Because it has been seen that most of the people try hard to stay fit by joining gym or some yoga class but after some days, they quit it because it’s not something they actually enjoy and love to it. That’s why, have a hobby that keeps you fit. This can be dancing, playing a sport, cycling, aerobics or simply going for a walk into the nature every day.

3. To keep you fit

A mindful lifestyle is very important, especially in such chaotic and tense. Therefore, it is very important that you have a hobby that evokes mindfulness and keep you calm. This kind of hobby helps relieves anxiety and stress and makes one feel calm and joyous. A mindful hobby can be journaling, doodling, painting, singing, playing a musical instrument, meditation etc.

4. To evoke mindfulness and keep you calm

I always say, learning should never stop. And having a hobby that will also help you grow professionally will be a cherry on top. In your free time, you will do something that you enjoy and it will help you grow professionally too. This can be reading books, learning to code, watching documentaries and films, listening to podcasts etc.

5. Helps you grow professionally

Never have I ever thought to 'organise' my hobbies- but this article details why. It makes me feel better knowing that the many activities I do in my free time are fun and productive, and are not just random tasks. I look forward to implementing this in my real life, and recommend that others do too!

What is a hobby and what kind of hobbies everyone should have for a better life? There are 5 types of hobbies that one should have. Read here!

personaldevelopment

Personal Development

habits

Habits

5 Hobbies Everyone Should Have

Life has pretty similar path for most of us: we are born, our parents take care of us, we get educated, we figure out a way to sustain ourselves, we form a family, we have our own kids, we grow old and then we die. Such a great note to start this article on isn’t it?In it we’re going to focus on the education part, since it takes a bulk of your life – most people spend 12 years or more in the educational system – assuming an 80 year average lifespan, that’s over 15% of your life.

Background

The goal of the entire thing should be to make you self-sufficient and a positive part of our socio-economic system.Unfortunately, at least in the last couple of decades, it doesn’t do that good of a job. It’s pretty decent, but from an efficiency and effectiveness perspective, it could definitely do better.We took a look at the subjects taught in school and made a list of things we wished we would’ve learned while we were getting “educated” and prepared for life.

The Goal of Schooling

Wouldn’t you love to learn in school how money works? Why some people earn more than others, how to increase your salary, how to save money or how to invest it?Even today, in most households money is still a taboo subject, despite it being the fuel of our society.Your parents are barely figuring it out for themselves and most of your teachers lack a fundamental understanding of money.

1: How money works

There are so many aspects of finance which would’ve been really useful to learn in school in order for everyone to be more efficient in their lives, like how to balance a checkbook, how to save for retirement, why some people are better off pursuing businesses while others will be happier working in a company.Even if you had an introductory course to economics, we’re not sure how much of the knowledge that was provided to you is directly applicable to your everyday life. It’s such a shame.

Mental illness is a BIG issue today. 1 in 5 people is struggling with a form of mental issue. From ADHD to anxiety, to depression, you never learn about these in school. Mental health is a 100 Billion dollar industry in the US alone, because we are never taught how to take care of ourselves.Despite standards of living going up, we see more and more successful people burning out or suffering from depression to a point where they just want to quit society. The number of college students who reported feeling depressed to the point where it negatively impacted their ability to function is 1 in 3.

2: Mental and Physical Health

Those numbers are insane and us not addressing these type of mental health issues is leading to a very unstable society. The rise of pharmaceutical companies capitalizing on this trend should also be a big pointer at how big the issue is.And that’s just the mental part of things, you never learn how to take care of your yourself and your body. Understanding how your body functions, what it needs to run more efficiently and First Aid classes is something we believe should be mandatory everywhere.

You’re going to spend the majority of your life in a romantic relationship with someone.. How about we learn how to pick the right one?This new generation is growing up with tinder, nudes and netflix & chill as viable “dating” options. Thus they will never be able to develop emotional intelligence and the ability to prospect a viable partner until way later in life. That’s why we see so many men suffering from Peter Pan syndrome.Social media is putting an emphasis on the external image we portray, but it’s their mindset, character and passion that will raise your children, not their looks.

3: Dating and Romantic Relationships

The problem begins when you are finally ready to move onto the next level and have no idea what you’re supposed to do. Relationships are not easy, they demand effort and a completely different set of skills in order for them to grow & evolve properly.Dating and relationships is a crucial part of living that it’s gonna be tricky to teach on a large scale. This type of teaching curriculum should be updated alongside technology, the last thing we would want is to have an old Mr. Garrison trying to explain how dating should be done.

Benjamin Franklin used to say: in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.We might actually cure death before we find a way to work without taxation. Taxes & Bills are a necessary part of life and you’ll have to deal with it a lot more frequently than you will have to use geometry actually, so it would make sense that by the time you finish your education to have the slightest idea of what you’re doing.

 4: Taxes and Bills

This is another thing we left to chance, just put a bunch of kids in the same room and they’ll figure it out. It sorta worked out ok, but what do you do once you get older? Have you noticed how hard it is to make new friends after you’ve finished school?This is a serious issue, because one of the main requirements for being a successful individual is your ability to connect and network with other people.

5: How to make friends and be more sociable

You probably have no idea about the differences between good debt and bad debt. Most people finish school with zero introductions to how debt, interest and mortgages work.Why is it so important to learn about these things? Because at some point in your life you will want to buy a house for yourself, maybe a car or even save some money for rainy days or retirement. How do you even buy a home? What’s that process like? Most people have to ask around or figure out the process as they go along.

6: Debt, Interest and Mortgages

The problem with the current educational system is that you are put into colossal debt without first being educated on how to manage it.Starting off your professional life with close to £27k in debt and zero knowledge on how to strategise the repayment is setting up the youth for failure with a financial handicap.Even after you repay it, you are crushed by the skyrocketing prices in cost of living and real-estate.Unless you have more than a decent understanding of how banks work, how to use debt to your advantage and manage your mortgages, you are destined to live a stressed out life.

Learning how to learn, how much of a phenomenon of a skill that is.If you only got this right out of school and didn’t feel the need to beat the system in order to get higher grades, your life would be so much easier, because this is the skill to rule them all.The upside is enormous, once you are taught how to approach acquiring new skills and teachings for yourself the world is your oyster. You can learn, do, become whatever you want, because you know have a method.

7: How to learn for yourself

The last thing you would want is the school to tell you what your values are and what you should be passionate about, but it would be really damn useful if they created a framework so that you could find that out for yourself.Imagine instead of learning the names or every mountain and river in your country you would dedicate a year to introspection, where teachers would nurture every student to really think about what makes him happy, then visualize pathways towards creating a life built on that passion.

8: How to find your passion & your values

We’re having such a large identity crisis because we never get to ask ourselves very basic questions like: <ul><li>What do I want to feel like in my life?</li><li>What are some things I dislike in others? Do I share the same traits?</li><li>What are some things I like about myself? Should I nurture these traits?</li><li>Are these useful skills in life? What are my values? How do I want people to treat me?</li><li>Should I compromise?</li></ul>Unfortunately the way school is structured right now, everybody is being put in the same box and most of what makes each individual special is wasted in order to achieve a more homogenous result.

So you’re done with school right? Now what?Most of you probably ask your parents for recommendations or someone who’s a bit older for a game plan. Otherwise, you have no idea what you’re doing resulting in time wasted, resources consumed and the feeling that you will need to compromise at every step of the way just to get some experience to begin with.Not only the process of finding a job should be taught in school, but you should have a basic understanding of how to rank different jobs, to find one where you could prosper and be efficient.

9: How to find the right job and prepare for an interview

Preparing for an interview is another one of those things that would be easy to teach, but is completely neglected. Thus resulting in people having no idea how to structure a real CV, what they’re supposed to research before the meeting, how to present themselves for the interview and how to negotiate their salaries and professional trajectory.

Believe it or not, Public Speaking is the only thing people fear more than DEATH on average. What would it be like if in the 12 years you spent getting educated you would conquer this fear to the point where you are comfortable presenting yourself and entertaining a discussion on any topic.Life is a big connect-the-dots game, where each dot is an uncomfortable conversation you will need to have and overcome. You will need to make quality friends, to gain the trust of partners or employers and you should be able to articulate why that would make sense for both parties.

10: How to speak in public & sell an idea

Getting a job, that’s you selling the company on the idea that you are the right fit for their organization.Getting married, that’s you selling your partner on the idea that you are the right fit for this journey.For some reason SELLING has such a bad rep. when in reality is just properly articulating a possible series of events for the foreseeable future that people are willing to back with their own time, effort and sometimes money.You will have to speak or at least type to others why they should care about you in general and we have a different approach to this than most people.

By the end of your education, it would be really valuable if you were self-sufficient from all stand-points of your existence. That’s the least you would expect right?You will spend a large portion of your life (around 1 and a half hours per day actually) eating, yet nutrition is not something you learn about. The introduction of basic cooking would allow students to work with food and get more personal with what they put in their bodies. Cooking is a basic human skill and as things are moving forward we’re not seeing many making use of it.

11: A basic understanding of cooking, how to take care of yourself and home maintenance

We live in a digital world. More than half of your awake time is connected to a digital version of reality, you are in the digital space right now, consuming this article through your screen.Your digital profiles are online 24 hours everyday accessible to almost anyone looking to find them.How is your data used? What information do you allow to exist in your digital corner? How does it impact your online and offline reality?Almost every person you interact with, at some point, will scan your digital profiles in order to get a better idea of who you are.

12: Digital and Personal Etiquette

Having pictures with yourself taking shots to the face as your profile pic, using foul language in your posts, showcasing disrespectful behaviour in your interactions with others will have repercussions. This is the reality we live in today.Your online presence is the cover of the book that is you, and people are judging you based on it!Most people don’t have a basic understanding of how they should behave anywhere, they’re just winging it. Good manners are something we associate with the 19th century English elitism and have long been forgotten.

You know how we mentioned values at number 8? The manifestation of the core values on which a society prospers is found in the Human Rights. This is something fairly new, we humans came up with and it’s the best thing we were able to create so far.Human rights are the backbone of any well functioning, free society. Upon these, we have build complex governing structures which are put in place in order to oversee that we are moving in the right direction. Or at least that’s what’s supposed to happen in theory.

13: Human rights, how the government works and why it is important to vote

Do a small experiment and ask any random person on the street how the government works, then ask them to expand on it. Most people will find it really difficult to articulate what’s happening.For too long we have allowed governments to behave they way they do, because we entrusted them with so much power that they eventually shielded themselves under a mist of bureaucracy and slogans. The lack of transparency most governments embrace leads to corruption and inefficiencies throughout the system.Yet, governments aren’t that complicated if you take the time to look at how they function.

We’ve never seen people waste time the way we’ve seen in universities and schools.Give a student 3 weeks to finish a project and in the last 4 hours before the deadline the group-chat is blowing up with everybody trying to pitch in the least amount of work that would get them a passing grade.This type of behavior is addicting, because those 4 hours get the job done. The result, that person will take this behavior with himself throughout life, to result in major inefficiencies through all aspects of his life.We are professional procrastinators and most of it is due to a poor educational system.

14: Time management & discipline

I am now going to university. A fresh new start, yet I feel more lost in life than ever. This article explains how a few tweaks in the education system can make us better prepared individuals in the long run.

Here's a list of things we wishes we were taught in school as we were getting educated. From Money, to Happiness, to Mental Health, school is failing.

career

Career

moneyandinvestments

Money & Investments

education

Learning & Education

15 Subjects You Should Have Been Taught In School

I’ve been striving to simplify my life for many years now, and recently, through my writing, have been advising others how to do the same.In the process, I’ve learned that making little changes in our attitudes, habits, and environment can have a big impact.So today, I thought I’d compile a list of 100 ways to simplify your life – from the practical to the philosophical, and everything in between.Note: not every item on the list will work for every person reading it.

1. Ditch the TV (or at least turn if off). If you’re an average viewer, you’ll save over a hundred precious hours each month. An added bonus: less exposure to commercials means less desire to buy stuff, and more money in your pocket.2. Cancel magazine subscriptions. Read the content online instead, and avoid accumulating a pile of reading material.3. Read news online, instead of on paper. You’ll save plenty of time, and plenty of trees, by reading only the articles that interest you.4. Get rid of excessive furniture, so there’s less to walk around, trip over, or move when you have to clean.

Around The House

5. Opt for multi-functional furniture , so you can satisfy your needs with fewer pieces.6. Get rid of excessive décor , so you’ll spend less time and effort cleaning around stuff.7. Digitize your music. You’ll eliminate the clutter of CDs, and have easier access to your music library.8. Download movies instead of renting DVDs. You’ll avoid the hassle of picking them up, dropping them off, or mailing them back.

9. Put items away immediately after use. It takes a lot less effort than cleaning up piles of stuff later on.10. Have a place for everything. It makes it much easier to find things, and put them away.11. Clean as you go. Wipe up spills, and take care of little messes before they become big ones.12. Devise a cleaning routine. Streamline your chores into an ordered set of tasks for maximum efficiency.

13. Do laundry in large batches, instead of small ones. It’ll save you time, and reduce your energy (and water) consumption.14. Buy enough socks and underwear to make it through a full laundry cycle, to avoid doing small “emergency” loads.15. Wash towels less often. They don’t need laundering on a daily basis; you’re clean when you use them, after all!16. Consolidate hobby items in designated containers. That way, all your supplies will be on hand when you need them.

17. If you start a new hobby, drop an out-of-favor one (along with its equipment and supplies).18. Adopt the “one in, one out” rule: when you purchase something new, get rid of something old.19. Don’t start collections. Avoid the clutter, and save your money, by channeling your energy and creativity into something more productive.20. Get rid of one item every day. At the end of the year, you’ll have 365 less things to worry about!

21. Hang up clothes, or put them in a hamper, as soon as you take them off. Avoid starting a “floordrobe” or piling them on a chair, and you’ll have less straightening up to do later.22. Organize your clothes by category. For example, hang all your pants, skirts, or shirts together so you can quickly find what you need.23. Use containers to corral accessories like jewelry, watches, or scarves, instead of scattering them about.24. Choose versatile clothing. The more ways you can wear something, the fewer items you’ll need.

Wardrobe And Style

25. Don’t be a fashion victim. Chasing trends is a waste of time and money.26. Know what flatters you. You’ll avoid accumulating a closet full of wardrobe “mistakes.”27. Don’t buy “fantasy” clothes. In other words, if you’re not a social diva, skip the cocktail dresses – reserve your closet space for the stuff you’ll actually wear.28. Get a simple, no-fuss haircut ; it’ll save tons of time in the morning.

29. Embrace your natural hair. Don’t make it straight if it’s curly, curly if it’s straight, or brown if it’s gray.30. Keep makeup as minimal as possible, or go without. Most of us don’t need to look like supermodels on a daily basis!31. Use multi-purpose products (like a shampoo/body wash, or moisturizer plus sunscreen) to save time and eliminate bathroom clutter.

32. Standardize your grooming routine , so you can get ready each morning with a minimum amount of fuss.33. Don’t buy hope in a bottle , and clutter your cabinets with half-used “miracle” lotions and potions.34. Avoid unhealthy habits , like smoking, drugs, or drinking in excess. You’ll look better now, and avoid a boatload of health problems down the road.35. Let your inner beauty shine. A pleasant countenance and radiant smile will make you more beautiful than any cosmetics.

36. Love those leftovers. Cook extra for dinner, and have it for lunch the next day.37. Cook a week’s worth of meals at a time , and freeze for later (Google “batch cooking” for recipes and instructions).38. Plan your meals in advance. You’ll spend less time staring into your refrigerator, wondering what to make.

Kitchen And Dining

39. Shop with a grocery list. You’ll avoid making extra trips for forgotten items.40. Make one-pot meals , and drastically reduce your after-dinner cleanup.41. Pare down your dishes, cups, and utensils to what you regularly use . It’ll limit the amount of dishwashing that piles up in the sink.42. Purge unnecessary gadgets and seldom-used equipment. A large variety of meals can be made with basic pots and implements.

43. Eat healthy foods (like whole grains, fruits, and vegetables), and you’ll avoid a wide variety of medical problems.44. Keep your countertops clutter-free. Cooking is so much easier when you’re not moving stuff out of the way to do it.45. Develop a set of standard dishes (like a pasta, chicken, or tofu dish), and vary the sauces. That way, you won’t have to reinvent the wheel each night.

46. Stop as much incoming paperwork as possible. Get off mailing lists, cancel catalogs, and sign up for online billing and statements. The less physical mail you have to deal with, the better!47. Print as little as possible. Don’t give yourself more stuff to file. Instead, print to a PDF file using free software like cutePDF or pdf995.48. Digitize your paperwork. It’ll take up less space, and give you easier access to it.49. Backup to the cloud. Use an online storage service, as an alternative to DVDs or an external hard drive.

Office And Tech

50. Pay bills online. It takes much less time than writing and mailing a check, and no need to buy envelopes and stamps.51. Bank online. Transfer money without going to the bank, or standing in line waiting.52. Automate recurring transactions- a great way to pay your rent, mortgage, or insurance payments without lifting a finger.53. Automate investments. Set up your brokerage account to buy a fixed dollar amount of a certain investment (like an index fund) on a regular schedule. It’ll smooth out the effects of market volatility on your portfolio, and keep you from making emotional decisions.

54. Stay out of debt. Life is much simpler when you don’t have to worry about interest charges and minimum payments.55. Purchase bundled services. Buying telephone, tv, and internet services from the same company reduces your number of bills (and likely the amount you have to pay).56. Telecommute. Arrange to work from home at least once or twice a week, to save time and commuting costs.57. Don’t let junk mail enter your office. Keep a recycling bin by your front door, and dump junk mail and solicitations (without personal information) straight in.

58. Sort incoming paperwork immediately. Separate it into “file,” “act on,” and “dispose of” piles for efficient handling.59. Organize your digital files. Develop a logical system of folders, so you won’t have to wade through 100s of random files to find what you’re looking for.60. Purge your bookmarks regularly. The stuff you found interesting last month, or last week, may be of no use to you today. Don’t waste time scrolling through irrelevant stuff.61. Quit Facebook (or don’t join). It can be a huge digital commitment, and a major time sink. At the very least, limit the time you spend on it

62. Limit the number of blogs you read. When you subscribe to a new one, drop an old one, so as not to increase your time commitment.63. Reduce your Twitter time. Constant digital “chatter” can significantly reduce your productivity.64. Check and answer email during defined periods. When you’re distracted by constant incoming messages, it takes longer to complete the task at hand.65. Take digital sabbaticals. Disconnecting for a period of time – be it an hour, a day, or a weekend – can be quite liberating!

66. Learn to say no. It can be difficult, but will ensure you have enough time and energy for the stuff that really matters.67. Delegate. Give up trying to do everything yourself; get employees to help with projects, and children to help with chores.68. Limit your commitments. Don’t increase your number of obligations; drop old ones to make way for the new.69. Right-size your expectations. When you expect too much of yourself and others, disappointment and stress are often the result.

Time Management 

70. Choose your battles. There are thousands of little things that just aren’t worth fighting for – let them go.71. Go with the flow. Instead of trying to control things, let them happen as they may.72. Be flexible. Adapt to the situation at hand, rather than insisting on doing things “your way.”73. Forget about perfection. For the vast majority of tasks, good enough is good enough.

74. Fix little problems before they become big ones. A little effort now can save a lot of headaches later.75. Consolidate your tasks. It’s more efficient to do your ironing, pay your bills, and answer your emails in one sitting than in bits and pieces.76. Consolidate your errands. Plan your visits to the grocery store, dry cleaners, post office, etc., so you can take care of all of it in one trip.77. Declutter your To Do list. Purge any unimportant, unnecessary, or unfulfilling activities.

78. Ask for help or advice. Reaching out to someone with more expertise can often save you hours (or days) of muddling through on your own.79. Share your expertise with others. An open exchange of information makes things easier for everyone.80. Make it a goal to do less, not more. Increase your productivity to free up your schedule, rather than jam more stuff into it.

81. Keep an open mind. Life is infinitely more interesting and pleasant when you’re willing to consider opinions and viewpoints that differ from your own.82. Accept others for who they are. Live and let live, and you’ll have much less to worry about.83. Live in the present. Don’t spend excessive hours pining for the past, or fretting about the future. Be here now.84. Don’t meddle in other people’s business. Concentrate on keeping your own life in order, and don’t worry about everyone else’s.

Attitude

85. Forget about the Joneses. Conspicuous consumption benefits nobody but the companies selling the goods. We’d be happier, more relaxed, and more satisfied if we disengaged from it entirely.86. March to your own drummer. Don’t feel obligated to follow the crowd, or live according to others’ expectations.87. Think before you act. We can often save ourselves a lot of trouble if we think about the consequences before acting on impulse.

88. Think before you speak. Once you let some ill-considered words out of your mouth, you can’t get them back. Better to hold your tongue than have to deal with the fallout.89. Don’t be overly sensitive. Sometimes others don’t think before they speak. Let careless remarks roll off your back, not ruin your day.90. Don’t hold grudges. Forgiveness eases your stress and tension, and frees up your time and energy for more positive pursuits.91. Don’t be a drama queen. Making mountains out of molehills unduly complicates life.

92. Have an attitude of gratitude. Be grateful for what you do have, instead of stressing over what you don’t.93. Realize that you’re not living in the spotlight. Most people are too wrapped up in their own lives to care (or notice) what you own, what you’re wearing, or how you look.

94. Embrace the concept of enough. Once our needs are met, there’s usually little utility (or happiness) in acquiring more – by contrast, it often leads to cluttered homes and empty bank accounts.95. Enjoy without owning. Admire the objects in a shop window, the art in a gallery, the plants in a garden, without acquiring them for yourself. You’ll often get more pleasure from things when you don’t have the responsibility of ownership.

96. Downsize your digs. A smaller home means less to maintain, less to clean, and less to pay in mortgage, utilities, and rent.97. Go car-free. If you can walk, bike, or take public transit where you need to go, consider ditching your car. If you’re in a multi-car household, consider whether you can get by with one less car.98. Avoid advertising like the plague. When you don’t know an item exists, you won’t stress over desiring, acquiring, or paying for it.

Miscellaneous 

99. Don’t shop unless you need something. In other words, don’t browse stores, catalogs, or websites looking for something to need.100. Make your own definition of “success.” Raising a happy family or excelling at your job are better measures of success than status symbols and material accumulation.

Now that I have finished my final exams, I am taking this summer as the opportunity to declutter my life and for a fresh restart. This article has helped me realise that decluttering shouldn't only be a one time activity but a continuous mindset.

productivity

Productivity

100 Ways to Simplify Your Life (and Make Yourself Happier)

Have you ever wondered why we often behave so irrationally?Psychologists do too, which results in countless researches about human nature. Although there is still a lot of unanswered questions, and there is a long way to go until we find the definitive answer for example to why we fall in love with a specific person, thanks to them we now know a lot more about how we feel, think and behave.Here we have collected 50 proven psychology facts, that explain a lot about human nature and will completely change how you see the world.

Although these facts are interesting, fun, and tell us a lot about human nature, never forget that most of them were described after conducting research with small numbers of specific populations. But it is a fact that they provide a wonderful way to raise questions, and to start digging into the wonderful and weird world of psychological research and in the end completely change how you see the world.

Disclaimer

There is a reason why psychologists ask you about your mother. One of the most robust <a href="https://d1wqtxts1xzle7.cloudfront.net/41507315/Ravitz_et_al__Attachment_measures__a_25year_review_2010.pdf?1453639315=&response-content-disposition=inline%253B+filename%253DAdult_attachment_measures_A_25_year_revi.pdf&Expires=1607516146&Signature=cd4m-vMRms83XTNGgbzEaF6b3P86p69YpFqLgB0jKLu97laBbGu3EJzfybcmMTWfwEAEYR6UKO9t0ZyuZeDOCLyPtOO8wQDoFbMLemDWKZLh1inXdYGf6TJgciSciGH-VNvzPxKGjeIPcTLRg2eJqhtCFUFk4lfcoMZoKS8yAFTaHJ~jkA0VZC6vn2TMqJgU6-~uhLi5AmmISmpBkSwVvMjjLBoAeyMiRow4xCtnGAugUZx53aOxpsUrU0WzzIrSbUp0VQGt5m0TDNfZPP-Z8LGN8qq8VvKpPcewsndHQ6SKz-3R-txPqZ6GCmu0a5gUYAWF8sgrduW6MbhtXSuyuQ__&Key-Pair-Id=APKAJLOHF5GGSLRBV4ZA">findings of psychology shows us</a>, that no matter where we are born, the past relationship we had with our primary caregiver, massively affects our adult intimate relationships, the way we handle stressful challenges, or our behaviour towards our health.

1. Our early relationship with our mother has life-lasting consequences

We all want to be happy, but if you want to be healthy, you should rather search for meaning, says a <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2013/07/25/1305419110.short">study led by Barbara Fredrickson</a>. They have studied the genes of people who are engaging in a lot of activities which makes them feeling good, but lack true meaning (like going out extensively) and the results were shocking: they had the same gene expression patterns as people exposed to chronic adversity. The group suggests stop running after momentary joys and start looking for activities with meaning.

2. A feel-good life is not necessarily a healthy one

Contrary to popular belief, stress is not always a bad thing, actually it can be good for you. <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/08/190810151933.htm">Psychologists have long observed</a>, that stress help you accomplish task more efficiently, and can motivate you to reach your goals. However, it is important to have good ways to respond to it, and to have possibility to recover from it–without them, it becomes unhealthy, making our life miserable.

3. Stress can be good for us

You would not think so, but you might make different decisions when you are speaking in your second language. According to <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0956797611432178">a study conducted at the University of Chicago</a>, students using a foreign language made less emotional and more rational decisions. This suggest we might process information differently when speaking another language.

4. Speaking in a foreign language changes your decisions

No matter where you are in the world, people will recognise if you make a sad, happy, disgusted, fearful, surprised or angry face. Due to this, these emotions are called <a href="https://www.paulekman.com/universal-emotions/">universal emotions</a>, and they are known across cultures and at a very young age.

5. Some emotions are universal

Maslow’s hierarchy is probably wrong. His hierarchy of human needs says that at base levels we are driven by basic physiological instincts to survive and only after fulfilling these needs can we move over to other needs, like social connections and self-actualization. But <a href="http://www.jlampl.net/SocialNetworksMaslow.pdf">current research says </a>otherwise, as it shows hat our most fundamental need is belonging and our connection to other humans. This is what makes us engage in activities leading to self-preservation or self-fulfillment.

6. Social connections might be more important to us than food

A few of us can see the shape of emotions, smell colours, or hear shapes. This <a href="https://www.healthline.com/health/synesthesia">interesting neuropsychological phenomenon </a>is called synaesthesia and happens when our mind involuntarily blends sensations that normally are experienced separately. The people, who experience it, tend to be born with this skill.

7. Some of us can smell colours

Have you ever noticed how your mum likes to speak a lot about the things that happened to her during her early twenties? Or ever wondered why people love coming of age teenager stories? Our preference for recollecting memories from adolescent and early adulthood is called “<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reminiscence_bump">reminiscence bump </a>”, and it might be because of the many changes we experience during that time, and our mind tend to remember changes more than a bit more monotonous periods.

8. Things that happen to us in early adulthood are with us long term

According to the facial feedback theory, our facial expressions influence how we feel. So <a href="https://health.ucsd.edu/news/releases/Pages/2020-07-30-headline-news-botox-may-lessen-depression.aspx">scientists </a>have temporarily disabled the muscles needed of sad facial expressions with Botox injections. This made people lose their negative emotional experience, and they have reported decreased symptoms of depression.

9.Botox could treat depression

Do you want to perform better at learning something? It might be time to open your classical music folder, as listening to classical music was found to enhance even older people’s memory performance. The finding is so robust that it has its own name: the “<a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF03324720">Vivaldi effect </a>”.

10. Listening to classical music is good for your memory

According to <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0146167299259007">Tara Macdonald and Michael Ross</a>, if you are in love and you would like to know whether it will last, you should just ask your mom. They reported that dating couples tend to predict the longevity of their relationships through rose-coloured glasses, so asking their friends and family served as much better predictors of whether their romances would survive.

11. Our friends know the future of our romantic relationship better than us

Babies are born with the ability to understand all accents of the world, but from the age of 5 months they start to <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/phenomena/2009/06/14/five-month-old-babies-prefer-their-own-languages-and-shun-foreign-accents/">prefer and listen to their mother’s accent </a>and avoid connection with people with other accents.

12. We prefer our own accents as soon as 5 months old

Although many times dyslexia is seen only as a problem, it can be a sign of a uniquely functioning brain with many strengths. For example, watching the same videos, children diagnosed with dyslexia were <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/12/201201103605.htm">observed </a>to give more emotional responses than children without it, suggesting an atypical, enhanced way of noticing and processing emotional cues.

13. Kids with dyslexia are more emotionally responsive

If you want to give the perfect present, remember that <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17439760.2014.898316?journalCode=rpos20">psychological research suggests</a> that purchasing experiences has a more lasting positive effect on people’s happiness than material objects and looking back, people will also believe to have spent their money more wisely.

14. Experiences make us happier than material gifts

Call your grandma! Being socially isolated and feeling lonely have seriously dire consequences on us: <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0033350617302731">they make us more prone to </a>poor mental health and can lead to serious, undesirable cardiovascular outcomes.

15. Isolation can hurt us physically

Researching who takes part in elections and other political activities, <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200925134722.htm">scientists </a>have come to a surprising result: more narcissistic people can be more involved in such activities, may it be signing petitions, donating money or contacting politicians. Add to those result that narcissistic people also prefer their own personal gain to the societal needs and we might see the root of some our current problems.

16. Narcissistic people tend to be more politically involved

After researching the brain of older women with Alzheimer, <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/11/201118161133.htm">researchers have found </a>those women’s brain showing smaller brain volume, who were living in areas exposed to higher levels of air pollution compared to those who did not. This suggests that foul air could damage our brain, altering its structure negatively.

17. Air pollution hurts not only our lungs, but our brains too

According to a <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/article-abstract/2608757">study </a>, collecting data from 147 261 adults aged 18 to 99 years, anxiety is more prevalent in high-income countries than in countries with poorer socioeconomic environment. The study further suggests that poorer people living in Western countries are the most anxious population in the world.

18. Westerners are more anxious

In a paper published in the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, researchers claim that atheists and agnostics are significantly more likely to be better sleepers than Catholics and Baptists.

19. Atheists sleep better than Catholics

And so is sadness. The basis of this phenomenon might be our natural tendency to mimic the behaviours and facial expressions of others. <a href="https://medium.com/better-marketing/your-good-and-bad-moods-are-contagious-psychologists-call-it-emotional-contagion-c7d857c7cabc">Scientists say </a>this emotional synchrony happens unconsciously but the extent of it depends on the intimacy we share with the other person.

20. Happiness is contagious

People usually think that high self-confidence is the key to achieve success, but <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/people-with-low-self-confidence-are-more-likely-to-be-successful-2012-7">according to business psychologists Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic</a>, it is not exactly true, as he says “low-enough” self-confidence makes you more open to feedback and behaviour changes which result in better workplace results.

21. People with lower self-confidence are more likely to be successful

Some facts here have completely opened my eyes to our behaviour traits. It's also cool knowing also how these facts are all derived from studies with real participants, and are not just educated theories.

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