Research shows that over 75% of college-educated workers expect passion to be a key ingredient in their career choices. Yet, throughout human history, work was mostly work, and enjoying it was an exception. For example, ancient Greeks and Romans regarded work as something to give to slaves. Medieval peasants typically worked half a day. The Protestant work ethic saw work as a moral obligation rather than a hedonistic pursuit.

Work and fun didn't always mix

We expect the evolution of work to provide more opportunities for people to thrive and enjoy their careers. In 1930, Milton Keys predicted that technology would be so advanced in the future that we would work only 15 hours a week. Although he was wrong, we should consider whether the extra twenty hours most people put in each week has anything to do with enjoyment or our passionate relation to our jobs and careers.

Working more hours

Research shows that loving your job improves your creative performance at work by nine percent. Similarly, there is at most a nine percent overlap between how much you love your job and how well you perform at it. Those who love their jobs may be terrible performers, and those who are miserable at work can be among the top-performing employees. Still, extrinsic rewards such as pay, status, and titles do nearly nothing to improve people's job performance. So, having employees who care about their job is still your best outcome.

Love for the work does not always equal performance

There is a positive relationship between how much fun you have at work and how prosocial, ethical, and altruistic you are with your colleagues. So even if fun doesn't increase your performance, it increases your desire to be friendly and avoid being a toxic colleague. Organizational programs to support fun activities seem to significantly reduce turnover, but teams led by managers who support such activities perform worse. The key lesson for managers is if you over-optimize for fun and experiences, you may sub-optimize for performance and productivity.

Fun has surprising benefits

Assuming we all want to work in places that are entertaining or amusing is misguided. <ul><li>Millennials and Gen Xers tend to score higher on individualistic traits, which predict more hedonistic and self-indulgent work environments.</li><li>Extroverted and agreeable individuals desire fun workplaces.</li><li>Excessive work involvement increases the likelihood of risking other areas of life, including family, relationships, and health, and leads to burnout.</li></ul>

Differences in the degree to which people need fun at work

There’s a positive relationship between how much fun you have at work and your propensity to be nice and to avoid being a toxic colleague.

Stashed ideas

What science says about having fun at work

Just like running exhausts our muscles, focused attention many days in a row can make decision-making hard and willpower beyond low. What you need is to give your brain a rest from effortful concentration and stress without becoming bored. There are many ways to approach this, such as engaging in hobbies. Yet, according to science, the best way to rest your brain is to spend time in nature.

Effortful concentration can exhaust our brains

When we spend time in nature, there is always something fascinating and beautiful for our attention to move toward, but nothing that demands our full focus. This state of meandering that can revive an exhausted brain is known as soft fascination. Recent research found that walking through a local park or spending some time observing a stream physically quiets the brain.

Soft fascination

Everything You Need to Start, Run and Grow Your Business in Africa

The Science of How to Use Nature to Reboot Your Exhausted Brain

2022 is a year of inflation. It resulted from the huge disruption that Covid caused. The high inflation and low economic growth are all over the media. <ul><li>Inflation is getting higher</li><li>Stocks are down</li><li>People are starting to get fired</li><li>Companies are barely hiring</li></ul> Investment ads claim they have investment strategies to generate significant returns during inflation, yet famous hedge funds like Tiger Global are down 60%. So don't be seduced by investment ads that try to profit from fear and greed.

The current economic situation

When we're faced with economic problems, we can view them in two ways:<ol><li>Up-close perspective: Looking at inflation, interest rates, debt, consumer spending, joblessness, etc.</li><li>Broad perspective: Looking at long-term trends and historical patterns.</li></ol> Taking a step back for a broader view can teach us about what's happening now.

Look at the big picture

Periods of high growth and low growth are not uncommon. For example, look at how the world went from the great 1920s to the Great Depression in the 1930s. Investor Howard Marks discusses the concept of cycles in his book, Mastering The Market Cycle. He states that the economy grows, on average, at a consistent pace. The economy will get stimulated and make people take more risks and consume more. In turn, this period often causes inflation and slows things down. Recessions and slowdowns are normal. However, when you invest long-term, these fluctuations won’t harm you.

Periods of high growth and low growth

Avoid taking too much risk when the economy is booming. Likewise, avoid buying into things you don't understand. Things only become troublesome when you make bad investment decisions during periods of high growth. For example:<ul><li>You bought houses without income in the 2000s.</li><li>Or you bought stocks and crypto with borrowed money over the last year.</li></ul>

Tips on investing

When you recognise economic patterns, you'll know that the current trends are expected and normal. <ul><li>Knowledge. Learn more about how the economy and stocks work. When you have better knowledge of the history of finance, you won't fall for too-good-to-be-true investments. Read good books on personal finance that have stood the test of time.</li><li>Mindfulness. Knowledge will not give you full peace of mind, so practising some form of Mindfulness or Stoicism can help detach from money stress.</li></ul>

The economy is affected by various factors out of your control

It’s difficult to have peace of mind during periods of uncertainty, like the ongoing inflation. Here are some practical tips and perspective.

How to Have Peace of Mind During High Inflation - Darius Foroux

In many parts of the world, there’s a deeply ingrained belief that sunny days make us feel more cheerful. It seems like common sense, but the scientific evidence is surprisingly equivocal.
Yes, there are individual studies supporting the link – for instance, in 2013, researchers at the Freie Universität Berlin reported that people surveyed on exceptionally sunny days felt more satisfied with life than people surveyed on cloudier days.

How The Sun Influences Our Mood

Flipping things around, even the idea that many of us are more prone to depression in the gloomier the winter months (known as ‘seasonal affective disorder’) is controversial. While too much sunshine is undoubtedly bad for your unprotected skin, sunlight exposure is also beneficial in many ways because it allows the body to create more vitamin D, which can <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/07315724.2015.1039866">reduce the risk of cancer</a> and <a href="https://www.karger.com/Article/Abstract/441266">lower blood pressure</a> among other health benefits.

Just The Right Sunlight

Morning exposure to <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2352721817300414">sufficient daylight</a> is also important for entraining the circadian rhythm, which is important for healthy sleep. So, while excessive sunbathing is unwise, so too is closeting yourself indoors without any sunlight at all.

The Morning Sun

It's worth making the most of the sunshine, but be sure to keep your skin protected.

Does sunshine make us happier and healthier? | BBC Science Focus Magazine

Speaking two or more languages comes with a whole host of benefits. A growing body of research has focused on the psychological, economic, and health benefits of being bilingual. Here are ten practical benefits of bilingualism.

Bilingualism is beneficial

Studies found those who are bilingual find it much easier to learn a third or fourth language. Even discounting other factors, like differences in IQ, reading abilities or other cognitive aspects, bilingualism is a causal factor in increasing the chances of being able to learn a new language quickly.

It makes learning languages easier

Bilinguals have to constantly multitask linguistically. When they have to function in a world outside their first or native language, they have to switch, shift, and process different languages in real-time. However, a study found that bilinguals are better at non-linguistic multitasking too.

Bilingualism makes you better at multitasking

Empathy is the ability to relate to someone else and to see things from their perspective. A major research review concludes that acquiring "two languages helps Theory of Mind development, meaning you have the ability to attribute mental states to other people and to predict and explain other people’s behaviour on the basis of those attributed mental states. Entering into a different linguistic system makes it easier to enter another’s mind.

It makes you more empathetic

If you are more empathetic, you'll be more likeable too because the Theory of Mind helps develop prosocial behaviours. Children who develop an advanced Theory of Mind are better at conversations, more socially mature, and often rated as popular in class.

You’ll be more popular

The language you speak helps determine how you interpret actions. You can flip-flop between focusing on the act (such as walking) or the goal of the act (why someone is walking). Bilinguals interpret aspects of the world according to whichever language they are speaking.

Bilingualism helps you see things differently

Bilinguals are likelier to get paid more over the course of their life. An article in The Economist showed that being bilingual would increase your salary by two per cent over 40 years. The effects are more marked depending on what language you can speak. German can boost earnings by 3.8%, and Arabic speakers in the UK have salaries 74% higher, on average.

It can make you richer

The more a local area, state, or country can speak another language, the greater its economic output. <ul><li>Economists from the University of Geneva estimate one-tenth of Switzerland’s GDP is due to its multilingualism.</li><li>Research by the Rand Corporation argues that learning a second language in the UK could boost the economy from between £9 billion (for Spanish) to £12 billion (for Mandarin).</li></ul>

It can make your country richer, too

According to a huge meta-analysis of studies on the topic, speaking multiple languages<ul><li>Reduces the chances of getting dementia.</li><li>If you get dementia, it slows its onset and lessens the symptoms.</li></ul>

Bilingualism reduces the chances of Alzheimer’s

Bilinguals are better at certain executive functions, such as moving between different types of brain activation. For example, in the "Stroop test", you have to read words for colours (like "red" or "orange") that are written in the same or different colours.

It improves certain executive functions

Being able to speak another language is sexy. It's exotic, mysterious, and intelligent. Research shows that the most attractive languages are Italian, Portuguese and French. The least attractive were Dutch, German, and Japanese.

It makes you more attractive

People who are bilingual often will be richer and sexier and have improved cognitive functions. Why not try it?

10 benefits of bilingualism, according to science

You can’t escape cause and effect, but there is a way of viewing human agency that is motivating, plausible and humane.We feel that we are free, the originators of our own choices, not just conduits through which the chain of cause and effect flows. But think about it a little more and this ‘voluntarist’ conception of free will starts to look untenable.

Thinking About Free Will

A lot of the time, you might feel as though you have freedom to act as you wish (a view known as ‘voluntarism’), but taking into account your history, personality, mood and other factors, there is in fact an inevitability to everything you do.

All Your Choices Are in A Sense Inevitable

Even quantum physics and the randomness of quantum causation cannot offer us an escape because the ability to act randomly is not the same as having free will.

There’s No Escaping the Chain of Cause and Effect

To act free of causes would be to act without reason. Such a freedom would be gratuitous, since the only grounds for our choice would be the power to choose itself.

Having Voluntarist Free Will Would Mean Being Entirely Capricious

We would have no moral character if we did not strongly feel that there were things we simply could not do, and others we felt we must.

The Constraints upon Our Choices Allow for The Concept of Character

To accept that one has done wrong and take responsibility for it is to resolve to try not to do it again and to put right anything that went wrong. We evidently do have the capacity to do this, and that is all that matters.

Praise and Blame Don’t Depend on Absolute Freedom

It is only because we reflect on the things that could so easily have been done differently if conditions or our frame of mind had been slightly different that we learn to take responsibility and do better next time.

It’s Useful to Feel You Could Have Done Things Differently, Even if It’s a Fiction

The ‘compatibilist’ conception of free will acknowledges the causal necessity of the physical world, but it also recognises that, if no one ‘made me do it’, I acted freely.

Don’t Reject the Concept of Free Will, Rethink It

First-order desires include wanting cake or sex or to scratch yourself; second-order desires are your desires about these desires, such as wishing to resist the desire for cake. Free beings are ones who can act on their desires about their desires, and not just automatically on their desires.

Achieve a Free Will Worth Having by Aligning Your First- and Second-Order Desires

You can’t escape cause and effect, but there is a way of viewing human agency that is motivating, plausible and humane

How to think about free will | Psyche Guides

Being "outdoorsy" can stir up images of big beautiful national parks, snowy slopes or lush, green forests. But smaller moments in nature, like walking my dog around the neighbourhood or even listening to rain sounds playlist while falling asleep, have been just as valuable — and don't require the time, money or physical mobility of a big trip.Nature has enormous emotional and cognitive benefits on people "including improved attention, lower stress, better mood, reduced risk of psychiatric disorders and even upticks in empathy and cooperation.

Going Out In Nature Is Great

<ul><li>Getting your daily dose of nature is vital to your well-being.</li><li>Getting your daily dose of nature is vital to your well-being, says Ming Kuo, who runs the Landscape and Human Health Lab at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.</li><li>Nature helps our mental muscles relax and recover, and our immune systems need it, too.</li></ul>

Think of Time in Nature As A "Multivitamin" — It's Best to Take It Every Day

<ul><li>Find a crew who enjoys the same activities you do. This helps you stay safe in more remote areas. There are numerous online events and groups to check and start your hiking trips with like-minded people.</li><li>You don't have to be outdoors to experience nature's wonder.</li><li>Enjoy natural scents with an aromatherapy diffuser or open a window to get some fresh air. Enjoy a game like #FindThatLizard on Twitter and Instagram to see a camouflaged lizard in its natural environment.</li></ul>

How To Start

Enjoying the outdoors can look like anything from walking the dog to celebrating Indigenous culture — you don't have to hike the tallest mountain peaks or go camping to love nature. Learn how to find your footing in nature in a way that works best for you.

There's no one way to enjoy nature. How to find what works for you and get outside : Life Kit

When you're overloaded with work/parenting/caring/domestic admin/stuff to faff around with on your phone, it's easy to fall into the trap of thinking that every second is accounted for.<ul><li>Spending time doing whatever you want will help you get everything else done; that it's not selfish, but actually practical.</li><li>Set aside 20 minutes each morning for yourself.</li></ul>Try to do nothing. It is rewarding, to just do nothing for a short while at least.

How to Microdose Your 'Me Time'

<ul><li>Take a break if it’s something you enjoy.</li><li>Work is not the only thing we do in life - taking a break gives us our humanity.</li><li>Don't worry whether you’re wasting time or using it well, just enjoy it.</li><li>Set your alarm half an hour before your kids wake so you can sit and read or listen to music without interrupting them.</li></ul>

Doing Nothing Is Okay

<ul><li>If you don’t schedule those 20 minutes, it will take effort and willpower to try to make it happen, and finding that time will become a hassle.</li><li>To make it work, you’ll need to schedule your entire day.</li><li>Do not wait until the alarm goes off to decide what to do.</li><li>Prepare what you'll need the night before.</li><li>A schedule is a visual representation of how much time you have every day.</li></ul>

Make A Plan And Stick To It

<ul><li>Take five minutes and ask yourself why you struggle to make time for yourself.</li><li>Is it because you don't set healthy boundaries or are afraid of being alone with your thoughts?</li><li>Taking care of mental health can improve time management and improve your mental health, a two-way street.</li><li>Prioritize your needs,  whether it's a run, white space or sitting down with a blank sheet of paper to write down your ideas and be creative.</li></ul>

If You Are Struggling, Work Out What Is Stopping You

<ul><li>When you have cash in your hand, you can count it, it's quantifiable. But you can't see or feel time, or put a real value on it.</li><li>Because time is invisible, we have a hard time accounting for it. We always think there's going to be more time in the future, but there isn't.</li><li>If it's something that you enjoy, it is time well spent</li></ul>

Treat Time Like Cash, Not Credit

<ul><li>Solitude is a lovely word. It means being alone but not lonely.</li><li>Simple things like listening to music or looking at art can be just as important as meditation.</li><li>Some people find solitude very rewarding and enjoyable, while others are not looking for it. </li><li>Don't be alone, just be in a positive aloneness for a while and see how a blossoming happens.</li></ul>

Solitude: Be In Aloneness

Finding time to do what you want to do can seem impossible. But what if it was less than half an hour a day? Here’s how to microdose your ‘me time’

Gimme 20! How just 20 minutes a day to yourself could transform your life

Thanks to social media, news reports and violent images that bombard us at all hours, we often experience what experts call vicarious trauma when a horrific event occurs. It’s in our physiological nature as human beings to feel some amount of empathy and sorrow for others dealing with a traumatic event. Even though we’re not physically present, we still feel the mental health effects of what’s going on.
This is applicable to any grim situation. An impending war, a relentless virus, a devastating mass shooting ― you don’t have to be immersed in the crisis to be affected by it. If you are dealing with feelings of unrest, anxiety or doom right now, know that it’s completely normal. And while you may not be able to abate it entirely, it is crucial to know how to stay informed while protecting your mental health.

Constant Mental Trauma

Disinformation spreads like wildfire during times of crisis. Make sure you’re following credible sources and engaging with confirmed reports, tweets and other content). 
If possible, try to find multiple sources confirming the same information before you share or even necessarily believe a report. Spreading and buying into inaccurate stories, photos and videos only contributes to your own panic and anxiety, and the panic and anxiety of others.

Follow trusted sources

It’s unrealistic to suggest logging off entirely, but it’s vital to set some boundaries when it comes to social media. Stay informed, then give your brain a break.
For example, try setting aside a block of time to check in on the news. If you find yourself reaching for your phone at night when you can’t sleep, try directing your attention to a lighter part of the internet instead of scrolling through headlines.

Set  Boundaries to Prevent Excessive Doomscrolling

Do everything within your power to stick to your normal schedule. That includes bedtimes, wake times, working if you’re able to handle it, and any other regular aspects of your routine.
During tragic events, we feel a loss of control in our lives and everything going on around us. The more we can stick to our normal routines, the more our brains and our bodies feel like we’re back in control.

Keep a Normal Routine

Our emotions need a physical outlet. To relieve some of that anxiety and tension, try gently moving your body. 
This could mean going for a walk, doing some light stretching, taking a home boxing class, or whatever it is that helps you feel good. The idea is less about exercise per se and more about finding a tangible way to get out your feelings

Move Your Body

It’s not frivolous to feel affected by what’s happening in the world right now. Suppressing anything you might be feeling only contributes to poor mental health.
Experts emphasize that it’s vital to acknowledge how you’re feeling, instead of dismissing it in the hopes of gaining some sense of ease. That might include crying (and research shows that crying can be a therapeutic release).

Cry If You Need To

You should definitely be aware of these habits and be mindful of when they might turn into something insidious.
If you’re turning to alcohol or other unhealthy coping mechanisms as a crutch, you should reach out to a professional or someone who can help you process what’s happening in a healthier way. Experts stress that these behaviours often worsen your mental health if they turn into a reliance.

Be Mindful of Your Other Coping Mechanisms

This could be to your therapist, your loved ones, your co-workers or anyone you trust when it comes to sharing your feelings. Support systems are crucial during periods of unrest and trauma.
Pay attention to how you feel and behave in the coming days. If you notice you’re withdrawing from others, not keeping up with a standard routine, or feeling intense emotions that make it difficult to function, it’s time to seek professional mental health advice.

Reach Out To Your Loved Ones Or A Professional

It's normal to feel anxious as you follow what's unfolding in Ukraine. Here's how to stay informed while protecting your mental health.

How To Ease Some Of The Vicarious Trauma You May Be Feeling Right Now

People who struggle with anxiety for long periods mistakenly belief unhelpful myths about what anxiety is and how it works. If you want to feel less anxious, you should unlearn the counter-productive myths that you've heard about anxiety.

Misunderstanding anxiety

Analyzing your past may be interesting, but it isn't helpful. This is because the initial cause of your anxiety is seldom the maintaining cause of your anxiety. Until you address the maintaining causes, your anxiety will continue.

Myth: You must understand the origins of your anxiety

Because something feels bad, it doesn't mean it is bad. Muscles soreness after a workout feels bad but is really a good thing. Anxiety is the same. It feels bad but isn't dangerous. It is just a form of faulty or misguided fear. But, long-term anxiety can lead to chronic stress, which is associated with various adverse effects. The key insight is that worrying about anxiety teaches your brain to think that anxiety is dangerous, making you even more anxious. Make it a point to stop worrying about your anxiety.

Myth: Anxiety is dangerous

Coping skills provide only short-term relief from anxiety. For example, doing mindfulness meditation to cope with your anxiety. Doing so teaches your brain that it's not okay to feel anxious and that anxiety is bad. As stated, anxiety is not dangerous, but if you treat it like it is, you teach your brain to fear fear itself.

Myth: You need coping skills to manage your anxiety

The belief that anxiety is a sign of weakness can be very hard to shake. Even if people acknowledge intellectually that feeling anxious isn't a sign of weakness, they still feel that way experientially. For example, let's say you gave a presentation at work and got really anxious because you mixed up some information. Then you spend the rest of the day ruminating about it. "I can't believe I got so flustered..."

Myth: Anxiety is a weakness

People may feel afraid they'll never change because that's just who they are. "I've always been an anxious person." However, anxiety comes from learning and experience. The good news is what is learned can be unlearned.

Myth: You're born with anxiety

Worry and anxiety are very different. Understanding the difference can help to lower your anxiety in the long term. Worry is a series of thoughts. "I'll never get that promotion..." "My chest feels funny... Maybe I'm having a heart attack." Anxiety is an emotion. Feeling nervous before a big performance; feeling on edge in a room full of new people. You can change your emotions indirectly by changing how you think. For example, it is possible to stop worrying and redirect your attention and thinking onto something else.

Myth: Worry and anxiety are the same thing

Anxiety often stems from unhealthy relationships. People get stuck in patterns of chronic worry because they're not good at managing their relationships. They don't know how to set healthy boundaries and be assertive enough.

Myth: It’s all in your head

If you want to feel less anxious, you need to understand how anxiety actually works (and how it doesn't, despite what you're been told).

What science says about having fun at work

The Science of How to Use Nature to Reboot Your Exhausted Brain

How to Have Peace of Mind During High Inflation - Darius Foroux

Does sunshine make us happier and healthier? | BBC Science Focus Magazine

10 benefits of bilingualism, according to science

Malia