Eric Barker's Blog, page 6
October 15, 2023
This Will Make You Feel More Positive: 11 Secrets From Research
Sometimes the pressure to be positive can get really annoying. The slogans, jeez, the slogans. “Be the change you want to see in the world.” That’s all very noble, but I can barely be the change I want to see in my living room. The propaganda of positivity forever bleating its mantra of happiness until you wish you could cram it into a cannon and fire it into the sun.
But you know what? It works. Just ask yourself, “What’s going well right now?” and I bet you feel a little better. And, no, thi...
October 1, 2023
This Is The Best Way To Get Big Projects Done: 5 Secrets From Research
Many consider the Sydney Opera House and the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao to be the greatest architectural masterpieces of the past century. But how the two got constructed are very, very different stories…
The Guggenheim Bilbao came in on time and under budget. It turned Frank Gehry into one of the most esteemed living architects.
Meanwhile, constructing the Sydney Opera House was a comedy of errors. It was scheduled to take five years to build. It took fourteen. It went 1400 percent over budget....
September 17, 2023
This Is How To Survive Disaster: 6 Secrets From Research
You woke up expecting another weekend of binge-watching Netflix and arguing with strangers on the internet. Instead, you were greeted by a massive earthquake. Or a flood. Hurricane. Zombie apocalypse. Or your Roomba stopped humping the sofa leg and led an AI overthrow of humanity.
One thing is for certain: you’re not ready for this. Yesterday your biggest fear was sending a text to your boss and having “meeting” autocorrected to “mating.” Now you gotta find water and locate food? Cub Scouts wa...
September 3, 2023
How To Get The Best Sleep Of Your Life: Six Secrets From Research
Ah, sleep. That miniature coma we indulge in when reality becomes too tiresome to endure. It’s essentially the “Have you tried turning it off and on again?” of life.
The health negatives of not getting enough sleep are serious. Research has found risk associations between short sleep and hypertension, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, and dementia. Sleeping less than six hours a night is associated with a 20% higher chance of heart attack.
Research shows two weeks of sleeping six hour...
August 20, 2023
This Is How To Succeed Under Pressure: 4 Secrets From Astronauts
On the International Space Station nothing is comfortable and everything is a challenge. There’s no running water and even less privacy. Your world is covered in Velcro. And it’s loud. Fans whir and hum constantly, interrupted by the occasional micrometerorite slamming into the Station’s armor.
Weightlessness does a number on your sinuses causing congestion, so food always tastes bland like when you have a head cold. There’s an emphasis on oatmeal, pudding and cooked spinach because food that ...
August 6, 2023
New Neuroscience Reveals How To Overcome Boredom, Frustration, And Impatience
Life, much like that questionable tuna salad at the office potluck, is a strange mix of flavors. We have many different feelings, many different emotions. Some are nicer than others — and some we complain about a lot. Like boredom, frustration, and impatience.
Well, I’ve got news for you: none of those three are bad things. You’re shooting the messenger. It’s an emotional friendly fire incident.
In fact, boredom, frustration, and impatience are downright good for you. Yeah, I said it.
They are...
July 23, 2023
New Research Reveals 5 Secrets That Will Make You Persuasive
Who wouldn’t like to have a few magic words that can warp reality? Shazam! Abracadabra! Hocus pocus! And then everything works out. We all yearn for a few elusive syllables that can produce linguistic sorcery but they seem about as easy to find as an original thought on Twitter. Well, believe it or not, it seems like there just might be a few magic words…
In the 1970s, researchers from Harvard approached people using a copy machine and asked if they could cut the line and go first. Sometimes t...
July 9, 2023
5 Rituals To Keep You Happy All The Time
We all get a little sad sometimes. It feels like the universe is a twisted gameshow called “How Can We Torture This Poor Soul Today?” — and you’re the contestant.
Other times it can escalate into full-on depression and that dark cloud of emotions follows you around like a fart in a spacesuit. Trying to get anything done feels like trying to climb a mountain of razor blades with a backpack full of anvils while a broken sound system plays a perpetual loop of Sarah McLachlan’s greatest hits.
No o...
June 25, 2023
How To Become An Expert At Anything: 5 Powerful Secrets From Research
It’s very telling that we only use the term “learning experience” when things are bad.
Nobody really teaches us the best way to learn. As a student, we spend plenty of time in classes but how much real instruction do we get on the best way to take notes or study? It’d be hysterical if it wasn’t obscene. We’re not dumb — we’re doing it wrong.
Effective learning is not intuitive. And it’s made even more unintuitive by the fact that your brain is lazy and will play devil-on-your-shoulder the enti...
June 11, 2023
This Is How To Overcome Anger: 5 Powerful Secrets From Research
In 1974, Daniel Casriel released a book titled, “A Scream Away From Happiness.” The thesis was that by “scream therapy” you could release tension and anger and become a happier person.
No, this doesn’t work and you should not buy that book unless you’re a big fan of unintentional humor. Research shows venting anger is not good. In fact, it’s better to do nothing than to scream and yell or throw things.
But sometimes screaming, yelling, and throwing things sounds like a great idea, despite how ...
