Everything that we think and do has the potential to limit what we think and do next. Our past informs both the present and our expectations of the future, and most of the time we won’t even realise that it’s happening. …

I love the idea and process of making New Year’s resolutions. They encourage us to reflect on our current lives and motivate us to imagine a better and happier future. In a 2022 YouGov poll the top four UK New Year’s resolutions were: to exercise more, eat healthier, lose weight…

Sometimes it’s very difficult to notice the obvious things that are staring us in the face, and we never stop to think or question why, particular when others appear not to have noticed too. It’s a form of cultural blindness, where the status quo and the direction in which we…

What makes us who we are isn’t as simple as we might think. We may believe that there is a fully formed version of ourselves, but this is probably not the case. One reason is that the environment in which we live, or find ourselves, has a profound effect on…

Spiders will look larger to people who fear them, hills will look steeper to someone who is tired, unfit, or has a heavy backpack, and tasks will appear easier if we have an appropriate tool available. We see the world from our own perspective and predict and anticipate how our…

Choices make us feel that we have some control over our environment and our lives. We believe that the more choices we have, the happier and more satisfied we will be. …

The mere presence of our smartphone, with all its possibilities, affects how we think, feel and behave. It distracts us, and we find it more difficult to fully focus on a task, and other people, particularly children, can perceive us as not being fully present when we are with them. Research has shown a “brain drain” effect which can adversely impact our performance on a task when a smartphone is within reach compared to being left in another room.

A consequence of our always connected digital world is that more and more people are suffering from the effects of burn-out. The World Health Organisation defines burn-out as a syndrome resulting from chronic workplace stress which is characterised by feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion, increased mental distance from one’s job, feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one’s job and reduced professional efficacy.