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Devoted nap-takers explain the benefits of sleeping on the job
They snooze in parking garages, on side streets before the afternoon school run, in nap pods rented by the hour or stretched out in bed while working from home.
People who make a habit of sleeping on the job comprise a secret society of sorts within the U.S. labor force. Inspired by famous power nappers Winston Churchill and Albert Einstein, today's committed nap-takers often sneak in short rest breaks because they think the practice will improve their cognitive performance but still carries a stigma.
Multiple studies have extolled the benefits of napping, such as enhanced memory and focus. A mid-afternoon siesta is the norm in parts of Spain and Italy. In China and Japan, nodding off is encouraged since working to the point of exhaustion is seen as a display of dedication, according to a study in the journal Sleep.
Yet it's hard to catch a few z's during regular business hours in the United States, where people who nap can be viewed as lazy. The federal government even bans sleeping in its buildings while at work, except in rare circumstances.
Individuals who are willing and able to challenge the status quo are becoming less hesitant to describe the payoffs of taking a dose of microsleep. Marvin Stockwell, the founder of PR firm Champion the Cause, takes short naps several times a week.
How to Strengthen Your “Curiosity Muscle”
“They rejuvenate me in a way that I’m exponentially more useful and constructive and creative on the other side of a nap than I am when I’m forcing myself to gut through being tired,” Stockwell said.
The art of napping
Sleep is as important to good health as diet and exercise, but too many people don’t get enough of it, according to James Rowley, program director of the Sleep Medicine Fellowship at Rush University Medical Center.
“A lot of it has to do with electronics. It used to be TVs, but now cellphones are probably the biggest culprit. People just take them to bed with them and watch,” Rowley said.”
Napping isn’t common in academia, where there’s constant pressure to publish, but University of Southern California lecturer Julianna Kirschner fits in daytime naps when she can. Kirschner studies social media, which she says is designed to deliver a dopamine rush to the brain. Viewers lose track of time on the platforms, interrupting sleep. Kirschner says she isn’t immune to this problem — hence, her occasional need to nap.
The key to effective napping is to keep the snooze sessions short, Rowley said. Short naps can be restorative and are more likely to leave you more alert, he said.
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“Most people don’t realize naps should be in the 15- to 20-minute range,” Rowley said. “Anything longer, and you can have problems with sleep inertia, difficulty waking up, and you’re groggy.”
Individuals who find themselves consistently relying on naps to make up for inadequate sleep should probably also examine their bedtime habits, he said.
A matter of timing
Mid-afternoon is the ideal time for a nap because it coincides with a natural circadian dip, while napping after 6 p.m. may interfere with nocturnal sleep for those who work during daylight hours, said Michael Chee, director of the Centre for Sleep and Cognition at the National University of Singapore.
“Any duration of nap, you will feel recharged. It’s a relief valve. There are clear cognitive benefits,” Chee said.
A review of napping studies suggests that 30 minutes is the optimal nap length in terms of practicality and benefits, said Ruth Leong, a research fellow at the Singapore center.
“When people nap for too long, it may not be a sustainable practice, and also, really long naps that cross the two-hour mark affect nighttime sleep,” Leong said.
Experts recommend setting an alarm for 20 to 30 minutes, which gives nappers a few minutes to fall asleep.
But even a six-minute nap can be restorative and improve learning, said Valentin Dragoi, scientific director of the Center for Neural Systems Restoration, a research and treatment facility run by Houston Methodist hospital and Rice University.
Bucking the trend
While workplace dozing is uncommon in the U.S., some companies and managers encourage it. Will Bryk, founder of AI search startup Exa, swears by 20-minute power naps and ordered two sleeping pods for employees to use in his company's San Francisco office.
Ice cream maker Ben & Jerry’s has had a nap room in its Vermont headquarters for a couple of decades, and a handful of employees use it, company spokesman Sean Greenwood said. “Employees who feel taken care of are much more likely to use this responsibly," he said.
Arianna Huffington, the celebrity author who co-founded the news website Huffington Post, became an advocate of a good night’s sleep and occasional naps after she collapsed from exhaustion in 2007. She installed a nap room at her former company, now called HuffPo, and at Thrive Global, a behavior change technology company where she serves as founder and CEO.
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“If people have been up all night because of a sick child or a delayed flight, if they have the opportunity to nap, ... then they will be much more productive and creative for the rest of the day instead of dragging themselves or trying to boost their energy through multiple coffees or cinnamon buns,” Huffington said in an email.
Kirsten Perez, 33, is a devoted napper. She used to use her lunch break at work to catch a few winks in her car. When she got her own office, she closed the door for a siesta while sitting at her desk.
Nowadays, working from home as a marketing manager at Nvidia, the Atlanta resident usually takes her daily nap in bed. She sets an alarm for 15 minutes, falls asleep within a minute and wakes up 30 seconds before the alarm rings.
“I can tell when my reasoning, my mood are dropping, just kind of feeling the drag of the day,” Perez said. In those situations, she asks herself, “‘Do I have a chunk of time in the next hour or so?’ And then I’ll figure out when I can find 15 minutes and find myself horizontal.”
Creating space for sleep
Naps are accepted and even a necessity in some occupations. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention encourages naps for nurses working night shifts. But many nurses can't sleep at the hospitals where they work because they're too busy and aren't given access to beds.
Nurses "regularly struggle to have sufficient time to use the bathroom or go outside for fresh air, no less take a nap," said a spokesperson for the National Nurses United union.
Some companies are trying to fill the void. Inspired by his mother who worked as a nurse, Neil Wong founded Nap York, which offers sleeping pods in Manhattan and Queens that can be rented for about $27 an hour.
His regular customers include super-commuters, UPS drivers, a security guard who works two full-time jobs, and doctors who work at nearby hospitals. Nap York also gives half-off prices to essential workers such as police officers, firefighters and emergency medical service personnel.
“In this society, you really only have two place to sleep: you have your bed at home and you have a hotel room you can probably get for 100 bucks,” Wong said. “There’s really no third space that’s quiet, that provides some privacy, where you can also rest.”
9 days ago
How to Strengthen Your “Curiosity Muscle”
Curiosity motivates people to learn, explore, and innovate. It drives us to seek answers to questions, understand how things work, and find ways to change our lives through innovations. Stimulating the “curiosity muscle” is essential for personal and collaborative growth. By taking deliberate actions, anyone can develop and strengthen their curiosity and become a more passionate, understanding, and better version of themselves.
What is Curiosity Muscle?
Curiosity is the innate trait that makes people question, learn, and explore the unknown. It provokes them to acquire knowledge and build a clear perspective based on that knowledge. This newly gained perspective may later spark innovation.
Though curiosity is an inherent quality, it is also a learnable skill. Several studies on human cognitive behaviour link curiosity with the surge of excitement in a specific part of the brain, implying its biological existence. The studies conclude that curiosity, like a muscle, can be stimulated through deliberate practice. This resemblance between curiosity and our body muscles in gaining strength through regular exercise has coined the term “curiosity muscle.”
Read more: How to Recognise Your Emotional Red Flags
How to Improve Curiosity
Curiosity is rooted in human nature. It flourishes in a self-reflective mind that can reflect on its unique views, desires, and needs. However, to sustain the progressive flow of curious energy, there is no alternative to pursuing new perspectives and continuously seeking ways to achieve success.
Here are a few proven steps backed by neuroscientific research to improve curiosity:
Make it Personal
Studies on human cognition suggest that the first step to cultivating curiosity is to make it personally relevant. Awareness of the usefulness of a particular task or knowledge in personal life stimulates a mind’s latent curious energy. Tasks that evoke passion and support individual goals pique curiosity the most. Conversely, fogged vision and confusion can lull down the curiosity muscle, preventing the brain from making a personal connection to an activity.
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Discover Your Curiosity Type
Just like people’s personalities, curiosity also varies. What makes a person’s brain tick and how they approach a problem primarily define their curiosity types. Some people love to ask questions and engage in intellectual exploration; some are more interested in learning about others by conversing and interacting with them, while others expose themselves to diverse situations, finding revelations in new environments and cultures. Understanding one’s curiosity style helps them fashion suitable learning strategies and advance to the next step of their curious journey.
Cultivate a Curiosity-driven Culture
Curiosity thrives in open-minded conditions. Researchers have found that environments where individuals can make independent choices inspire them to think outside the box. People will likely invest more energy in deliberately chosen professions than those they are forced into. An open-minded attitude welcomes uncertainty, resists personal bias, and believes in growth, which is essential to prioritizing a curious hunch and sticking to it until the mystery unfolds.
Go Beyond Limits
Making curiosity-driven decisions often leads to unconventional routes. Traditional ways of solving a problem, lack of freedom in pursuing a different solution, and time scarcity may kill our desire to keep following those routes.
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The solution to this problem is rather simple. Fostering curiosity is about prioritizing our desires, making the right choices, looking deeper into a problem, and celebrating new experiences.
Ask Open-ended Questions
Open-ended questions demand detailed discussions on a subject rather than becoming satisfied with vague and short answers. Being inquisitive entails forming the right questions and finding in-depth answers.
To devise the right questions, you must reexamine your goals and necessities. Asking open-ended questions is also a cornerstone of meaningful relationships where learning about each others’ distinct personalities is necessary.
Read more: How to Improve Focus by Training the ‘Attention Muscle’
Embrace Changes
Change is the only constant phenomenon in our lives. With time, the people surrounding us, our relationships with them, our values, and our understanding of the world shift.
A curious mind keeps records of those changes, notices the nuances between phases, accepts the inevitable, and prepares for the future. On the contrary, a rigid mind lacks the courage to face anomalies and suppresses the natural curious drive needed for further exploration.
Master the Fundamentals
Our urge to learn something new or achieve mastery of a skill may rub on our curious stimuli. While the idea of learning a new skill sounds exciting, the boredom and pain associated with growth are utterly discouraging.
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Splitting the entire roadmap of mastering something into achievable steps and focusing on learning the fundamentals will help you sustain an invigorating spirit until the end. A good grip on the fundamentals will allow you to improvise and walk down the rest of the roadmap with a personalized strategy.
Meditate and Exercise
A 15-minute meditation session in the morning, a brisk walk, or a casual bike ride can massively impact your brain, enabling it to rewire its neural network and grow new neurons. Cognitive scientists have attested to the capacity of regular meditation and exercises to boost brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels. BDNF can enhance learnability and memory, making a firm ground for curiosity to thrive.
Conclusion
Curiosity shouldn’t be mistaken for a fleeting interest. People with strong, curious minds excel at learning, memorizing, and engaging with their work and people. By putting in a personal effort, facing obstacles, embracing changes, and cultivating an open mind, anyone can inspire their curiosity.
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10 days ago
Valentine’s Day 2025: Best Deals, Discounts, and Offers in Bangladesh
With Valentine's Day 2025 just around the corner, businesses across Bangladesh are unveiling exciting deals to help couples celebrate in style. From romantic dining experiences to luxury getaways and exclusive shopping discounts, here’s a roundup of the best offers to make this Valentine’s Day unforgettable.
Best Deals to Celebrate Valentine Day in Bangladesh in 2025
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Couple Dinners
BRAC Bank is offering Buy One Get One Free (BOGO) dinner offers at top hotels and restaurants including Amari Dhaka, The Westin Dhaka, InterContinental Dhaka, and Le Méridien Dhaka.
Besides this, popular hotels like Radisson Blu Dhaka Water Garden, Sheraton Dhaka, and Crowne Plaza Dhaka Gulshan offer curated Valentine’s menus and live music in a romantic setting with a cozy ambiance. In Chattogram, premium hotels also provide fine dining experiences.
Hotel Sarina in Banani, Dhaka, offers a buffet dinner starting from BDT 5,000, with lunch and breakfast at BDT 4,000 and BDT 3,500, respectively. Their "Lovers Nest – Poolside Private Canopy" features a seven-course dinner for BDT 20,000 per couple. The "Swim & Feast" package, starting at BDT 1,581++, includes pool access and a gourmet meal. With themed décor in red, white, and pink, Hotel Sarina promises a romantic celebration.
Read more: How Can Singles Celebrate Valentine's Day Cheerfully?
Day/ Nightcation
For an extended celebration, Hotel 71 in Dhaka offers luxury stays at discounted rates. Couples can book a Deluxe Double Room for BDT 4,500 (original price BDT 7,200) or a Royal Suite for BDT 5,000 (original price BDT 12,000), saving up to 59%. Direct bookings include complimentary buffet breakfast, evening high tea, early check-in, and late checkout.
Exclusive Valentine’s stay packages include one-night and two-night stay options. A one-night stay in a Premium Room costs BDT 23,500, while an Executive Room is BDT 21,000. These include breakfast, special lunch and dinner, a Valentine’s cake, a movie by the infinity pool, access to the swimming pool, Jacuzzi, and steam room, plus a 30-minute full-body massage. Two-night packages cost BDT 41,500 for a Premium Room and BDT 36,000 for an Executive Room with the same benefits.
13 days ago
Valentine’s Day gifts for Bangladeshi men: Thoughtful ways to show your love
Looking for the perfect Valentine’s Day gift for the special man in your life? A meaningful gift can reflect your love and thoughtfulness, showing just how much he means to you. Whether it’s a token of affection that resonates with his personality or a gesture steeped in cultural traditions, the right gift speaks volumes about your care and understanding.
Top Valentine’s Day Gifts for Bangladeshi Men
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Here’s a curated list of Valentine’s Day gift ideas tailored for Bangladeshi men—combining thoughtfulness, personality, and a touch of cultural essence to make him feel truly cherished.
Traditional Panjabi or Stylish Suit
A classic, stylish panjabi is unbeatable in winning a Bangladeshi man’s heart. Tailored or handwoven, a well-chosen panjabi grants sophistication to his style, adding an elegance. Panajabis possess a versatile appeal, which makes them perfect for festivals, weddings, or casual outings.
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Shades of black, white, deep maroon, and toned-down bottle green would be great choices as they compliment masculinity while rejoicing in simplistic artistry. Packing it with a stylish pair of sunglasses or a matching scarf will make it a complete combo.
However, if your partner is fond of formal wear like suits, then you can gift him a readymade or tailor-made suit. Several popular brands like Richmen, Cats Eye, Freeland, etc. sell quality suits in Bangladesh. Don't forget to check the fabric quality while choosing the suit. A nice shirt and tie can complement the outfit with style and elegance.
Read more: How to Choose the Best Fabric for Your Suit
Homemade Food
Freshly cooked food prepared with care has always been an instant mood-booster. Pick a food he is obsessed over, add a personal touch to it, and offer it as fresh as it can be. Confident culinarians can venture through their definitions of a special dish and serve it for a candlelit dinner at home or a picnic while enjoying the scenic beauty around.
Fragrance
You can turn a man’s day into a treat by gifting a bottle of his favourite cologne or perfume. Knowing their tastes in fragrances or brands will help you narrow your options. You can also opt for premium celebrated variations from popular brands. To make a bolder statement, you can order a customized blend of sophisticated and refreshing notes based on your preferences.
Read more: How to find right perfume, body spray for you
18 days ago
Dhaka Makers 3rd edition returns January 30
The independent arts and crafts festival Dhaka Makers, a unique platform for local and contemporary artists and artisans, is returning with its third edition.
It will be held from January 30 to February 3 at the Aloki Convention Centre, Gulshan-Tejgaon Link Road, in Dhaka.
Building on the momentum of its first two editions, Dhaka Makers 3 promises to transform the city’s creative landscape with fresh ideas, innovative showcases, and stronger connections between creators and the community, its organisers said at a press conference on Thursday at Aloki.
The organising team members, including Aumia Khundkar, Maleena Gomez, Fahd Sattar, Istela Imam, Fairose Yasmin, Mahenaz Chowdhury, Maruful Hoque, and Tasnia Tanjim Hasan, and
Sabit Shahriar described the event in detail at the press conference.
With over 10 heritage crafts, 80+ makers, 300+ art pieces, and 19 transformative workshops, ‘City Bank presents Dhaka Makers 3’ is poised to be an exciting event celebrating the arts and crafts, igniting creativity, fostering connections, and inspiring innovation, according to the organisers.
There will be three markets in this year’s edition: the Makers’ Market, Crafts Market, and Art Market. The Makers’ Market will feature a lineup of small, independent local brands and creative entrepreneurs, offering unique, handcrafted products such as ceramics, stationery, gift and home décor items, jewellery, accessories, and more.
Cultural show marking Chinese New Year held in Dhaka
The Craft Market, a brand-new addition to Dhaka Makers 3, will shine a spotlight on Bangladeshi traditional heritage crafts where visitors will find stunning Jamdani sarees from Sonargaon, creative bamboo home accessories from Sylhet, and beautiful Nakshi Kantha quilts from Tangail.
Live demonstrations will offer attendees the opportunity to watch these crafts come to life—from a Jamdani weaver meticulously working on their loom to a bamboo artist creating intricate designs. This space will bridge the gap between traditional techniques and modern sensibilities, offering timeless products in a contemporary context.
The art market is another new segment this year, designed to make contemporary art accessible to everyone through paintings, sketches, sculptures, photography, and prints by emerging and independent artists. Catering to both seasoned and new collectors, the Art Market will provide a welcoming space to connect with artists, learn about their creative journeys, and discover affordable original pieces.
A series of workshops will be a returning segment, like previous editions, and this year’s event will feature hands-on workshops but with a special focus on the ‘Masters of Making’—and’ these sessions will be hosted by master artisans who have spent decades perfecting their craft.
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Attendees will learn the intricate techniques of Jamdani weaving from Sonargaon’s finest, bring stories to life through vibrant patachitra painting from Khulna, or learn to stitch detailed Nakshi Kantha embroidery from Tangail’s seasoned experts in these workshops.
In addition to these heritage workshops, modern crafts such as typography design, eco-friendly leather crafting, and storytelling will offer new inspiration for contemporary creatives. These workshops promise to preserve traditional skills while fostering innovation for the next generation of creators.
Besides all of these, this year’s edition will be displaying the work of three animation studios under its House of Animation segment, featuring Ogopogo (a stop-motion animation studio led by Amit Ashraf and Saiq’a Chowdhury), Studio Ginko (led by Sayeef Mahmud and Hamza Khan), and Team Platform (led by Shihan Zuberi). Two of these studios are presenting Bangladesh in the upcoming Annecy Animation Festival 2025 with their current projects.
Also, there will be a demonstration zone where visitors will explore creativity in action, featuring live presentations of unique techniques and artistic processes.
The activities will include recycled craft (room divider using old saree) and Alpona on Stage on January 30; body painting performance and rickshaw art on object on January 31; tapestry making performance (yantra) and folk painting on object on February 1; lathi khela and flute performance on February 2, and Shadhu Shongo on February 3.
Several renowned and emerging artists will enamour the festivalgoers across all five days with a vibrant mix of soulful melodies, dynamic performances, and diverse musical styles.
Arka Fashion Week’s third edition concludes in style
The opening day will feature Muiz Mahfuz and Krishnokoli; Day 2 will feature the bands Subconscious and Powersurge; Day 3 will feature Metrolife and Kafil Ahmed; Day 4 will be joined by Kanak Aditya from Joler Gaan and Post Office Society; and Day 5 will feature Rehman Duo.
City Bank PLC is the title partner for this event, while the Goethe Institute is the communication partner, and Buy Here Now is the experience partner. The media partners for this event are ICE Today and Haalfashion, and details regarding the workshops and entry tickets are available at www.dhakamakers.com.
24 days ago
How to Recognise Your Emotional Red Flags
An emotional red flag is a warning sign or indicator that something in your emotional state, behavior, or thought patterns may require attention. These signals often suggest you're experiencing distress, discomfort, or unhealthy emotional responses that could lead to bigger issues if not addressed. Emotional red flags serve as cues for self-awareness and an opportunity to reflect on what’s happening inside your mind. Let’s find out the characteristics of emotional red flags and ways to recognize those in your behaviors.
Key Characteristics of Emotional Red Flags
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Sudden Emotional Changes
Sudden emotional changes refer to rapid or unexpected shifts in a person’s emotional state. These changes can happen quickly, often without clear reasons, and may involve moving from one emotion to another, such as feeling overwhelmed, irritable, or sad without a clear reason.
These emotional fluctuations can be mild or intense and may occur due to various factors, including stress, anxiety, hormonal changes, mental health conditions, trauma, sleep deprivation, certain medications, etc.
Read more: How to Teach Students to Accept and Overcome Academic Failures
Recurrent Negative Thought Patterns
Recurrent negative thought patterns refer to repetitive, often automatic, and persistent thoughts that focus on pessimistic or self-critical ideas. These patterns can be distressing and are typically negative, leading to feelings of sadness, anxiety, or hopelessness. They often become habitual, meaning the person regularly experiences them without actively trying to and can affect mental well-being and behavior. Common types of recurrent negative thought patterns include:
- Constant Self-criticism: Harshly judging oneself, often engaging in self-blame or feelings of inadequacy.- Overthinking- Catastrophizing: Expecting the worst possible outcome.- Overgeneralization: Making broad, sweeping conclusions based on a single event or piece of evidence.- Black-and-white Thinking: Viewing situations in extremes, with no middle ground or shades of gray.- Negative Mental Filtering: Focusing only on the negative aspects of a situation and ignoring any positive ones.- Personalization: Blaming oneself for things outside of one’s control, or assuming responsibility for others’ actions or feelings.- Should Statements: Having rigid, unrealistic expectations about oneself or others, often leads to feelings of guilt or frustration when they aren't met.- Emotional Reasoning: Believing that negative emotions reflect objective reality.- Discounting the Positive: Downplaying or dismissing any positive feedback or accomplishments.- Mind Reading: Believing you know what others are thinking, often assuming they have negative thoughts about you.
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Avoidance Behaviors
Avoidance behavior refers to actions or strategies people use to prevent facing situations, tasks, or thoughts that make them feel anxious, uncomfortable, or stressed. This behavior is a coping mechanism that temporarily alleviates discomfort but can reinforce negative feelings or create long-term problems.
Essentially, avoidance serves as a way to escape or avoid an unpleasant emotional state, but it doesn't resolve the underlying issue. Over time, avoidance can become a habitual response, which can increase the severity of the problems it was meant to avoid.
Uncharacteristic Reactions
Uncharacteristic reactions refer to responses or behaviors that are unusual, unexpected, or not typical of how a person usually behaves or reacts in a particular situation, like overreacting to minor issues or withdrawing completely from social interactions. These reactions often differ from an individual’s usual patterns of behavior, emotional responses, or coping mechanisms.
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Uncharacteristic reactions can be triggered by various factors, including stress, trauma, illness, or emotional disturbances, and may represent a deviation from someone's normal ways of thinking, feeling, or acting.
Recognizing these signs allows you to pause, reflect, and take action to manage your emotions before they escalate into more significant problems.
Ways to Recognise Your Emotional Red Flags
Recognizing your emotional red flags is an essential step in maintaining emotional well-being and healthy relationships. Here’s a guide to help you identify them:
Track Repetitive Thoughts
Are you replaying the same negative or traumatic past experiences inside your mind again and again? Look for recurring negative thought patterns, such as Self-criticism, Catastrophizing, Blaming others, feeling victimized, etc.
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Monitor Changes in Behavior
Look into your actions. Notice when you start behaving differently, for example avoiding people or situations, overeating or undereating, losing motivation for tasks or hobbies you usually enjoy, etc.
Reflect on Past Experiences
Think about situations where you felt emotionally overwhelmed like extreme anger, panicking, grief, anxiety, joy, happiness, numbness, etc. over minor issues. What were the signs leading up to those overreacting or overwhelming moments?
Notice Emotional Outbursts
Reflect on moments when your emotions feel overwhelming, leading to sudden anger or irritability, crying unexpectedly, feeling numb or shutting down, etc.
Read more: Discomfort Anxiety v Depression: Differences, Ways of Prevention
Identify Triggers
Analyze your emotional outbursts to find the triggers. Try to recognize situations or interactions that consistently cause negative emotions inside your mind, such as certain people or environments, specific words or tones of voice, high-pressure situations, etc.
Keep a Journal
Write down your thoughts, feelings, and reactions. Over time, patterns may emerge, making it easier to pinpoint what sets off your emotional red flags.
You can maintain a paper or digital journal based on your preference. Nowadays, diverse free and paid journaling apps are found on Android and iOS.
Read more: Micro-acts of Joy: Secret to Being Happier and Healthier?
Ask for Feedback
Sometimes, those close to you may notice red flags you don’t. Ask trusted friends or family members if they observe any changes in your mood or behavior. It will help you recognize your mental issues before they get worse.
Track Physical Symptoms of Emotions
Emotions often trigger physical reactions. Notice if you experience: Increased heart rate, Tightness in the chest, Clenched fists or jaw, Feeling drained or restless, etc. These symptoms can indicate heightened emotional states like anger, anxiety, or fear.
To cope with the physical symptoms linked to emotions, consider strategies such as meditation, yoga, regular exercise, mindfulness, therapy, etc.
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Conclusion
Emotional red flags are early warning signs that indicate you may be headed toward emotional distress or unhealthy behaviors. These signals often manifest in patterns of thought, feelings, or actions. Recognizing emotional red flags, you can understand the triggers and reasons for your sudden emotional outbursts, negative thought patterns, avoidance behavior, uncharacteristic attitudes, etc. Understanding the link between emotions and physical symptoms can help you better manage both mental and physical health.
However, identifying your emotional red flags isn’t about self-judgment but about understanding yourself better. Treat yourself with kindness as you work through your emotions. By becoming more attuned to your emotional red flags, you can take proactive steps to manage them and maintain emotional balance. Overall, this process can help you move toward the path of healing through mental health support, counseling, self-compassion, etc.
Read more: How to Enjoy Your Own Company: Tips to Overcome Loneliness
1 month ago
Smart Money-Saving Tips for 2025: How To Build Financial Security
With rising inflation driving up the cost of everyday necessities, managing regular expenses can feel overwhelming, let alone saving for the future. Yet, building a financial safety net is more crucial than ever. In 2025, saving money demands a smarter approach—streamlining expenses, boosting income, and maximizing financial efficiency. Discover actionable strategies to safeguard your finances and thrive in the face of economic challenges.
Smart Money Strategies for 2025
Here are some practical steps to help you save more in the coming year.
Set Attainable Financial Goals
Make sure your financial resolutions don't fade away after the initial months of the new year. Setting smart goals can keep your financial resolutions fresh, strong, and versatile throughout the year.
Defining short-term savings targets can help you to build an emergency fund. On the other hand, long-term savings targets can energize you to run the race for fulfilling your big dreams like buying an apartment, studying abroad, or making a retirement fund.
Read more: How to Improve Focus by Training the ‘Attention Muscle’
Instead of burdening yourself with strict frugal behavior, it would be wise to set specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound financial objectives to save money.
Review Expenditure
Generally, not all products or services you pay for are essential, some are less necessary, and few are luxury. Tracking your spending behaviour is an effective trick to set realistic saving targets. Don’t do calculations in your head. Write down the costs on paper.
Utilizing a smart financial app or personal finance spreadsheets, one can easily identify one’s spending patterns.
Control Expenses
After reviewing your spending behaviour, you can easily understand where to retrench. For instance, saving money doesn’t mean you have to eat less and suffer from malnutrition; rather, it means cut costs on dinners outside that can be replaced by homemade meals.
Read more: Shiny Object Syndrome in Business, Career: Symptoms, Effects, Prevention
In the same way, you can be thrifty about your wardrobe. For example, caring for winter clothes can save your money from buying new shawls and sweaters every year.
Nowadays, people tend to spend on digital products every month. However, cancelling unnecessary subscriptions reduces your expenses. Services you don’t use regularly should also be considered for discontinuation to save money.
While shopping for groceries, try to shop for a month instead of a week, it can let you enjoy some discounts and cashback. Compare prices to find a nearby grocery shop, super shop, or market where you can find goods and products at reasonable prices. Growing vegetables on the rooftop or your balcony can also save you some money on groceries.
What’s more, don’t forget to negotiate for lower rates on products and services.
Read more: Top 10 Wallet Apps to Organize Finances
Make A Budget
Without a fixed weekly or monthly budget, it is hard to control costs in diverse sectors like grocery, clothing, travel, etc. Those who have spouses, children, elderly family members, or dependents need to consider all kinds of expenses while preparing the budget.
While creating a budget for a month or week, you can implement the 50/30/20 rule which means allocate 50% for needs, 30% for wants, and 20% for savings and debt repayment.
Grow Your Earnings
Savings can be easier if you can boost your income. To increase earnings, service holders can look for additional income sources such as freelancing, tutoring, online business, etc.
Besides, you can learn new skills for better career opportunities or promotions. Nowadays, diverse international platforms and reputed universities are offering free and paid online courses.
Read more: Using the 37 Percent Rule to Make Better Decisions in Life
Furthermore, you can rent out unused assets, like a room or a car.
Automate Savings
Even when setting clear financial objectives and budgets, you may forget to put money into your savings accounts for a number of reasons. To avoid this issue, you can opt for automatic transfer of funds to a high-yield savings account like DPS. Many reputed banks in Bangladesh offer such profitable DPS schemes that will automatically transfer a certain amount of money from your salary account to your DPS account each month.
Minimize Loans & Debts
Avoid taking on loans or debts unless necessary. The banks lure people to take credit cards and personal loans. Uncontrolled credit card spending can trap you in huge debts. To avoid this, you can follow your budget strictly and pay through cash.
While taking personal loans, look for banks with lower interest rates and flexible repayment options. Avoid taking a new loan besides repaying your previous loan. To avoid loans, it would be wise if you can build savings for rainy days.
Read more: Micro-acts of Joy: Secret to Being Happier and Healthier?
Monitor and Adjust Regularly
With time, your necessities, earnings, and spending behavior will change. In some months, you may fail to control expenditures due to unforeseen situations. Therefore it is necessary to review your budget and financial goals monthly. Adjust strategies based on life changes or new priorities.
And, don’t forget to celebrate milestones to stay motivated.
Conclusion
Savings help you to be financially stable and independent. Not to mention, during hard times, like medical emergencies or unemployment periods, savings can give you financial protection and mental strength. However, saving money is a habit that requires determination and sacrifice. By implementing the above-mentioned strategies, you can significantly increase your savings in 2025 while building a stronger financial foundation.
Read more: Top Strategies to Prepare for 2025: Start the New Year with Confidence and Purpose
1 month ago
Thailand's sea nomads strive to preserve their vanishing oceanic heritage
When Hook was a child, he started his days by jumping off the boat that his family lived on and into the ocean. By age 3, he could already swim and dive in shallow waters. His home was a kabang, a boat, that his family sailed in Thailand’s southern waters. The ocean was his backyard.
Now Hook, whose full name is Suriyan Klathale, lives on land like the rest of his community, a people known as the Moken.
The community, indigenous people from Thailand and Myanmar, came to worldwide attention for its members’ understanding of waves when the Indian Ocean tsunami struck in December 2004, killing more than 200,000 people. The few tourists who happened to be on the islands inhabited by the Moken survived because locals knew, when they saw the water recede, that people needed to get to higher ground.
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Today, this once free-sailing people has been grounded by powerful forces of change.
The Moken are one of the various tribal groups and indigenous communities not formally recognized by the Thai government. For years, activists from these communities have pushed for formal recognition with a bill that would help them hold on to traditions.
But as recently as October, the latest draft of this proposed bill, called the Protection and Promotion of Ethnic Groups’ Way of Life, was tabled by Parliament. The bill would legally guarantee these communities’ basic rights, such as health care, education and land, as well as government support to preserve their ethnic identities.
For the Moken, the kabang and their way of living on the ocean are something they hope the law could help preserve. The wooden boat, with a distinctive curve that juts out from its bow and a pavilion set in the middle, is central to the Moken’s identity. “It’s like a lifetime of a person, of a family,” Hook said. “In the past, we lived and died on that boat.”
Today, though, almost no one lives on a boat. Narumon Arunotai, an associate professor at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok who has worked with the Moken and other indigenous communities for decades, said the shift toward permanent dwelling on land had already started more than 40 years ago.
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It was a gradual shift, driven both by stricter border controls as well as the inability to get the wood necessary to build the kabangs. Further, the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004 destroyed many of the boats. Other communities known as sea nomads have also changed to dwelling on land.
The Moken are scattered across an archipelago of some 800 islands off the coast of Myanmar and Thailand. In the days when they lived on boats, Moken stayed on land only during the monsoon season, which started around May. They’d stay on land until the winds shifted, usually around December, and then return to the sea. For food, they fished and foraged.
Many of the older generation were born on boats and sailed regularly amongst the islands.
“We could move freely without having to worry about the Myanmar government or the Thai government,” said Tawan Klathale, Hook’s older brother, who was born on a boat and is better known by his nickname Ngui. All Moken in Thailand use the surname Klathale, given to the community by one of Thailand’s former queens.
Freedoms began to constrict, and by the time he and Hook were teenagers, they no longer lived on a boat full-time. Moken started settling in the Surin Islands, off the Thai coast, where they had always stayed seasonally. Some came from Myanmar to Thailand, looking for jobs and safety from pirates.
The Surin Islands meanwhile had become a national park in Thailand in 1981, meaning the trees were now protected by law.
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To make a kabang, one needs a good strong tree, at least 1 meter (3 feet) wide and 10 meters (33 feet) tall. The trunk must be straight and be free of defects. Over the course of months, men would hollow out the trunk and carve it into a boat’s hull, while also using fire to make the wood pliable.
Ngui and other members of an informal group called Moken Pa Ti’ao, concerned they were losing the knowledge of boat-building, said they approached the park now and then across the years to get a tree to build a boat. They were refused years ago by the chief of Mu Ko Surin National Park, and haven't asked since.
Today, the village in Surin only has one kabang, built by Tat, an elder, and used mostly to ferry tourists and take children out on day trips. Hook, who lives on the Thai mainland, also has a kabang built with funding from a private donor from Norway after a filmmaker made a documentary about his journey to make one such boat in 2014. But his kabang is built with planks of wood, rather than a single hollowed-out tree.
Aside from the boat building, Tat and Wilasinee Klathale, a teacher on the island, also take village children out on the boats to teach them about the ocean as well as about music and dance. They are among the few keen to remember the traditions.
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Today, young Moken are more worried about their livelihoods and finding jobs. Most only make money during Thailand’s peak tourist season when the national park is open to visitors, from November to April, and have to live on that money for the rest of the year, by either working for the park or on boats ferrying tourists.
Boyen Klathale, a young Moken man, wasn’t able to find a job this year during the peak season, and he didn’t want to leave behind his family to find work on the mainland.
The future holds some hope. In 2024, the Mu Ko Surin National Park appointed a new chief, Kriengkrai Pohcharoen. In a shift, he said he was open to collaborating with the Moken on a kabang — as long as it was a tree that fell over on its own, and on increasing their income.
“I want them to have a good quality of life," he said.
The Moken are realistic about their permanent switch to land. These days, most prefer it. But some still remember the old ways — and an aquamarine bay filled with handmade kabangs.
“The world is changing and that’s the way it is, if you ask me,” Ngui said. “I think everything is bound to be lost at some point, but I just want it to stay as long as possible.”
1 month ago
Top Strategies to Prepare for 2025: Start the New Year with Confidence and Purpose
As 2024 winds down, the arrival of 2025 offers a fresh slate to set new goals, embrace change, and build momentum in both personal and professional endeavors. Whether you’re planning to level up your career, focus on health, or strengthen relationships, the new year is a perfect opportunity to realign and recharge. Here are actionable tips to help you start 2025 with clarity, motivation, and a renewed sense of purpose.
Ways to Prepare for the New Year
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Reflect on Successes
Before preparing for the new year, look back on the small to big accomplishments in the passing year of 2024. Feeling content for successes in your personal life, academic, or professional career will boost your confidence and encourage you to start 2025 with determination.
Review Unfulfilled Goals and Challenges
Take time to look at the resolutions and goals of 2024. It is quite normal to have unfulfilled dreams and uncherished desires this year. Try to recognize shortcomings in efforts and identify challenges. This can prevent you from making similar mistakes. Thus, you can overcome the passing year’s challenges and set attainable goals for the year ahead.
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Start Gratitude Journaling
In the coming year, you can start the habit of journaling. Nowadays, many free Android and iOS apps are available for online journaling. Those are simple to use. You can also maintain a paper diary for this purpose.
You can write down moments of happiness and gratitude due to achievements in your personal life, academics, or professional career. Any memorable incident, such as an exciting traveling experience, that occurred in the passing year can also be mentioned in the journal. A grateful mind will help you start the new year with an optimistic mindset.
Set Attainable Goals
New Year's resolutions often remain unfulfilled because people tend to set big, hard-to-achieve, overwhelming, and sometimes unrealistic goals.
To avoid this, consider what you want to accomplish in your personal, academic, and professional life in 2025. Now, break down big goals into smaller, achievable steps or objectives. Focus on mental health, physical health, career, relationships, learning, etc.
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Depending on specific goals, the objectives may involve actions like yoga, meditation, seeking therapy, reducing stress, joining a gym, fostering better work-life balance, learning new skills, aiming for a promotion or scholarship, pursuing new opportunities, etc.
Declutter Physical and Digital Spaces
A clean and tidy environment in your living and workspace can help you create a fresh start for the New Year.
You can schedule time to clean different rooms and areas of your home. The free spaces, empty walls, and cleaned areas can be used for diverse purposes, like adding handy furniture or simply doing artistic decoration.
Decluttering your wardrobe is also necessary to separate old and unused clothes and accessories. You can send those for donations or resell.
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Removing unwanted gadgets and documents can give you scope to decorate your office or workspace smartly. Furthermore, digital decluttering like cleaning up your email inbox, updating old software, and backing up necessary files can make the screens and interfaces of your smartphone, laptop, and computer safer, more user-friendly, and more organized.
Set Financial Plan Skillfully
Review your finances for the passing year of 2024. Check the inventories of your earnings, expenditures, and savings. Try to find the sectors of overspending so that you can avoid wasting money on the same things in 2025. It would be wise to set a budget and plan for any upcoming expenses. Nowadays, many financial management apps are available on Google Play and iOS platforms that can help you manage finances in everyday life.
Moreover, look for new possibilities of additional income opportunities and more savings in the coming year. Setting achievable and organised financial goals can help you increase your bank credits at the end of the year.
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2 months ago
The benefits of a four-day workweek according to a champion of the trend
Companies exploring the option of letting employees work four days a week hope to reduce job burnout and retain talent seeking a better work-life balance, according to the chief executive of an organization that promotes the idea.
The trend is gaining traction in Australia and Europe, says Dale Whelehan, CEO of 4 Day Week Global, which coaches companies through the month-long process of shortening their employees’ work hours. Japan launched a campaign in August encouraging employers to trim work schedules to four days.
American companies haven’t adopted four-day weeks as broadly, but that could change. Nearly a third of U.S. CEOs polled by accounting firm KPMG in 2024 said they are exploring alternative work schedules such as a four-day or four and a half-day workweek.
The Associated Press spoke with Whelehan about the reasons why companies might want to consider the change. His comments have been edited for length and clarity.
Q: Why should organizations switch to a four-day workweek?
A: The bigger question is, why shouldn’t they? There’s a lot of evidence to suggest we need to do something fundamentally different in the way we work. We have issues of burnout. We have a recruitment and retention crisis in many industries. We have increased stress within our workforce. leading to health issues, issues with work-life balance, work-family conflict. We have people sitting in cars for long periods, contributing to a climate crisis. We have certain parts of the population that are able to work longer hours and therefore be rewarded for that, creating further inequity within our societies. Lastly, we look at the implications that stress actually has on long-term health. We know that it’s linked to issues like cardiovascular disease, to cancer, to diabetes. So stress is something not to be taken lightly, and it’s only rising in our world of work.
Q: Why is the 40-hour workweek so common?
A: To understand where we are now, let’s take a step back into pre-industrial times. My granddad was a farmer, worked seven days a week and was required on-site all the time. It was a lot of long hours, but also he had a lot of autonomy.
By the time my dad entered the workforce, he was a technician in a mechanical role. And he was expected to produce products on a large scale. As a result he wasn’t given the rewards from farming, but was given a salary. That change from my grandfather’s time to my dad’s brought about the birth of a discipline known as management. And management, led by Frederick Taylor, was looking at the relationship between fatigue and performance. A lot of scientific studies were done to try to understand that relationship, leading to the need for a five-day week as opposed to a six-day week. By the time I entered into the workforce, we no longer had a very physical, laborious workforce. It's highly cognitive and highly emotional.
The fundamental physiological difference is that our brain as a muscle can’t withstand the same level of hours of work as our muscles in our body might be able to. So it’s that mismatch between an outdated work structure of 40 hours, rooted in very physical labor, and what is now a highly cognitive workforce.
Q: How can companies increase revenue while employees work fewer hours?
A: The reduction of working time brings about productivity gains by people having naturally more time to rest and recover, allowing them to come back into a new week more engaged and well-rested. That’s one way in which you see productivity gains. The second is the fundamental shift that organizations undergo while transitioning to a four-day week.
When we work with organizations, we use what’s called a 100-80-100 principle. So 100% pay for 80% time for 100% output. We ask organizations to design their trials in that sort of philosophy: How can you keep your business at the same level or improve while working less? The fundamental change we see is, let’s move away from thinking about productivity as how much time it takes to get something done, versus focusing on what outcomes we know drive businesses forward.
Q: How does a four-day work week support equity?
A: Disproportionately high amounts of part-time workers are female. As a result, women typically take a reduction in pay. That’s despite the fact that, based on the evidence that we’ve seen in trials, those part-time workers are producing the same output as their five-day-week counterparts.
In four-day week trials, everyone embarks on the journey. So we see men taking on greater levels of responsibilities in household or parenting responsibilities.
The alternative situation is women take part-time work, reduce their pay. Men have to work longer hours at a higher salaries and more stressful jobs in order to make up the deficit. ... It just creates this vicious cycle.
Q: What kinds of work could potentially be dropped to increase productivity?
A: Meetings. We are addicted to meetings. It’s just gotten worse and worse since the pandemic. I think a lot of that comes from a culture of indecisiveness. There’s a sense of not wanting to make decisions, and therefore delaying the process or involving many people in the process so that everyone has a responsibility, and thus no one has responsibility. And that is not good when it comes to the greater issue of productivity.
4 months ago