Mac OS X and iOS: Breathing Zone is a simple app that helps slow your breathing rhythm to calm you down and make you feel more relaxed. If you’re a bit stressed or anxious, it’s a good way to help you alleviate those feelings in just a few minutes. More »
New research from the British Psychological Society suggests turning off your smartphone and ignoring social networks could be a simple way to quickly reduce stress. The study found that stress was most commonly associated with personal use of smartphones and not as often when used for work. More »
Mac: Computers are supposed to make our work easier, but in reality they often just bring us more work and stress us out. Give your Mac the opportunity to help you relax for a change with Forismatic, a free app that sits in the menubar until you need a little inspiration to help you keep going. More »
Going for a walk or being inspired by a nature wallpaper is a great escape from the stresses of daily life. Recent studies now show that spending time in nature, or even looking at photos of natural scenes, can actually improve cognitive function, making spending a little time in the great outdoors even more important than you may think. More »
We’ve discussed how taking real breaks can help you be more productive during the day, but it can also help you lower your overall stress level so you can rest well at night. To combat the stress of the day to day and keep a lower level of tension across your whole day, take more genuine breaks — away from your work — where you can recharge and relax. The result will be by the end of the day, you’re not wound up so tightly. More »
Chrome/Web: Working all day with only the sounds of the office to entertain you and only the cubicle wall above your desk to keep you company can be stressful. Relaxpls is a webapp and Chrome extension that offers you a quick break with some soothing nature sounds and full-screen images that you can toggle whenever the day is getting a little too rough to handle. Just pop on your headphones, full-screen your browser window, and relax. More »
If productivity is a simple measure of output, more output is a simple matter of doing more work, right? Well, yeah, but developer and writer Swizec Teller argues that a lot of us are far too concerned with productivity — and that there’s a better way. More »
Music can often make or break a day. It can change your mood, amp you up for exercise and help you recover from injury. But how does it work exactly, and how can you use it to your advantage? More »
People build stress by thinking about an issue all day or get into a cycle where worrying about something leads to the the behaviour we were worried about, such as eating too much because we spend too much time worrying about gaining weight. We have to break these cycles in order to reduce stress and accomplish our goals. To accomplish this, blogger Tim Horie recommends that we divide our day into three distinct operational modes: thinking, doing and relaxing. More »
You nailed the job interview, and now the hiring manager wants to know when you can start, and whether you’re planning to take some time off between leaving your current gig and starting the new one. More »
