We all like to think we make wise decisions. From choosing washing powder to making great investment choices,  we tend to believe that our decisions are based on logical and well-thought-out reasoning. However, it turns out this is rarely the case. Indeed, many of your decisions will be impacted by cognitive  biases – which are essentially mental shortcuts that help you make decisions quickly.

A classic example is loss aversion.  This is a bias caused by the fear of losing something and it can lead to rash decisions. For example, a well-known study showed that when people lose $100 they feel the loss far more intensely than they feel joy at finding $100. In experiments, this meant that participants were more likely to take a risk with a $100 note they found than with money that they already had in their bank account.

Why was this illogical?  Because in each situation there is $100 at stake and the odds of winning or losing are exactly the same. This example demonstrates how loss aversion can overpower rational thinking and risk assessment. It also shows how framing effects can impact decision-making. In psychology, framing refers to how your perception of something is influenced by the way it is presented.

Something as simple as whether a problem is framed in terms of winning or losing can radically affect your choices. For example, researchers Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky asked volunteers to choose the best treatment to offer to people with a serious disease. Two options were given. Both had identical success rates. However, Option A was framed as having a 90% success rate. Option B was described as having a 10% risk of death. Option A was chosen by most people, even though it had exactly the same outcome as option B!

This example highlights the fact that even when presented with identical information, people can be heavily influenced by how the information is framed. The good news is that recognising these biases can help you make better decisions in your personal and professional life.

Awareness is key. Once you know about cognitive biases and how they can impact decision-making, you can take steps to mitigate their effects. If you want to dive deeper into this topic, you can check out the original article here. Trust me, understanding how your choices are affected can help you make smarter decisions in all aspects of life.

This article summary was created by Eleanor Shakiba

Eleanor is a leadership trainer, success coach and people skills expert. She helps managers and business owners build thriving teams and organisations, using tools from Positive Psychology. She's trained more than 60,000 people during her career as a corporate trainer and professional development consultant. Her mission is inspiring talented people to become leaders who make a difference. 

When you’re going through tough times, it’s normal to try and understand what is happening. The way you explain events to yourself is called your ‘explanatory style’. And that style just might be increasing your stress. An interesting article about this can be found on the Very Well Mind site. Here’s a quick rundown on what that article says.

Three dimensions of internal explanation

You draw on three factors when explaining events to yourself: stability; globality and internality. You assess stability by deciding if an event or situation is a one-time thing is likely to happen again. Your assessment of globality is based on your assumptions about when an event impacts your entire life or just a portion of it. Finally, your beliefs about whether things happen to you or are caused by you create your ‘internality’.

Why does this cause STRESS?

So how do those three factors impact your stress? Put simply, the explanations you create can impact on your emotions.  If you assume a bad situation will go on forever, for example, your assessment of stability will trigger a stress reaction. As the Very Well Mind article points out “optimists tend to have more positive explanatory styles—ones that minimise stressful situations as unstable, local, and external and take credit for positive experiences as being more stable, global, and internal”.

What to do about it

The good news is that you can change your explanatory style fairly easily. First, you need to identify and correct cognitive errors. This are flawed thinking patterns and often are linked to deeply held beliefs about stability, globabilty and internality. You can learn to question these errors and create a more positive (less stress-inducing!) style of thinking.

So the next time problems emerge in your life, remember this: your thinking impacts your well-being. Developing a positive explanation style helps you handle stress and become more resilient. Recognise cognitive distortions, set goals and express gratitude to explain things positively.

You can read more in the original article here.

This article summary was created by Eleanor Shakiba

Eleanor is a leadership trainer, success coach and people skills expert. She helps managers and business owners build thriving teams and organisations, using tools from Positive Psychology. She's trained more than 60,000 people during her career as a corporate trainer and professional development consultant. Her mission is inspiring talented people to become leaders who make a difference. 

If you’re finding work-from-home arrangements surprisingly tiring or unproductive, you’re not alone. It turns out that 70% of us are discovering the dream of working from home turning into a nightmare. According to a study published in 2021, working from home isn’t always the stress-free paradise we imagine. In fact, it can often increase your stress levels. Now, you might be thinking, “How is that possible?” Well, let’s dive into the research and see what it says.

The study found that in addition to social isolation and increased workloads, blurred boundaries pose  a significant challenge for remote workers. You see, when you work from home, it can be difficult to separate your work life from your personal life. And that can lead to a constant feeling of being “on the clock”, even during off-hours.

So, how can you use this information to your advantage? Well, the key is to set boundaries, according to the researchers who did the study. They explain there are three types of boundaries:  physical, temporal and psychological. You need to maintain all three to keep stress at bay. Here’s how.

Physical boundaries define the space between your work and living zones. To maintain them set up a dedicated workspace, use different devices for work and leisure activities, or establish clear start and end times for your workday.

Temporal boundaries mark distinctions in time. You can preserve them by setting specific times for work and sticking to them. This means not checking emails outside of designated working hours or staying bound to your computer all night.

Psychological boundaries enable you to separate work and personal life.  To maintain them, you need to  say ‘no’ to personal interruptions during work time. And to work intruding on your personal time. Plus, it helps to establish rituals to signal the end of work and the beginning of personal time, such as changing clothes or taking a walk.

Overall, working from home can be both a blessing and a curse. By understanding the potential stressors, you can make sure they don’t impact your mental well-being. Use boundary-setting techniques to create a clear division between work and personal life, stay connected with colleagues and take breaks when needed.

You can read the original article here.

This article summary was created by Eleanor Shakiba

Eleanor is a leadership trainer, success coach and people skills expert. She helps managers and business owners build thriving teams and organisations, using tools from Positive Psychology. She's trained more than 60,000 people during her career as a corporate trainer and professional development consultant. Her mission is inspiring talented people to become leaders who make a difference.