"Brain stimulation" tips to help you work more effectively

Many of us often feel overwhelmed when we don’t have enough time to complete all the assigned tasks. If you are struggling to manage the pile of unfinished documents and feel stuck when trying to complete the work in a short period of time, the following little brain-stimulating trick will help you regain balance and increase your work efficiency.

1. Put your thumb in your mouth and blow to relieve stress

Many studies have shown that excessive stress and anxiety can cause “cerebral palsy”. However, you can regain your composure by placing your thumb in your mouth and blowing.

Dr Arun Ghosh, of Spire Liverpool Hospital, explained to the Daily Mail that there is a nerve that runs from the ear to the throat. Putting your finger in your mouth and blowing activates the vagus nerve.

The vagus nerve is a long nerve that runs from the brain to the abdomen and has many connections with the central nervous system from the thalamus to the medulla oblongata. From these areas, the vagus nerve connects directly to the cerebral cortex, directing the reduction of heart rate and blood pressure. This method can also be used to treat mild mental disorders and epilepsy.

Many people have passed this method around, but it is often misunderstood as "blowing air into your thumb." The correct way is to put your thumb in your mouth, close your mouth, and blow.

2. Hold your urine to limit impulsive decisions

It may sound silly, but research by scientists at the Royal Business School has shown that there is a relationship between bladder control and decision making before each problem. Simply put, controlling a full bladder will help you avoid making impulsive decisions.

To conduct this study, experts divided the volunteers into two groups and conducted three experiments. In the first experiment, volunteers were asked to hold their urine and choose a color displayed on a screen running at a fairly fast speed. In experiments 2 and 3, participants were asked to answer a few multiple choice questions in true or false format.

As a result, volunteers who held their urine answered the question correctly more often than the others.

Experts explain that holding urine helps the body control its impulses better than ever, especially in suppressing one's desires, thereby making decisions and choices with greater accuracy. This also helps us limit making impulsive decisions before having to give a quick answer to each problem.

Of course, you should know your limits when holding your urine to avoid damaging your bladder.

3. Chew gum or stir your coffee to concentrate better

Many previous studies have shown that chewing gum can increase brain performance, but it can distract those around you and is not good for your health.

So, psychologist Gretchen Rubin of the Happiness Project published a study on a secret to help us focus - stirring a spoon in a cup of coffee.

During the 30-minute test, volunteers were asked to press the left or right button depending on the direction of an arrow shown on the screen.

The team will scan the brains of these people and record the results. Then, the experts will ask the study participants to stir teaspoons in a cup placed next to them.

The results of the test conducted after volunteers stirred a teaspoon of coffee showed similar results to the previous study with people chewing gum.

Rubin believes that chewing gum and stirring a spoon in a cup of coffee will help the brain maintain alertness and alertness as well as affect the ability to control movement. These effects also help improve the thinking ability of each person.

4. Use your right ear for important conversations

Researchers at Italy's Gabriele d'Annunzio University have shown in a recent study that the right and left ears are suited to different tasks.

If it is speech, speech in a certain language, the right ear will do its job better. Meanwhile, the left ear has the advantage in distinguishing aspects of speech such as tone, language, emotions...

Researchers observed 286 nightclubgoers talking over loud music. 72% of the participants used their right ear to listen to the conversation.

This finding is consistent with laboratory studies and questionnaires that demonstrate we tend to hear more with one ear than the other.

Another study was conducted where professionals were in a meeting where the manager was delivering information to employees. Most of the employees sat with their right ear facing the direction of the speech.

According to the researchers, these research results confirm the advantage of using our right ear when communicating and listening to important information. And of course, when we have a good grasp of all issues, our work performance will continuously increase.

Source: MASK Online