If you’ve ever put off an important task by, say, alphabetizing your spice drawer, you know it wouldn’t be fair to describe yourself as lazy.

After all, alphabetizing requires focus and effort — and hey, maybe you even went the extra mile to wipe down each bottle before putting it back. And it’s not like you’re hanging out with friends or watching Netflix. You’re cleaning — something your parents would be proud of! This isn’t laziness or bad time management. This is procrastination.

If procrastination isn’t about laziness, then what is it about?
Etymologically, “procrastination” is derived from the Latin verb procrastinare — to put off until tomorrow. But it’s more than just voluntarily delaying. Procrastination is also derived from the ancient Greek word akrasia — doing something against our better judgment.

“It’s self-harm,” said Dr. Piers Steel, a professor of motivational psychology at the University of Calgary and the author of “The Procrastination Equation: How to Stop Putting Things Off and Start Getting Stuff Done.”

That self-awareness is a key part of why procrastinating makes us feel so rotten. When we procrastinate, we’re not only aware that we’re avoiding the task in question, but also that doing so is probably a bad idea. And yet, we do it anyway.

“This is why we say that procrastination is essentially irrational,” said Dr. Fuschia Sirois, professor of psychology at the University of Sheffield. “It doesn’t make sense to do something you know is going to have negative consequences.”

She added: “People engage in this irrational cycle of chronic procrastination because of an inability to manage negative moods around a task.”

Wait. We procrastinate because of bad moods?
In short: yes.

Procrastination isn’t a unique character flaw or a mysterious curse on your ability to manage time, but a way of coping with challenging emotions and negative moods induced by certain tasks — boredom, anxiety, insecurity, frustration, resentment, self-doubt and beyond.

“Procrastination is an emotion regulation problem, not a time management problem,” said Dr. Tim Pychyl, professor of psychology and member of the Procrastination Research Group at Carleton University in Ottawa.

In a 2013 study, Dr. Pychyl and Dr. Sirois found that procrastination can be understood as “the primacy of short-term mood repair … over the longer-term pursuit of intended actions.” Put simply, procrastination is about being more focused on “the immediate urgency of managing negative moods” than getting on with the task, Dr. Sirois said.

Stop Letting Modern Distractions Steal Your AttentionMarch 26, 2019

The particular nature of our aversion depends on the given task or situation. It may be due to something inherently unpleasant about the task itself — having to clean a dirty bathroom or organizing a long, boring spreadsheet for your boss. But it might also result from deeper feelings related to the task, such as self-doubt, low self-esteem, anxiety or insecurity. Staring at a blank document, you might be thinking, I’m not smart enough to write this. Even if I am, what will people think of it? Writing is so hard. What if I do a bad job?

All of this can lead us to think that putting the document aside and cleaning that spice drawer instead is a pretty good idea.

[Like what you’re reading? Sign up here for the Smarter Living newsletter to get stories like this (and much more!) delivered straight to your inbox every Monday morning.]

But, of course, this only compounds the negative associations we have with the task, and those feelings will still be there whenever we come back to it, along with increased stress and anxiety, feelings of low self-esteem and self-blame.

In fact, there’s an entire body of research dedicated to the ruminative, self-blaming thoughts many of us tend to have in the wake of procrastination, which are known as “procrastinatory cognition.” The thoughts we have about procrastination typically exacerbate our distress and stress, which contribute to further procrastination, Dr. Sirois said.

But the momentary relief we feel when procrastinating is actually what makes the cycle especially vicious. In the immediate present, putting off a task provides relief — “you’ve been rewarded for procrastinating,” Dr. Sirois said. And we know from basic behaviorism that when we’re rewarded for something, we tend to do it again. This is precisely why procrastination tends not to be a one-off behavior, but a cycle, one that easily becomes a chronic habit.

Over time, chronic procrastination has not only productivity costs, but measurably destructive effects on our mental and physical health, including chronic stress, general psychological distress and low life satisfaction, symptoms of depression and anxiety, poor health behaviors, chronic illness and even hypertension and cardiovascular disease.

But I thought we procrastinate to feel better?
If it seems ironic that we procrastinate to avoid negative feelings, but end up feeling even worse, that’s because it is. And once again, we have evolution to thank.

Procrastination is a perfect example of present bias, our hard-wired tendency to prioritize short-term needs ahead of long-term ones.

“We really weren’t designed to think ahead into the further future because we needed to focus on providing for ourselves in the here and now,” said psychologist Dr. Hal Hershfield, a professor of marketing at the U.C.L.A. Anderson School of Management.

Dr. Hershfield’s research has shown that, on a neural level, we perceive our “future selves” more like strangers than as parts of ourselves. When we procrastinate, parts of our brains actually think that the tasks we’re putting off — and the accompanying negative feelings that await us on the other side — are somebody else’s problem.

To make things worse, we’re even less able to make thoughtful, future-oriented decisions in the midst of stress. When faced with a task that makes us feel anxious or insecure, the amygdala — the “threat detector” part of the brain — perceives that task as a genuine threat, in this case to our self-esteem or well-being. Even if we intellectually recognize that putting off the task will create more stress for ourselves in the future, our brains are still wired to be more concerned with removing the threat in the present. Researchers call this “amygdala hijack.”

Unfortunately, we can’t just tell ourselves to stop procrastinating. And despite the prevalence of “productivity hacks,” focusing on the question of how to get more work done doesn’t address the root cause of procrastination.
O.K. How do we get to the root cause of procrastination?
We must realize that, at its core, procrastination is about emotions, not productivity. The solution doesn’t involve downloading a time management app or learning new strategies for self-control. It has to do with managing our emotions in a new way.

“Our brains are always looking for relative rewards. If we have a habit loop around procrastination but we haven’t found a better reward, our brain is just going to keep doing it over and over until we give it something better to do,” said psychiatrist and neuroscientist Dr. Judson Brewer, Director of Research and Innovation at Brown University’s Mindfulness Center.

To rewire any habit, we have to give our brains what Dr. Brewer called the “Bigger Better Offer” or “B.B.O.”

In the case of procrastination, we have to find a better reward than avoidance — one that can relieve our challenging feelings in the present moment without causing harm to our future selves. The difficulty with breaking the addiction to procrastination in particular is that there is an infinite number of potential substitute actions that would still be forms of procrastination, Dr. Brewer said. That’s why the solution must therefore be internal, and not dependent on anything but ourselves.

One option is to forgive yourself in the moments you procrastinate. In a 2010 study, researchers found that students who were able to forgive themselves for procrastinating when studying for a first exam ended up procrastinating less when studying for their next exam. They concluded that self-forgiveness supported productivity by allowing “the individual to move past their maladaptive behavior and focus on the upcoming examination without the burden of past acts.”

Another tactic is the related practice of self-compassion, which is treating ourselves with kindness and understanding in the face of our mistakes and failures. In a 2012 study examining the relationship between stress, self-compassion and procrastination, Dr. Sirois found that procrastinators tend to have high stress and low self-compassion, suggesting that self-compassion provides “a buffer against negative reactions to self-relevant events.”

In fact, several studies show that self-compassion supports motivation and personal growth. Not only does it decrease psychological distress, which we now know is a primary culprit for procrastination, it also actively boosts motivation, enhances feelings of self-worth and fosters positive emotions like optimism, wisdom, curiosity and personal initiative. Best of all, self-compassion doesn’t require anything external — just a commitment to meeting your challenges with greater acceptance and kindness rather than rumination and regret.

That may be easier said than done, but try to reframe the task by considering a positive aspect of it. Perhaps you remind yourself of a time you did something similar and it turned out O.K. Or maybe you think about the beneficial outcome of completing the task. What might your boss or partner say when you show them your finished work? How will you feel about yourself?

What are some other, healthier ways to manage the feelings that typically trigger procrastination?
Cultivate curiosity: If you’re feeling tempted to procrastinate, bring your attention to the sensations arising in your mind and body. What feelings are eliciting your temptation? Where do you feel them in your body? What do they remind you of? What happens to the thought of procrastinating as you observe it? Does it intensify? Dissipate? Cause other emotions to arise? How are the sensations in your body shifting as you continue to rest your awareness on them?

Consider the next action: This is different than the age-old advice to break up a task you’re tempted to avoid into bite-sized chunks. According to Dr. Pychyl, focusing only on the “next action” helps calm our nerves, and it allows for what Dr. Pychyl called “a layer of self-deception.” At the start of a given task, you can consider the next action as a mere possibility, as if you were method acting: “What’s the next action I’d take on this if I were going to do it, even though I’m not?” Maybe you would open your email. Or perhaps you would put the date at the top of your document. Don’t wait to be in the mood to do a certain task. “Motivation follows action. Get started, and you’ll find your motivation follows,” Dr. Pychyl said.

Make your temptations more inconvenient: It’s still easier to change our circumstances than ourselves, said Gretchen Rubin, author of “Better Than Before: What I Learned About Making and Breaking Habits.” According to Ms. Rubin, we can take what we know about procrastination and “use it to our advantage” by placing obstacles between ourselves and our temptations to induce a certain degree of frustration or anxiety. If you compulsively check social media, delete those apps from your phone or “give yourself a really complicated password with not just five digits, but 12,” Ms. Rubin said. By doing this, you’re adding friction to the procrastination cycle and making the reward value of your temptation less immediate.

On the other side of the coin, Ms. Rubin also suggested that we make the things we want to do as easy as possible for ourselves. If you want to go to the gym before work but you’re not a morning person, sleep in your exercise clothes. “Try to remove every, every, every roadblock,” Ms. Rubin said.

Still, procrastination is deeply existential, as it raises questions about individual agency and how we want to spend our time as opposed to how we actually do. But it’s also a reminder of our commonality — we’re all vulnerable to painful feelings, and most of us just want to be happy with the choices we make.

Now go finish up alphabetizing that spice drawer before it becomes your next procrastination albatross.

It’s no secret that a home in disarray creates a less-than-ideal living environment.

The task of decluttering your closets (and therefore minimizing your wardrobe) can feel overwhelming, but taking time to create a peaceful, enjoyable living space improves more than just your aesthetic—it could also improve your overall sense of well-being. Not only is clutter linked to overall life dissatisfaction, but a disorganized household can also induce a cortisol response, negatively impacting mental and physical health.

And then there are the other, less tangible messes. From the digital clutter on our phones to a chaotic calendar, disorganization in other areas can lead to the same feelings of stress and overwhelm.

But where’s the best place to start? Have no fear: We’re here with a comprehensive, step-by-step guide to decluttering your life and improving your sense of well-being—one section at a time.

Declutter Your Digital Life
It may be less concrete (and visible) than other forms of clutter, but a cluttered phone or computer both zaps your device’s battery and takes up valuable storage space—not to mention makes your work and communication less efficient.

1. Back up everything stored digitally
   Backing up photos and important documents not only speeds up your device and frees up memory; it also ensures that if your phone or computer crashes, your information (and memories!) are safe. Enter cloud storage. Take some time to backup the files you want to save on iCloud, Google Photos, or a paid cloud service with more storage space. You can also set your device to automatically back your files up periodically.
2. Delete what doesn’t serve you
   When was the last time you used that karaoke app you downloaded last year on a whim? Deleting what you haven’t used recently (a good rule of thumb is anything that hasn’t been opened within the last month) is a great way to de-clutter your devices. Just like you’d throw away trash in your home or office, get rid of any apps, blurry selfies, and text threads that don’t add to your digital well-being.
3. Organize files and apps
   Now that you’re left with only the most useful and beneficial items on your phone, it’s time to organize. How you move things around is up to you—you could try organizing by category or color—but either way, you’ll find that having an organized device streamlines your digital experience. We all need less screen time, right?

Declutter Your Home
Your home is where you spend most of your time, but what if it doesn’t feel like “home”? Reducing clutter in your living spaces and storage areas will simplify navigating and using your things and add an element of peace to your living environment.

1. Toss the trash
   This is the fun part. Before you can organize the items you want to keep around, you literally need to trash the stuff that doesn’t belong. To begin the process of decluttering your home, walk through each room with a trash bag. Be ruthless with all the knick knacks, papers, and crusty cosmetics that are occupying valuable space. Of course, if there’s anything you can donate or recycle, keep that in a separate pile.
2. Store specialty or seasonal items
   If your kitchen cabinets are cluttered, think about moving specialty cookware you use less frequently to a storage area. The same principle holds for seasonal home items. If it’s warm where you live, store your heavy blankets and flannel sheets in a designated area to free up storage space.
3. Get rid of anything expired
   From your bathroom cabinet to your kitchen pantry, you’ve probably got some expired items lurking. Go through your medicine cabinet, cosmetics and toiletries, kitchen pantry, fridge, and freezer, and get rid of anything that’s either past its prime or unsafe to use.

Declutter Your Closet
Under the reign of Marie Kondo, we’re all inspired to simplify our closets. But decluttering your wardrobe goes beyond just getting rid of what doesn’t spark joy.

1. Separate by seasons
   Storage space is hard to come by. Maximize your closet and dresser real estate—and make choosing what to wear much simpler—by storing all out-of-season items in under-the-bed bins or plastic storage totes. When seasons change, simply switch out your wardrobe.

Donate what you don’t wear
Go through all your clothes, lingerie, shoes, socks, and accessories. If anything doesn’t fit, has holes, or hasn’t been worn in the last three months (seasonal items notwithstanding, of course), it’s time to donate or toss it.

Create a uniform or capsule wardrobe
Want to go a step farther in decluttering your closet? Creating a capsule wardrobe or a uniform will naturally minimize wardrobe disarray and make outfit planning more efficient. Plus, you’ll probably save money and reduce impulse purchases by only buying what you know you’re going to wear.

1. Go digital when you can
   Does your bank or cable company have a paperless option? If so, carving out some time to sign up for e-statements and bills is a simple way to reduce clutter before it starts. Similarly, if you have papers or documents accumulating in drawers, and you’re sure you don’t need hard copies, scan them in and store them electronically.
2. Shred or recycle anything outdated
   No use in hanging on to outdated receipts or bills you paid last year if they’re just sitting around collecting dust. Collect all the papers you don’t need, recycle the ones that aren’t sensitive, and shred the ones that are.
3. Invest in some storage and organization staples
   Organization in the office doesn’t have to be complicated. A magazine file, a simple pen cup or flatware organizer, and an accordion file could do wonders for keeping your desk or work space uncluttered (and more aesthetically pleasing).

Declutter Your Life
From routines and habits to relationships and social commitments, if it’s adding stress (or simply not contributing to your well-being), it might need to go.

1. Conduct a calendar audit
   We’ve all said “yes” to things that don’t serve us. If your life feels unbearably full and your routines don’t seem to be working, look at your commitments. Does that stressful, monthly networking event actually help you succeed at work? What about that standing double date with friends you don’t feel connected with? By mindfully freeing up calendar space, you’ll not only reduce stress and chaos in your routines; you’ll also create more room for the things you do love.
2. Find a planning system that works for you
   You know what they say: Fail to plan, and plan to add clutter. To keep your social life, finances, and other routines in order, find a planning system that works for you. There’s nothing wrong with an all-analog approach to calendaring and planning if a digital datebook stresses you out, and if you’re not into bullet journaling, try Evernote or iCal. But whatever planning method you use, be consistent.
3. Set goals and work backwards
   The best way to declutter your life is to take time to think about what you value. Where do you want to be in 1, 5, or 10 years? Plan an afternoon to camp out at your favorite coffee shop and dream about the future. Then, work backwards from your goals by coming up with three measurable, timely action steps for each one. When you know where you want to go, it’s so much simpler to make good decisions in the here and now — and reduce the chances of a cluttered life.

The human fantasy for travelling in air took several centuries to become true. It was not until Jean-francois and Francois Laurent took off with the first manned free balloon on 21 November 1783, embarking the history of human aviation. Balloons that run on hot-air and light gases were largely used for adventure and army reconnaissance but were not suitable for transport service.

The founder of Zeppelin

German general, Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin developed interest in building a rigid airship for transport of humans. After joining hands with the Union of German Engineers and the industrialist Carl Berg, he began the construction of the first Zeppelin(or rigid airship) in 1899. After building various versions of zeppelin, the third version of Zeppelin named LZ 3 was considered truly successful which made an 8 hour flight

The Founding of Luftschiffbau Zeppelin

After the success of LZ 3 German army showed interest in buying Zeppelin but they demanded a zeppelin capable of flying for 24 hours straight. So LZ 4 was made to meet the expectation of the military but the attempt for a 24 hour flight ended when it had to make a landing because of a mechanical problem. During the stop, a storm led to the destruction of LZ 4. Following this accident they received huge donations from the public which led to the founding of the company, Luftschiffbau Zeppelin, a rigid-ship or zeppelin manufacturer.

The world’s first Airline

Luftschiffbau Zeppelin was finding it difficult to obtain orders from the military. So, the business manager of Zeppelin Luftschiffbau, Alfred Colsman thought of exploiting the public enthusiasts by starting a commercial passenger carrying company. But, Von Zeppelin refrained himself from commercializing his idea while Alfred Colsman continued to raise investment for starting the company. He sought the help of Albert Ballin who was later responsible for the one-fourth total capital raised. He found DELAG on 16 November 1909 which was the world’s first airline.

Operation history

DELAG operated the rigid airships manufactured by Luftschiffbau Zeppelin. LZ-7 named Deutschland was the first zeppelin to be built for DELAG. The ship had a capacity of 24 passengers while the cruising speed was 51 km/hr. Due to the low speed DELAG gave up the idea of providing inter-city passenger transport service and offered only cruise flights. But it was destroyed when it took off with a group of journalists that intended to generate publicity. This left the company with only one airship LZ 6 that was built for the army. The company modified it for the commercial purpose. This ship made several successful cruise flights until it was destroyed in fire when stationed in its hangar. The luck of the company changed when LZ 10 was delivered to the company which made intercity passenger transport possible. LZ 10 is considered as the first commercially successful passenger-carrying aircraft. LZ 10 was first flown on 26 June 1911 and was inducted into the service on 16 July 1911. In its career it made a total 218 flights while carrying 1553 passengers. By July 1914, DELAG had transported 34,028 passengers on 1558 commercial flights, the fleet of the company completed 3176 hours of flight covering 1,72,535 kilometers.

End of DELAG

The company DELAG flew its last airship named ‘Graf Zeppelin’ before the successor to DELAG, Deutsche Zeppelin Reederei was founded in 1935.  

“What can I start doing today to make my life happier and more fulfilling?”

This is one of the most common questions readers ask us via email, blog comments, and social media.  So today I want to share some simple, actionable ways to improve your happiness and wellbeing on a daily basis.

In the seven years of this blog’s existence, Angel and I have had the pleasure of meeting, coaching and interacting with hundreds of truly inspiring, happy, prolific people.  And the more we have interacted with people like this, the more we realize the similarities in how they prioritize their lives, and how their priorities align with our own.

What becomes evident is that, to sustain happiness, we must focus our attention on the right things, in the right ways.  Every growing human being (that means all of us) has resource constraints: limited time and energy.  It is critical that we spend our resources effectively.

Here are 10 ways to prioritize your life and your to-do lists for increased happiness and fulfillment:

1.  One thing at a time, with full presence.

In other words, make the thing you have chosen to do the number one priority while you’re doing it.  Focus with your full attention.  See the value in where you are, while you’re there.  Enjoy what’s happening, while it’s happening.

In the end, you will come to realize that the best days are the days when you don’t need anything extreme or special to happen to make you smile.  You simply appreciate the moments and feel gratitude, seeking nothing else, nothing more.  That is what true happiness is all about.

2.  Family and close friends are at the top.

Nurture your important relationships in such a way that when you tell the people you care about that you care about them, you’re simply reinforcing what they already know based on how you have prioritized people in your life.

Give them your full attention.  Let them see their own beauty in your eyes.  Let them find their own voice through your listening ears.  Help them discover their own greatness in your presence.

Make the people you love a top priority, always.

3.  Focus on importance, not urgency.

As Johann Wolfgang von Goethe once said, “Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least.”

Truthfully, the most important thing in life is knowing what the most important things in life are, and prioritizing them accordingly.  Sadly, most of us spend too much time on urgent things and not enough time on important things.

So do yourself a favor and implement these three action steps every time you’re building or sorting your to-do list:

1. Think about the difference between what is urgent and what is important.
2. Review all the obligations on your list.
3. Do what’s important first.

Sometimes everything on your list will look important, which might be true to an extent.  But as you practice prioritizing, you will get better and better at it.  And eventually you will know, without question, when to set aside the important things in order to accomplish the vital ones, like spending quality time with loved ones. 

4.  Keep your efforts aligned with your purpose.

Getting anything worthwhile done is a matter of connecting with why you have chosen to do this thing in the first place.

Don’t allow others to confuse you.  Don’t let them convince your heart what is right for you.  Your heart already knows.  Listen to it.  Don’t let anyone else dilute the power of your inner voice.  You’ve got to stand up for something specific, on your own two legs, or you will achieve nothing worthwhile in your own mind’s eye.

Within you there is a formidable and undeniable sense of purpose.  Happiness comes from making a solid and persistent connection to that purpose.  When your intentions are supported by a “why” that has meaning, you will find the “how” to bring them to life.

5.  Play to your strengths and delegate when it makes sense.

When it comes to tackling big projects, you can try to do everything yourself, or you can reach out and find the right people to help you.  The first choice will raise your stress and blood pressure; the second choice will raise your consciousness and effectiveness.

Choosing the right perspective is so important; you CAN see life’s challenges as opportunities.  When an unexpected obstacle is suddenly standing in your way, don’t get overwhelmed.  Take a breather and regroup.  Someone else nearby knows how to get around it.  Find and engage them.

For example, if your website is suddenly having glitches with a new web browser, don’t read a giant book on web design.  Hire a professional web designer.  See the problem as an opportunity to delegate.  Life is trying to teach you that most long-term, worthy endeavors are team efforts, and so much more palatable when shared with others.  Every unexpected obstacle in life is a lesson on teamwork in disguise, solvable with the right team of people.

6.  Socialize and share with peers.

Regardless of what you’re trying to accomplish, it’s always easier if you have a group of people who understand what you’re doing, why you’re doing it, and what challenges you’re facing.  Staying in touch with these people and sharing ideas with them will accelerate your effectiveness and happiness.  Best selling author, Seth Godin, refers to these people as your tribe members.

A tribe is a group of people connected to one another via an idea, movement or common goal.  For millions of years, human beings have been part of one tribe or another.  Godin says, “A group needs only two things to be a tribe: a shared interest and a way to communicate.”

Every single one of us craves the feeling of being part of something bigger than ourselves.  By nature, we are tribal, but oftentimes we become disconnected from our tribe.  We know our people are out there – somewhere – but we feel lost and disconnected from them.  If you’re feeling disconnected, open up to your peers and initiate a conversation. 

7.  Give what you can, as you seek what you desire.

In many ways, life is a circle – what you put in to it comes back around.  When you make a positive impact in the world, the world will have a positive impact on you.

If you want to be rich, be generous.  If you want to make friends, be friendly.  If you want to be heard, listen.  If you want to be understood by others, take the time to truly understand them.  If you want to live an interesting life, be interested in the happenings around you.

You won’t always get back exactly what you wanted or expected, but when you give what you can you almost always receive what you need.  (Read The Secret.)

8.  Leave the past behind as you plan ahead.

Let old problems remain where they belong – in the past.  No matter how many times you revisit the past, there’s nothing new to see.  Don’t let what once happened get in the way of what is happening.  Just because you’ve made mistakes doesn’t mean your mistakes get to make you.  If something important didn’t work yesterday, figure out what changes can be made today.

Tame your inner critic; let go and move on productively.  You must make a conscious effort to do this, it won’t happen automatically.  You will have to rise up and say, “I don’t care how hard this is.  I don’t care how disappointed I am.  I’m not going to let yesterday’s problems get the best of me.  I’m taking the lessons and moving on with my life.”

9.  Commit to self-respect, regardless of the issue at hand.

Whenever you catch yourself in a rambling bout of negative self-talk, stop and ask yourself, “If I had a friend who spoke to me in the same way that I sometimes speak to myself, how long would I allow this person to be my friend?”

Remember, the way you treat yourself sets the standard for others, and the world at large, to follow.  Above everyone else, YOU deserve YOUR respect.  So make sure your decisions, behaviors and actions reflect your self-respect as you carry out your plans.  

10.  Leave room to breathe.

Things don’t always go as planned.  Good things can’t always be planned.  Be flexible and open to life’s twists and turns.

Organize, but don’t agonize.  Keep your space and time ordered, but your schedule under booked.  Create a foundation with a soft place to land, a wide margin of error, and room to think and breathe…

Freeing yourself from an overbooked schedule lets you experience more of life’s good surprises, and also provides you with flexibility when the unforeseen disrupts your foresight.

Afterthoughts

So, in summary…

Focus on your priorities, but take things in stride.  Make decisions, not excuses.  Live one moment at a time.  Count your blessings, not your troubles.  Let the wrong things go.  Look for lessons in unforeseen obstacles.  Ask for help.  Give as much as you take.  Make time for those who matter.  Laugh when you can.  Cry when you need to.  And always stay true to your values.

Your turn…

Which of the ten points above do you need to work on?

What other happiness tips are on your to-do list?

We would love to hear from you.  Please leave a comment below and share your thoughts and insights with the community.

From a long time there has been many conflicts regarding the conduction of college exams. Madhya Pradesh government had already denied the general promotion for college students. Chief minister of Madhya Pradesh had said that students studied really hard for their exams and it would be unfair with them if exams won’t be conducted.

But now, Madhya Pradesh government took a big decision in the favour of students. Yesterday, Higher education department, Madhya Pradesh, tweeted that there will be no exams for college students due to this corona virus pandemic. They announced that undergraduate students of first and second year and post graduate students of first year don’t have to give exams, they will be given marks on the basis of their previous semester result. Meanwhile, students pursuing final year in graduation and Post graduation will also don’t have to give exams and will be marked on the basis of highest marks obtained in previous semesters and those who will not be satisfied with their marks can write exams which would be conducted offline in the future and can be an opportunity to score better.

Schedule regarding reopening of the schools is not yet decided and is said to be decided after reviewing the conditions. For those students who didn’t gave 12th class exam due to some reasons, exams will be reconducted. It is possible that, the result will be announced soon for class 10th and 12th students in July.

The government didn’t gave much detailed information on this issue to the public but hope it will be cleared soon.

I’m suspicious of those things where more is always supposed to be better. Nature prefers moderation, so good things can harm you when you get too much of them. Drinking more water is good. Too much and you’ll drown.

I think “meaning” is one of those things that is usually good, but that can cause you problems when there is too much of it.

What Meaning Means

Meaning is a slippery word, so it’s hard to be clear we’re using it the same way. However, we all know when a person, thing, goal or idea feels significant to us, and when those same things feel ordinary. The difference is meaning.

In addition to being a feeling, meaning is also an idea. When someone asks you what something means, they’re asking for you to explain it in words. They want its definition, cause or likely implications. Meanings are words and ideas you weave together in your head.

More meaning tends to be better. A complete absence of meaning usually (although perhaps not always) feels awful. Similarly, a lack of meaning in the conceptual sense is confusion and ignorance. We’d prefer to say what things mean and believe it, than to simply shrug our shoulders and say, “I don’t know.”

How Can You Have Too Much Meaning?

I think there’s two ways you can have too much meaning.

First, you could feel too strongly about the significance of something. We’ve all had anxiety and fears when something is so important to us that we’re unable to function. That relationship that you wanted to hold onto even though the other person wasn’t in love with you. That job which meant everything to you—until you got fired. That conviction you held to desperately, until it started to unravel.

Feelings are mental tools. They put our minds into a state that allows certain ideas, actions and thoughts to flow more easily than others. However, to allow some ideas to flow more easily, that must necessarily mean you’re blocking others. The feeling of significance therefore will be useful in some contexts and harmful in others, just like anger, fear, optimism, joy, love, sadness and everything else you feel.

The second way you can have too much meaning is related to the intellectual idea of meaning. If you have a strong set of ideas about what something means, either in terms of its definition, explanation or implied effects, that can “lock” you into a certain way of seeing things. Too much meaning can prevent you from seeing something in another way, and other perspectives may be necessary to solve certain problems.

How to Tell if You Have Too Much Meaning

I suspect that the anxiety and fear we often feel in our daily lives is a result of too much meaning, rather than too little. It’s a combination of a strong feeling of significance, along with a perceived lack of control.

If you follow politics, you may feel like the world is going mad, and that the battles over who leads the country and what policies they implement is extremely significant. Yet, at the same time, you may feel nearly powerless to control the results.

Similarly, in your personal life, there may be situations where there isn’t much more you can do to overcome a problem, but you can’t stop thinking about it. Although people don’t often see their anxieties and fears as resulting from an excess in meaning, it follows that this is the case because if you genuinely didn’t feel the situation was significant you wouldn’t worry about it.

Intellectually an excess of meaning can result in an overly rigid and fixed way of viewing the world. Your ideas, explanations and reasoning about the world is so tight, that you get stuck when you encounter situations that fail to make sense for you.

Is Mindfulness the Relaxation of Meaning?

I have an explanation of meditation and mindfulness and why it seems to be so popular.

Mindfulness, particularly the body-scanning methods popular among Vipassana retreats, are effectively, a way of reducing the emotional and intellectual excesses of meaning.

A common experience when you’re practicing, for instance, is to have a pain somewhere in your body. At first this feels very significant and something that you ought to do something about. After twenty minutes though, the pain starts to turn into something more abstract, perhaps an odd pulsation or throbbing that has changing characteristics.

At one level, I think what has happened is similar to how if you repeat the same word over and over again (say the word “meaning” a few dozen times out loud to get what I mean). By repetitive attention something that would be processed at a level of meaning dissolves into parts that lack that meaning and you start experiencing something that seems to lack connection to the meanings you had previously.

I hesitate to say this is entirely what’s going on with meditation. Many meditators will note the opposite experience: that suddenly the world feels filled with a hidden specialness that was invisible before.

However, I also suspect that this may be a consequence of the thorough de-meaning-ization of your regular experience. Dehabituate your normal filters for processing meaning and new ones will start forming again in the vacuum. Those new ones may not have the same obstacles as the old ones and the fresh perspective may be more enjoyable.

Should You Take Time to “Relax” Your Meaning of Life?

I think meanings, especially intense ones, are an important part of living life well. Don’t confuse what I’m saying for arguing we should all live nihilistically.

Rather, I think what’s necessary is that, from time to time, you are able to temporarily “relax” your meanings in life. This relaxation may be necessary to get out of ruts where your current way of viewing the situation is frustrated and can’t allow you to live your best life.

These meaningness relaxations may be related to specific situations (i.e. how you think about your future career) or it could be more global (i.e. should you find meaning in ambition at all?).

I also suspect that there is no perfect state of meanings, no eternal viewpoint that will be good for all things. Therefore, relaxation of meaning is probably a necessary adjustment that needs to be done every once in awhile. The new meanings you get to may not be any better (in an absolute sense) than the ones you went in with, but they may help you see around obstacles that keep you from living a good life.

At the global level, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases have exceeded 90 lakhs, with nearly four lakh 70 thousand fatalities.

According to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, 90 lakhs six thousand 757 cases of Novel Coronavirus have been reported across the world.

The United States continues to remain the worst-hit with 22 lakh 91 thousand 353 cases and one lakh 20 thousand 106 deaths, followed by Brazil 10 lakh 83 thousand 341 cases and over 50 thousand deaths and Russia reported five lakh 84 thousand 680 cases and over eight thousand deaths. Other countries with over two lakh cases include India, Britain, Spain, Peru, Italy, Chile and Iran. 

Union Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office Dr Jitendra Singh has said that there is going to be renewed focus on the study and management of infectious diseases in the post-COVID era. He said, the medical curriculum will have to adapt itself accordingly.

Dr Jitendra Singh was addressing a Virtual Conference with the Heads and representatives of National Medical Teaching Institutes, including All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) New Delhi, PGI, Chandigarh, Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), Manipur, North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS), Shillong and Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, Srinagar yesterday.

Dr Jitendra Singh said, in the last three decades, the disease spectrum in India shifted to non-communicable diseases and hence the medical teaching focussed more on metabolic and vascular disorders like Diabetes Mellitus and coronary heart diseases while the infectious diseases took a back seat.

Dr Singh said, COVID, however, has suddenly awakened the whole world, particularly the medical fraternity, to realize that the age of infections is far from over. Dr Jitendra Singh said, Indian medical fraternity has an advantage over their western counterparts because here the practice of medicine was inherently tuned to preions based on hygiene and prevention of cross infections. He said, in the wake of COVID also, Indian medical fraternity was quick to reorient itself to the new norms of medical management.