The Benefits of Doing Less

1. You accomplish more. No, you don’t get more done (you’re doing less, after all), but if you do less and focus on the important stuff, you actually achieve better results, and more meaningful accomplishments.

2. You have less anxiety. When you let go of the distractions and the non-essential, you free yourself from the fear that you need to do these things. You learn that your world doesn’t fall apart when you let them go.

3. You enjoy life more. Taking time to really focus on an important task, or enjoy the little things, rather than rushing through them, is much more enjoyable.

4. You create time. When you do less, all of a sudden you have free time! You can use that doing things you really want to do!



Avaritia facit bardos

Translation: "Greed makes you stupid."




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Envy on Facebook May Trigger Depression

In a new study, researchers at the University of Missouri have found that Facebook use can lead to symptoms of depression if the social networking site triggers feelings of envy among its users.

Margaret Duffy, Ph.D., a professor and chair of strategic communication at the University of Missouri School of Journalism, said how Facebook users use the site makes a difference in how they respond to it.

“Facebook can be a fun and healthy activity if users take advantage of the site to stay connected with family and old friends and to share interesting and important aspects of their lives,” Duffy said.

“However, if Facebook is used to see how well an acquaintance is doing financially or how happy an old friend is in his relationship, things that cause envy among users, use of the site can lead to feelings of depression.”

In the study, Duffy and Dr. Edson Tandoc, an assistant professor at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, surveyed young Facebook users and found that some of those who engage in “surveillance use” of Facebook also experience symptoms of depression.

However, those who use the site simply to stay connected do not suffer negative effects.

Surveillance use of Facebook occurs when users browse the website to see how their friends are doing compared with their own lives.

The researchers found that Facebook postings about things such as expensive vacations, new houses or cars, or happy relationships can evoke feelings of envy among surveillance users. They say that these feelings of envy can then lead to Facebook users experiencing symptoms of depression.

“We found that if Facebook users experience envy of the activities and lifestyles of their friends on Facebook, they are much more likely to report feelings of depression,” Duffy said.

“Facebook can be a very positive resource for many people, but if it is used as a way to size up one’s own accomplishments against others, it can have a negative effect. It is important for Facebook users to be aware of these risks so they can avoid this kind of behavior when using Facebook.”

“Social media literacy is important,” Tandoc said.

“Based on our study, as well as on what others have previously found, using Facebook can exert positive effects on well-being. But when it triggers envy among users, that’s a different story.

“Users should be self-aware that positive self-presentation is an important motivation in using social media, so it is to be expected that many users would only post positive things about themselves. This self-awareness, hopefully, can lessen feelings of envy.”

Source: University of Missouri-Columbia/EurekAlert

Reference
Nauert, R. (2015). Envy on Facebook May Trigger Depression. Psych Central. Retrieved on February 4, 2015, from http://psychcentral.com/news/2015/02/04/envy-on-facebook-may-trigger-depression/80764.html

Mind-Blowing SIX Song Country Mashup!

4 Tickets to Christmas _ The Movie

4 Tickets to Christmas from FBC-TV 16 on Vimeo.

The Creative Process - Divergence and Convergence

In creative work, there are two modes of thinking that we use that are very different, but are both very useful for different parts of the process.

Divergence

Divergence is the process of thinking broadly, of expanding one's mind, of going places where one does not normally go. In fact it is very much what most people think about when they consider creativity.

Social variation

Divergent thinking is very important in creativity as the process whereby ideas are generated. Although everyone can do it, some take to it more easily and find idea creation (sometimes called ideation) both natural and fun.
For others, it is something more of an effort, both to create the ideas and also to get over the internal blocks that prevent them from telling others about their half-formed ideas.
The fear of social punishment and ridicule keeps many from even admitting to themselves that they could be good at divergent thinking.

Quantity first

Divergent ideation creates a constant flow of ideas, no matter how good or bad they are (and without even a thought about this), with the knowledge that they will be sorted out in the subsequent convergent activity.

Convergence

When you have created a big pile of ideas, the creative activity does not stop there. The next stage, which can be very difficult, seeks to thin down the idea set into a very small set of ideas (maybe one) that will be taken forward for further development.

Judgement and Selection

This approach requires skills of selection, evaluation and judgement to whittle down the list to the most useful ideas. In this process, there can be argument and debate about the true potential of ideas.

Retaining creative seeds

A danger here is that the baby gets thrown out with the bathwater, as good ideas are thrown out with the bad. It is important here to keep a balance, and the divergent thinkers have an important task to challenge the ejection of any ideas that may have serious potential.

Keeping them separate

Have you ever been in a thinking session (creative or otherwise) and seen two groups of people crossing swords, where one group are constantly trying to keep the exploration open, whilst the other group is trying to come to a closure point and get a decision made? Maybe you were in one of these two groups.

The dangers of simultaneity

Divergent and convergent activities do not go well together, and keeping them deliberately separate is a very good idea. Thus you can explain the principles to people you will then be able to use the language, saying 'excuse me, I hear convergence' if someone starts criticising ideas in the middle of a divergent session.
Likewise in convergent sessions, further divergence needs to be carefully managed. It is, however, more important to keep convergence out of divergent activities, as people easily take criticism of one of their ideas personally and may just clam up and sit back if they feel this has happened.

How to keep them separate

Separation can be achieve in several ways. You can separate the sessions by having one after the other (this is most common).
You can also separate them further in time (eg. to give space for more ideas to be generated by incubation first).
You can have different groups of people diverging and converging.
You can change location for each - for example having the divergent session in a relaxed lounge and the convergent session in a formal meeting room.

Sequencing them

Divergence and convergence are not a one-shot thing in serious creativity and invention practices. They constantly sequence, one after the other and form a matched pair of activities that enable you to both think broadly and also stay focused.
Thus you may diverge and converge in problem identification, idea exploration, product development, market planning, etc.




Quidquid agis, prudenter agas, et respice finem!
"Whatever you do, may you do it prudently, and look to the end!"

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