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Author: The Pip

HomeArticles Posted by The Pip (Page 5)
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How Stress May be Affecting Your Team’s Decision-Making Abilities

by The Pipon 23 September 2016in PipLife

We all know that stress can have negative effects on mental and physical health but another important question that we need to ask is how does stress affect performance and decision making abilities in the workplace? This is something that many employers find themselves worrying about when their employees are stressed.

 

Like many things in life there is a fine balance between when stress is good and when stress is bad. There is a lot of research showing that stress affects people’s abilities to make decisions but whether this provides an advantage or disadvantage depends on the task at hand. For example, when a stressful task is seen as a challenge rather than a threat it can enhance the cognitive abilities that people need to make a good decision [1]. Often, however, work pressure can be such that stress starts to impair people’s abilities to make good decisions. When people are stressed they are more likely to make hasty decisions without considering all of the possibilities [2].

 

Secondly, when people are stressed they are more likely to succumb to what is called the ‘reflection effect’. This is the tendency to make conservative decisions when there is a chance of gaining something and risky decisions when there is a chance of losing something [1]. Thirdly, the more decisions that people have to make the more likely they are to suffer from what is called ‘decision fatigue’ or the inability to make any further decisions due to a depleted amount of self-control. For example, researchers found that people who are faced with multiple decisions, no matter how inconsequential, were more likely to give up on tasks early than those who had not previously had to make multiple decisions [3]. Add stress to the mix and you may find employees who end up making hasty, risky, fatigued decisions. Not something that you want to encourage in the workplace.

 

So what can be done to improve decision-making under stress in the workplace? We have already written about the benefits of building resilience to aid decision making (see link here). In our next installment we will discuss other methods that may reduce stress and improve decision making in your workplace.

 

  1. Starcke, K. and M. Brand, Decision making under stress: a selective review. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 2012. 36(4): p. 1228-1248.
  2. Keinan, G. (1987). Decision making under stress: Scanning of alternatives under controllable and uncontrollable threats. Journal of personality and social psychology, 52(3), 639.
  3. Vohs, K. D., Baumeister, R. F., Schmeichel, B. J., Twenge, J. M., Nelson, N. M., & Tice, D. M. (2014). Making choices impairs subsequent self-control: a limited-resource account of decision making, self-regulation, and active initiative.
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Medica, Dusseldorf, Germany, 14th – 17th November

by The Pipon 20 September 2016in meet the team

We’re delighted to once again be exhibiting and presenting at The Connected Health Forum at Medica in Dusseldorf, 14th to 17th November.

 

Marie Clarke, our Head of Marketing, will be discussing how digital health solutions can help you manage stress at the Forum. You can also meet with team and take 5 minutes of calm with Pip.

 

Request a meeting with the Pip Team to learn more about our Health Professionals, Schools and Corporate Wellness programmes.

 

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CIPD, Manchester, UK, 9 – 10 November

by The Pipon 20 September 2016in meet the team

The Pip team will be exhibiting and demoing Pip at Stand H100 at the CIPD’s Annual Conference from the 9th – 10th November in Manchester. This two day conference will gather the most influential thinkers and practitioners in HR and business.

 

Contact us to arrange a meeting to discuss how our Corporate Wellness Programmes canl improve your employee’s mental wellness.

 

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Zeminar, Dublin, 11th -13th October, 2016

by The Pipon 20 September 2016in meet the team

The Pip Team will be exhibiting at Zeminar, from 11th – 13th October 2016 at the RDS, Dublin.

 

This 3 day event is for Generation Z, particularly young people aged 15 – 20, and their parents, teachers, mentors and coaches.  Throughout the event there will be workshops, and influential speakers to help them live happier, safer, and more fulfilling lives.

 

Visit our stand to take 5 minutes of calm in our relaxing Pip Pods and learn how Pip’s being used by schools, sports teams and young people around the world to improve their mental wellness.

 

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The Fixed vs Growth Mindset: Help your Child Succeed in School

by The Pipon 16 September 2016in PipLife, PipSchools

‘You’re so smart’, ‘you’re a natural’ and ‘you’re the top of your class’ are phrases we often say to children when they do well. But this kind of praise, if repeated often enough, can be harmful.
Carol Dweck, a psychologist in the United States, has spent years studying what she calls ‘fixed’ and ‘growth’ mindsets. A fixed mindset is the belief that abilities and social traits are fixed and permanent (e.g. the belief that you are smart or not smart and that this can’t change). A growth mindset is believing that abilities and social traits can be changed and built upon. Dweck and her colleagues followed children over 2 years and found that those with a growth mindset improved in school while those with a fixed mindset stayed the same or even declined [1].

 

One reason for this is that children with a fixed mindset believe they have no control over how they do. If a child thinks that they are not smart they won’t have the confidence or motivation to try and, every time they do badly as a result, their belief that they are not smart will be reinforced. Similarly, if a child thinks that they are smart just because they are they won’t have the ability to cope with a situation in which they do not do well because they won’t be able to explain why.

 

The growth vs fixed mindset is even important in social situations. If a child thinks that social traits are permanent and unchanging they are more vulnerable to social challenges such as exclusion and bullying. Children who believe that social traits change over time and situation build up greater resilience and ability to cope with these types of challenges [2].

 

The good news is that growth mindsets can be taught. As the new school year kicks off try to foster a growth rather than a fixed mindset in your child. Use phrases such as ‘wow, you worked really hard and look how it paid off’ or, when they don’t do as well as they wanted to say ‘every time you learn something new your brain gets smarter, let’s figure out what you can do to improve’. Avoid telling children that they are good or bad at something and instead help them to see failures as challenges and important learning experiences. This will not only help them improve in school but give them an important set of resilience tools to cope with life challenges in future.

 

1. Blackwell, L. S., Trzesniewski, K. H., & Dweck, C. S. (2007). Implicit theories of intelligence predict achievement across an adolescent transition: A longitudinal study and an intervention. Child development, 78(1), 246-263.

2. Yeager, D. S., & Dweck, C. S. (2012). Mindsets that promote resilience: When students believe that personal characteristics can be developed. Educational Psychologist, 47(4), 302-314.

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How to build emotional intelligence

by The Pipon 9 September 2016in PipLife

Two weeks ago we discussed what emotional intelligence is and how it can affect the decisions you make ( http://bit.ly/2czbXID ). It has long been recognised that some people are low in emotional intelligence and some are high and that this can have an effect on academic success, work performance and relationships. The good news is that emotional intelligence is an ability that can, to a certain extent, be trained.

 

Emotional intelligence training programmes are still in the relatively early days with many interventions still being tested in research studies. Nevertheless, these types of interventions have thus far been successful in improving emotional intelligence in adults, in university students who are planning the next stages of their careers and in teenage boys who were less aggressive, hostile and angry following the training [1-3]. But what is emotional intelligence training? Most programmes focus on four key aspects:

 

1) Understanding emotions – sometimes in life we have a tendency to downplay our emotions in favour of carrying on with the business of life. But as we discussed last week your emotions can have unintended consequences on the decisions we make as well as what we attend to, learn and create. For example, people who are feeling blue are more likely to have their attention drawn towards sad things than to pleasant things [4].

 

2) Identifying emotions – can you easily recognise your own and others’ emotions? Sometimes it is easier said than done and one emotion can mask another. For example, if a child does something dangerous and you react with anger this may not be true anger but rather the fear you had that they could have hurt themselves.

 

3) Expressing emotions – this is thinking about how you express emotions and how you can harness them to your advantage. Trying to think of a happy memory when feeling blue actually changes activity in the brain and can help to alleviate a bad mood [5].

 

4) Managing emotions – in order to healthily manage emotions you need to be aware of them and of the coping strategies you use. Do you avoid and shutdown negative emotions when they appear? Or do you dwell on them? How does your mood from earlier affect your interactions now? Are you feeling blue and is this affecting how you are viewing the current situation? Learning to recognise your appraisal of a situation and how your emotions may affect it, including considering that your appraisal might be wrong, is an important aspect of emotional intelligence.

 

Emotional intelligence programmes may still be in the early days but starting to ask yourself some questions about your emotions and how they affect you – for good or for bad – may be a good start to becoming more aware and more in control.

1. Castillo, R., Salguero, J.M., Fernandex-Berrocal, P, Balluerka, N. (2013). Effects of an emotional intelligence intervention on aggression and empathy among adolescents. Journal of Adolescence(36), 883-892.
2. Nelis, D., Quoidbach, J, Mikolajczak, M, Hansenne, M. (2009). Increasing emotional intelligence: (How) is it possible? Personality and Individual Differences(47), 36-41.
3. Pool, L. D., Qualter, P. (2012). Improving emotional intelligence and emotional self-efficacy through a teaching intervention for university students. Learning and Individual Differences(22), 306-312.
4. Becker, M.W. and M. Leinenger, Attentional selection is biased toward mood-congruent stimuli. Emotion, 2011. 11(5): p. 1248.
5. Cooney, R.E., et al., Remembering the good times: neural correlates of affect regulation. Neuroreport, 2007. 18(17): p. 1771-1774.

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How to Reduce Back to School Stress

by The Pipon 2 September 2016in PipLife

The long days of summer are drawing to a close. The new school semester can bring with it excitement but also some stress for the whole family. Here we give you some tips to help.

 

Organisation is key: Our minds do not like having unfinished tasks. Much like an app running in the background of a smartphone will drain the battery, having a huge list of unfinished tasks will drain your mental ability to complete tasks [1]. One way to help you focus is to write down what you are going to do and when. Have to buy uniforms? Write that down in the diary for Wednesday. Stocking up on food for school lunches? That’s a task for Sunday. The simple act of planning exactly when you will do something turns off that background fretting leaving your mind clear and focussed [2].

 

Give them some control: Feeling in control of your life is a big predictor of health and happiness [3]. Children and teens don’t have much control over the big things but you can give them control over the small things. Let them choose what pencil case they want for the year or what healthy lunch they want on the first day back. This will make them excited about using their new things, and therefore about going to school, as well as giving them a stress-busting sense of control over a big change in their lives.

 

Adjust to regular bedtimes: Sleep is important for everyone but it is particularly crucial for children and teens. Sleep disruption is more damaging for children and teens than for adults. Children under 12 need as much as 10-12 hours of sleep per night and teenagers need 8-9 hours to be able to concentrate at school and to help their brains develop [4] (See our earlier blog on tips to help sleep). Start earlier bedtimes a few days before they go back to school to help children adjust to a new schedule after a summer of freedom. This will avoid sleepy tears (both yours and theirs!) on the first day back and help them to enjoy their first day of a new school term.

 

Children are very attune to emotions and can pick up on your stresses and anxieties without you realising so don’t forget to look after yourself as well. Take some time out to relax and enjoy the last days of summer as you prepare for the new school term.

 

1. Masicampo, E. and R.F. Baumeister, Unfulfilled goals interfere with tasks that require executive functions. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 2011. 47(2): p. 300-311.

2. Masicampo, E. and R.F. Baumeister, Consider it done! Plan making can eliminate the cognitive effects of unfulfilled goals. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2011. 101(4): p. 667.

3. Lachman, M.E., S.D. Neupert, and S. Agrigoroaei, The relevance of control beliefs for health and aging. Handbook of the psychology of aging, 2010: p. 175-190.

4. Dewald, J.F., et al., The influence of sleep quality, sleep duration and sleepiness on school performance in children and adolescents: a meta-analytic review. Sleep medicine reviews, 2010. 14(3): p. 179-189

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Fake it ‘til you make it – How to build social confidence

by The Pipon 19 August 2016in PipCorporate, PipLife

The workplace is filled with situations in which negotiating complex social interactions is just as important as work itself. Be it dealing with a difficult colleague or attending a social event social interaction at work can be stressful. Social confidence is something that many people struggle with so we’ve prepared 4 tips to help you boost it:

 

  • Fake it ‘til you make it. Faking it works. If you don’t feel confident you can trick yourself into believing you are by adopting a power pose (see our blog on posture). Stand up tall with your shoulders back and stretch your arms behind your head. This power pose releases testosterone and reduces stress hormones making you feel confident and relaxed [1].
  • Question your assumptions. Does you find yourself analysing what someone thinks of you as you talk to them? People who are social anxious are more likely to attend to and remember the negative aspects of an interaction [2]. “Did he just yawn because I’m boring?” If you find yourself thinking this type of thing after an interaction don’t let it slip by. Instead, ask yourself if that was the only reason. Could your colleague have yawned because he was tired? Don’t let your anxious self believe the assumptions it makes. Find the evidence for it and, if it’s not watertight, challenge it.
  • Make the first move. Social confidence is a skill to be practiced like any other. If you are interested in getting to know someone better ask them for a coffee. We’re not talking about romantic interests, although it could apply, but maybe a colleague you want to get to know better. Being the person to suggest something social can be scary but it will give your confidence a boost if you do. They may not be able to go but if that’s the case don’t feel rejected (see point 2!). They will most likely feel flattered that you asked.
  • Be interested in others. There’s nothing worse than a social interaction in which both parties want to engage but one leaves the other to ask all of the questions. Interacting this way comes across as rude as disengaged. When you talk to people ask them open questions about themselves or their opinions to show that you are interested in them. If you seem interested and open with other people they will more likely remember your interaction with pleasure and seek you out again in future.

 

It is up to you to judge what is appropriate in a social interaction but if you find your lack of social confidence is holding you back start with our tips and, remember, no-one is as confident as they seem on the outside.

 

1. Carney, D.R., A.J. Cuddy, and A.J. Yap, Power posing brief nonverbal displays affect neuroendocrine levels and risk tolerance. Psychological Science, 2010. 21(10): p. 1363-1368.
2. Amin, N., E.B. Foa, and M.E. Coles, Negative interpretation bias in social phobia. Behaviour research and therapy, 1998. 36(10): p. 945-957.

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TESSEN Show, London, 7th – 8th October 2016

by The Pipon 18 August 2016in meet the team

Join is at stand ‘181’ to try Pip and learn how it’s helping people, young and old, relax and learn to self-calm. TESSEN is the UK’s leading Special Educational Needs Conference. It is full of resources, ideas, advice and training to provide teachers, SENCOs, support staff and parents with the tools and skills to help all pupils achieve their full potential.

 

Contact us if you’d like to schedule a meeting to learn more about our school wellness programme and how Pip has been helping students relax and learn to control their reaction to stress.

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Technology for Wellbeing, Dublin, 14th September 2016

by The Pipon 16 August 2016in meet the team

Researchers from Trinity College Dublin will be presenting research findings from their study which use the Pip to examine how ‘Smartphone Applications Utilizing Biofeedback Can Aid Stress Reduction’ at the fourth international Technology for Wellbeing Conference, taking place on Wednesday, 14 September 2016 in The Marker Hotel, Dublin. 

 

During the presentation you will learn how Pip’s use of biofeedback was shown to reduce the psychological and physiological markers of stress and the importance of this research in everyday life.

 

The Pip team will also be attending this conference. Contact us to arrange a meeting and demo of Pip.

 

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