Burning a scented candle or spraying a room with your favorite air freshener doesn’t only make your home smell wonderful, it stimulates areas of the brain that change your mood. “Scents can generate reactions in the frontal lobe and the hypothalamus that influence behaviors and personalities,” says Alan Hirsch, M.D., Founder of the Smell & Taste Treatment and Research Foundation in Chicago. According to his research, if you want to be more… [more…]
From the category archives:
faster
Trying to tally your grocery bill as you shop? Need to cut a recipe by one-third? Stumped by your kid’s homework assignment? Try talking aloud as you do the math. When researchers from the University of Granada in Spain videotaped students working on tough math problems, those who spoke aloud while doing the equations found the correct answers faster than those who did the problems in their head. This easy technique helps you understand the problem better and come up with new ways to reach the right solution, the researchers say.
[photo: MelvinSchlubman]
Working on a important project on your computer? If you want to get it done on time, you might want to turn off the pop-ups that alert you when you get an email or IM. A new study out of the U.K.’s University [more…]
Have to contact a bunch of people to give them the same message—for instance, to remind parents about an upcoming P.T.A. meeting or tell guests that the location of a birthday party has changed—but don’t have the time to make all those calls or texts? Log onto dialmycalls.com and you can send a call [more…]
Stumped for a fact and Google isn’t helping you find it? You can ask the reference librarians at the New York Public Library (nypl.org/ask-nypl), who are available to provide you with answers in minutes over the phone, via text message or through a live chatroom they staff 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
[photo: tvol]
Is stress or fatigue making it hard to focus and recall details? The amino acid l-theanine in green tea clears the fog and resharpens your brain. “It stimulates the [more…]
Studies show that a good night’s sleep is as important as eating right and exercising since it offers so many health benefits including amping up your daytime energy, bolstering the immune system [more…]
If you and your partner are trying for a new addition to your family, the latest research reveals surprising ways to speed up the process:
* Up sperm count by taking [more…]
Which of these do you think is best at increasing daytime alertness and energy:
A. Sleeping in extra hour and a half
B. Two cups of strong coffee
C. A brief afternoon nap [more…]
If you love the sweet scent and elegant beauty of hyacinths, you don’ t have to wait till spring to enjoy them. It takes just a few easy steps to coax hyacinths to bloom indoors during the winter months:
* Set a few bulbs in a vase filled with pebbles and enough water to almost touch their bottoms. [more…]
You’ll never be at a loss for what to say when writing thank-yous, congratulations notes, cover letters and more when you get inspiration from the dozens of letter samples at writinghelp-central.com/sample-letters.html.
[photo: Barbara L. Hanson]
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