Think Positive and Feel Positive

When you’re in a stressful situation, are you confident or unsafe? Do you react positively or negatively?

【小题1】A study by researchers at the University of Notre Dame found that negative thinking, and depression coming from it, can be catching in certain circumstances.

For example, the researchers studied 103 freshman college roommates who’d been paired casually.【小题2】 Specifically, the researchers measured the subject’s likelihood to see negative events as a reflection of their abilities and disadvantages.

After only six months, it became clear that thinking patterns and styles can be catching. 【小题3】And students paired with more positive thinking roommates were more likely to become more positive in their thinking and report less depression.

【小题4】So they might be particularly accessible to adopting the thought and behavior patterns of people around them —perhaps more so than people in less intense situations at other stages of life.

But maybe not. Other research has shown that, in general, people are affected by how those around them think. 【小题5】

Napping during the day is an ancient custom that is practiced worldwide. Short naps, which last from 20 to 30 minutes at the right time, can benefit vitality and overall health in countless ways.

Short naps can boost mental functioning and memory, as well as improve vitality, attention and reaction time. 【小题1】 Because napping seems to improve creative thinking, some companies have attempted to introduce napping rooms.

What’s more, it appears the brain uses nap time to process information gathered throughout the day. 【小题2】 A study revealed that short naps also helped people become more confident and sensible, which resulted in better focus and efficiency at work. Napping may also lead to an improved ability to learn new skills, such as a golf swing. This is because these memories or skills are strengthened in the brain during sleep.

【小题3】 Studies show that more consistent sleep will help lower “fight or flight” chemicals in our bodies. As a result, our blood pressure and heart rates are normalized. Napping appears to help this process for some people.

【小题4】 One condition associated with napping longer than 30 minutes is sleep inertia (睡后迟钝). This can harm cognitive function from several minutes up to half an hour. Long or late afternoon naps can lead to difficulties falling asleep during the night. 【小题5】

So, to maximize benefits while reducing risks, please keep naps short in the early afternoon to avoid sleep inertia and nighttime sleep disruptions.

Question: Lately, I have struggled to get out of bed despite waking up at a decent time to go to my lab. The result is that I fall asleep again and end up going to the lab in about 1-1.5 hours later than I really want to. How do I make myself actually get up when I wake up?

●Ayush Sekhari: Sometimes, I use Sleep If U Can Alarm app on my phone. While setting the alarm, you’re asked to choose how to turn it off. There is an option which says to turn off by using an image. While setting, you can set an image as the off key. When the alarm rings, it forces you to capture a similar image and turns off only if it’s similar to the pre-set image. I have set my turn-off image as a toilet basin, so when I have to turn off the alarm, I have to search for my slippers, walk to the toilet and click the image of the basin. This is annoying, but wakes me up.

●Aditya Deorha: I use Alarm Clock Plus on my phone. I have to solve a maths problem in order to turn off the alarm. Right now, it’s at medium difficulty. Once I set it to the hard level, I really have to work hard to figure it out. You just can’t sleep again after that.

●Shivam Agrawal: I use Flying Alarm. This digital alarm clock launches a rotor (旋转体) into the air that flies around the room as the alarm sounds, and it won’t stop ringing until the rotor is returned to the alarm clock base, compelling even the most stubborn sleepers to get out of bed on time.

●Ellen Vrana: We got cats, which is the working person’s version of kids. I get up at 6: 30 a. m. every day. No alarm. So worth it.