Mei 31, 2020 No comments

Source:https://www.lorealparisusa.com/

TrendingNow: Skincare for Glass Skin - Indoindians.com

The Korean glass skin trend is all about cleansing and layering lightweight, hydrating skin care products to help create the appearance of glowing, dewy skin. Here’s how to try the glass skin trend for yourself:

STEP 1: START WITH A GENTLE CLEANSER

As with any skin care routine, facial cleanser should always be the first step. Cleansing removes dirt and impurities from the surface of your skin for a clean finish. Because you’re going to be following up cleansing with an exfoliant, pick a facial cleanser that is both gentle and effective.

Since the glass skin look is the ultimate goal, you should also look for a cleanser that can help brighten the appearance of your complexion, like the L’Oréal Paris Pure-Clay Detox & Brighten Cleanser. Squeeze a small amount of facial cleanser into your (clean) hands and add water to transform it from a clay to a mousse consistency. Gently massage the facial cleanser onto your face, then rinse off thoroughly with lukewarm water and gently pat dry with a washcloth.

Editor’s tip: When it comes to Korean skin care, it’s pretty much considered fact that the only way to turn your skin into a fresh and smooth canvas is with double cleansing. This method begins with a cleanser that removes your makeup and starts to cleanse the skin, then follows up with a second facial cleanser meant to rid the skin of remaining dirt and impurities. We recommend using a cleansing oil first, then using the clay cleanser mentioned above.

STEP 2: EXFOLIATE WITH A FACE SCRUB

Now that your face is clean, it’s time to reach for a face scrub. Exfoliating regularly from head to toe should be a key part of any skin care routine. Still, it’s an especially crucial step in getting glass skin because it buffs away all the dead, dull-looking skin cells from the surface of your complexion. Be sure to choose a face scrub that’s formulated for your specific skin type and issues. Remember, the goal with any facial scrub is to achieve gentle exfoliation that reveals a bright, fresh-looking complexion—no redness allowed!

So, if you’ve got dry skin, choose a nourishing scrub. If you tend to get blackheads, pick a scrub formulated to deeply penetrate pores, and so on. Here are our best options:

The L’Oréal Paris Pure-Sugar Resurface & Energize Kona Coffee Scrub is formulated with real Kona coffee grounds and helps energize tired, dull-looking skin.

The L’Oréal Paris Pure-Sugar Nourish & Soften Cocoa Scrub contains rich cocoa butter and nourishing coconut oil, making it a great choice for those who tend to have dry skin.

The L’Oréal Paris Pure-Sugar Smooth & Glow Grapeseed Scrub will give your skin a baby-soft, glowing finish, thanks to its formula, which contains finely ground acai and nutrient-rich monoi and grapeseed oil.

The L’Oréal Paris Pure-Sugar Purify & Unclog Kiwi Scrub is formulated with real kiwi seeds and helps to polish away dead skin cells and deeply purify and unclog pores.

Once you’ve chosen the right face scrub formula for your skin, smooth a small amount of the scrub onto damp, clean skin and gently massage it over your face with wet fingers. Remember, don’t scrub too hard and rinse thoroughly with lukewarm water.

Bonus: You can also use all of the aforementioned face scrubs on your lips! Here’s How to Use a Lip Scrub Before Applying Lipstick for a little guidance.

STEP 3: REACH FOR A SHEET MASK

Who says you can’t add a little pampering into your glass skin routine? Sheet masks are a great way to give your skin a nourishing treat while addressing your skin care concerns. One of our favorite ways to face mask, this essential deeply penetrates the skin to boost moisture and brightness. Simply pop one on to give your skin a quick dose of TLC.

STEP 4: USE A HYDRATING TONER

Contrary to popular belief, not all toners dry out your skin. The key is to use a hydrating offering that’s free of alcohol, like the L’Oréal Paris HydraFresh Toner, which is formulated with pro-vitamin B5 and helps protect against moisture loss and leaves skin feeling soft and supple. To use, moisten a cotton ball and smooth over your face and neck.

STEP 5: APPLY A HYDRATING SERUM

Glass skin is all about a healthy-looking, dewy complexion, so hydrating your skin is an absolute must! After cleansing and toning, apply a facial serum onto damp skin. If you’re not already using a face serum regularly, it would behoove you to learn about all the beauty benefits that serums can offer (to get you started, here's our article, What Is a Face Serum and Why Should You Use One).

For Korean glass skin, in particular, hyaluronic acid is a great ingredient to look out for in a serum because it’s often found in intensely hydrating formulas. Try the L’Oréal Paris Revitalift Derm Intensives 1.5% Pure Hyaluronic Acid Serum, which absorbs quickly and gives skin a visibly plumped, youthful look. To use, apply a few drops onto your face and neck, then gently smooth over your skin in upward motions, being careful to avoid your eyes.

STEP 6: LAYER ON A LIGHTWEIGHT MOISTURIZER

Next up: Moisturizer! Yes, that’s right—you’ll want to layer a moisturizer on top of the serum, which will effectively lock in moisture and help give you a radiant glow. Obviously, with any facial moisturizer, the overall goal is to moisturize your complexion, but just as you chose your previous products based on your skin type and concerns, you’ll want to take the same approach here.

Our Hydra Genius line is a great choice when trying to achieve the glass skin look because the moisturizers are super lightweight and water-based. Take your pick from one of these options, based on your skin type: the L’Oréal Paris Hydra Genius Daily Liquid Care – Normal/Oily Skin, The L’Oréal Paris Hydra Genius Daily Liquid Care – Normal/Dry Skin, or the L’Oréal Paris Hydra Genius Daily Liquid Care – Extra Dry Skin. To use, apply a light, even layer of your moisturizer of choice over your entire complexion, smoothing until thoroughly absorbed.

STEP 7: APPLY YOUR FOUNDATION

To really ensure a glowing, glass-like final look, use a foundation that’s moisturizing and doesn’t have a matte finish—matte makeup will give you the opposite of a glass skin look. A medium-coverage foundation is a great way to build up to your desired look without over-doing it and causing your skin to look cakey (also wrong for achieving the glass skin look). Your best bet is using a foundation with a radiant finish, like the L’Oréal Paris Infallible Pro-Glow Foundation.

STEP 8: APPLY A HIGHLIGHTING LOTION

Now that your skin has been properly cleansed, exfoliated, and hydrated for a glowing finish, all that’s left is adding an extra bright sheen. To get the look, squeeze some of L’Oréal Paris True Match™ Lumi Glotion Natural Glow Enhancer onto your fingertips and massage it onto your skin, paying close attention to your cheekbones and the tip of your nose.

STEP 9: ADD A FINAL LAYER OF TARGETED GLOW

Hang in there; you’re almost done! Last but not least, apply a final layer of a glow-boosting highlighter, like the L’Oréal Paris True Match™ Lumi Glow Amour Glow Boosting Drops, onto the top of your cheekbones, bridge of your nose, center of your forehead, and cupid’s bow. Apply a drop or two to each area, then blend everything out with a makeup blender, like the L’Oréal Paris Infallible Blend Artist Foundation Blender.

Mei 31, 2020 No comments

If you read 'About Me' so you already know that i like travel but i don't have much money but if you asked me did i travel around my country? My answer is yes! I'm from Malaysia .Born and live in this country and since i was kid, i already travel and holiday with my family. We went to every states in Malaysia . 13 states? yup! all of them but still we keep going at same place.hahaa. Never bored!

But i don't like taking picture when i travel before so i don't have much pictures to put in this blog but after this, if i going out with family or friends, i will take it just for you! 😗

This is basic informations for you guys about My country.

Do you know about Malaysia?

Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. the federal constitutional monarchy consist of thirteen states and three federal territories, seperated by the South China Sea into regions, Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Malaysia.The country is multi-ethnic and multi-cultural. About half the population is ethnically Malay, with large minorities of Chinese, Indians, and indigenous peoples. While recognising Islam as the country's established religion, the constitution grants freedom of religion to non-Muslims.

States

A list of thirteen states and each state capital (in brackets):

Federal Territories

Flag of Malaysia - Colours, Meaning, History ??

our flag, flag of Malaysia

How Close Is Malaysia From Its Goal Of Joining The OECD?

This is Petronas Twin Tower

Soaring to a height of 451.9 metres, the 88-storey twin structure is Kuala Lumpur's crown jewel. Majestic by day and dazzling at night, the PETRONAS Twin Towers is inspired by Tun Mahathir Mohamad's vision for Malaysia to be a global player. Together with master architect Cesar Pelli, the international icon powerfully captures the nation's ambitions and aspirations.

huh, when you come to Malaysia, please make sure you visit this KLCC. Its nice view to take a picture at night and please.. please..please to walk in from the first floor until the heigher level. haha. You will get a sensation you never have before cause there's a lot of games. I'm a gamer so yeah.. this is my heaven! lol. But if you like going to as island to rest your mind, don't worry! we have many islands here and there are beautiful!

Malaysia has more than 800 islands across both sides of the peninsula and around Borneo. Almost a million residents live on some, while others consist of a handful of wooden shacks.

and if you like me, like to do an extreme sport such as jungle trekking. There are 5 best jungle treks in Malaysia such as Templer Park, Malaysia, Mount Datuk Negeri Sembilan,Danum Valley's reinforest, Sabah, Bako National Park, Sarawak. You can go those places but i most prefer mounts in area Cameron Highland cause i like cold weather. haha. For example, Mount Datok Tok Nenek, Mount Yong Belar and Mount Siku. There a lot and i could not remember all of them. You can search in Google for more information. :)

okay, that's is. Hope you like it and see you again. 😙

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Featured snippet from the web

The cold weather in Cameron Highlands is due to its elevation above sea level and its ideal geographical location which is in the highlands of Pahang. Throughout the year, Cameron Highlands experience low temperature which can be quite chilling at night

Mei 31, 2020 No comments

Hello!

Today, miss nur want to sharing with you about one of my skincare that is moisturizer.

Moisturizer is important! very-very important even if you have acne so here iam i will tell you guys which one is suitable for oily skin because my skin is oily and sometimes would be combination. hoho and i have prone skin too so if you have same problems like me and still searching what is good product for you so keep reading okay 😘

I'm a person who like to do some research first and don't like to change my skincare products many times so if i want to buy something,i will make sure that is the right one. haha

These are basic knowledge for those people with oily skin. Make sure product you bought are lightweight!oil-free! so it won't clog your pores. I choose this moisturizer from Hada Labo Water Gel

see.. licin!! I don't remember how many time i repeat order and i always purchase it from shopee with my own money.. seriously this moisturizer i love the most!! well the cost is quite expensive for me as student. 😞

This product is housed in a light green plastic jar. It comes with a lid without a spatula. You either use your own spatula or just scoop it with your fingers. What I like about this product is its ultra-lightweight water in gel texture that absorbs instantly into skin. After applying, your skin will feel cool, velvety and moist. It is not greasy or feathery light and will not block pores too.

It has nice scent that smells like combination of lemon and i have been using Hada Labo Hydrating Water Gel every day for 2 years. My skin had improve a lot and not cause break out.

It is available only at drugstore such as Watson and guardian, wellness, etc..

oh yeah.. the ingredient! i don't have the packaging right now so i copy this from another blog. (sorry..)

Water, Alcohol, Glycerin, Niacinamide, Butylene Glycol, Water / Butylene Glycol / Portulaca Oleracea Extract / Soluble Collagen / Xanthan Gum / Sodium Hyaluronate / Cnidium Officinale Root Extract / Pueraria,Thunbergiana Root Extract / Glycyrrhiza Glabra (LICORICE) Root Extract / Paeonia Lactiflora Root Extract / Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice / Phenoxyethanol, Water / Butylene Glycol / Arctium Lappa Root Extract / Phellinus Linteus, Extract / Phenoxyethanol, 1,2-Hexanediol, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Dimethicone /Dimethiconol, Isononyl Isononanoate, Glycerin / Butylene Glycol / Water / Piper Methysticum Leaf/Root/Stem Extract /Hydrogenated Lecithin / 1,2-Hexanediol, Dimethicone, Phenoxyethanol, Tromethamine, Citrus Medica Limonum (LEMON) Peel Oil / Citrus Aurantium Bergamia (BERGAMOT) Fruit Oil / Citrus Grandis (GRAPEFRUIT) Peel Oil / Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (ORANGE) Peel Oil / Pelargonium Graveolens Flower Oil / Cedrus Atlantica Bark Oil / Cananga Odorata Flower Oil / Cymbopogon Nardus (CITRONELLA) Oil / Illicium Verum (ANISE) Fruit/Seed Oil / Eugenia, Caryophyllus (CLOVE) Leaf Oil / Anthemis Nobilis Flower Oil / Jasminum Officinale (JASMINE) Oil / Santalum Album (SANDALWOOD) Oil / Ferula Galbaniflua (GALBANUM) Resin Oil / Rose Flower Oil, Betaine, Water / Butylene,Glycol / Hydrogenated Lecithin / Panthenol / Raffinose / Folic Acid / Ceramide 3 / Cholesterol /Phenoxyethanol / Tromethamine / Palmitoyl Pentapeptide-4, Ethylhexylglycerin, Xanthan Gum, Adenosine, Sodium Hyaluronate, (Large-size HA), Sodium Hyaluronate（Medium-size HA), Hydrolyzed Hyaluronic Acid (Nano HA), Tocopheryl Acetate, Hydrogenated Phosphatidylcholine, Isostearyl Isostearate, Cholesterol, Inulin Lauryl Carbamate, Tocopheryl Linoleate, Sodium Acetylated Hyaluronate(Super HA), Ceramide 3, Potassium Cetyl Phosphate, CI 42090

This product uses a lot of ingredients, but main ones are the basic water, alcohol, glycerin, niacinamide, and butylene glycol. NIACINAMIDE. Take a note guys.. niacinamide is good ingredient for oily skin and prone-skin. Also known as vitamin B3 and nicotinamide, niacinamide is a water-soluble vitamin that works with the natural substances in your skin to help visibly minimize enlarged pores, tighten lax pores, improve uneven skin tone, soften fine lines and wrinkles, diminish dullness, and strengthen a weakened surface.

If you want to have a glass skin too like korean make sure you have product with niacinamide, okay? 😜

While it is important to hone in on the moisturizer for your skin type, there’s also a correct way to apply it. Follow this order: Acne medications go on first, topped with a moisturizer, then sunscreen, and finally makeup if you choose to wear it, says Dr. Kauvar. However, if you use a retinoid-based product to control acne (like tretinoin or adapalene), apply these over a moisturizer or mixed with one to lessen irritation, she advises.

okay next is another moisturizer than Hada Labo Water Gel. I suggest you all try one set from papulex and eucerin. those product are very good for oily skin and prone skin. That is all for today! wish you all have a beautiful skin. Aminn

Mei 30, 2020 No comments

Time flies so fast. It's already past 10 years when i went to Mecca. Uhuk! I missed it badly. Let's flashback to the start. hmm..

I lived at school hostel back then and i rarely back home maybe 1 or two times in 2 months. Well that's not important. What i want to tell you the first day i back home after a long time, I was curious when i saw many begs on my parents's bed and after my dad gave us (me and my big brother) explanation. i was like "seriously? okay".

Maybe you all got excited if you suddenly got a visa and you be informed that you will board a plane to the holy place but me? I was scared.. really scared cause i heard from my unties's stories many-many times when she back from that place "There is holy place. If you did bad things, you will be punished on the spot". yeah i'm a bad girl. I admit it.

To make it short. We already reached Makkah and when I was about to get off the bus, I shivered and kept praying in my heart. "o Allah.. forgive me. I admit i'm wrong. please accept me as your guest" cause i think i would be faint or comas for a long time if i set my foot on the ground but what happened next? nothing! I was relieved until i smiled like crazy girl. ahaha.

When i saw Makkah for the first time. I was speechless. There are many people around the world with the huge crowds in Makkah, My mom always kept my hand. She worried if she lost of me but honestly i don't like people hold my hands and that time i'm not in good relationship with her. Usually i tried to let go of her hand but that time i let her? That was strange!

And what else?oh yeah..Have you ever seen a man change his attitude suddenly? it happened to my family. Before we went to Mecca, I always raised voices with them. It all happened after my grandpa passed away but after we went to Makkah, My family changed 100%.. even though I made a small mistake, they suddenly became hot temper and i ? i kept talking in my head "what's wrong with these people?".

Do you guys understand? we like swapped our behavior and attitude.

i yang jenis panas baran bertukar jadi pendiam dan mereka yang jenis tak lah suka tinggikan suara tetiba jadi bengis dan panas baran. It happened everyday and night during Umrah! but that was strange that i don't feel like i want to mad or angry at all. strange! really weird!

Okay keep going. Next Madinah. When i saw madinah infront of my eyes, i was so sad. "I'm here? this is not dream,right? I'm here! finally here! o my prophet, i can meet you!". I will tell you guys one of my big secrets. I don't like to share this with my family cause they will think i'm crazy but is okay to share this in this blog. haha. When i was staying in madinah. I'll find some quiet place and away from my family just want to talk to myself. Actually i talked with my prophet. There are lot stories i shared with him. I told him what happened to me after my grandpa (tok abah) died and why i changed from a good daughter to a bad daughter and what happened to my family that time. All of them without missed. lol.

After 12 days, we ready to left and my family's attitude torward me same like that but i don't mind it. I raised my hands to the tomb of the prophet Muhammad and say "see you. Hope we can meet again" so yeah we back to our country, Malaysia. The end.

Questions:

Do my family still like that? the answer is no. Two weeks after we back from Umrah, they became normal and we forgave each other. They said they are not understand what happened. wuuuu... macam kena rasuk! haha and i'm not a same person as before. I don't like to raised my voice anymore but don't try to mad me angry. Even nicest person's patience has a limit ^^

What i mostly wished for during Mecca?
i wished i die at that place but i'm still alive until now 😂

okay guys.. wait for another post okay.. let me think first what i want to write.lol

Madinah

Makkah

Tomb of Prophet Muhammad

Mei 30, 2020 No comments

BY-ANIL from lemongrad.com

It turns out that selflessness is the easiest way to save you from ...

You think you’re studying/ working ten hours a day.

What if I tell you, you aren’t.

You may be putting in hours by the clock, but the output – and that’s what matters, right? – may be equivalent of just four hours of focused study/ work.

High-achievers know this difference.

Albert Einstein (sorry, he was super-high-achiever!) knew how to get most of his hours.

At ETH Institute, Zurich, Einstein worked with mathematician Marcel Grossman. When he became convinced that non-Euclidean math (studied by Grossman) was the way to account for gravity in his work on relativity, he went whole hog. He worked incredibly hard for three years on the subject and eventually published his theory of relativity, widely regarded as one of the greatest scientific accomplishments of twentieth century, in the year 1915.

Well, he was lucky too. There were far fewer distractions then. (Imagine, scientists still working on what Einstein accomplished more than a century back, because Einstein had a mobile phone!)

Peter Higgs, the theoretical physicist who won 2013 Nobel Prize for his work on mass of subatomic particles (remember, Higgs Boson!), works in such isolation that journalists couldn’t find him after he won the Nobel Prize. He has no computer. No email. And he answers the phone only when he knows who is calling.

J.K Rowling was largely absent from social media when she wrote her Harry Potter novels.

No distractions. Deep focus. That’s how you produce great work.

In this post, I’ll cover what you lose from distractions (it’s far, far more than what most of us realize) and steps you can take to be more focused. The biggest reason why people fall to distractions is lack of interest in the stuff they’re doing, and that lack of interest largely emanates from absence of an overarching ‘why’ (or the purpose) that can kindle their interest, motivate them.

Because lack of interest is such an important reason leading to distractions, I’ll start with it. But before that, let’s quickly look at how much can distractions drain your schedule. It may surprise you.

How distractions affect your study?

According to a University of California-Irvine study, it can take, on average, nearly 20 minutes to get back to the earlier level after an interruption.

Yes, that quick reply to a text can set you back by several minutes, and just count how many distractions you heap on yourself during your most productive hours. That’s an important reason why at the end of the day you wonder why you achieved so much less than what you aimed for in the morning.

To give an analogy, if you’re driving on a highway with no speed-breakers, you’ll maintain your peak speed almost throughout the journey. But if you face speed-breakers, your average speed will go down significantly, because a speed-breaker forces you to slow down to almost zero before you accelerate back to your top speed. The speed-breaker may be just two feet across and the combined width of all of them on your journey may be less than 0.01 percent of the total distance you cover, but it’ll increase your journey time by as much as 20-30 percent.

Distractions do something similar. Few, innocuously short disruptions in your schedule reduce your productivity by lot. And it can affect animals too (duration: 1:53 minutes):

Let’s jump right into some of the steps you can take to study without getting distracted.

(Note: if you routinely find it difficult to get started on tasks, then you’re likely procrastinating, which you need to control additionally.)

How to concentrate on studies without getting distracted?

1. Find your ‘why’

Fighting distractions: find out your whyLack of motivation. Lack of interest. Lack of purpose.

Call it whatever you want to, but it’s the single biggest and pivotal factor behind most distractions.

Do you think Roger Federer gets distracted in his practice sessions? (BTW, he too found it difficult to put in long sessions early on in his career, and back then he used to admire Mirka’s – whom he married later on – work ethic.)

Do you get distracted when you’re watching YouTube videos? Are you coaxed into playing video games or surfing Facebook?

“Son, I haven’t seen you checking Facebook for a week now. Are you alright?”

Sounds weird, right?

You don’t procrastinate when you’ve to play video games. You’re already on to these things big time on your own because they interest you. And when it comes to things that matter to your academic and professional future, it’s the opposite. You’re disinterested.

That’s the fundamental reason why you get distracted so easily.

So how do you motivate yourself for less interesting, but important, matters such as academics?

Think of why you’re doing what you’re doing. (In most cases, you already know the answer.) For example, if you’re a high school student, you know that getting good grades and excelling in competitive exams, among other things, are important for you to get admission in your desired college, which is an important step toward achieving your career goals. And compare the answer with the contrasting result. So in this case, the two contrasting scenarios could be:

If you get admission to your desired college, you’ve a strong chance to achieve your short-term career goals and to be financially independent

If you don’t get admission to your desired college, you may not be able to achieve your short-term career goals, and hence your current situation may prolong

This contrast should be at the top of your mind. You should even write it down, and put it on the bathroom mirror and walls where you see it so many times every day that it becomes part of your conscious mind.

This (study) is just one of several motivational challenges we face every day. You could be struggling to motivate yourself to work harder to become a better tennis player or learn a new skill or lose weight.

Whatever the goal is, find your ‘why’, and compare the two potential contrasting results – success and failure.

And, in your daily schedule, few minutes before you sit down to work on a task, remind yourself of the contrast (the ‘why’, in other words) and where the next hour will take you in that direction. That connection between what you’re about to do and your ‘why’ will keep your interest level higher than usual.

Do the same when you’re losing momentum.

2. Wage war on distractions from phone and digital media

avoid digital distractionsDistractions from phones and digital media have taken an almost epidemic proportion. And worse, they can distract us so easily: just a click.

It’s not that we don’t realize the deleterious effect of digital noise on our productivity. We do. Yet, we don’t escape.

Here are few steps you can take to limit digital distractions during your productive sessions:

Bury the phone: Turn your phone to silent mode, and bury it under the pillow or dump it in a drawer.

Get off the internet: Either pull the plug on internet or use browser extensions such as StayFocused to nuke the internet or study at a place with no access to internet. I use StayFocused, and it has worked wonderfully for me. I can tell you from my experience that once you know that you’re off internet for few hours, your mind adjusts to the new reality, and the deprivation turns out to be much less painful than we think. I started with blocking internet for 30 minutes, and now I routinely block it for eight hours (if I don’t need internet for my work) at a stretch. Just as you build physical muscles through practice in gym, you can build anti-internet muscles too through practice.

It’s not as tough as you think. Just start small.

Keep only one project open: If you’re working on a computer, keep only the bare minimum files and tabs open. Close everything else. This will keep you on just one thing, and make you less likely to fall to distractions.

Read your favorite articles through a reader service: Instead of checking and rechecking your favorite websites for the latest article, read them through a reader service such as Feedly, which pulls in all the articles to an inbox-type format as and when they’re published. This format allows you to access all the articles from one webpage.

If we check our devices once in few hours, then digital distraction wouldn’t be the menace it is. The problem is we can’t resist checking and rechecking them every few minutes for the fear of missing out on something important. Many, in fact, get anxious if they’re separated from their devices for long (recall the time when you faced hours of separation from your phone). This fear of missing on something important is completely unfounded and irrational, and can be shed by gradually increasing your period of digital abstinence.

3. Avoid multi-tasking

Avoid multitaskingMulti-tasking is one of the biggest distracters for youngsters.

Three researchers divided around 100 Stanford undergrad students into two groups – heavy multitaskers and light multitaskers of media sources (internet, electronic documents, texting, and so on) – and asked them to concentrate on a problem, simultaneously introducing lots of distractions. (Heavy multitaskers of media sources are the types with dozens of browser tabs and few other projects open. Light multitaskers, on the other hand, have much less digital clutter on their devices at any point.)

The researchers expected heavy multitaskers to have better focus on the given problem amidst multiple distractions. After all, they’re the ones who are much more used to distractions. But, surprisingly, light multitaskers did better. On every attentional test that the researchers gave, light multitaskers did better, sometimes significantly. To quote Anthony Wagner, one of the researchers in the study:

When they’re [students] in situations where there are multiple sources of information coming from the external world or emerging out of memory, they’re not able to filter out what’s not relevant to their current goal. That failure to filter means they’re slowed down by that irrelevant information.

So if a person is multitasking on three tasks (math assignment, chatting, and internet surfing), she is getting information from all the three sources – and memory – even though she may be in this moment working on the assignment. This failure to filter out information from the other two sources slows her down.

That’s the problem.

Human minds have evolved to pay attention to one task at a time. When you’re multitasking, you’re essentially switching (your attention) back and forth between those tasks, which is nothing but huge distraction. John Medina, a leading authority on brain study and founding director of two brain research institutes, in his book Brain Rules, says:

The brain is a sequential processor, unable to pay attention to two things at the same time. Businesses and schools praise multitasking, but research clearly shows that it reduces productivity and increases mistakes.

You may be wondering at this stage, “How can I then walk and talk at the same time without compromising on any of them?”

In those few cases of multitasking where one does fine on both the tasks, one of the tasks is automated in your long-term memory. In the aforesaid example, you can walk and talk at the same time without compromising on any of the two, because walking is automated and you’ve to pay attention to only talking. Try talking and watching TV. You’ll compromise on both.

You can multitask, of course, but you can’t pay attention to more than one thing at a time. And it’s attention (you may also call it focus) that gets things done.

In essence, multitasking is an extreme form of distraction wherein you’re getting distracted every few minutes as you switch between tasks. Avoid it. You’ll achieve much less when you read and surf internet intermittently for an hour than when you take one task after the other sequentially for the same duration. And stop admiring your friends who seem to be multitasking so effortlessly. In reality, they’re working subpar.

4. Maintain a distraction sheet

When professional writers write, they only write. They don’t pause even to look for a small piece of missing information, which would take just a minute or two to search. If, for example, they find that they’re missing an important statistic, they won’t pause and start searching it, because it’ll be a distraction from the main task of writing. (Remember, how each distraction can set you back by several minutes.) Instead, they’ll leave a placeholder at the point where the stat was to be used, continue writing, and come back to the placeholder when they’re done with writing. (My placeholders are square brackets. An example: [Insert stat on digital distraction])

You should do something similar when you’re at work. In the middle of your session, if you recall that you’ve to pay your phone bill today, then don’t drift to your mobile service provider’s website. Note the task down on a sheet of paper (also called distraction sheet), and continue with your work. If you get the urge to check Leonardo Dicaprio’s age, just note it down in the distraction sheet, and continue working. In short, don’t chase random thoughts. Your motto should be ‘be here now’.

The act of noting down these distractions will free your mind of them, and you can focus solely on the task at hand. And once you’re done with the session, you can accomplish the tasks you noted in the distraction list. Simple, right?

5. Control worries and unwanted thoughts

Fighting distractions: control unwanted thoughts and worriesSo many things become so automated in our lives that we don’t even realize when they creep in, when they leave, and what consequences they heap on us. One such is unwanted thoughts: worries (‘what if I don’t score 90 percent’), unpleasant experiences (‘why did he say this to me’), and plain random thoughts or daydreaming (‘what about South Africa for my next holiday’).

Such unwanted thoughts can creep in anytime, often in the middle of a productive session, pulling your attention away from the task at hand. This is nothing but distraction.

How can you control such thoughts?

Become aware of the thought: As I said earlier, sometimes we get so used to things – good and bad – that we’re not even cognizant that something has taken us over. So, first of all, the moment an unwanted thought strikes, recognize it immediately. That’s awareness.

Note it down in your distraction sheet: Once you know that an unwanted thought has struck you, note it down in your distraction sheet (covered earlier).

Deal with the thoughts after the session is done.

After the session, for each of your thoughts, ask yourself: ‘is this going to matter a year from now?’

If the answer is ‘no’, then dump the thought then and there, and if it’s ‘yes’, then deal with it.

For example, if you’re bedeviled by the worry of not getting 90 percent in a subject, and if the answer to aforesaid question is ‘yes’, then deal with it. How do you deal with it? By being better prepared. Period. There is no other way. Worry and anxiety won’t get you the desired result. They can in fact affect your result adversely.

If someone’s comments are disturbing you, then the answer to the aforesaid question in most cases will be ‘no’. People say and do all sort of things, and many times we attach more meaning to those words or actions than even they intended. And many times the person doesn’t even matter to us. Drop the thought then and there, if the answer is ‘no’. If you accumulate such thoughts even for few days, you’re burdening yourself with mental distress and loss of focus, which will take much heavier toll than those ‘disparaging’ comments. And if the answer is a rare ‘yes’, then meet the person and clarify.

Now this may sound overly simplistic, but solutions to big problems typically are simple. The challenge lies in showing the discipline to train your mind to follow the process so that in due course you tackle unwanted thoughts in auto-pilot mode. Don’t you focus more when you’re learning something new? And then in due course, the steps become automated. Think driving.

6. Match your energy with the difficulty of the task

If you start your day with easy stuff and leave the difficult part for later in the day, you’re likely to fall to pleasurable distractions such as YouTube when you come to the difficult part.

Difficult tasks are more susceptible to distractions. Therefore, take them up early in the day when you’re most productive. (If you’re more productive at some other time of the day, feel free to take difficult tasks on then.)

7. Take one step at a time on difficult projects

Have you started with something difficult for your ability, and then within no time reached out to your phone? That’s common.

Difficult tasks are more prone to distractions because they’re, for obvious reasons, painful. And when we feel pain, our natural tendency is to seek pleasure (examples: Facebook and YouTube), which is nothing but distraction.

So, if a task is steep jump, proceed gradually. If you attempt too many things in one session, you’re likely to fall to distractions.

8. Distract yourself to not get distracted

Don’t give up on distractions, because you can’t. Can you give up watching TV or YouTube? Of course not!

You only need to bunch them together instead of spreading them through the day especially during your productive sessions.

So, schedule distractions.

After you’ve put in few sessions of undistracted work, go and satisfy your urge to surf the internet, text, and chat. Club them all together and finish them, preferably, in a 30-odd minute session. Once done, start your next chain of undistracted sessions. In short, create a Chinese wall between the two types of sessions, with no leakages of course.

9. Few minor things

Last, there are few logistical, easy-to-achieve things that will help you stay focused:

Pick a distraction-free space such as library to study. If you’re studying at home, make the room as much distraction-proof as possible and set the right expectation among friends & family about your availability.

Eat stuff that helps you sustain energy. Otherwise, you’ll fatigue fast and become easy fodder for distractions.

Take a short 5-10 minute break every 50-odd minutes to regain your focus. Poor focus will make you more prone to distractions.

How do you put it all together in practice?

How do you put it in practiceThe fundamental to working distraction-free is to work in sessions.

You set the timer running to start the session, and, once started, you religiously fend off all distractions. No phone. No internet. No breaks. And no winks or smiles at your friend across the table (I’ve seen this happening in libraries). During the session, you’ve to focus only on the task at hand. Nothing else. You may employ some of the methods we’ve covered till now to make your session distraction-free.

“But I find it difficult to work for long duration without getting distracted. What do I do?”

If you’re not used to sitting tight, focusing on one thing, then start with 30-minute sessions. Yes, just 30 minutes. That’s short. And if you can’t manage even that, start with even shorter sessions. Idea is to start with something that you can’t fail in.

Once you’ve few successful sessions behind you, increase the duration by 5 (or, maybe, 10) minutes. Get used to the new normal, and then again increase it by 5 minutes. Eventually, settle the duration at around 50 minutes, if you can. (After 50 minutes or so, our focus starts waning. Therefore, one should take a 5-10 minute break every 50-odd minutes.) If you can’t handle 50 minutes in a go, then a shorter duration is fine too. Let it take weeks if it takes that long to reach the level. It’s normal. (Weightlifters don’t start with 80 kg weights. They start much smaller.) When you increase in small increments, you make the habit last.

Such sessions will get work done. Pseudo-sessions won’t. (That’s why some students who study only five hours a day achieve more than those who put in ten. Hours don’t matter. Attention does.) Pull off few such sessions every day, and you’re on track.

Conclusion

Lack of distraction-free, focused work is one of the most important reasons – and the sole reason for majority – why you get so little done every day and why you lag despite putting in so many hours.

Avoiding distractions is not easy, but is doable. (Remember, most distractions are a result of plain bad habits, and they can be shed or controlled like any other bad habits.) Like any skill, this too requires practice and discipline to attain mastery, and the way is through sessions.

Start small: 30-odd-minute sessions and few sessions per day. And after few weeks, clock longer sessions and more sessions per day.

This is absolutely worth trying… and mastering because you’ll gain a huge arbitrage over others in a world where distraction is the norm. And it’ll serve you well lifelong because, unlike the industrial economy of yesteryears where few had to perform tasks requiring deep thinking, in the knowledge economy of today much larger section of the workforce has to perform such tasks. And the trend will accentuate in future.

Remember, social media and other pleasurable distractions won’t pay your bills. Meaningful work will.

Mei 30, 2020 No comments

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