Bad Habits…3 Brain Rewiring Methods

Is your constant procrastinating starting to affect your productivity? Does binge eating leave you feeling guilty and hating yourself? Perhaps your obsession with social media or playing video games is starting to affect your family relationships. Whatever it is, a bad habit can become extremely debilitating – and over time, some habits can become serious addictions.
The Good news is that by rewiring your brain, you can regain control of your life and overcome your bad habits.
Rewiring the brain simply means training your brain’s neurotransmitters to stop responding to triggers that cause negative behaviors. Behaviors become habits when neural pathways are created in your brain when you consistently respond to a certain trigger. However, these neural pathways are not permanent. They can diminish and disappear altogether if replaced with new pathways.
The following three methods will explain how this can be done and will help you start rewiring your brain.

Bad Habits…3 Brain Rewiring Methods

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1. Redirect your reward triggers with aerobics
When we satisfy our craving for pizza and ice cream, we feel good – at least for a while. Telling yourself that, “I have plenty of time to get it done later, you feel reassured and in control. Your brain is rewarding you for your binge eating and procrastination. It has learned that this behavior makes you feel good and therefore, is beneficial for you.
The brain rewards us by releasing dopamine, commonly known as the “feel-good” hormone. The best way to break a bad habit is to replace the negative behavior that releases dopamine with a positive one.
Several research studies have shown that aerobic exercise is one of the best triggers of dopamine release. Aerobic exercise floods your body with dopamine, giving you feelings of accomplishment and pleasure.
With regular aerobic exercise, you can shift your brain’s neural pathways so that you are rewarded for different behavior. This will make it easier to avoid negative habits and gradually overcome them altogether.

2. Schedule daily tasks
Believe it or not, scheduling your daily tasks can regulate the release of dopamine by the brain. The trick is to make a daily to-do list with short tasks that can be accomplished and crossed off (break up longer tasks into two or three smaller steps).
The secret is to continue crossing off accomplished tasks throughout the day. The sense of pleasure and reward you feel will make it so much easier to not smoke that cigarette or give in to a craving – because you already feel rewarded!
Over time, your brain will learn to associate the accomplished tasks with something that is good for you. Moreover, accomplishing scheduled tasks throughout the day will keep dopamine flowing through your body so that you are less likely to engage in bad habits.
3. Structure your Lifestyle
The Ultradian Rhythm is a process by which our brain releases dopamine at regular times throughout the day. You can regulate this process simply by structuring activities like mealtimes, exercise times and bedtimes to create a consistent cycle of dopamine release.
Research suggests that a structured lifestyle can regulate the release of dopamine at consistent times throughout the day, keeping you motivated to continue practicing healthier habits. By synchronizing healthy habits (regular, balanced meals and a healthy bedtime routine) with the release of dopamine, you are less likely to revisit old, negative habits.

Bad Habits…3 Brain Rewiring Methods

Ongoing research is beginning to confirm that the secret of overcoming bad habits lies in the feelings of pleasure they give us. Rewiring your brain to associate pleasurable feelings with positive habits is the secret to success.
Start using these three powerful tools today and give them some time to work. Remember, old habits die hard – but die they will if you are committed and persistent!

2 Super Secrets to Rewire Your Brain for Maximum Productivity

Today, technology offers us a vast array of time-saving tools and gadgets to help us save time and effort. These are marketed as productivity-booster and efficiency enhancers – but are they really?
The real source of your productivity is your brain. All the tools in the world are useless if your brain is just not “wired” for optimum productivity. The problem may lie in your brain‘s ability to stay alert, focused and motivated. There can be many reasons for this but the biggest culprit by far is stress, followed by your environment. This is where brain rewiring comes in.
By rewiring your brain, with these two simple methods, you will be amazed. They will have a huge impact on your productivity:

2 Super Secrets to Rewire Your Brain for Maximum Productivity

Method #1:  Rewire to redirect stress
Nothing kills productivity faster than an overstressed brain. Stress affects us negatively on so many levels, physical and mental.

• It affects blood flow to the brain and slows down the cerebral cortex
• It fogs thinking and decreases our ability to focus.
• It can greatly affect our judgment and our ability to make the right decision
• Severe stress triggers the “fight and flight” response, where we tend to react to situations emotionally rather than rationally.

This powerful method for redirecting stress is called MIR (Measure, Interrupt, Replace). Here’s how it works:

• Whenever you become aware of stress you are aware of stress, the first thing you do is measure whether it is mild, moderate or severe.
• Immediately interrupt your brain’s thought mode before it triggers a stress response, such as anger,  a rash decision, or a feeling of being overwhelmed.
• Immediately replace the stress reaction with another action. This could be a deep breath, laughter or a 5-minute time out where you engage in a relaxing activity. You should redirect your response depending on your stress level. In cases of extreme stress for example, a brisk walk or a few minutes of meditation or deep breathing will work better than laughter.
• Responding positively to stress releases the feel-good hormone dopamine into your brain and reduces the release of stress hormones.

Always redirect your response to stress in these positive ways.
Note: You will need to repeat this exercise intentionally at least 200 times before your mind becomes rewired and begins to respond this way automatically – and voila! You have rewired your brain to beat stress in almost any situation!

2 Super Secrets to Rewire Your Brain for Maximum Productivity

Method #2:  Consider a change in lighting
This may be surprising to you but the lighting in your workspace or home environment affects your cognitive processes. The following steps can boost your brainpower and productivity:

• Blue lighting boosts your brain energy during the daytime, so make sure you are using blue light in your office or workspace.
• Get rid of fluorescent lighting immediately. Your brain detects and processes the speed at which it flickers, and this saps your brain of energy. A tired brain results in diminished cognitive function.
• Expose yourself to natural light as much as you can. Research has found that natural light has tremendous physical and mental regenerative properties.
• Use Blue lighting in your bathroom to start your day with a powerful energy boost to your brain.

Conclusion
It’s not surprising that rewiring your brain  is becoming hugely popular. It costs nothing, it can be done by anyone and the results are guaranteed.
Becoming more productive has nothing to do with external tools and devices. It’s about rewiring your brain to deal efficiently with any situation. Start practicing these two methods today and enjoy the results!