Archive for September 30, 2011

30 Sep 2011

Medscape Article – Not All Memory Complaints Signal Trouble

This is a very technical article, but good information that could put older adults minds at rest regarding expectable sorts of memory issues, vs. those memory symptoms which could signal a more serious problem. – Molly Allen, PsyD

From Medscape Medical News > Neurology

Not All Memory Complaints Signal Trouble

Megan Brooks

September 29, 2011 — The type and number of older patients’ memory complaints can be useful in helping to decide whether follow-up cognitive assessment is warranted, new research suggests.

“Some complaints are more worrisome for cognitive decline, such as difficulty following a conversation due to memory and getting lost in familiar surroundings, whereas others, such as forgetting things from one second to the next (eg, walking into a room and forgetting why), reflect normal aging,” Rebecca England Amariglio, PhD, told Medscape Medical News.

Dr. Rebecca England Amariglio

In her research, Dr. Amariglio, a neuropsychologist from the Division of Cognitive and Behavioral Neurology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, and colleagues has also found that the more complaints a patient has, the more likely they are to have cognitive problems.

Their research was published online September 15 in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

Specific Complaints Have Specific Meaning

Dr. Amariglio and colleagues used the cognitive function subcohort of the Nurses’ Health Study to determine whether the type and number of subjective memory complaints is related to performance on objective cognitive tests. They asked 16,964 women the following 7 questions about subjective memory complaints previously found to be useful in patients with possible cognitive impairment:

Have you recently experienced any change in your ability to remember things? [Change in Memory]
Do you have more trouble than usual remembering a short list of items, such as a shopping list? [Short List]
Do you have trouble remembering things from one second to the next one? [One Second to the Next]
Do you have much more trouble than usual remembering recent events? [Recent Events]
Do you have any difficulty in understanding or following spoken instructions? [Understanding Instructions]
Do you have more trouble than usual following a group conversation or plot in a TV program because of your memory? [Following a Conversation]
Do you have trouble finding your way around familiar streets? [Getting Lost]

After gaining insight into the women’s subjective memory complaints, the researchers administered a battery of standard cognitive tests. The average age of the women was 74 years, and 98% of the participants were white.

Overall, 27% of women reported no subjective memory complaints, 53% reported 1 or 2, and 7% reported 4 or more. “Change in Memory” was the most common complaint, reported by 56% of the women, followed by the “Short List” complaint (29%) and the “One Second to the Next” complaint (25%). As expected in these generally healthy women, very few reported the “Getting Lost” complaint (<2%).

After adjusting for age and depressive symptoms and mutually adjusting each subjective memory complaint for all of the others, suggestions of specific associations were found between several complaints and impaired performance on individual cognitive measures.

For example, the “Getting Lost” complaint, which is indicative of dementia, was strongly associated with cognitive impairment, as expected, whereas the “One Second to the Next” complaint, which is associated with normal aging, was not related to cognitive impairment on any objective test.

Table. Memory Complaint and Risk for Impairment on Specific Cognitive Tests

Complaint	TICS, Odds Ratio (95% CI)	Delayed Recall, Odds Ratio (95% CI)	Semantic Fluency, Odds Ratio (95% CI)	Confrontation Naming, Odds Ratio (95% CI)
Change in Memory	1.16 (1.05 – 1.29)	1.35 (1.22 – 1.49)	1.05 (0.95 – 1.16)	1.29 (1.07 – 1.55)
Short List	1.23 (1.11 – 1.37)	1.18 (1.07 – 1.30)	0.98 (0.89 – 1.09)	1.01 (0.84 – 1.21)
One Second to Next	1.00 (0.89 – 1.11)	0.96 (0.87 – 1.07)	0.94 (0.84 – 1.05)	1.01 (0.83 – 1.23)
Recent Events	1.11 (0.99 – 1.26)	1.24 (1.11 – 1.39)	1.08 (0.96 – 1.22)	1.08 (0.87 – 1.33)
Instructions	1.31 (1.13 – 1.53)	1.16 (1.00 – 1.34)	1.28 (1.09 – 1.50)	1.21 (0.93 – 1.58)
Conversations	1.37 (1.15 – 1.64)	1.42 (1.20 – 1.68)	1.35 (1.13 – 1.62)	1.62 (1.22 – 2.16)
Getting Lost	2.22 (1.68 – 2.93)	2.15 (1.65 – 2.82)	1.71 (1.26 – 2.30)	2.55 (1.69 – 3.85)

TICS = Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status

CI = Confidence Interval

More Is Worse

In general, the more memory complaints a person had, the worse off their cognitive functioning was. Overall, when cognitive impairment was defined using the TICS or delayed recall, there was a roughly 20% greater likelihood of impairment with each additional subjective memory complaint.

For example, compared with participants with no memory complaints, the odds ratio for cognitive impairment on the TICS ranged from 1.19 (95% CI, 1.04 – 1.37) in women with 2 complaints to 4.34 (95% CI, 2.81 – 6.70) in women with 6 or 7 complaints.

For delayed recall, there was a significant increase in cognitive impairment beginning in participants with 1 subjective memory complaint, with odds ratios ranging from 1.33 (95% CI, 1.17 – 1.51) in those participants with 1 complaint to 4.95 (95% CI, 3.24 – 7.59) in those with 6 or 7 complaints.

These associations remained strong after adjusting for age and depressive symptoms.

Subjective Memory Complaints “Often Dismissed”

These findings, note Dr. Amariglio and colleagues, show that the quantity and type of subjective memory complaints appear to have “robust and sensible” relationships to cognitive measures.

They also suggest that physicians “should not discount subjective memory complaints of older patients because they may help to target individuals who require further cognitive examination,” the authors write.

In comments to Medscape Medical News, Dr. Amariglio encouraged clinicians to “listen for the types of memory complaints of their patients. Our results do not suggest complaints can replace cognitive testing, but rather they are a red flag that can alert clinicians to follow-up themselves or refer to a specialist.”

Reached for comment, Beth Snitz, PhD, assistant professor, Department of Neurology, University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, who was not involved in the study, said, “It’s a significant study because the extremely large cohort (nearly 17,000 participants) shows a convincing picture of the systematic relationship between the number of subjective memory complaints and an increasing risk for cognitive impairment in older adults.

“Subjective complaints are often been dismissed by many healthcare professionals as signs of depression, stress, or simply a component of normal aging,” she noted. “But population-level evidence like the present study indicates that cognitive complaints in older adults confer a small but significant risk for current impairment and/or future decline. Querying about subjective concerns will likely have a role to play in primary care cognitive screening,” Dr. Snitz said.

The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health. The authors and Dr. Snitz have disclosed no relevant financial relationships.

J Am Geriatr Soc. 2011;59:1612-1617. Published online September 15, 2011. Abstract

MollyAllen | No comments

28 Sep 2011

Articles • Productivity

World of Psychology Article: 5 Effective Ways to Curb Clutter

While we say that that we know no one is perfect, we often laugh off our bad habits, instead of taking responsibility for working towards the life that we want. Taking the steps to create a peaceful physical environment at home is one step towards true happiness. – Molly Allen, PsyD

5 Effective Ways To Curb Clutter

By Margarita Tartakovsky, M.S.

5 Effective Ways To Curb Clutter For most of us, organizing is a chore. A big, scary chore we put off for weeks, months or maybe even years. We employ a variety of avoidance tactics. Some of us don’t go in to that messy room in our house. Or we throw random items in a closet and pretend they don’t exist (and neither does the closet). Or we walk a different direction so we don’t come face to face with a pile of paperwork, a buildup of boxes or a clutter of unused cords.

Why do we have such a hard time with organization? As Erin Doland, editor-in-chief of the widely popular organization blog Unclutterer.com, said, “No one is naturally organized — we aren’t born with day planners in our hands. Being organized is a skill we learn, similar to tying our shoes and reading.” And some of us learn more slowly than others. According to Doland, it took her years to learn to be organized.

The other problem? Plain and simple, some of us just have a lot of stuff. “The more stuff you have, the longer it takes you to initially organize and maintain your systems,” said Doland, who’s also author of Unclutter Your Life in One Week. Below, Doland shares five effective tips for getting and staying organized.

1. Buddy up.

Just having a friend or family member next to you as you’re organizing can help keep you accountable, motivated and focused, Doland said. Does your sentimentality stop you from getting rid of stuff? If so, have the other person hold each item while you decide what to do with it. Research has shown, according to Doland, that “If you touch the item, you may form an irrational and stronger emotional bond to it.”

2. Time yourself.

The idea of an organizational overhaul is no doubt overwhelming. Plus, how many people really have several hours a day to devote to decluttering? Like any big project, breaking decluttering down into manageable bits helps. Doland suggested using a timer every day to organize. For instance, after having dinner every night, you “set a timer for 15 or 30 minutes and unclutter,” and stop after the timer goes off. While this won’t bring instant or dramatic results, “…over the weeks you’ll make significant progress.”

3. “Be well fed and well rested.”

It’s hard to think straight with little sleep, let alone have the energy to lift heavy boxes, find a place for things and want to get started in the first place. “Get a good night’s sleep and then eat healthful meals and snacks over the course of the day. When your brain and body are appropriately fueled, you’ll be surprised by how much work you can get done,” Doland said.

4. Create a routine based on your personality.

When it comes to curbing clutter, one size doesn’t fit all, Doland said. And it makes sense, because we have different personalities and preferences. That’s why it’s important to set up a routine around your own habits and behaviors.

In other words, “Know yourself, and create an organizing routine and system that reflect your personality.” Doland is a self-professed mess-maker. So she takes “30 minutes before bed each night to put things away, clear surfaces, and get the house ready for the next morning.”

If you leave dirty clothes everywhere, except in the laundry basket, “you might need more hampers — one in your closet, one in your bathroom, one in your bedroom — compared to someone who hits the hamper every time,” Doland said.

5. Make organization about more than having a tidy home.

Take advantage of being organized to create or enjoy something bigger. “Being organized and living without clutter aren’t the end game, they’re simply tools to help you achieve the life you desire,” Doland said. She added: “Don’t be organized or uncluttered for the sake of being organized or uncluttered — use these skills to allow you to spend more time with your family or volunteer at your favorite charity or whatever it is that matters most to you.”

MollyAllen | No comments

27 Sep 2011

Articles • Mind & Body • Weight Control

New York Times Article – Is Junk Food Really Cheaper?

As we deal with what appear to be common assumptions about our national obsession with convenience food, this is a fresh perspective on re-organizing our thinking and attitudes. – Molly Allen, PsyD

Op-Ed Columnist

Is Junk Food Really Cheaper?

By MARK BITTMAN

Published: September 24, 2011

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Daniel Borris for The New York Times

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This is just plain wrong. In fact it isn’t cheaper to eat highly processed food: a typical order for a family of four — for example, two Big Macs, a cheeseburger, six chicken McNuggets, two medium and two small fries, and two medium and two small sodas — costs, at the McDonald’s a hundred steps from where I write, about $28. (Judicious ordering of “Happy Meals” can reduce that to about $23 — and you get a few apple slices in addition to the fries!)

In general, despite extensive government subsidies, hyperprocessed food remains more expensive than food cooked at home. You can serve a roasted chicken with vegetables along with a simple salad and milk for about $14, and feed four or even six people. If that’s too much money, substitute a meal of rice and canned beans with bacon, green peppers and onions; it’s easily enough for four people and costs about $9. (Omitting the bacon, using dried beans, which are also lower in sodium, or substituting carrots for the peppers reduces the price further, of course.)

Another argument runs that junk food is cheaper when measured by the calorie, and that this makes fast food essential for the poor because they need cheap calories. But given that half of the people in this country (and a higher percentage of poor people) consume too many calories rather than too few, measuring food’s value by the calorie makes as much sense as measuring a drink’s value by its alcohol content. (Why not drink 95 percent neutral grain spirit, the cheapest way to get drunk?)

Besides, that argument, even if we all needed to gain weight, is not always true. A meal of real food cooked at home can easily contain more calories, most of them of the “healthy” variety. (Olive oil accounts for many of the calories in the roast chicken meal, for example.)In comparing prices of real food and junk food, I used supermarket ingredients, not the pricier organic or local food that many people would consider ideal. But food choices are not black and white; the alternative to fast food is not necessarily organic food, any more than the alternative to soda is Bordeaux.

The alternative to soda is water, and the alternative to junk food is not grass-fed beef and greens from a trendy farmers’ market, but anything other than junk food: rice, grains, pasta, beans, fresh vegetables, canned vegetables, frozen vegetables, meat, fish, poultry, dairy products, bread, peanut butter, a thousand other things cooked at home — in almost every case a far superior alternative.

“Anything that you do that’s not fast food is terrific; cooking once a week is far better than not cooking at all,” says Marion Nestle, professor of food studies at New York University and author of “What to Eat.” “It’s the same argument as exercise: more is better than less and some is a lot better than none.”

THE fact is that most people can afford real food. Even the nearly 50 million Americans who are enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly known as food stamps) receive about $5 per person per day, which is far from ideal but enough to survive. So we have to assume that money alone doesn’t guide decisions about what to eat. There are, of course, the so-called food deserts, places where it’s hard to find food: the Department of Agriculture says that more than two million Americans in low-income rural areas live 10 miles or more from a supermarket, and more than five million households without access to cars live more than a half mile from a supermarket.

Still, 93 percent of those with limited access to supermarkets do have access to vehicles, though it takes them 20 more minutes to travel to the store than the national average. And after a long day of work at one or even two jobs, 20 extra minutes — plus cooking time — must seem like an eternity.

Taking the long route to putting food on the table may not be easy, but for almost all Americans it remains a choice, and if you can drive to McDonald’s you can drive to Safeway. It’s cooking that’s the real challenge. (The real challenge is not “I’m too busy to cook.” In 2010 the average American, regardless of weekly earnings, watched no less than an hour and a half of television per day. The time is there.)

The core problem is that cooking is defined as work, and fast food is both a pleasure and a crutch. “People really are stressed out with all that they have to do, and they don’t want to cook,” says Julie Guthman, associate professor of community studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and author of the forthcoming “Weighing In: Obesity, Food Justice and the Limits of Capitalism.” “Their reaction is, ‘Let me enjoy what I want to eat, and stop telling me what to do.’ And it’s one of the few things that less well-off people have: they don’t have to cook.”

It’s not just about choice, however, and rational arguments go only so far, because money and access and time and skill are not the only considerations. The ubiquity, convenience and habit-forming appeal of hyperprocessed foods have largely drowned out the alternatives: there are five fast-food restaurants for every supermarket in the United States; in recent decades the adjusted for inflation price of fresh produce has increased by 40 percent while the price of soda and processed food has decreased by as much as 30 percent; and nearly inconceivable resources go into encouraging consumption in restaurants: fast-food companies spent $4.2 billion on marketing in 2009.

Furthermore, the engineering behind hyperprocessed food makes it virtually addictive. A 2009 study by the Scripps Research Institute indicates that overconsumption of fast food “triggers addiction-like neuroaddictive responses” in the brain, making it harder to trigger the release of dopamine. In other words the more fast food we eat, the more we need to give us pleasure; thus the report suggests that the same mechanisms underlie drug addiction and obesity.

This addiction to processed food is the result of decades of vision and hard work by the industry. For 50 years, says David A. Kessler, former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration and author of “The End of Overeating,” companies strove to create food that was “energy-dense, highly stimulating, and went down easy. They put it on every street corner and made it mobile, and they made it socially acceptable to eat anytime and anyplace. They created a food carnival, and that’s where we live. And if you’re used to self-stimulation every 15 minutes, well, you can’t run into the kitchen to satisfy that urge.”

Real cultural changes are needed to turn this around. Somehow, no-nonsense cooking and eating — roasting a chicken, making a grilled cheese sandwich, scrambling an egg, tossing a salad — must become popular again, and valued not just by hipsters in Brooklyn or locavores in Berkeley. The smart campaign is not to get McDonald’s to serve better food but to get people to see cooking as a joy rather than a burden, or at least as part of a normal life.

As with any addictive behavior, this one is most easily countered by educating children about the better way. Children, after all, are born without bad habits. And yet it’s adults who must begin to tear down the food carnival.

The question is how? Efforts are everywhere. The People’s Grocery in Oakland secures affordable groceries for low-income people. Zoning laws in Los Angeles restrict the number of fast-food restaurants in high-obesity neighborhoods. There’s the Healthy Food Financing Initiative, a successful Pennsylvania program to build fresh food outlets in underserved areas, now being expanded nationally. FoodCorps and Cooking Matters teach young people how to farm and cook.

As Malik Yakini, executive director of the Detroit Black Community Food Security Network, says, “We’ve seen minor successes, but the food movement is still at the infant stage, and we need a massive social shift to convince people to consider healthier options.”

HOW do you change a culture? The answers, not surprisingly, are complex. “Once I look at what I’m eating,” says Dr. Kessler, “and realize it’s not food, and I ask ‘what am I doing here?’ that’s the start. It’s not about whether I think it’s good for me, it’s about changing how I feel. And we change how people feel by changing the environment.”

Obviously, in an atmosphere where any regulation is immediately labeled “nanny statism,” changing “the environment” is difficult. But we’ve done this before, with tobacco. The 1998 tobacco settlement limited cigarette marketing and forced manufacturers to finance anti-smoking campaigns — a negotiated change that led to an environmental one that in turn led to a cultural one, after which kids said to their parents, “I wish you didn’t smoke.” Smoking had to be converted from a cool habit into one practiced by pariahs.

A similar victory in the food world is symbolized by the stories parents tell me of their kids booing as they drive by McDonald’s.

To make changes like this more widespread we need action both cultural and political. The cultural lies in celebrating real food; raising our children in homes that don’t program them for fast-produced, eaten-on-the-run, high-calorie, low-nutrition junk; giving them the gift of appreciating the pleasures of nourishing one another and enjoying that nourishment together.

Political action would mean agitating to limit the marketing of junk; forcing its makers to pay the true costs of production; recognizing that advertising for fast food is not the exercise of free speech but behavior manipulation of addictive substances; and making certain that real food is affordable and available to everyone. The political challenge is the more difficult one, but it cannot be ignored.

What’s easier is to cook at every opportunity, to demonstrate to family and neighbors that the real way is the better way. And even the more fun way: kind of like a carnival.

MollyAllen | No comments

24 Sep 2011

Adolescents • Articles • Families

Teens that frequently dine with their families report better quality of relationships with their family members as well as a smaller chance of using drugs

Creating psychologically healthy families begins with basic parenting. – Molly Allen, PsyD

Can Frequent Family Dinners Help Teens Resist Drugs?

by Kristofor Husted

September 22, 2011

Teens that frequently dine with their families report better quality of relationships with their family members as well as a smaller chance of using drugs.

Before you hit the drive-through for dinner with the family in tow, consider what a sit-down meal, well, brings to the table.

Sit-down family meals yield a whole heap of benefits for teenagers, including a disinclination to try drugs and better-quality family relationships, according to a report from the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse. The study surveyed more than 1,000 teens and found that 58 percent eat dinner with their families at least five times per week — a number that’s held steady over the years, according to Kathleen Ferrigno, director of marketing at the center.

In the comparison study, teens who ate with their families between 5 and 7 times a week said they were four times less likely to use alcohol, tobacco or marijuana than teens who dined fewer than three times per week with their families.

The report, titled “The Importance of Family Dinners VII,” is much like the endless incarnations of the “Halloween” horror movie series: The results remain fairly consistent since the earlier surveys. (Side note: “Halloween” actress Jamie Lee Curtis is a director emeritus for the center.)

“Having a set time for dinner when the kids come home shows teens that they can depend on parents,” Ferrigno tells Shots. “It’s a direct message telling teens that ‘my parents love me and care about me.’”

But it’s not a hungry herd’s meal alone that helps teens resist the temptations of drugs and alcohol.

“It’s all about parental engagement,” Ferrigno says. “Conversations can be about what you watched on TV, about your favorite team winning the game or what’s going on at school and what their friends are doing. It’s an opportunity to listen to kids.”

The teens who reported having frequent family dinners were also more likely to say they had excellent relationships with their mother, father and siblings.

This makes sense, since kids look up to their older brothers or sisters on the substance issue. The study found that teens who believed their older siblings had tried an illegal drug were more likely to try it themselves — compared to those teens who didn’t believe big sister or brother had tried drugs.

And it’s not just teens who may benefit: As Shots has reported, family meals eaten with “culinary mindfulness” can be good for everyone’s mental health.

But what if you don’t have time for beef bourguignon in the dining room or even pizza after basketball practice? Don’t fret. Find another way to hang with your kids.

“Creating opportunities to connect is what’s important,” Ferrigno says. “If your schedule can’t be rearranged to include family dinners, engage in other kinds of activities with your children so that you are a reliable, involved and interested presence in their lives.”

MollyAllen | No comments

23 Sep 2011

Articles • Productivity

How to Resolve Intractable Conflicts

Although this article deals mainly with how to work as a professional assisting large organizations to overcome conflict, some of the priciples can work in our day to day life – if we truly want to achieve peace in our relationships with others. – Molly Allen, PsyD

How To Resolve Intractable Conflicts

This article is by Peter T. Coleman, associate professor of psychology and education at Columbia University, director of the International Center for Cooperation and Conflict Resolution and author of The Five Percent: Finding Solutions to Seemingly Impossible Conflicts.

Hostile takeovers and union walk-outs. Legal battles and shareholder revolts. Demanding regulators, impossible environmentalists, petulant executives and disillusioned workers. Leaders today must navigate a convoluted and treacherous landscape of conflicting interests.

I recently worked with an organization that had been trapped by an intractable conflict. It had started as a problem between two co-workers. That dispute between two people spread and created factions beyond their department, culminating in accusations of harassment and racial discrimination. The result: disciplinary actions and the termination of one of the employees, which triggered a lawsuit against the organization that lasted for years. These events drove the company to expand its in-house office for legal counsel and transformed the company culture from open and collegial to cautious, paranoid and litigious.

Scholars estimate that about 5% of conflicts are like this. They become highly destructive and resistant to multiple good-faith efforts at resolution. This is why my colleagues and I set out to write our book, The Five Percent: Finding Solutions to Seemingly Impossible Conflicts. We are a motley crew, an unlikely mix of social psychologists, an anthropologist, an astrophysicist, complexity scientists, conflict specialists, and peacemakers, brought together by a shared commitment to addressing the misery and mystery of impossible conflicts.

The insights in our book were born out of our own confusion, conflict, and nonlinearity. None of us could have accomplished this feat alone. Consequently, our ideas and methods often go against conventional wisdom in the field of conflict resolution, In fact, they tend to challenge it directly. This is part of our mad method: to create enough tension in our field to break through the current frames of understanding, in order to begin a new conversation where we must all think differently about the possibility of resolving impossible conflicts.

Here are a few guidelines from our book, which defy conventional wisdom on addressing difficult conflicts:

Envision complex networks of causation. Although these conflicts may start small, over time they gather new problems and grievances and disputants which combine in complicated ways to increase their intractability. It helps to understand this, even to map out the different parts of the conflict, in order to get a better sense of what’s operating. This is particularly important when the polarizing tide of Us vs. Them becomes strong at work and leads to the oversimplification of the sources of the conflict (Them!).

Circumvent the conflict. Research on difficult, enduring conflicts shows that direct intervention, such as attempts at negotiation or mediation of the problem, is not only ineffective but may in fact make matters worse. In these situations it may be best to avoid directly addressing the conflict for a while and instead work to increase positivity and decrease negativity between the disputants through channels that are completely unrelated to the presenting conflict.

Welcome weak power. Case studies of intractable conflicts where sustainable resolutions eventually emerged have taught us that forceful interventions by powerful authorities or third parties rarely help for long. Paradoxically, they have shown that it is often weaker third parties who often are most effective as catalysts for change. These people employ softer forms of power; they are trust-worthy, unthreatening, reliable, and they don’t have a strong agenda.

Support islands of agreement. Harvard Law Professor Gabriella Blum has found that during many protracted conflicts, the disputing parties often maintain areas in their relationship where they continue to communicate and cooperate, despite the severity of the conflict. In international affairs this can occur with some forms of trade, civilian exchanges or medical care. In organizations these islands may emerge around personal or professional crises (e.g., a sick child), outside interests (mutual work on common causes), or by way of chains of communications through trusted third parties.Bolstering such islands can mitigate tensions and help to contain the conflict.

Identify the invisible 5%. Because our perception is so strongly affected by tense conflicts (we tend to process negative information about the other side and ignore positive information), simply identifying the 5% of actions by the other side that are benign or even benevolent in intention can help to constrain the spread of negativity in conflict.

Capitalize on instability. Research has shown that enduring conflicts often become more amenable to resolution after some type of major shock has destabilized the system. When conflicts have dragged on for months or even years and have established a status quo of contentiousness, leaders should watch for moments of instability – ruptures in the day-to-day dynamics of the conflict-focused organization, which present opportunities for change. These can come from many sources, including scandals, economic crises, health crises, and other such jarring events. However, it is critical to realize that instability is only a necessary but insufficient condition for resolution.

Rethink time. Research has also shown that the changes brought on by destabilizing shocks to systems often don’t manifest right away. In fact with international conflicts, changes can take up to ten years after a major political shock before their effects take hold. (Note that the Arab Spring was triggered roughly ten years after 9/11 and the US occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq.) Thus, conflicts of this nature require us to re-examine our tendency to think in terms of immediate cause and effect, and to understand that changes in some complex systems operate in radically different time frames.

MollyAllen | No comments

22 Sep 2011

Articles • Creativity • Productivity

12 Ways Successful Bloggers, Entrepreneurs Stay Productive

Procrastination & excuses can be a thing of the past for persons who choose to be truly successful. All it takes is commitment and clear vision of a goal. – Molly Allen, PsyD

12 Ways Successful Bloggers, Entrepreneurs Stay Productive

By Margarita Tartakovsky, M.S.

12 Ways Successful Bloggers, Entrepreneurs Stay Productive Full-time bloggers and entrepreneurs have to juggle a wide range of responsibilities. At Psych Central, we wanted to know their secrets to super productivity.

Here, five successful entrepreneurs, who do everything from designing jewelry to writing to coaching other entrepreneurs, share how they accomplish amazing things every day.

Productivity Strategies

1. They don’t give themselves a choice.

According to Alisa Bowman, author of Project: Happily Ever After, a memoir about saving her marriage, and creator of a website by the same name, “I don’t give myself any other choice [but to work].” Alisa is the main breadwinner in her family, spending her workdays co-writing books, penning magazine pieces, writing for her blog or column and giving interviews. “If I don’t write, our mortgage doesn’t get paid.”

Also a breadwinner, business coach and blogger Tara Gentile believes that “we’re more likely to innovate when we simply don’t have a choice to do otherwise.”

2. They take breaks.

“Rest is an important part of productivity,” said Sally McGraw, author of the daily style and body image blog Already Pretty. “If you go and go and go until you burn out, you’ve hampered your ability to make any progress on your goals.”

Bowman takes a break every time she’s completed a task. It might be short, like going to the bathroom or grabbing a cup of tea, or long, like walking the dog or taking a nap. Breaks help Bowman “mentally put the task I just completed to bed and to warm my brain up to what’s next on my list.”

3. They use organizational tools to stay on track.

Jeanette Thwing, author of the blog J’s Everyday Fashion, uses a calendar to manage her projects and pencils in free time and vacations “to keep myself recharged.”

Gentile, who’s also author of the digital guide The Art of Earning: Because Making Money Should Be Beautiful, uses her calendar “to plot out goals and ‘in progress’ tasks.”

On a side note, when setting deadlines, Gentile purposely leaves herself less time. “I always offer up deadlines that seem just a little crazy to keep me from being tentative about the work I want to accomplish.”

4. They batch similar tasks.

Thwing, also a freelance writer and stylist, devotes one day to running errands and attending meetings and another day to taking photos for her blog.

McGraw also focuses her attention on a set of similar tasks: blog posts, business correspondence and then email. “By doing a single task for a stretch of time, I feel more focused.”

5. They delegate.

Jess Constable, the designer and founder of Jess LC and author of the blog Makeunder My Life (MML), credits a lot of her productivity to having extra help. “I have an assistant who makes the Jess LC jewelry orders and two interns who swap days working as managers for Jess LC.”

Gentile also delegates everything she can. She has a “virtual business manager that takes care of scheduling, correspondence and administrative tasks, so that I can concentrate on what I’m good at.” In fact, Gentile said that “most of my stress and just about all of the flubs in my business come from me doing things I’m not skilled at even if they seem straightforward.”

6. They work long hours.

McGraw gets asked all the time how she does it all. And her answer is simple: “I just never stop working.” She gets to her day job by 7:30 a.m. During breaks, she “squeeze[s] in writing and commenting on blogs, answering correspondence and other business tasks.” She leaves the office at 4:30 p.m. and breaks for dinner. After 6 p.m., she usually works two to five hours on her blog. (While she tries to keep her weekends relatively work-free, she still puts in at least three hours of writing.)

Thwing works 10 hours a day, six days a week, writing articles, answering emails and attending meetings. She breaks for dinner and exercise, “but then it’s right back to the computer for me!”

To many people this might sound grueling and overwhelming. But it depends on your style. McGraw described herself as an “inertia worker.” If she has too little to do, she doesn’t do anything, she said. “But when I’ve got loads of balls in the air, I’m energized and productive and happy…I love feeling busy, planning my next moves, knowing that I’m working toward a worthy end goal.”

7. They make time for what’s important.

Several of these entrepreneurs also juggle motherhood. But they make it work. For instance, during the workday, Gentile makes sure to check in with her toddler, Lola. (As her daughter gets older, Gentile does find it harder to get back to work because Lola misses her.) At around 4:30 p.m., Gentile wraps up work and makes dinner. She spends the rest of the evening with Lola until it’s her bedtime.

8. They tackle their most inspiring tasks first.

“I give myself permission to tackle my to-do list in the order that most inspires me,” Bowman said. Because she doesn’t accomplish her entire list anyway, she said, working on the projects that inspire her minimizes procrastination.

9. They build in boundaries.

Unless it’s work-related, Bowman, who has caller ID, doesn’t answer calls during her work hours. “Seriously — I let my mother’s calls go to voicemail.”

She does the same thing with email. She answers pressing emails but usually leaves about 30 emails unread each day. This means that Bowman wastes very little time during her workday.

Constable stopped checking email altogether on nights and weekends, because it proved so draining. “Now that I’ve set my email boundaries, I look forward to going to work in the morning and I can’t wait to see what’s new.”

10. They limit social media.

Social media can become a black hole for productivity. If you let it, a few minutes can turn into hours on sites like Twitter and Facebook. But when it’s your job to field questions and your passion to connect with readers, it’s tough to stop.

The key seems to be using social media mindfully and logging off when you’re working on something else. Bowman, for instance, doesn’t stay on social media sites for hours. She checks in and then shuts them down.

Thwing forces herself to “complete a task (or three) before checking those websites because switching back and forth can be a huge time-waster.”

11. They plan around busy times.

Inevitably, there are times when you’re scrambling to finish work — or have little on your plate. When Bowman needs to work evenings and weekends, she makes sure that her “husband knows that these periods are coming up so he can step up with parenting.” To make the most of her time during more relaxed days, she does fun things with her family.

12. They know their limits.

According to Gentile, “I’m very aware of where I’m at in my productivity cycle and I let it guide planning decisions, trying not to agree to responsibilities that fall into a rest period.”

As she put it, she works in “6-week bursts of craziness.” After a burst, she takes a break, whether that’s a few days off or a few weeks. (She does take off weekends and stops working Friday afternoons.)

Overcoming Common Obstacles

Like everyone else, these entrepreneurs also face challenges. Below, they spill their snags and stumbling blocks and how they overcome them.

Wanting to say yes to everything.

Gentile calls this the “shiny object syndrome.” She can get easily distracted with all the amazing opportunities coming her way. Her solution? She checks her calendar and “Instead of just saying ‘no,’ I can often say, ‘How about 6 weeks from now?’” Still, she does decline some projects in order to stay on track.

Bowman also wants “to accomplish more than what is humanly possible.” As a bestselling ghostwriter and co-author, she’s constantly getting offers. However, she’s learned to accept projects that are only a good fit both for her and the author. Plus, the perk of being inspired is being especially productive. For instance, she just wrote a 75,000-word book (Be Fearless, due in the spring) in about two and a half months. “I was able to do it because I loved the author and the subject matter, so it just flowed out of me.”

Working from home.

While working from home can be a luxury, the distractions also are dizzying. For instance, when Bowman’s family is around, she finds it especially hard to write. If she’s on deadline, “it can truly be a recipe for family discord.” Snapping at her daughter only makes Bowman feel guilty, which takes more time away from work.

Of course, there are tons of other distractions like a dirty house or piles of laundry. When Constable feels unfocused at home, she heads to a coffee shop or bistro.

Waiting on others.

Even though entrepreneurs work solo, there are many times you’ll have to depend on others to accomplish projects. And this can try your patience and become a time-waster.

Constable is currently working with local manufacturers to launch her products this fall, a process that involves many variables. She’s learned to become more patient and use delays to her advantage: “I can take that time to connect more with customers and bloggers via Twitter, blogging or focusing my energy on MML.”

To make the most of her time, Gentile keeps a list of tasks that need to be done but “that take very little time or energy. Those tasks get completed in those moments between bursts of productivity when I’m about to say, ‘Now what?’”

Running out of time.

How often have you said that there just isn’t enough time in the day? “I often wish that there were more hours in the day, that I could read and process blogs quicker, that my posts would mate and procreate on their own,” McGraw said. She overcomes this obstacle by “working ahead as much as possible.”

Ultimately, productivity is a personal thing. Take the tips that work best for you, and leave the rest.

MollyAllen | No comments

20 Sep 2011

Articles • Mind & Body

Physical Activity & Cognitive Health

One of the best prescriptions for improving one’s mood and overall sense of well-being is to get out there and get active, at whatever level suits your abilties and interests. – Molly Allen, PsyD – Licensed Psychologist

Information sourced
from Journal Watch:

Physical Activity and Cognitive Health, Revisited

Rx: 30 minutes of brisk walking daily to maintain cognition despite
vascular risk factors

Cerebrovascular disease risk factors are known to be associated with cognitive decline. Recent epidemiologic, cohort, and clinical-trial data support a role for physical activity in maintaining cognitive health. To assess the effect of physical activity on cognition in the setting of cerebrovascular disease, researchers conducted a retrospective subgroup analysis of more than 2800 female health professionals (age≥65) with at least three vascular risk factors (e.g., diabetes mellitus, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, body-mass index≥30, family history of premature myocardial infarction). Participants reported mean one-year physical activity levels a mean of 3.5 years before an initial global cognitive evaluation. The cognitive evaluation was conducted via telephone; 81% of the respondents completed at least three assessments at 2-year intervals. All instruments were previously validated.

Women in the two highest quintiles of physical activity level — equivalent to brisk walking≥30 minutes daily — had significantly slower rates of cognitive decline than those in the lowest quintile. When the data were compared to an analysis of age associated cognitive decline, participants in the two highest quintiles of physical activity were cognitively 5 to 7 years “younger” than those in the lowest quintile. A secondary analysis specific to walking showed a possible threshold effect, with at least 30 minutes of brisk daily walking required for significant cognitive benefit.

Comment: This analysis adds to a growing body of literature emphasizing the role of physical exercise throughout the life span as an important modifiable risk factor in maintaining cognitive health, even in the context of cerebrovascular risk factors. Although the self-report of physical activity is a potential confounder in this study, another study published in the same journal issue used an objective measure of energy expenditure and showed similar results in a mixed-sex cohort (Arch Intern Med 2011; 171:1251). On the basis of the accumulating evidence correlating physical exercise with cognitive health, a prescription for a daily walk should quite literally be “just what the doctor ordered.”

— Brandy R. Matthews, MD

Published in Journal Watch Neurology August 2, 2011

MollyAllen | No comments

17 Sep 2011

Articles • Mind & Body

Providing Support: How to Talk about Illness

Being physically ill sometimes brings a host of psychological stressors. Once one gains insight into dealing with another’s health problems, it is far easier to provide an appropriate level of support – Molly Allen, PsyD

From PsychCentral.com:

Providing Support: How To Talk About Illness

By Tamara McClintock Greenberg, Psy.D.

When illness affects someone we care about it’s hard to know what to say. The subject of illness is rarely a part of social interactions, but given increasing rates of chronic disease in our country, it is useful to think about how we can better support people who may feel emotionally isolated due to chronic health problems.

Although there are no rules for how to talk about illness, there are some things that can be construed as not helpful. If I had put advice about providing support in one sentence, I would say, Be Present and Try Not to Say Offensive Things.

It is never seamless to talk about illness, but patients can usually tell when someone is simply nervous and awkward, versus someone whose anxiety spills out of them in a way that disregards the feelings of a patient. One of the main goals is to try to convey that what you are saying really stems from an attempt to help the person you care about and not from trying to get rid of some bad feeling within yourself.

For example, a woman whose friend tells her that she is suffering from chronic pain might change the subject to how she, herself, is suffering with a different kind of ailment. Such changes in subject are often not due to malevolence, but are more often due to anxiety. Changing the subject to one’s own medical problems is one way some people awkwardly try to connect and provide support. It is better to stay on topic and focused on the speaker when someone talks about physical illness.

Other people become overly worried about saying the “right thing.” Sometimes, saying the right thing can become more about our own egos! “Will I be helpful enough? Will I say the wrong thing? How can I make this better?” are all questions we ask ourselves. Avoidance is the wrong approach. People affected by illness need to know you are there. And when someone is grieving the loss of a loved one or are ill themselves, they tend to understand that people may not have the best set of social skills. The important thing is to make contact and let them know that you are thinking of them. If you can, offer to help. But if you offer, make sure you mean it, because some people will take you up on it.

Another important point is to avoid platitudes and superficial statements that try to make sense of an event that often is nonsensical. The number one complaint I have heard from many patients over the years is how distressing it can be when someone says, “Everything happens for a reason.” People who make this kind of statement often believe it to be true in their own life, but it is important to consider whom you are speaking to. Some people do not believe everything happens for a reason and even if they do, this kind of comment does not often provide comfort. Usually people who are trying to talk about illness are looking for some understanding of what their emotions are.

Statements like, “I am so sorry. This is horrible,” are often perceived as more genuine, particularly during the early phases of illness. You can then wait for cues from the other person in terms of how much they want to get into a conversation about what has happened.

Many well-intentioned people say to someone who has a chronic illness or chronic pain, “You don’t look sick.” Unfortunately, this comment falls squarely in the Offensive Things category. Many people who are ill do not appear to be. I think the temptation to make such a comment is because many of us grew up identifying people who were ill by obvious signs: a loss of hair from chemotherapy or a wheelchair. We learned to identify people who were ill in a particular way that no longer applies. The fact that many people who are ill or in pain does not overtly strike us as sick is an example of how the landscape of medicine has changed. For many of today’s observers, illness is not obvious and we have to tolerate some degree of ambiguity regarding not knowing who may be ill.

When it comes to talking about illness, most of us want to be helpful. Managing our own anxiety about sickness, vulnerability and death allows us to provide better support. Many more people close to us struggle with chronic health problems. Though words are not everything, they do matter. Putting some thought into how we talk about health is a worthwhile investment.