Practical Self-Optimization

#007: Social Media is killing our time and productivity, and I quit

The Social Media companies have figured out your psychology Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat, TikTok, all of the companies behind these apps spend billions of dollars every year to find out what stimulates your brain the most.  What content should be put in front of the user to get a maximum stimulation of his brain to get a maximum release of dopamine in his brain? This is what all of them do, because the more stimulation we get by watching the content on the different platforms, th...

#006: Power of Silence: How Noise-Cancelling Headphones and Earplugs can improve our life

Noise Pollution is a problem of cities and our modern life So we’re largely living in cities these days, and the cities are not our natural environment, and that creates a lot of problems. One of these problems is noise pollution!  If we're no longer in our natural environment, e.g. in the woods, in the countryside or in nature, we have to face noise pollution. For example: I live at the outer part of a medium sized city. 300,000 people, so not that much.  And even at night, there is a n...

#004: How to feel joyful and happy within 5 minutes (Happiness Meditation Method)

#005: How to feel joyful and happy within 5 minutes (Happiness Meditation Method)

004 - Why watching news is like giving poison to your body and mind

By now a lot of people have realized, that eating too much food is unhealthy for the body. But only a small minority understands, that the same holds true for too much information, especially too much news. It has so many negative effects on us, and the smartest thing that one can do, is probably to stop watching the news entirely. Stop reading it. Stop listening to it, Delete the apps, cancel your subscriptions. News are mental sugar. We all know that sugar is unhealthy for us, but someho...

#004: Why watching news is like giving poison to your body and mind

By now a lot of people have realized, that eating too much food is unhealthy for the body. But only a small minority understands, that the same holds true for too much information, especially too much news. It has so many negative effects on us, and the smartest thing that one can do, is probably to stop watching the news entirely. Stop reading it. Stop listening to it, Delete the apps, cancel your subscriptions. News are mental sugar. We all know that sugar is unhealthy for us, but someho...

#003: Lift your mood and increase your happiness by exposing yourself to light

This episode is all about light. Studies show that only 40 minutes of very bright artificial life significantly improves the mood of people who suffer from winter depression (seasonal affective disorder).  And even if you are not depressed, if you don't have winter blues or seasonal affective disorder, I still think that light could really bring your life to the next level. You might not be depressed or have winter blues right now, but this doesn't mean that you're at an optimal mood level....

003 - Lift your mood and increase your happiness by exposing yourself to light

This episode is all about light. Studies show that only 40 minutes of very bright artificial life significantly improves the mood of people who suffer from winter depression (seasonal affective disorder).  And even if you are not depressed, if you don't have winter blues or seasonal affective disorder, I still think that light could really bring your life to the next level. You might not be depressed or have winter blues right now, but this doesn't mean that you're at an optimal mood level....

#002: How to optimize Powernaps for even better regeneration

In this Episode I talk about how I am optimizing my Powernaps for the maximum regenerative effect. Most people already know what a Powernap is, but don't really use it in a smart or strategic way, they just do it occasionally or don't do it at all. But Powernaps have the potential to completely change your productivity and your quality of life, if used in an intelligent way. I see Powernapping as a personal Reset Tool for my brain. It is just like with a computer: Sometimes our (tired) bra...

#001: What is Practical Self-Optimization? - Podcast Introduction

What is Practical Self-Optimization? Welcome to this Podcast! Hey, there! My name is Mike, and my hobbies are calisthenics, traveling and going to nature. I started the Practical Self-Optimization Podcast to share my journey and my experiences about finding new practical ways to improve my life. I am constantly looking for improvements, whether that is some new time management tactic which saves me 10 minutes per day, or an interesting meditation technique, which makes my life much more en...