“I need to make a shield to bring to school,” my 5-year-old son says in a matter-of-fact way as he drifts off to sleep at the end of a long weekend. “Why?” his dad asks. “The boys at school hit me, and I need to find a way to protect myself. I keep telling them to stop, but they won’t stop, so I need to make some sort of shield. It needs to be stronger than cardboard, but it can’t be metal because we’re not allowed to...
Insomnia, my enemy
Sleep is one of life’s ultimate paradoxes. For those who have never had sleep problems, sleep is quite literally a dream. It arrives effortlessly, recharges the body, and replenishes the mind. After eight hours of sweet slumber, the mind can go from weary and haggard to refreshed and ready to dominate a new day. And to all you sleeping sweetly at night, we with insomnia say, “Screw you.” Because for people who have experienced sleep...
How to Face Your Fears
The Problem: Avoidance is the natural response to anxiety. This worked great when running away from saber-tooth tigers; not so much for modern day challenges and stressors. The Science: Approaching things we’re afraid of trains our brains that this scary thing is actually OK to approach, thus reducing our anxiety about it and giving us the opportunity to build mastery in a feared domain. The Solution: Challenge yourself to live your...
Feeling lost? Here’s a map back to true north.
Last week I had the flu, and it tipped me into a funk. After I allowed myself sufficient time to mope and feel bad for myself, my feelings of exhaustion and overwhelm served as catalysts to get clearer on some things. My energy became a precious commodity, forcing me to think more intentionally about how I spend it. I had to get up close and personal with what is really important to me, and sacrifice the rest. This reflection led me to...
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is for Hackers
Adding to the growing list of high-profile suicides in the tech world, last week Aaron Swartz, co-founder of Reddit and fierce open access activist, took his life at age 26. If Aaron was like the 100 people who kill themselves in this country every day, the biggest factor contributing to his death was likely under-treated depression. We can readily come up with hypotheses as to why depression is a problem in the tech world. A culture defined by...