One scientifically based way to rationally manage your busy and busy schedule

About 20 years ago, a group of students at Stanford University went home for the winter holidays. For this period they were given the task: to keep a diary.
Some students were asked to tell in the records about the main elements of their value system, and then explain how the events of these days relate to it. What came of it? And to which benefit can we gain from the experiment?

Another group of students were asked to simply share positive points.
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When the subjects returned after the holidays, the researchers found that those guys who described their values , had better health, less often experienced ailments, were more energetic and positive-minded than their comrades, who were just talking about pleasant events.

Since then, similar results have been confirmed by nearly a hundred other surveys. From The Upside of Stress Audiobook by Stanford Professor Kelly McGonigal:

“It turned out that a written account of one’s own values ​​is the most effective of all known psychological interventions. In the short term, such a description makes people feel more powerful, confident, strong and proud.

They also become more friendly, more often they show empathy and affection for other people. It reduces the sensitivity to pain, enhances self-control and partially frees up from meaningless reflections associated with stressful situations.

It has been proven that in the long run, a story about their values ​​raises the average mark of the certificate, reduces the number of visits to doctors, stabilizes mental health and helps to cope with various tasks from weight loss to quitting smoking and reducing the amount of alcohol consumed.

It helps people not to succumb to discrimination and get rid of shyness . In many cases, all these results were obtained after a one-time intervention aimed at changing mental attitudes. People who once spent 10 minutes describing their values ​​showed positive results over several months or even years afterwards. ”

- Kelly McGonigal

But why?

The power of personal values

Why such a simple action, as the description of its “coordinate system”, gives such incredible results?

Researchers are convinced that the key reason for this lies in the fact that by writing a story about personal values ​​in a diary and associating them with current events, people react differently to stressful situations . Indeed, taking care of a family or working for hours on a project can be exhausting. But if you understand why all this, then it is much easier for you to experience these difficulties.

The story of how everyday affairs relate to our internal "beacons" can actually strengthen our psychological and biological ability to resist stress. According to McGonigal

“Stressful situations cease to be simply difficulties that need to be overcome, they turn into a reflection of human values ​​... little things that in other circumstances could cause irritation, turn into significant moments.”

The embodiment of personal values ​​in life

The findings of the researchers found confirmation in my life experience. Even before the first acquaintance with the data of these experiments, I stumbled upon a similar practice.

Every year I create a virtuous report consisting of three parts. In the first one, I list and decipher my core values. In the second I describe how I worked and lived, relying on them, during the previous year. In the third, I urge myself to account and tell where I went astray last year and walked away from my “beacons”.

As I discovered, performing this simple exercise every year really helps me keep my landmarks in mind. Moreover, I have a direct confirmation of how my work and basic personal values ​​are interconnected. It helps me keep working when work becomes hard and unbearable.

It doesn't matter what you choose - A virtuous report like me, or a diary like Stanford students. The obvious benefit of both options is proven by science. Description of the value system will improve your life and give strength to deal with stressful situations.

PS We recommend another useful article on the topic of work on yourself - Overcoming of labor marathons: 3-step method of increasing productivity, which allows you to avoid working at night .

The author of the translation is Vyacheslav Davidenko, the founder of the TESTutor company.