Self-Help Advice You Haven't Heard Before

A Way to Unplug—Without Making a Pilgrimage to Nepal

Practice reading the old-fashioned way (i.e., without checking e-mail after every paragraph). "We often become reliant on being stimulated by multiple sensory channels—from sounds, sights, tastes, smells and behaviors. The effect of this is a craving, like an addiction, of constantly needing more sensory stimulation. And without this flood of sensory information, it has become common for people to feel chronically bored and sluggish... it's important to retrain ourselves to require much less stimulation. Set aside certain times during the week for focusing on one or two sensory channels. An easy way to start is to concentrate solely on reading one article without stopping or multitasking."

From Your Survival Instinct Is Killing You: Retrain Your Brain to Conquer Fear, Make Better Decisions, and Thrive in the 21st Century (Hudson Street Press) by Marc Schoen, PhD.