Over the last few years,
sustainability has become one of the biggest buzzwords in the fight against environmental problems like climate change, loss of biodiversity, ecosystem degradation, and pollution. But what does sustainability actually mean? And how do you make it part of your everyday life?
Broadly speaking, sustainability is the idea that we must meet our own needs
without compromising the ability of others to meet their needs, whether the “others” in question are future generations or people living in other parts of the world. But understanding the basic concept is one thing. Practicing it is quite another.
Every single day we make dozens of different choices that impact our planet. But understanding this impact is not easy. And when it comes to green living, there is a lot of conflicting information about what’s eco-friendly, what’s not, what’s fact, and what’s fiction.
But green sustainable living is possible. With a little guidance, we can all learn to make better choices for ourselves and the planet.
And that’s where the Sustainable Living Online Course from International Open Academy comes in.
Sustainable Living Online Course
When it comes to green living, there’s certainly no shortage of information available on the internet. The trouble is figuring out who knows what they are talking about and what information is legit.
If you’re tired of spending half of your research time trying to vet your sources and you just want straight answers to your questions about sustainable living, the Sustainable Living Online Course is for you. Sustainability experts designed this course to be the ultimate resource on sustainable living. As such, it covers everything you need to know to lead a renewable life that keeps you and the planet healthy.
Key topics covered in this online course include:
- how to make sustainable living easy
- how to look great without damaging the environment
- how to spot companies that aren’t eco-friendly
- how to save money and the planet at the same time
- how to find sustainable food that tastes great
- how to make simple swaps that make a big impact
Of course, the Sustainable Living Online Course won’t magically reduce your carbon footprint to zero. You’ll still have to put in the work and implement what you learn. But this course will give you the tools you need to be a better citizen and live a healthier, more natural life.
International Open Academy, or IOA, is one of the internet’s most trusted sources for online learning, with over a million students in 139 different countries. Whether you want to learn coding, interior design, or knitting, IOA’s accredited online courses make learning easy, fun, and affordable. No matter the subject, IOA courses focus on practical skills, with videos, texts, activities, and exams that students work through at their own pace.
Normally, the Sustainable Living Online Course costs $119. However, you can enroll through Groupon for just $17, which is a whopping 86 percent off the regular price.
If you’ve made it your goal to be more eco-friendly in 2023 but are unsure where to start, this deal on the Sustainable Living Online Course from International Open Academy is definitely for you. Click here to start your sustainable living journey today.
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A safe, stable home can change lives for the better. Here’s how Habitat for Humanity wants to make that possible for everyone.
Better health, better jobs, and a brighter future all start with access to a safe, affordable home.
A single door can open up a world of endless possibilities. For homeowners, the front door of their house is a gateway to financial stability, job security, and better health. Yet for many, that door remains closed. Due to the rising costs of housing, 1 in 3 people around the world wake up without the security of safe, affordable housing.
Since 1976, Habitat for Humanity has made it their mission to unlock and open the door to opportunity for families everywhere, and their efforts have paid off in a big way. Through their work over the past 50 years, more than 65 million people have gained access to new or improved housing, and the movement continues to gain momentum. Since 2011 alone, Habitat for Humanity has expanded access to affordable housing by a hundredfold.
A world where everyone has access to a decent home is becoming a reality, but there’s still much to do. As they celebrate 50 years of building, Habitat for Humanity is inviting people of all backgrounds and talents to be part of what comes next through Let’s Open the Door, a global campaign that builds on this momentum and encourages people everywhere to help expand access to safe, affordable housing for those who need it most. Here’s how the foundation to a better world starts with housing, and how everyone can pitch in to make it happen.
Volunteers raise a wall for the framework of a new home during the first day of building at Habitat for Humanity’s 2025 Carter Work Project. Globally, almost 3 billion people, including 1 in 6 U.S. families, struggle with high costs and other challenges related to housing. A crisis in itself, this also creates larger problems that affect families and communities in unexpected ways. People who lack affordable, stable housing are also more likely to experience financial hardship in other areas of their lives, since a larger share of their income often goes toward rent, utilities, and frequent moves. They are also more likely to experience health problems due to chronic stress or environmental factors, such as mold. Housing insecurity also goes hand-in-hand with unstable employment, since people may need to move further from their jobs or switch jobs altogether to offset the cost of housing.
Affordable homeownership creates a stable foundation for families to thrive, reducing stress and increasing the likelihood for good health and stable employment. Habitat for Humanity builds and repairs homes with individual families, but it also strengthens entire communities as well. The MicroBuild® Initiative, for example, strengthens communities by increasing access to loans for low-income families seeking to build or repair their homes. Habitat ReStore locations provide affordable appliances and building materials to local communities, in addition to creating job and volunteer opportunities that support neighborhood growth.
Marsha and her son pose for a photo while building their future home with Southern Crescent Habitat for Humanity in Georgia. Everyone can play a part in the fight for housing equity and the pursuit of a better world. Over the past 50 years, Habitat for Humanity has become a leader in global housing thanks to an engaged network of volunteers—but you don’t need to be skilled with a hammer to make a meaningful impact. Building an equitable future means calling on a wide range of people and talents.
Here’s how you can get involved in the global housing movement:- Speaking up on social media about the growing housing crisis
- Volunteering on a Habitat for Humanity build in your local community
- Travel and build with Habitat in the U.S. or in one of 60+ countries where we work around the globe
- Join the Let’s Open the Door movement and, when you donate, you can create your own personalized door
- Shop or donate at your local Habitat ReStore
Every action, big and small, drives a global movement toward a better future. A safe home unlocks opportunity for families and communities alike, but it’s volunteers and other supporters, working together with a shared vision, who can open the door for everyone.
Visit habitat.org/open-door to learn more and get involved today.
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Why does a facial itch feel a lot different than one on your arm? Science just figured it out.
If you suspected something was different, you weren’t wrong.
An itch on the tip of your nose can feel different from one on your rear end—and possibly a bit more painful. Why is that? Shouldn’t your body treat an itch like an itch, no matter where it pops up?
According to a new study from North Carolina State University, your body treats itches on your face much differently than it treats them on the rest of your body.
The study found that your body sends itch signals from the face and the rest of the body along different routes to your brain, where they are processed. It’s as if your body has two different “itch phone lines” communicating with the brain—one from the face and another from the rest of the body.
Itches travel to your brain differently throughout the body
An itch on your arm starts with irritation of the skin—perhaps from dryness—then travels through the dorsal root ganglia, the spinal cord, and finally to the brain. An itch on your face goes from the spot of irritation to a different system called the trigeminal ganglia, and then to the brain.
An itchy forearm. Photo credit: Canva Here’s the straight science:
“You can think of itch being transmitted from the skin to the brain as a series of switches that get flipped,” Santosh Mishra, associate professor of molecular biomedical sciences at NC State, said in a statement.
“On the body, itch signals go from neuronal projections in the skin through the dorsal root ganglia (DRG) – which are clusters of sensory cells located at the root of the spinal nerves – then to the spinal cord. But on the face and head, those signals travel to the trigeminal ganglia (TG) – which are clusters of sensory cells located in a small structure below the brain where it sits atop the skull,” Mishra added.
A woman scratching her arm. Photo credit: Canva Your body sends mixed signals to your face
The researchers also discovered why an itch on your face may feel different from one on your torso. Studies showed that when histamine, an itch-inducing substance, was applied to the neck and cheek, the cheek itched less than the neck. Researchers initially assumed this was because there are fewer nerves in the cheek, but they were wrong: the cheek actually has far more. Instead, the face sends itch and pain signals simultaneously, and pain often overrides the sensation of itching. In the rest of the body, those signals are separated. That’s why an itch on your face feels different and may even be more painful than one on your arm.
A woman scratching her neck. Photo credit: Canva Now that we know why an itch on your cheek feels different from one on your stomach, researchers can work on therapies that better address skin irritation on different parts of the body. One day, you may have a separate cream for a facial itch and another for one on your torso—not because of marketing, but because of real science.
“Understanding how itch perception in the face differs from itch perception in the body could give us better molecular targets for future therapies,” Mishra said.
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Man builds the ‘world’s smallest tiny house’ and somehow makes it work in 19 square feet
“The absolute coziest house ever conceived.”
Levi Kelly wanted to go small. Very small. As someone who loves building and touring tiny homes, along with unique Airbnbs and cabins, he wanted to create something truly special. Though the idea of a tiny home isn’t new and certainly began picking up steam in the early 2000s, Kelly wanted to raise— or, in this case, lower—the bar and make a statement about just how efficient he could get.
In an Instagram clip originally posted just over a year ago, but now making the rounds on social media again, Kelly shows viewers this extraordinary tiny home. Reminiscent of a tree house, its dark brown exterior and cheery windows look genuinely inviting. The most shocking part? It’s only 19.46 square feet.
19.46 square feet
The quick tour begins with an exterior view of the home, which is hitched to a two-wheeled trailer. Kelly explains, “I built the world’s smallest tiny house by square footage. It’s 19.46 square feet. Totally off-grid. You can see the solar panels up there. And it’s on a trailer. Take it anywhere you want to go.”
He then pulls open the door and says, “Walking inside, let’s see how I fit everything in here.” The door opens to an extremely narrow hallway. On one side is a small sitting area with wooden drawers underneath. Straight ahead is a sink beneath a rather large window, at least relative to the size of the space.
Kelly’s tour continues: “There is a seating area here to the left. Underneath, we have your AC and heating units, and it comes out of this little vent right there. And then on the other side is a battery bank for the solar panel. And that’s how everything in here gets plugged in.”
Running water, too
Blink and you’re in the kitchen, where a tiny fridge sits atop the counter. “Up here is your kitchen. We have a mini fridge up here for some drinks.” He removes a light brown cover from a square opening, almost like a jigsaw puzzle piece, revealing that the countertop also doubles as a sink. “Here’s your sink. Open this up and it unfolds.” He turns on the water. “Check that out. Running water. So we’ll shut that back up for more countertop space.”
He opens a cabinet beneath this area. “Underneath, we have our water tanks, and you can have a little electric grill to take out and put there if you need to.” He then points to another tiny space on the counter.
Can’t be taller than 5’10”
Some, at this point, might wonder where someone would sleep in this house. “You’re wondering about the bed situation. Well, it’s up here.” He then points upward, where a platform is hooked to the ceiling. That is indeed the bed. He explains, “It folds down and can fit somebody that’s 5’10” or shorter.”
As for the bathroom? Kelly has that covered. Once again, he takes the camera outside and shows a small shower head attached to the corner of the house. “You’re probably wondering about the bathroom situation. The outdoor shower is right here. Set this up and turn on the water and you’ve got yourself a little shower.”
And what about the toilet? Off to the side, there’s an even smaller “storage area.” He explains, “You can take the lid off. The storage is stored in there, which is now right behind me.” The camera then cuts to a fresh white toilet sitting on the lawn. “You can go use the bathroom in nature anywhere you want. And it does flush.”
Only a month and $5,000
In a more detailed tour of the tiny home posted on YouTube, Kelly shares additional details:
“This took over a month and $5,000. It’s a truly functioning tiny house. It has power, running water, kitchen, separate seating, separate bed, shower, flushing toilet, AC, and heating—everything a modern house has, just in the size of 19.46 square feet (1.8 square meters). The nicest tiny house of this relative size I have ever seen.”
He also shares more details about the materials used, including the padauk wood on the window sills and the walnut kitchen countertops. He even demonstrates what it’s like to have three people sitting in the bench area at the same time. “Here’s a clip of me, Weston (his son), and my wife.”
We also get a full look at how the “bed” works, which Kelly admits was his one slight miscalculation. There isn’t much space to climb up to the bed, but he demonstrates how to do it by stepping onto the countertop and hoisting himself into the small cubby.
One YouTube commenter joked that if the bed doesn’t work, “you can sleep on the roof like Snoopy.”
Another commenter was a big fan, even imagining what it could look like during the holidays: “Imagine adding tiny picture frames or minuscule paintings to the walls, and Christmas decorations outside in winter. The absolute coziest house ever conceived.”
A few commenters were concerned about the complete lack of storage, joking that someone might have to keep their belongings in their car. But if you like the idea of the tiny house and don’t necessarily want to break any records, Kelly has other tiny homes with a bit more room. One can even be packed up and “unfolded in a single day.”
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Google editor reveals the 3 most privately searched terms. And honestly, it’s the best of humanity.
“The data is unfailingly honest.”
One thing many people believe is that you can truly know a person based on their Google history. Private searching is understandably on the rise, and given how negativity drives a lot of online news and social media, it can be easy to think the same way regarding our searches. However, a Google expert shared that the majority of searches on the platform are actually hopeful.
Google Data Editor and Journalist Simon Rogers reported that, while we do Google news information, the vast majority of Google queries were positive. In fact, Rogers says Google’s publicly available data set shows a counterbalance to the negativity often seen when scrolling on our feeds. The hard fact is that our Google searches show something different than the narrative on social media.
“The data is unfailingly honest,” Rogers wrote on CNBC’s Make It. “The way we search collectively is simply not the way we present ourselves on social media. There’s no such thing as a ‘dumb query,’ and analyzing these massive trends gives us a highly accurate reflection of our shared curiosities.”
Here are the surprisingly refreshing top queries he found on Google:
‘How to [insert life skill here]’
Rogers shares that the top searches start with “How to” and end with some form of life skill or task. “How to boil an egg”, “How to fix a door”, “How to cook spaghetti”, and so on. Google has turned to the go-to place for adults to learn many life skills.
Some folks may be concerned that adults have to learn basic life tasks they could or should have learned as children. However, it’s mostly agreed that it is good such information is readily available through a simple online search.
It’s also promising that the top Google searches are from people who want to independently learn their lives (and others) easier. If not a tutorial, they can also use Google as a resource to find classes or people who may properly teach them.
‘What’s a job that helps people?’
The other top trend Rogers indicated was occupation-oriented. While many top searches included queries like “high-paying jobs” and the like, Rogers noticed that those didn’t get the top spots. Searches for a “job that helps people” have surpassed searches for “jobs that pay well.”
The search for meaning at work has been on the rise since the COVID-19 pandemic. Meaningful careers included therapists, social workers, and other vocations dedicated to health, wellness, and community building.
‘How to help [insert person, place, or thing here]’
Many see our current time as one of anger, tension, and incredibly high division, but Rogers says that couldn’t be further from the truth. Near the top end of Google queries in the U.S. and U.K. is some variation of “How can I help?”
This is backed up by a 2022 Stanford University report showing that more people are willing to help more than most realize. This echoes a study found that Americans are more likely to help a stranger now than they did in the 1950s or “the good ol’ days” as many frame it.
There are many reasons for a person to help, and not all of them are altruistic. However, the fact that so many do such a search that it towers over all others can feel inspiring.
These trends show and can back up the claim that people are still instinctively good. If you still don’t think so, well…just Google it.
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Airline pilot reveals the crucial reason why there’s a tiny hole in every airplane window
You’ll see them on every plane no matter where you sit or which airline you’re flying.
Have you ever been crammed into the window seat in a plane and, while gazing down at the terra firma beneath you, noticed that there was a tiny hole in the window? According to Petter Hörnfeldt, aka Mentour Pilot, a Swedish commercial airline captain, those holes could one day save your life.
In a TikTok video, Hörnfeldt explains that there are three layers to the windows on a commercial airliner. The outside window is the strongest because it was designed “to handle any impacts as well as the pressure difference between the thin high altitude air outside of the plane and a pressurized air inside,” Hörnfeldt says.
Then there is the middle layer, with a tiny hole, designed to protect the outer layer. The final layer is the one you can touch or press your nose up against to see what you’re flying over.
Why do airplane windows have tiny holes?
“So why the hole then? Well, because there is air between those layers. Differences in pressure and temperature would otherwise start causing forces to build up between the layers, trying to bend them inwards or outwards, which is something that we obviously do not want, since especially the inner two layers are not designed to take those kind of forces. So that little hole is put there to allow air to flow through slowly and relieve that potential pressure difference. Hence the name breather hole,” Hörnfeldt says.
The tiny hole in an airplane window. Credit: Canva “Now, the inner window layer, the one that’s closest to you, doesn’t really need a hole because it’s fitted in a way that allows air to flow around it. But that breather hole also serves a different job, which is to make it more difficult for moisture to become trapped between the layers and start fogging up your window, stopping you from admiring the view outside,” Hörnfeldt continues.
In his most popular video, Hörnfeldt admitted that commercial airline pilots know when you’ve flushed the toilet on a plane.
Do pilots know when you flush the toilet on a plane?
According to Hörnfeldt, pilots don’t know that you’ve flushed a toilet based on an alert, security camera footage, or a sudden power surge. They know that the toilet has been flushed because of a slight change in cabin pressurization. Airplane toilets use a special vacuum flushing mechanism to suck the contents out. The vacuum system is calibrated to the cabin air pressure. “But that flushing actually does show up on our instruments as a sudden cabin climb on our cabin vertical speed indicator,” Hörnfeldt says. “So we can see it. And it kind of makes sense, if you think about it.”
Next time you see the tiny hole in an airplane window as you gaze upon your hometown at 35,000 feet, you know that it’s not a manfcatingring mistake. It’s here to keep you safe in a cabin with a pressurized system that also knows if you used the bathroom. Aren’t airplanes just incredible?
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Doctors kept dismissing her persistent cough. One heroic nurse refused to let it go.
“Had Alison not picked up on the fact that she was sure something else was wrong, I don’t know what would have happened.”
Julie Silverman had been coughing for years. Not the kind of cough that goes away with some rest and cough syrup, but a persistent, worsening cough that no doctor seemed able to explain or fix. As she shared on NPR’s Hidden Brain podcast in the “My Unsung Hero” segment, the experience of being dismissed by the healthcare system over and over again was exhausting.
“I had, at this point, gotten kind of dismissive about it because I had been dismissed by so many doctors as, ‘There’s nothing wrong, you’re not responding to our treatments, we’ll try something else,’” Silverman recalled.
But one person refused to dismiss her: a nurse practitioner named Alison.
A nurse checks the vitals of a patient. Photo credit: Canva Alison worked at one of the clinics Silverman visited regularly, and unlike the doctors who had cycled through various unsuccessful treatments, Alison kept paying attention. She was perplexed by the cough and made it her mission to track Silverman’s condition over time.
During one of Silverman’s weekly appointments, Alison noticed something concerning. Silverman’s symptoms had gotten worse. Her voice was hoarse, she was breathless and wheezing, and the coughing was more severe than before.
“She was just adamant something was wrong with my airway,” Silverman said.
Alison immediately pushed one of the physicians at the clinic to perform a scope of Silverman’s trachea. The procedure involved inserting a small camera through her nose and down the back of her throat to look for blockages.
“I could just tell by their faces something was not right,” Silverman remembered.
The scope revealed what years of doctor visits had missed. Silverman had idiopathic subglottic stenosis, a rare condition that affects about one in 400,000 people. Scar tissue had been building up at the top of her trachea, and her airway was 75% blocked. That’s why she’d been coughing. That’s why nothing had worked. And if it had gone untreated much longer, it would have been fatal.
“This is a very serious condition and fatal if not treated because your airway completely closes,” Silverman explained.
The diagnosis finally gave Silverman what she needed: the right information to find the right specialist who could actually treat her condition. She’s now doing well, spending her time volunteering at her local hospital, riding her bike, hiking, skiing, and enjoying time with friends and family.
But she hasn’t forgotten what Alison did for her.
“Had Alison not picked up on the fact that she was sure something else was wrong and gotten this physician to look in my throat, I don’t know what would have happened,” Silverman said. “It was her persistence and diligence and her listening to me and taking me seriously that got my diagnosis in a timely enough fashion to do something about it. So, for these reasons, Alison is my unsung hero.”
Our healthcare system is increasingly driven by rapid diagnoses and technology, but sometimes what saves a life is just simple human attention. Someone who listens, keeps watching, and refuses to dismiss what they’re seeing even when everyone else has moved on.
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Three lions have the most beautiful reaction to a man singing a Guns N’ Roses song to them
“What a beautiful interaction to witness.”
There are several stories written about music taming the savage beast, but this is no fairy tale. A video shows a small pride of lions in an enclosure hear the acoustic guitar and soothing singing of a French singer-songwriter covering Guns N’ Roses’ “November Rain.” One would think that the animals would be annoyed or ignore the music period. Instead, something heartwarming happened.
One by one, the lions approached the musician known as Plumes as he performed. They calmly laid down and started yawn-singing to the tunes while nuzzling one another, with two lions cuddling less than a yard from where Plumes sat and played. The lions were relaxing and enjoying the concert along with their afternoon nap, showing off the gentler side of the predatory wild cats.
People remarked upon the lion’s reaction to Plumes’ tunes:
“Wow! That is truly an incredible interaction with them. They really enjoyed your singing to them.”
“Omg, the way they cuddle.”
“What a beautiful interaction to witness.”
“Music is the universal language!”
“That was so magical! Music speaks to the soul. Human, animal, all relate to the feelings music evokes.”
This isn’t the only time Plumes has performed for an animal audience. In fact, his social media and YouTube channel show videos of multiple concerts for humans and creatures alike. He not only has played his guitar and sang for lions, but for tigers and bears (oh my!) among many other animals at wildlife refuges, enclosures, and zoos.
While Plumes performs his music for a wide variety of animals today, he started at home, playing for a herd of cows in the French countryside while living with his grandmother.
“I read somewhere that cows like music, that it’s soothing to them,” Plumes shared with AMFM Magazine. “They were super receptive. They gathered around, some even rubbed against me. It was magical.”
Since then, Plumes had been taking the opportunity to warm up his vocal chords and provide various animals a free mini-concert throughout his tours and travels, recording video of their reactions to his music.
“Animals inspire me to be kinder, more patient,” he added. “They remind us to reconnect with nature. Maybe we’ve lost touch with nature, and these videos help people feel that connection again.”
Understandably, most people believe music and music appreciation are uniquely human traits, but there are studies that music isn’t exclusively for homosapiens’ enjoyment. Some studies show different species reacting positively to music in different ways. Chimpanzees sway to music, dogs tend to show calmer behaviors when listening to classical music, and sea lions synchronize their head movements to a song’s beat, just to name a few. There are veterinarians that suggest creating a music playlist for your dog to play when leaving the house so it helps reduce their separation anxiety.
It’s interesting to see how music impacts different animals in different ways, especially if music helps them. Over time, who knows how much music will bring man and animal closer together. If a lion can enjoy Guns N’ Roses, the possibilities are nearly endless.
This article originally appeared last year. It has been updated.
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The reason ‘good’ people experience less joy but feel more fulfilled in life
Being conscientious has some truly unexpected pros and cons.
If you’re not one, you probably know one: conscientious people are never late, they’re organized, and their word is their bond. They do things the “right” way. They like things in order. And they have a strong, nearly unbreakable sense of right and wrong.
They’re often good people. Very good. It’s hard to imagine there could be a downside to this personality type. But new research indicates there’s a little more to it than meets the eye.
New research reveals the costs of being too “good”
A recent study out of the University of Galway aimed to find out how personality traits affect the way we experience emotions.
Researchers began by measuring participants using a Five-Factor Model, which breaks personality into five key dimensions: Openness to Experience, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Neuroticism, and Conscientiousness.
Then they exposed the volunteers to several video clips which were each designed to elicit a specific emotion: anger, disgust, fear, joy, sadness, and surprise.
Interestingly, the clip the team chose to elicit joy was none other than the famous diner scene from When Harry Met Sally: a comedy classic.
People who scored high in conscientiousness were among the only group to react negatively to finding the scene funny or enjoyable. It did not trigger nearly as much joy in this group as it did for the others.
The research team theorized that, with such a powerful correlation, it was relatively safe to say that extremely orderly, structured, and conscientious people may have a lower capacity for experiencing spontaneous joy.
But there’s still a powerful upside to being conscientious
Here’s the tradeoff: while highly conscientious people laughed less and felt less joyful during the comedy scene, they also reacted less powerfully to the scene that primarily stimulated sadness.
What scene was that? The Lion King, of course. You know the one.
The findings suggest that, perhaps, living a structured and highly-orderly life can protect against negative emotions—even at the cost of some of the good ones.
Think about it. Imagine a person who never misses a deadline, forgets to pay a bill, or runs a red light. They’re never in trouble. People don’t get angry at them. They don’t wind up on probation at work or, worse, in jail.
“How people structure their environment may be a key shield from experiencing sadness, which may represent a significant motivator for people high in orderliness if they are sensitive to this emotion,” the researchers wrote.
If that doesn’t sound like a worthwhile tradeoff, another recent study builds on these findings and explores even more of the upside to living a conscientious life.
“Good” people excel at finding meaning and satisfaction in their work
Psychology Today reveals details of another recent study where, again, the Big Five personality dimensions were used to sort people into buckets.
Researchers out of KU Leuven found that highly conscientious people were among those most likely experience a “flow state.”
Flow is a mental state where you become completely immersed in your work, to the point that you don’t even notice the passage of time. It’s sometimes known as being “in the zone,” a state of effortless momentum, and generally people find it to be an enjoyable and deeply meaningful feeling.
“The characteristics of Conscientious individuals are essential for maintaining focus, managing challenges, and regulating efforts toward meaningful tasks,” the study’s authors write.
Psychology Today sums up the cutting-edge research: “Being dutiful, organized, and especially orderly may have its limitations, at least in terms of joy. However, there is the advantage of being less likely to get into the type of trouble that would trigger negative emotions. Then there is the upside of being able to bury yourself in your daily tasks to the point of not becoming bored or finding them useless.”
One bummer for conscientious people: being structured and organized to the point that you’re less joyful and less likely to laugh at something funny might make you less likable overall. But, you probably won’t care: further research suggests conscientious people live longer and stay sharper and healthier into old age better than their peers.
If it all seems like a moot point—after all, you’re either conscientious or you’re not—think again. Personality can, and often does change, over the course of a person’s life. It is possible to dial down your structured, risk-averse ways of thinking and open yourself up to more spontaneous joy. And it’s also possible to become more orderly and reliable, minimizing negative emotions and getting more done.
It’s a worthwhile exercise for anyone to see the upsides of their personality, who they truly are, and to know that who they are never has to be set in stone.
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She emailed her boss to request time off. The ‘gibberish’ she wrote saved her life.
“Emails I had sent to my work were gibberish, so much so that a close colleague escalated to my boss, as it frightened him.” The diagnosis that followed saved her life.
When Becca Valle woke up with chronic headaches in 2021, she did what most people do. She went to her general practitioner, got a diagnosis (migraines, probably sinus-related), took the prescribed medication, and hoped things would get better. According to PEOPLE, the then-37-year-old tried everything to manage the pain, from different medications to morning walks, but nothing worked.
After three weeks of worsening symptoms, Valle started vomiting from the pain one afternoon and immediately called her boyfriend to take her to the emergency room. Before heading out, she pulled up her email to let her boss know she needed the day off.
What she typed wasn’t a day-off request. It was gibberish.
Woman writes an email at her computer. Photo credit: Canva “Emails I had sent to my work letting them know I was signing off for the day were gibberish, so much so that a close colleague escalated to my boss, as it frightened him,” Valle recalled. By the time she was in the ER, she was texting similar incomprehensible messages to her partner, who wasn’t allowed in with her due to COVID restrictions.
The scan results showed blood in her brain. Doctors performed an emergency craniotomy, a surgery that involves removing part of the skull to access the brain. What they found required a second emergency craniotomy. Valle had glioblastoma, an aggressive type of brain cancer.
The diagnosis finally explained the “chronic migraines” that had been plaguing her for weeks. But it also put her on a path she never expected to navigate. CBS News reported that Valle immediately told her doctors she wanted to pursue every possible trial and treatment option available to her.
After consulting with her radiologist and oncologist, she connected with Dr. Graeme Woodworth, Chief of Neurosurgery at the University of Maryland Medical Center, whose clinical trials involved drug therapies administered by temporarily opening the blood-brain barrier using ultrasound treatment.
Now 42, Valle describes her diagnosis journey as “interesting” and says she’s been cancer-free for four years. She rang the “cancer is clear” bell back in 2022, though her doctors have warned that glioblastoma can recur.
Still, she’s living her life fully and has advice for anyone facing a serious medical diagnosis: “As much as you can, take control of your journey. Talk to doctors and others who have gone through the same.”
That gibberish email, the one that scared her colleague enough to escalate it up the chain, turned out to be the alarm bell that got her into the ER in time. Sometimes the things that frighten us most are exactly what we need to pay attention to.
