Miranda J. Gabriel, Psy.D. Licensed Clinical Psychologist PSY 19388
510-459-1302
  • Home
    • Getting Started with Therapy
  • About Dr. Gabriel
  • My Psychotherapeutic Approach
    • Psychodynamic Psychotherapy
  • Services Offered
    • Child Therapy
    • Adult Therapy
    • Psychological Testing
  • Rates
    • Client Forms
  • Blog
  • Links & Resources
  • Contact

5 Brain-Boosting Activities

10/1/2020

 
Picture
Here we are six months into the shelter-in-place due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  Here are some fun and stimulating ways to get those mental gears moving during the Fall of 2020.
















​1.  Study a new language

Now is an excellent time to focus your attention on learning a new language.  With today's technology, learning a new language is easier than ever!  There are several free apps, like Duolingo and Babbel,  that help you to learn a new language.  All you need to do is select the app, download it, select the language you are most interested in learning, and dedicate some time each day to learning it. 

​6-tips-for-picking-up-another-language.html

2.  Start a new workout routine
Believe it or not, a great daily workout can help stimulate the mind.  Not only will you keep your brain active, but you will keep your body healthy and moving while sheltering at home.  Yoga, sprints, learning new dance moves, walking, biking, kayaking, tennis are all great options.  Make it fun!  
​
increasing-your-energy-when-you-are-sheltering-in-place.html

3.  Make some tea or hot chocolate
and work on a puzzle

Whether you prefer a rousing game of Sudoku or you are a master chess player, playing games helps to keep your mind stimulated and active.  Doing different puzzles will encourage you to use your brain in new ways.  

4.  Get outside
As we all know, fresh air and communing in nature is healthy for our minds, bodies, and souls.  Go for a nature walk and photograph interesting plants, explore a new nearby trail, do some gardening, or plant some new flowers or vegetables.

the-healing-power-of-gardens.html

5.  Give yourself permission to relax
While this may not seem like a way to stimulate your mind, rest is essential to mental stimulation and creativity.  Take a soothing bath, an afternoon nap, meditate for 10-15 minutes, or listen to relaxing acoustic music and find your mind and body rejuvenated.

mindfulness-apps-for-kids-and-teens.html



Time on Your Side: 10 Strategies to Be More Productive

9/1/2020

 
Picture
Good time management isn't just about choosing the right app.  Managing our time wisely requires replacing some of our behaviors with healthier habits and routines.  Here are 10 strategies to help you to be more productive and use your time well.

1.  Learn How to and When To Say "NO"
Saying "no" when we are used to saying "yes" to everything is uncomfortable at first, but it gets easier the more we do it.  When asked if you can do something, practice saying "Let me take a look at my schedule and see if that is something I have time for."  When we are assigned more than we know we can handle, find out the new assignment is a priority.  Your boss may decide to delegate the assignment to someone else once it is clear that you already have enough on your plate.  Impulsive responses get people into a lot of trouble, so pause, take a breath, and ask for time to consider the request.

2.  Use the two-minute rule: If the task takes two minuter or less to complete, stop and do it now.
Telling ourselves that we will do it later is a fib we often believe.  All those things we say we will do later, which don't get done, take up too much "bandwidth" in our brains.  Doing a simple task right away like capturing and labeling a new contact on our phone, saves a lot of time later when we have forgotten.

3.  Limit and set clear boundaries for checking Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, email, and newsfeeds.
Restricting social media to a lunchtime activity or the commute home from work is a good rule of thumb, assuming you are not driving.  To avoid being inadvertently distracted, move any app with a notification icon off your home screen.  Be brutal and unsubscribe to emails, newsletters, and organizations that are not necessary and that wind up wasting your time.

4.  Check your calendar and "to do list" morning, noon, and night.
Keep your planning simple.  Ask yourself what you want to get done by lunch.  After lunch, re-assess and decide what you want to accomplish before you finish work for the day.  When you get home, decide what you want to do for the evening.  Simple is best and less is more are good rules to apply to time management and organization.

5.  Double the time you think it will take to complete an organizational project.
Many of us are poor at estimating how long things will take and almost all of us are poor at estimating the time needed for organizational projects.  this is because organizing requires a lot of decision-making, and most of us complicate simple questions such as "Keep or toss it?"  Having to stop in the middle of an organization project because we ran out of time is not a pretty sight, as most of what we are organizing is scattered all over the place.  Make sure you have plenty of time to finish what you have started by doubling your estimate for completion.

6.  Use a timer to stop what you are working on.
If hyperfocus or losing track of time leads to missed appointments or arriving late, use a timer to stop what you are working on.

7.  Establish a morning and an evening routine, and stick to them.  
When those two routines are consistent, other routines can be built around them.  Deciding what not to do each morning and night is as important as deciding what the routine will consist of.  Getting a good night's sleep and starting the day on time are necessary and healthy steps for better time management.  Be patient and persistent on establishing consistency with getting up and going to bed on time.

8.  Learn how and when to delegate.
Do not fall into the trap of "If I want it done right, I'll have to do it myself," or "I need to do it because it will take me longer to show someone else how to do it." We have all heard these expressions, either spoken by ourselves or others.  Be patient and take the time to mentor others.  It can save you a lot of time in the long run.  Don't just delegate down; delegate up by asking for help when you need it.  If you are assigned something at work that you have never done before, time can be wasted trying to figure out how to proceed.  Ask for more detailed instructions when to find pertinent information about the task, or an example you can use as a template.  "Could you please walk me through the process?" is an appropriate question to ask. 

9.  Beware of multitasking, which can save time only if the tasks are simple and familiar.  
If the tasks are complex and unfamiliar, it is more time-efficient to do them one at a time.  Helping your child with addition problems while cooking dinner you have made a hundred times is fine, but if you are trying out a new recipe and helping your teenager with calculus, chances are, you will burn dinner and your teen won't do well on the concept or quiz.

10.  If you are in the middle of something, do not allow interruptions.  
Politely say, "Just a moment.  I'm right in the middle of something," and continue with what you are doing until you are at a good stopping point and can re-direct your focus.  Sometimes a hand signal works well.  Constant interruptions  ruin our efficiency, so even if you have an open-door policy, do not hesitate to put a "Do Not Disturb" sign on your door when you have a project that requires your sustained attention.  It is difficult for us to minimize our internal distractions, so any boundaries we can set up to minimize external distractions helps us to become more time-efficient.

Increasing Your Energy When You are Sheltering-in-place

6/1/2020

 
Picture
Being stuck inside can make you feel bored, frustrated, and completely exhausted, which might seem contradictory if you feel you haven't done anything aside from watching Netflix and make sourdough bread.  The constraints of the pandemic can make us feel sapped and drained.  Many people are wondering what they can do to maintain or increase their energy levels, while protecting themselves and their families from contracting the virus.

The changes in our routines, our mood, multiple Zoom meetings, and being bombarded with as much news as we allow ourselves to read or listen to are all adversely affecting everyone's sleep and energy.

When you feel more stressed as most of us feel during the pandemic, you are prone to also feel more exhausted.  The body responds to stress by staying in the fight-or-flight mode, which produces more cortisol and makes you sleep more lightly.  Additionally, when under stress, we often crave denser food such as mashed potatoes or juicy hamburgers.  But all of that comfort food, also interferes with your ability to get quality sleep and therefore makes you more tired.

And when you do manage to get some quality sleep, it might be laden with nightmares during the pandemic.  The Lyon Neuroscience Research Center found a 15% increase in negative dreams like nightmares.  For people not on the front lines of healthcare and emergency response, fears of the novel coronavirus are projected into fears and threats of spiders, zombies, bugs, and shadowy figures.

The best way to increase your energy is to exercise.  Regular exercise boots your energy and improves your immune system.  There are a wide number of fitness workouts that are available online during the shelter-in-place.  In the Bay Area, we are allowed to go for a socially distant walk or run as long as you maintain at least 6-feet of social distance.  So, lace up your sneakers and go for a brisk walk for 30 minutes to get your blood flowing, reduce your stress, clear your mind, and increase your energy.  Other ideas to get your heart pumping while indoors include jumping rope, your favorite warrior yoga pose, a dance party with your children, or master the latest TikTok dances to your favorite music.  Don't forget to strength train indoors as well.  Try using household objects as weights such as the detergent bottle, milk jugs, packages of sugar or rice.  Keep the weight balanced on both sides of the body.  

Regular exercise can tire you out and make your sleep deeper and more restful, which will improve your energy over time.

Great TED Talks on Building Meaningful Connections

2/1/2019

 
So many of us ponder how we can be closer with those very important people in our lives; our VIP's. This might be a sibling, parent, boss, friend, spouse, or our own children. 

Here are some great TED talks on different ways to build meaningful connections with your VIP's.  The TED talks are about 15-20 minutes each so feel free to enjoy them all at once or sneak them in over a day or two.  Either way, they will help you to bridge some of those gaps in your VIP relationships and feel more connected.

Sleep Tips Throughout the Lifespan

12/3/2018

 
Picture
     We all know that getting a good night's sleep is very important.  Sleep helps to us to repair muscles, improve concentration, maintain health, maximize athletic performance, reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke, improve immunity, and consolidate learning, to name a few. 
​
     Here are some articles that highlight behavioral strategies for getting a good night's sleep throughout the life span.

How To Create The Perfect Sleep Environment
for Your Child


The Best Discipline Strategies for Bedtime Behavioral Problems

Sleep Hygiene For Teens

14 Strategies for Sleeping Better

Sleep Tips for Older Adults

Sweet Dreams!

Three Challenges of Human Nature and How to Overcome Them

9/10/2018

 
Procrastination

     What makes some tasks harder than others to tackle?  It turns out the time allotted for the work matters less than how our minds perceives the deadline.  When a deadline feels like it is part of the present- say, within the current month, we are more likely to begin the task.

      Studies find that the brain divides time into discrete categories, with boundaries at the end of a moth or the start of a new year, for example.   To motivate yourself to start a task you are putting off, try thinking about time boundaries differently.  For a deadline next month, you might call it three weeks instead or design a new calendar for yourself that does not break up the months.  Research also suggests that dividing tasks into smaller, incremental steps with their own deadlines, will feel more immediate.

Impulsiveness

     Gazing at images of the great outdoors has been linked with a range of benefits, including pain relief, stress recovery, and mood improvement.  Now, research has shown that thinking of and looking at pictures of nature also helps to orient you to the future and reduce impulsivity.  Seeing nature or even pictures of nature makes us think more about the future.  When time is expanded, it is easier for people to imagine the future and this effect appears to lessen the draw of immediate temptations.  This is something to consider the next time you are at the office working late and your desire is to raid the fridge.  Watching the sunset or nature landscapes on your computer may help to keep you oriented towards the future and not the immediate temptation.

Performance Anxiety

     A pounding heart, rapid breathing, racing thoughts--is it anxiety or excitement?  New studies at Harvard University found that by interpreting these sensations as excitement instead of anxiety allowed people to perform better in three types of stressful situations: singing in front of strangers, speaking in public, and solving difficult math problems.  

       Most people try to calm down when facing high-stress situations, but that approach can backfire by increasing rumination about what could go wrong.  Instead choose to focus on the potential high points of the situation, such as looking forward to making colleagues laugh during a presentation or knowing how to solve some problems on a test.  Getting excited about how things can go well will give you confidence and energy and increase the likelihood that the positive outcomes you imagine will actually happen.       
Picture

Transitioning to Adulthood for Children with Special Needs: Blog Roll

8/16/2018

 
Here are three articles to help broach the topic of helping your child or young adult to transition to adulthood.  Enjoy!

1.  Managing Your Child's Transition to Adulthood

2.  Transition to Adulthood: Home Modifications for Adults with Special Needs

3.  Special Needs Checklist: How Disability-Friendly is Your City?

Summer Safety

6/5/2018

 
Picture
Everyone’s favorite time of year is back - it’s finally summertime!

As wonderful as this season is, summer comes with its own unique set of healthy and safety warnings. It’s important to take some time to brush up on these basics.  

​How to Prep Your Home for a Safe,
Hazard-free Summer


Stay Safe in Summer Heat

Hiking, Camping, and Food Storage

7 Ways to Keep Your Kids Safe on the Beach
​This Summer


Enjoy your summer!

Goal Setting: The SMART way

1/1/2018

 
Many people feel as if they're adrift in the world. They work hard, but they don't seem to get anywhere worthwhile.  A key reason that they feel this way is that they haven't spent enough time thinking about what they want from life, and haven't set formal goals for themselves.

How to Set a Goal

First consider what you want to achieve, and then commit to it. Set SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound) goals that motivate you and write them down to make them feel tangible. Then plan the steps you must take to realize your goal, and cross off each one as you work through them.

Goal setting is a powerful process for thinking about your ideal future, and for motivating yourself to turn your vision of this future into reality.

The process of setting goals helps you choose where you want to go in life. By knowing precisely what you want to achieve, you know where you have to concentrate your efforts. You'll also quickly spot the distractions that can, so easily, lead you astray.

Starting to Set Personal Goals

You set your goals on a number of levels:
  • First you create your "big picture" of what you want to do with your life (or over, for instance, the next 10 years), and identify the large-scale goals that you want to achieve.
  • Then, you break these down into the smaller and smaller targets that you must hit to reach your lifetime goals.
  • Finally, once you have your plan, you start working on it to achieve these goals.
This is why we start the process of setting goals by looking at your lifetime goals. Then, we work down to the things that you can do in, say, the next five years, then next year, next month, next week, and today, to start moving towards them.

Setting Lifetime Goals

The first step in setting personal goals is to consider what you want to achieve in your lifetime (or at least, by a significant and distant age in the future). Setting lifetime goals gives you the overall perspective that shapes all other aspects of your decision making.

To give a broad, balanced coverage of all important areas in your life, here are some ideas for setting goals in multiple categories:
  • Career – What level do you want to reach in your career, or what do you want to achieve?
  • Financial – How much do you want to earn, by what stage? How is this related to your career goals?
  • Education – Is there any knowledge you want to acquire in particular? What information and skills will you need to have in order to achieve other goals?
  • Family – Do you want to be a parent? If so, how are you going to be a good parent? How do you want to be seen by a partner or by members of your extended family?
  • Artistic – Do you want to achieve any artistic goals?
  • Attitude – Is any part of your mindset holding you back? Is there any part of the way that you behave that upsets you? (If so, set a goal to improve your behavior or find a solution to the problem.)
  • Physical – Are there any athletic goals that you want to achieve, or do you want good health into old age? What steps are you going to take to achieve this?
  • Pleasure – How do you want to enjoy yourself?
  • Public Service – Do you want to make the world a better place? If so, how?
Spend some time brainstorming these things, and then select one or more goals in each category that best reflect what you want to do. Then consider trimming again so that you have a small number of really significant goals that you can focus on.

Setting Smaller Goals

Once you have set your lifetime goals, set a five-year plan of smaller goals that you need to complete if you are to reach your lifetime plan.  Then create a one-year plan, six-month plan, and a one-month plan of progressively smaller goals that you should reach to achieve your lifetime goals. Each of these should be based on the previous plan.
Then create a daily list of things that you should do today to work towards your lifetime goals.

At an early stage, your smaller goals might be to read books and gather information on the achievement of your higher level goals. This will help you to improve the quality and realism of your goal setting.

Finally review your plans, and make sure that they fit the way in which you want to live your life.

Staying on Course

Once you've decided on your first set of goals, keep the process going by reviewing and updating your list on a daily basis.
Periodically review the longer term plans, and modify them to reflect your changing priorities and experience.

SMART Goals

A useful way of making goals more powerful is to use the SMART  mnemonic. While there are plenty of variants (some of which I've included in parenthesis), SMART usually stands for:
  • S – Specific (or Significant)
  • M – Measurable (or Meaningful)
  • A – Attainable (or Action-Oriented)
  • R – Relevant (or Rewarding)
  • T – Time-bound (or Trackable)
For example, instead of having "to sail around the world" as a goal, it's more powerful to use the SMART goal "To have completed my trip around the world by December 31, 2027." Obviously, this will only be attainable if a lot of preparation has been completed beforehand!

Further Tips for Setting Your Goals

The following broad guidelines will help you to set effective, achievable goals:
  • State each goal as a positive statement 
  • Be precise: Set precise goals, putting in dates, times and amounts so that you can measure achievement. If you do this, you'll know exactly when you have achieved the goal, and can take complete satisfaction from having achieved it.
  • Set priorities – When you have several goals, give each a priority. This helps you to avoid feeling overwhelmed by having too many goals, and helps to direct your attention to the most important ones.
  • Write goals down – This crystallizes them and gives them more force.
  • Keep operational goals small – Keep the low-level goals that you're working towards small and achievable. If a goal is too large, then it can seem that you are not making progress towards it. Keeping goals small and incremental gives more opportunities for reward.
  • Set performance goals, not outcome goals – You should take care to set goals over which you have as much control as possible. It can be quite dispiriting to fail to achieve a personal goal for reasons beyond your control!  In business, these reasons could be bad business environments or unexpected effects of government policy. In sport, they could include poor judging, bad weather, injury, or just plain bad luck.
  • Set realistic goals – It's important to set goals that you can achieve. All sorts of people (for example, employers, parents, media, or society) can set unrealistic goals for you. They will often do this in ignorance of your own desires and ambitions.
    It's also possible to set goals that are too difficult because you might not appreciate either the obstacles in the way, or understand quite how much skill you need to develop to achieve a particular level of performance.

Achieving Goals

When you've achieved a goal, take the time to enjoy the satisfaction of having done so. Absorb the implications of the goal achievement, and observe the progress that you've made towards other goals.

If the goal was a significant one, reward yourself appropriately. All of this helps you build the self-confidence you deserve.

With the experience of having achieved this goal, review the rest of your goal plans:
  • If you achieved the goal too easily, make your next goal harder.
  • If the goal took a dispiriting length of time to achieve, make the next goal a little easier.
  • If you learned something that would lead you to change other goals, do so.
  • If you noticed a deficit in your skills despite achieving the goal, decide whether to set goals to fix this.
Picture

Enhancing Productivity

12/4/2017

 
Picture
       Studies have shown how being distracted can become a bad habit that ultimately decreases our effectiveness at work or in school.  Psychologists have identified new ways to help people overcome the hurdles that stand in the way of their productivity.  Here are some key strategies to enhance your productivity.

1.  Minimize Interruptions
            We are constantly bombarded by emails, ringing phones, text messages that reek havoc on our productivity.  When you need to concentrate and focus, find ways to create that space.  Put up a "Do Not Disturb" sign on your office door.  Turn your cell phone off.  Put your phone on silent and put the screen face-down so you can't see texts or notifications.  Study after study has shown that we, as humans, are not good at multi-tasking.  We think that we are but we are not.  These interruptions take us away from the task at hand. 

2.  Increase Attention Span in 15 Minute Increments
           One way to increase attention span and productivity, is to take a "technology break" after 15-minutes of uninterrupted work.  Give yourself a study or work break where you can check email, check alerts or texts, after completing 15 minutes of  uninterrupted work.  Once you master working for 15 minutes at a time, start increasing the time before taking a technology break.  Research has shown that taking small breaks allows us to maintain focus.  

3.  Write Down Your Goals To Boost Productivity
          We have all heard that setting goals is important but how to do this can seem elusive.  Establishing a habit of writing down your goals can boost performance and productivity.  The act of writing down a goal seems to make us accountable to the goal.  The act of writing down goals can also help us to become more reflective as we evaluate our goal outcomes and handle problems that may arise.
<<Previous

    Miranda J. Gabriel, Psy.D.

    A licensed clinical psychologist providing psychotherapy to children, teens, and adults in the San Francisco Bay Area.


    Categories

    All
    ADHD
    Adults
    Anxiety
    Asperger's Syndrome
    Autism
    Change
    Children
    Couples
    Grief
    Holiday Stress
    Homework
    Middle School
    Mindfulness
    Mingling
    Parenting
    Party
    Play
    Relationships
    Resolutions
    Resources
    Shopping
    Shy
    Special Needs
    Strategies
    Teenagers


    Archives

    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015


    Information and opinions found on this website
    are not substitutes for
    medical or psychological advice. Dr. Gabriel can't answer ​questions about someone's specific situation or ​give
    ​personal advice. Please see the Disclaimer section ​under the Contact Page for more information.

1350 Dell Avenue, Suite #103
Campbell, CA 95008
​
​510-459-1302

dr.mgabriel@gmail.com

© 2021  Miranda J. Gabriel, Psy.D.
All Rights Reserved.

No photographs of actual clients are represented.