Definite condition of the boss

If you have some subordinates, I recommend you to remember some simple things.

Every good bosses are;

- to entrust the work to the subordinate.

- to support the subordinate in a serious setting.

- to have a dream.

If your boss does always censor your work, blame you on your failure, or have no perspective in the future, I strong recommend you to change the workplace.

Fortunately, my boss adhere all the three things above. Therefore, he remains my boss.

Maintaining your mental health in chronic stress

Corona virus spreading has turned into a new stage, a pandemic, unfortunately.

It can no more be completely controlled. Therefore, we have to take a defense to maintain the current situation until some innovative solution is developed.

Though different from an emergency, long lasting battle is also exhausting. Especially when we cannot know the period it will be over, we tend to feel more stressful.

It is another issue than COVID-19 that you can deteriorate your health status because of chronic lock down. You have to keep yourself clean and alert as far as possible.

There are some tips below you can do everyday.

The New Daily: The five things you can do for your mental health in coronavirus lockdown

Nature: Seven tips to manage your mental health and well-being during the COVID-19 outbreak

I completely agree with the opinion described in these articles. Regulatory life is very important. Human can bare at acute stress for a short term. But if your circadian rhythm is chronically confused, it will get rid of your vitality sooner or later.

Humor is also essential in a tough situation. Do not blame on persons who make a silly joke. They are trying to endure their sorrow. Listening to music is also an easy and cheerful habit you can enjoy now. Stretching your body is one of best practices in daily life.

The battle against COVID-19 will be continuous. We have to change our mind for an adaptive behavior.

Stress resilience

In the academic region of mental health, the influence of stress and how to manage it have been a core field of discussion. According to the up to date evidence, it is proven that chronic stress can do damage on you for a long time, unfortunately. Thus, when you are exposed to a tough situation which can be long-lasting, you may be inflicted considerable damage even after the stress is gone.

This fact suggest the importance of daily management. It is not a wise idea to be patient for a while. Rather, you should install several methods to mitigate the influence of stress in your daily activities.

So far, physical exercise and conversation with others are the best ways to reduce stress reaction. Also, learning new things is beneficial for not only satisfying your curiosity but also modifying your biased thought.

The Conversation: How chronic stress changes the brain – and what you can do to reverse the damage

In addition, I recommend you to maintain your regular day cycle to make you resilient to stress, though there is scarce evidence. regulatory walk is superior to occasional hard exercise. Regulated sleep rhythm should be adhered to keep your health and concentration.

Finally, stress cannot be avoidable at all while you are alive. Resilience is essential. Any experience of managing stress must make you stronger.

Daily activity should be prioritized in this situation

Japan, as well as other nations, is covered by the fear of corona viral infection. The stock price is falling down all over the world, while it is partially due to the breakdown of oil price. In Japan, Abe administration is eager to establish a law to enable a declaration of an emergent state.

In such a situation, everyone tend to lose temper. But, I have to emphasize that daily activity should be prioritized now.

In a critical state, adrenergic hormone is released excessively. It help us to move quickly, decide a courageous act, and become aggressive. On the other hand, adrenaline does damage to our health in a longitudinal view.

If you are upset, be aware to adhere your daily lifestyle. Enough sleep and regular diet are essential to maintain your health. Concentrate on your own task, not being anxious about vague things. Adequate exercise is beneficial.

I remember this matter when watching an article regarding climate change. In recent years, the degree of carbon emission is decreasing significantly, according to the media.

Independent: Carbon emissions fall at fastest rate in 30 years as electricity sector moves away from coal

Climate change is a chronic issue which we cannot forget. There are many people to be engaging in this issue even now.

Driving licence issues for elderly and disabled

In Japan, traffic accident caused by elder drivers is focused.

Japan is already an aged nation. Elder people are dominant in Japan society. On the other hand, the more getting older, the more our cognitive ability becomes worse. It is an inevitable nature.

Therefore, Japan government began to monitor elder driver's ability more strictly than the past. Elder people have to take a cognitive screening when renewing the driving licence. Persons failed to the test have to meet a doctor to prove they have still capacity of driving.

However, it is not easy to judge if a person can drive a car safely. Rather, we psychiatrists have not been trained to evaluate one's driving technique. It is a task of trainers in driving school.

Nonetheless, Japan government established a new scheme to demand psychiatrists to judge if a person, both elderly and mentally disordered, can drive the car. This policy does not make sense.

Recently, I heard some patients with mental disorder were requested repeatedly to submit a doctor's certification while renewal of the driving licence. It looks like a discrimination against disabled people.

In my opinion, giving a driving licence is an issue of the driving center. And if they cause a traffic accident, they should be responsible for the damage regardless of their mental status unless there are some exceptional reasons, since anyone must manage their state for safety driving once take a wheel.

How to raise your confidence

Many people say they dare not to challenge something because of the lack of confidence. They say they would challenge when they become assured of success.

I would like to say, never you got confident.

The less you are confident, the more you should try it. When you are not confident, you may be unskilled or inexperienced. In these cases, you would be not blamed if you fail. It is a chance of you.

Also, confidence is made only from successful experience. Never try, never confidence.

Overcoming fear

Fear is one of the primitive emotions in humans. We feel fearful when encountering threats. Sometimes you feel your heartbeat is rapid and your hands are sweating. And you may think it would be grateful if you could run away.

Some people are suffering from excessive fear. Anxiety disorders and phobia are common mental disorders. Controlling fear is an essential issue for patients.

There are some tips to overcome your fear. Positive goal setting and focusing the process to achieve something are important to protect you from overwhelming fear.

Forbes: How To Overcome Your Fears

On the other hand, some patients are not good at thinking positively. In this case, I recommend you not to be positive so much. Rather, imagine the worst scenario. Then, prepare yourself to face the worst thing. In this time, it is important not to prepare any protection from the doom. Throw you away to the dark hole.

This method is effective for some patients. Of course, if you feel bad, do not try it. Therapists are responsible to suggest a tailor-made way for you.

Good sleep tips

Good sleep is essential for your good life. So I am interested in sleep science. I repeatedly quate some articles about sleep in this blog.

Now, I introduce this article below in which Christine Hansen mentions some tips about better sleep.

Independent: FIVE TIPS TO GET A BETTER NIGHT'S SLEEP, ACCORDING TO A SLEEP EXPERT
https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/sleep-better-help-restfulness-expert-deep-habits-phone-a8777836.html

According to Hansen, these five essences below are crucial:

1. Take an hour to wind down before bed
2. Stop trying to calculate how much sleep you need
3. Consider what foods you are eating
4. Try leaving your phone in a different room
5. Take time to acknowledge thoughts and feelings that may keep you awake later as they happen

Each of them is well-known facts for practitioners about this region. Among them, I am interested in sentence 2.

Indeed, some people have sticky thought about the necessary duration of sleep. For example, a man feels anxious at 23 because he should take seven hours of sleep and he has to wake up at 6 o'clock in the next morning. But in reality, he need not sleep full seven hours today, according to Hansen.

I agree with her opinion. On the other hand, there is broad controversy regarding the necessary time of sleep. Recent studies suggest most humans have to sleep for eight hours every day for keeping their life optimized. In my sense, few people match this condition. Whether this hypothesis is correct is yet to be proven.

Deadline is essential

Previously, I wrote a tip to make a better performance.

My past entry: The best way to multi tasks

Every task has a deadline. The reason is not only for clients. Tasks without a deadline will never be completed.

I have always tasks both in work and private activities. Each of them has a strict deadline. And these deadlines define the requirement of the quality of each task. If there were no deadlines, I would be willing to improve the quality of tasks without limitation. As a result, I would never declare the completion.

Therefore, deadline is essential for ending a task. We hate deadlines, but in real they have to be lived.

Bitcoin lost by the death of CEO of an exchange

Up to 190m USD of cryptocurrency may have been lost because of the death of one person.

CNN: $190 Million in Crypto Gone Forever, How Canada’s Biggest Bitcoin Exchange Lost it All

QuadrigaCX was the largest bitcoin exchange in Canada. But it had been troubled for several months as users claimed it failed to make transactions. Recently, the company published an official explanation. According to this, since the CEO passed away it has no longer access to the cold wallet of Bitcoins it stores.

A cold wallet is one of the safest ways to store cryptocurrency. It is invulnerable to cyber attacks by outsiders. However, this means that ways to access the wallet are limited. If the secret key is lost, it is difficult to recover it.

The CEO of QuadrigaCX seems to have been the only person with the way to access the cold wallet. His death has made the cold wallet deserving million dollars a black box.

The CEO was suffering Chone disease, a chronic illness of intestine. Although it is not sure about the cause of his death, the CEO had to be prepared for unfortunate situations. A good company would never be collapsed by the death of the leader. It is the power of the organization.

What is communication skills?

Some people feel difficult to communicate with others.

Some of them are diagnosed as a developmental disorder because a lack of proper communication is a dominant feature of this category of disease. Of course, not all people with communication difficulty have autism.

Communication skills are hardly definable. There are several styles of communication. Some people take leadership in every situation. Others are good at listening to others.

Among them, communication skills are often recognized as the ability to report one's thought to others as well as understanding other's thought. Also, communication is sometimes identified as the skill of making a consensus.

 At least in Japan, however, I am against this idea.

Many Japanese are not good at discussing one thing in detail. A debate is one of the most difficult skills for Japanese. Not a few Japanese feel unhappy when entering a discussion. Rejecting a proposal is sometimes misunderstood as denying the presenter himself.

Thus, communication is not a negotiation in Japan.

Instead, communication skill means an ability to maintain relationships with persons who are not supportive of you. Japanese deemed with good communication skills look friendly and calm. But they are not always empathetic with your thought. Simply they make smile not to make you angry.

In my sense, some patients with developmental disorder misunderstand this fact. They tend to think knowing others deeply is necessary to make good communication. Such attitudes are often annoyed by Japanese people. As a result, they are rejected, which makes them isolated more.

I recommend you to make a smile with no particular intention if you would like to get along with Japanese. There is little need for understanding others to make a continuous relationship with them.

Amazon's trap for business use

I love Amazon.

I am a fanatic user of Amazon, indeed. I could not be alive without Amazon. Every day, I read Kindle e-books. I am fond of watching Amazon video. Also, I have published some e-books on Kindle Direct Publishing.

Amazon has been user-friendly. Amazon's services are convenient and fascinating, as well as reasonable.

However, too much convenience is often harmful.

Recently, I bought a book for work. Usually, I get refunded when purchasing a material for work from my office. But in this case, I unconsciously bought it with my Amazon point.

Amazon point is offered in several opportunities. In the purchasing process, Amazon point is consumed on a priority basis when online shopping. I could select to use my credit card, instead. But I missed it. Therefore, I could not get refunded the cost of the material according to the regulation of my office.

Amazon also offers corporation accounts. If my business activity depended on Amazon with more proportion, I would create a corporation account.

Almighty passport of Malta

There are many independent nations all over the world. They constitute their legislation regarding citizenship. Thus, it is not easy for you to change your nationality.

But, some nations offer a door to enter. Nowadays, you can buy your citizenship in ten particular nations. Malta is one of such friendly countries.

In addition, you can travel to more than 180 nations without a visa when possessing the passport of Malta. Therefore, some rich people who are fond of foreign sightseeing are eager to get the passport.

News.com.au: Why the world’s wealthiest people are desperate for this passport

Earning foreign currency is one of the most significant issues for every nation. Each nation sells their unique products. And they are not limited to actual objects. For instance, Taiwan has offered airports for the transit. People not intending to visit Taipei stay at Taipei for a couple of hours. They take a meal and even buy a souvenir.

Furthermore, some nations are known as a tax haven. Rich people are annoyed by the high tax rate in their mother country. Not a few people want to move their base to Panama, for example, to reduce the tax payment.

As well, almighty passport looks attractive for some rich people. For the third nations, travelers with such a passport are guaranteed to be rich enough to get the luxury passport. Accepting such travelers seems beneficial for the host nations. It will potentially be a win-win solution.

The liking gap

People think of you better than you estimate, as new studies suggest.

Forbes: People Like You More Than You Think, Study Finds

This phenomenon is called "liking gap." You may be fearful that others dislike you. But others may have a good feeling about you. This gap is observed in several settings.

In clinical surroundings, many patients are afraid that others look at them. The feeling of attracting attention causes you nervous. The more you avoid to be focused, the more you feel the tension. This process is an etiology of social anxiety disorder.

Results of these studies may ease your anxiety. But people do not pay attention to you, I think.

The process of accepting advice

The other day, I heard two episodes via the internet.

First, a person was asked by a younger colleague for advice. The colleague was going to marry a lady. He wanted to know how to get along with his new wife.

He recommended to the colleague to mitigate the burden of housekeeping. He recommended to buy a Rumba, equip a dish-washing machine on the kitchen. Any other ways to save time were proposed.

But, the colleague was not satisfied with his advice.

Second, a teacher was engaged in the English language. One Japanese student was learning English words. She did not know the word "foot."

Then, the teacher told her, "Have you heard the word football?"
"Yes, it's soccer," said she.

The teacher said, "So, is footwork?"
"Humm, I have heard it."

"So, would you guess the meaning of the word foot?"

However, the girl could not understand the meaning of the word "foot."

Some audience criticized the teacher's attitude, saying "the girl would have wanted to gain English skills effective to pass the exams. The act of the teacher was waste of time."

What is the common point of the two anecdotes?

In my opinion, any advice requires the preparation of the receiver to be effective.

I believe the first person told an important thing for the better life of the couple. Housekeeping is very tough for both wife and husband. Shortening the time for daily duty will make you happy. But, the colleague was not prepared for imagining the real life after the marriage. Therefore, he could not accept the advice as useful.

In the second episode, the teacher tried to teach the way of thinking to the student. It is quite important, but undervalued in Japan, I think. But, it is uncertain that all students are willing to learn how to think anytime. Especially, when the exam is approaching, most students want to the answer itself rather than the way to the answer, unfortunately.

We all make an advice to others. Regardless of the correctness, it would not be accepted in a bad occasion. We should be aware of it.

Maybe six to eight hours sleep is the best

How many hours fo you sleep? The duration of optimal sleep in a night depends on your physical status. But, it is certain that excessive sleep, as well as lack of sleep, is harmful to your health.

Some studies suggest that six to eight hours in a day is the best sleep. Abnormal sleep pattern is a risk for cardiovascular diseases.

Independent: Study reveals how many hours sleep to get each night for a healthy heart

There is still discussion around sleep time. Some researchers claim eight hours of sleep is necessary. In my opinion, just six hours of sleep is a little too short for maintaining your health for most people.

Anyway, sleep deprivation is quite dangerous. I recommend you not to save your night sleep.

Living abroad for low cost

Recent years, not a few American people went out from the US for a cheaper living cost, according to this article below.

Forbes: Quit Your Job: 5 Countries Where You Can Live For Under $1,500 A Month

There are several nations you can live for under 1,500 USD per month. The article lists Cambodia, Panama, Ecuador, Portugal, and Costa Rica. They are actually candidates for living after retirement, I believe.

However, each county has their own merits and risks regarding the daily living. In general, countries with a weak currency has a financial problem. As well, some nations have political conflict both inside them and internationally.

For example, Panama is well known as a tax haven. At the same time, many developed countries are considering to dismiss the advantage of Panama legally. Also, Ecuador has a problematic relationship with the US.

After all, we cannot avoid all risks with any strategy. When you save your money, you have to face other risks in your life.

I, myself, am considering to move from Japan when getting old. But, I have to prepare for several risks.

Why power harassment frequently occurs in Japan

Shamefully, several kinds of harassments are spread in Japan, I feel. Japanese tend to be exclusive, in general. Many people dislike touching other culture. Sexual harassment is focused just recently after discrimination against women candidates to a medical school was revealed. Expecting mothers hardly continue their job because work security is not guaranteed in many cases. There are lots of other examples to describe the difficulty to adapt yourself to Japan culture.

Regarding power harassment, I believe there are many unseen cases. According to the article below, one-third of employees experienced power harassment in their three years. I think this result is correctly representing the current situation. Some workers take an action against harassment. But many of them will not be saved because they are deemed as a difficult person by any companies. Therefore, many workers, especially young people, decide to quit the job, otherwise, continue to obey their terrible boss.

The Japan Times: Reports of power harassment in workplaces continue rising

In most cases, the bosses are not conscious of the agony of the employee who feels harassed. Therefore, conducting a seminar about harassment is almost useless. Modifying the consciousness of the bosses is necessary to reduce the risk of power harassment.

In my opinion, the lack of coaching skills is one of the dominant causes of power harassment. When you have to train a subordinate who is not smart, or simply dull, you have to change the way to teach him. It takes more time to train a non-skilled worker. You have to tell the essential things repeatedly. You have to let him understand why he cannot do correctly. However, many bosses omit the time to get the subordinate learned by himself. In reality, many small companies cannot spend the time to train rookies. As a result, the boss scolds him instead of guiding him. Repetitive scolding is no more than harassment. But the boss cannot distinguish scolding from training.

Japanese tend to think spiritually rather than logically. Many bosses, especially in elders, believe making efforts with great pain will solute any problems. I do not deny the importance of effort. But, telling your subordinate to make more efforts is no more coaching. People without understanding the fact are always at risk of taking harassment.

A simple test to measure your stress at work

Do you feel exhausted about the work? You may think the tasks in front of you are too burdening. But in general, work stress is so invisible that some people notice it only after being broken down.

Therefore, there are several ways of stress checking. In Japan, mental health screening of employees became mandatory for most companies some years ago.

Here, I suggest a very simple, but valuable method testify your stress level at work. This is one question: "Do you worry about your work performance today on the way to going home?"

If your answer is "yes, always," you must be failing to deal with your working stress.

This method is useful especially for consulting persons such as clinician and lawyers. They, including me, are always exposed to the stress of the clients. To maintain the mental health of the consultants, stress should be dealt with in the workplace, ideally. Otherwise, you can talk about it with your family: be careful to adhere to the confidentiality.

On the other hand, rumination thinking about the client's complaints often happens in your mind. In this case, you may be overwhelmed by the stress.

Rumination is known as a symptom suggesting the risk of depression. So, I recommend you to consult with another person to eliminate your stressful feeling.

How to build your muscle

Many men, as well as some ladies, want to gain a body with rich muscle. They are eager to shape the optimal body by resisting the temptation of sweets and a lazy lifestyle.

Nowadays, the proper way to grow your muscle has been established to some extent, though there is no silver bullet. Exercise and diet are essential, as you know. Muscle grows after it was damaged. It is the reason why you need heavy resistance exercise to gain musculus body. Longitudinal but non-resistant movement such as walking is not beneficial to grow muscle, while it can make your fat burned.

Also, a protein-rich diet is helpful to convert your intake into the muscle. In Japan, "Salad-chicken," usually smoked chicken fillet, is popular in recent years. It contains a large amount of protein with low fat. I sometimes eat it. It tastes good, but continuous taking is boring.

Independent: THIS IS HOW MUCH MUSCLE YOU CAN GAIN IN A MONTH, ACCORDING TO EXPERTS

A benefit of gaining muscle is improving your metabolism. Musculus body consumes high energy. Thus, you are unlikely to gain excessive fat. Also, muscles prevent you from aging. Elder people with poor muscles are likely to cause fractures.

You need not be powerful physically thanks to the modern technology. Nonetheless, muscle is important for your better life.