Brain Wave, Life Hacks & Tips and Tricks

Using E-Cigarettes to Quit Smoking – The Complete Guide

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E-cigarettes are not just an alternative to smoking cigarettes or using other tobacco products. They can be used to quit smoking altogether, just like nicotine gum, inhalers, and patches. However, unless you have a clear plan of action and know how to avoid the pitfalls of many people making the transition, then you might fall right back to square one. Here is a complete guide on using e-cigarettes to quit smoking if you want to replace cigarettes with their healthier electronic counterparts.

Buy the Vaping Kit and the High Nicotine E-Liquids

The vaping kit will have everything you need to start vaping. You’re not after a complex, customisable device to experience a variety of flavours and styles. You just want a basic vaping system and accoutrements to work with for a while. Go ahead and have an extra battery or spare bottle of liquid since you don’t want to be caught without and slip into old habits, i.e. lighting up a cigarette.

What you truly need is the strongest, highest nicotine level e-liquid available. This is what you’re going to vape to satisfy the nicotine cravings, at least at the beginning. The higher nicotine level will deliver the hit your body expects without the nasty toxins, even though you may not be using the e-cigarette totally right. A good rule of thumb is to stick with the higher nicotine level for a month before taking the next step.

Dial the Nicotine Level Down

After you’ve gotten used to vaping, you should reach the point where you’re able to use the e-cigarette to replace traditional cigarettes entirely. The next step is dropping to a lower nicotine level while keeping your frequency of vaping constant. You’ll probably notice the difference, but it isn’t going to be nearly as hard as quitting smoking altogether. Fortunately, you’re maintaining the same habits, so you’re more likely to stick with the minor change than you would if you tossed your cigarettes and started buying patches and gum.

You will need to give yourself time to get used to the lower level. This may take a month. In fact, it may take a couple of months. It is OK to do so since e-cigarettes are safer than conventional ones. If you were using the high strength e-liquid, simply order the medium strength instead. If you’re looking for a wide variety of different e-liquids with different concentrations, you should consider visiting a reputable ecig store like greyhaze.co.uk to make sure you’re getting the best quality liquid possible with the right dosage.

Another strategy would be buying a vaporiser that lets you adjust the amount of nicotine you inhale over time, but this isn’t as simple as using lower dosage e-liquids. The simpler the process, the easier the transition will be.

Reduce the Concentration for a While

If you’re trying out medium strength e-liquids, you’re making progress breaking the nicotine addiction. However, you may find that it is difficult not to smoke more, while others crave an old-fashioned cigarette. There is a potential solution to this, and it is switching to a different e-liquid manufacturer. Different brands have a wider range of strengths than others. If “medium” of one brand isn’t enough, instead of switching back to the “strong” liquid you initially tried, try a medium-strong liquid that’s not as powerful as what you initially started with. You’ll partially meet your cravings without returning to the strongest stuff available. After you’re used to that, you can try stepping back down to the medium strength stuff. You can try to experiment with flavours at this point to see if it helps.

Start altering your habits by this point, too. If you tend to light up after meals or on break, try not to socialise with other smokers at this time. As you eliminate your triggers, you’ll be able to overcome them until you’re over them all.

Switch to the Lowest Level When You’re Ready

You’ll know you’re ready to switch to the lowest level e-liquid when you start leaving your e-cigarette at home and you’re OK with it. If you leave it at home and panic, finding yourself buying a disposable e-cigarette instead, then you are not ready yet. If you left the e-cigarette kit at home and went digging for the backup kit in your office drawer, you aren’t ready to step down the dosage yet. When you can wait until you get home to light up, you can try switching to a low nicotine level e-liquid. Embrace this change because it means your brain is breaking the addiction habit. If you can forget it for a while, you’re not reliant on it. Celebrate it, too, because this means you are very close to becoming a non-smoker.

Go to Zero Nicotine Liquids

Yes, there are zero-nicotine liquids available for e-cigarette users. If you’re able to go hours without lighting up, you’re loosening the hold nicotine has on you. Switch to the zero nicotine liquids. Continue using the vaping system as you have been so that you don’t have to break every habit. This lets you give in to the impulse to light up without feeding the need for nicotine. If you can’t fight the craving, only use the low nicotine level liquids. It is OK to take your time here since this increases the odds you’ll give it up for good. And since vaping is so much safer than cigarettes, it isn’t like taking your time is adversely impacting your health.

In fact, a study released by Public Health England in 2015 found vaping to be, at a minimum, 95% safer than smoking. This is why the UK has endorsed vaping as a smoking cessation aid.

Intentionally Leave the E-cigarette Behind

This is the final step in becoming a non-smoker. If you’re still stuck on the nicotine and you weren’t able to stick to a non-nicotine alternative, try to leave your device at home if you can.

Leave the e-cigarette at home during the day and try to go all day without it. You can choose not to pack it in your purse or bag when you leave in the morning. You can try to go on a weekend trip without the e-cigarette and nicotine-laced liquids. See how long you can go without lighting up. The day you realise you haven’t lit up in ages is the day you’re officially nicotine free. You’ll enjoy all of the health benefits and improvements in your overall quality of life when you do.

In fact, setting aside the e-cigarette for a day or weekend will let you experience these benefits and give you a reason to not give in to the urge to pull any kind of cigarette out of your drawer. When you find that you haven’t had to light up for a while, then you’ll be able to use e-cigarettes for the pure pleasure of it and not because you’re craving the nicotine. From this point on, you’ll have officially kicked your nicotine addiction and can truly consider yourself a non-smoker.

Conclusion

E-cigarettes are a good way to break your nicotine addiction. Once that’s done, you can put away your vaping device and enjoy life as a non-smoker.

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Brain Wave, Family and Home living

How to Prepare Your Home for Christmas House Guests

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While Christmas is a magical time, and for many their favourite day of the year, it can also be quite stressful, especially if you are hosting! If you are not only going to be cooking the Christmas dinner this year, but also playing host to guests, now is the time to start planning so that you can be well prepared for everyone arriving. Here, we are going to be taking you through our top tips for how you can prepare your home for Christmas if you are going to be having house guests.

Decorate the Spare Room

If you know in advance that you are going to be having family or friends coming over to stay this Christmas, the first thing that you will need to do is make sure that the spare room, if you have one, is fit for purpose. Clear away any clutter that you may have lying around, particularly if your spare room also acts as storage, an office or so on so forth. This is also the perfect time to make sure that the guest bedroom is ready for the winter season and you can find some great tips in the following article by Fishpools: https://www.fishpools.co.uk/blog/2018/09/transform-bedroom-winter/.

Their tips include updating your lighting to create an ambient feel, adding some cosy throws to the end of the bed, or updating the bed sheets to fit in with a more wintery and cosy theme. This will ensure that your guests have the best possible time while staying at yours over the Christmas period.

Create Some Storage

While your guests probably won’t be unpacking a lot of clothes in their winter wonderland room, but it is still nice for them to have a little bit of storage space and we are sure that this is something that they will appreciate. Investing in a folding suitcase rack is a great idea as it will allow your guests to have their case open to get out what they need without having it cluttering up the floor. What’s more, we would also suggest that you try and clear some hanging space for your guests. People will feel much more at home if there is some space for them to hang up a few key pieces, especially if they have brought a lovely Christmas outfit or glam new year attire.

You can find some useful tips on storage ideas for your guest room here: https://www.forbes.com/sites/houzz/2015/04/14/clever-storage-ideas-for-your-spare-room/.

Purchase A Clock

This is one that most people tend to forget about when they have guests staying over, but a good idea is to make sure that you have some sort of traditional clock in the room. As we are all glued to our technology, it’s easy to forget something like this but it is still a nice added touch. Your guests will feel much more comfortable with this in the room as they will know when they are sleeping in too late or if they are making a lot of noise early in the morning!

Provide the Essentials

A great way to make your guests feel right at home is to gift them with the essentials. We all have toiletries at the bottom of our cases from our last holiday that are from the hotel. You will most likely never actually use these, and so why not pop them into a little basket at the end of your guests’ bed for them to use during their stay.

Leave Out Towels

Alongside the toiletries, it is also a good idea to leave out some nice towels for your guests. People can feel uncomfortable having to try and find towels or having to ask, so why not simply leave out some towels on top of their bed and this is one less thing for everyone to worry about.

Look Out the Sofa Bed

Not everyone has a sofa bed, but they are quite handy for occasions such as this. If you do have one, you will want to give it a check over before your guests arrive to make sure that it is still in good working order and that the springs have not broken. During this time, we would also recommend that you make sure it is fitted with a clean sheet and that there will be enough space here for your guests. If you don’t have a sofa bed, another option that many people like is to get an air bed which you can inflate for your guests.

Switch Up Your Lighting

If you tend to rely on having just a main ceiling light, then we would suggest that you look into getting some smaller lamps for your home. No one wants to have to switch on a big main light to read a book in bed, plus having some lamps will make a huge difference to guests who need to make a bathroom trip late at night and maybe are not as familiar with the home layout.

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Brain Wave, Money matters

Emergency Recovery For Personal Finances

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Sometimes, it seems like both budgeting and making money is a breeze – while, other times, it is anything but simple. The problem with planning out your personal finances and budgeting for the future is that we simply don’t know what the future holds.

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That’s why you need to have an emergency plan ready for when it’s not going the way you anticipated so that you’re able to safeguard yourself a bit better.

Start by having a look at the simple steps below; it won’t necessarily save you from bankruptcy, but at least it will keep you from having to approach your family members for a short-term loan. It’s the kind of stuff that builds confidence and makes it easier to stay afloat, in general.

Here is a quick guide to recovering your personal finances when times are tough.

#1 Cut down on all costs

When you find yourself in the unfortunate situation of not nearly having as much money as you used to have, it’s necessary to have a look at your budget again. Try to cut down on everything that’s not vital.

Your electricity bill can certainly be lower, you might want to find a cheaper mode of transportation, and you should definitely have a look at this article to cook up some affordable and delicious meals at home.

You might want to consider selling some of your unused stuff, by the way, as it will free up a few extra assets for you. Plus, it’s going to make your home way neater which is a great benefit on its own.

#2 Could you get compensation?

If you are in this situation because of some unexpected medical expenses, you should have a chat with a lawyer about compensation. While your medical insurance may have covered most of it, you still won’t be able to work as much as you used to – and the impact an accident or an injury has on your personal finances is simply not fair.

Consider the reason for your medical bills and have a look here for attorneys experienced at handling truck accident claims. Keep in mind that you will be able to get compensation for most accidents, though, as long as you’ve done your homework and gathered as many details as possible of the accident.

#3 Continue to save

Sure, it’s going to be hard to find money to set aside for an emergency fund when you’re currently selling your stuff in order to stay afloat – but, as soon as you’re able to, it’s important that you continue to save.

In case you should find yourself in difficulties in the future, you will have this emergency fund to fall back on and it will help a lot in terms of the emotional stress we suffer when money is tight.

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Brain Wave, Health and medicine, Self-Care Corner

The Best Fat Burning Cardio Exercises

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Excess fat in one’s body has proved to be dangerous on several occasions. It can lead to conditions like high blood pressure, strokes and heart attacks. Lifestyle conditions like diabetes and cancer can also be triggered by excess fat in one’s body. Working out turns to be one of the best ways you can get rid of excess fat in your body. Apart from shedding pounds, you also gain an increase in muscle mass.

Combining your workouts with supplements like musclesfax will help you achieve more gains. Cardio exercises are also useful in helping one shed off those extra pounds. These are exercises meant to increase one’s heart rate and even metabolism. There are various cardio workouts that help burn excess body fat you can try out. They include:

Rope Jumping

It is one of the best, and easiest cardio exercises you can try out. This exercise involves jumping over a rope slowly as you increase your speed. Common among athletes, it helps improve one’s foot speed and also movements. You get to burn more fat within a short period with this type of exercise. You should try it because of how cheap and effective it is.

Stair Climbing

It is another effective way to burn more calories within a short period. It also helps make your leg muscles stronger because they are the most used in such exercises. You need to find some stairs or steep area where you can carry out this type of training. Remember to monitor your progress.

Cycling

You also get to burn more calories through cycling. One can try out this exercise using the cycling machine which is stationary, or you can use a real bicycle. You get to use more energy which is vital when it comes to burning body fat. It is also good for your knees and the joints found in your ankle area.

Elliptical

It is a form of stationary workout which can help you lose a lot of fat within a short period. This type of exercise involves the use of an elliptical machine which works by simulating running. It is best known for cardio workouts that are of low impact. Common in many gyms, you can try them out to get quality results within a short period.

Running

This is a simple cardio exercise you can try out anytime and in different environments. You don’t need to go to the gym because you can do it in an open space near you. Morning jogs help one burn more calories. In the gym, you can try out different equipment that can help you monitor your progress. The treadmill is the best for this type of exercise.

Swimming

One can also shed off some extra pounds as they entertain themselves. Swimming is one type of exercise that can keep you occupied as you also gain some health benefits. Fast swimming will help you burn a lot of calories fast. One can also do it at several intervals and wait for some quality results.

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Brain Wave, Life in general

From One Great Career To Another

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Your career is something that’s going to stay with you for life, so you’re going to have to make the most of it. Even though that’s the last thing that any of you are going to want to do! Your career can take you many places however, you just need to know where to look and what potential you might have. Don’t be that person that stays at the bottom of the career ladder because they can’t be bothered with the effort of finding a new career. Be that person who uses their knowledge of their original career to jump from one to the next. Because each career can lead to something equally as great, you just need to make sure you’re discovering the potential of each one. So, if you’re wondering how one career can lead to another, and how to make sure yours does, here’s our top tips on moving from one great career to another!

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Specialising

There are so many careers out there that would allow you to specialise in another area, therefore moving from one area of the career to another. Take nursing as a prime example. When you first qualify, you will just be a normal staff nurse which is great. But over time, you’ll pick up skills and find out where your interests lie, which could lead you to go onto specialising. For example, you could take a online dnp fnp program which would allow you to become a family nurse practitioner, meaning you’re dealing primarily with families and are more community based. For those who don’t like the drama and the face based environment of the hospital, this could be a fabulous idea! So, think about your career at the minute, and think about what you can specialise in. Whether you have to go back to education or not, you should consider moving around to keep your interest in the career alive!

Transferable Skills

The career that you want to move to might be completely unrelated to the career that you’re in at the minute, but that’s fine. You could have transferable skills that would allow you to move from one career line to another, therefore allowing you to progress to something that’s going to make you happier! Because the career you’re in at the minute might just be getting you by, when you need something that’s going to spark an interest for life!

Something You’re Interested In

You need to find something that you’re actually going to be interested in. Something that you’re actually going to wake up in the morning and think that you can’t wait to get out of bed to experience the working day! To find something that you’re truly interested in, try doing some volunteering work out side of your normal job. It will help you to gain valuable knowledge and experience within the field that interests you, and will allow you to see if it is actually something you would be interested in doing full time. There would be nothing worse than to move to a career you think you would like, only to find out you hate it!

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Brain Wave, Careers, Freelancing and Self-Employment, Family and Home living, Work at Home

How To Be More Productive When Working From Home

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When you finally take the plunge and decide to start working from home, it can be difficult to adjust. Working from home has many benefits but finding the motivation to be productive can be hard and many people struggle to adapt to their new routine. This is why we have put together some tips on how you can be more productive when you are working from home. Keep reading this article if you’d like to find out more.

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Get Dressed

You might want to take advantage of the fact that you don’t need to wear smart business attire when you are working from home, but this is often a mistake that people make. Of course, you don’t need to get dressed up to work from your spare room, but you should make sure to get out of your pyjamas. This will help you to be more productive and you will get more work done.

Create A Home Office

If your current working from home set up involves you working from your bed or your dining room table, you should think about designing your own home office. This will help to recreate the office atmosphere in your home, but you can design it to match your own personality. Think about converting your spare room or even investing in an outdoor steel building. If you don’t have the space inside, a steel building can be the perfect office solution and will make you feel like you aren’t just working from home. If this is something you want to look into, you can view the options available at armstrongsteel.com who are one of America’s leading providers of steel buildings.

Set Hours

Do you often find that you do some work and then get distracted by the TV or your kids? It might be time to set yourself some working hours for when you are working from home. This might be difficult, especially if you are working from home because you need a flexible schedule, but you should be able to make something work. The stricter that you are on yourself, the more productive you’ll be.

Take Breaks

When you work in an office, you get a lunch break and maybe even 10 minutes or so to chat with others. These breaks give you time to clear your head so that you are ready to return to work when your break is over. You might find that if you are working from home you are not giving yourself the necessary breaks and so your work is not the best it can be. Make sure to give yourself some breaks and you will be a lot more productive when you return to work.

Take Breaks

When you work in an office, you get a lunch break and maybe even 10 minutes or so to chat with others. These breaks give you time to clear your head so that you are ready to return to work when your break is over. You might find that if you are working from home you are not giving yourself the necessary breaks and so your work is not the best it can be. Make sure to give yourself some breaks and you will be a lot more productive when you return to work.

Get Rid Of Distractions

Our final tip for those who want to be more productive when working from home is to make sure that you get rid of any distractions. If you need to use your phone for work then you cannot avoid this but make sure to remove things like TVs, books and anything else that might distract you. This is your time to work and the more distracted you get, the longer it will take you to get it done.

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Brain Wave, Life in general

Dealing With a Job You Hate

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If you’re in the position of having to deal with a job you hate then it’s likely that many friends have given you the advice to leave the job, and find something better, yet – you remain in the job you hate, and might even question yourself as to why this is the case.

The reality is that people value security and stability in their lives; it’s a nice feeling to know you can afford to live, whereas the idea of letting go of something that provides an element of financial security can feel very uncertain. Then, there’s the fear of change.

Indeed, many people choose to stay in jobs, or even relationships, that don’t serve them because they are afraid of change – meaning they fear that they will lose the benefits of what they currently have in their life (however minimal) in fear that they might exchange it for something worse.

For instance, in a relationship context, people fear that if they leave a bad relationship they will end up alone and nobody will ever love them again… this tends to be the reason so many people stay in unhappy relationships, and why many people have affairs, or don’t leave a relationship until they have something else lined up – like Tarzan swinging from one tree to the next, it can be a scary prospect to be flying through the air without a branch to cling to.

This is particularly true with jobs, even jobs you hate, as the sense of certainty and stability that comes from it is addictive.

The truth is, people often feel trapped and like their options are limited – but this is like a horse with blinkers; it cannot see the whole landscape because it is focused on only one aspect of a much larger picture.

In reality you could do anything, for instance, you could spend your time learning to compare trading styles when it comes to spread betting and the stock market; meaning you might not even have to work in any job, presuming you invest wisely and follow a solid strategy.

The point is, you don’t have to live a miserable life where you feel trapped and limited; you could find a way to create passive income that allows you to go on travel adventures with your family rather than beholden to an unappreciative boss.

As humans we are limitless in our potential to achieve anything – we don’t always feel this way, as we are subject to fundamental limitations; for instance we cannot sprout wings and fly – but we don’t have to… instead, we find a way to fly, by use of coming up with the idea of an aeroplane, an air balloon, and even a spaceship!

In summary, if you’re having to deal with a job you hate then the most fundamental principle is to reconnect with the possibility of life; and remember you’re not limited in your options – the world is your oyster, but only if you allow yourself to perceive it in such a way.

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