Now that hundreds of millions of people around the world have been home for more than a month now, many are missing their daily social interactions. Losing the benefits of interacting with others is one of the tolls of social distancing.
Early on in the Covid-19 crisis, a number of social, behavioural and brain scientists, including myself, raised their voices in mainstream and social media for public health authorities to stop using the term “social distancing”.
After a while, even the World Health Organisation decided to change their recommendation to "physical distancing".
One could argue that, when so many people die because of the pandemic, semantics are not a priority. It is because so many are dying that words matter even more.
First, asking people to socially distance from others is unclear and confusing. And in times of crisis, public health messaging must be crisp and unambiguous. Hence asking people to stay at home and to keep two metres of physical distance in public is a much more efficient way to communicate. People know what they have to do. There is less room for interpreting the recommendation.
You are not alone
With several million isolated in their homes, we must do our best to maintain social closeness despite the physical distance – because the virus is not just biological; it is also psychological.
And while the world has changed, our brains have not. Social isolation, either perceived or real, has significant negative effects on our psychological, hormonal, behavioural and brain functioning.
These include physical and mental fatigue, irregular sleep patterns, increased anxiety and hostility towards others that can lead to social withdrawal, as indicated in the Annual Review of Psychology back in 2015.
Do not just write that you will eat at noon and at 7PM every day. Write down the menu of each meal so you can visualise it
Four weeks ago, researchers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology shared the results of a study where they used neurotechnologies to measure the brain activity of two groups of people. For 10 hours, one group was forced to fast, while the other was socially isolated. After that, they reported feeling lonely and craving food, respectively.
Their results support "the intuitive idea that acute isolation causes social craving, similar to hunger". No wonder we tend to pay the fridge more visits than usual when under lockdown.
Four ways to ward off negativity
In the coronavirus version of the movie Groundhog Day that people under lockdown experience these days, the same day is indeed repeated over and over but without the possibility to physically and socially interact with the world.
We therefore need to fight the negative patterns we can easily fall into. Easier said than done, right?
Let me give you a few tips to designing and sticking to a routine that structures your days and helps regain control to help fight some of the negative effects of being physically distant from others.
Four words are key to fight isolation: planning, visualising, rewarding and socialising.
Plan it all, write everything down
First, plan everything if you haven't already been doing so. Your work, physical activities, meals, online social interactions, entertainment and sleep.
Also plan things like taking a shower and dressing up. In order to achieve efficiency and diversity in your structuring routine, plan for the week or the month on a sheet of paper or on a screen big enough for you to be able to read the details.
Do not just write that you will eat at noon and at 7PM every day. Write down the menu of each meal so you can visualise it. Plan who you invite to join you online over dinner.
This way your brain will quickly spot poorly planned meals and social interactions that are repetitive and not varied enough.
If your brain sees "steak kebabs with Ken" written multiple times on the planning, it will tend to make you add other dishes and guests in between and invite other folks to chat over a meal.
Ditto for physical activities, social interactions or entertainment intended to fill your free time. This visualising nudge from behavioural sciences has proven very efficient on many fronts.
Learn something, reward yourself
And if you feel like repeatedly snacking, distract your mind with another task: why not do a push up, a little dance, or if your physical condition doesn’t allow it, learn a new word in a foreign language before you eat.
Add a push up, a minute of dance, and an extra word every time before each meal. You will create micro-habits that are good for your brain and physical health. Note that this reward system works with everything you do often, like watching a TV show, for example.
It is important for brain health to learn something new. Why not use the extra time not spent in commuting in this way?
There are so many online tutorials that you will easily find something that suits you. Be mindful though to balance new skills that are easy to acquire with others that take longer.
Build micro habits
Quick and easy wins trigger the reward system in our brains that makes us feel good. Similarly, as we need to build micro-habits, we also need micro-rewards associated with easy-wins.
We need to balance between learning to flip a crepe and becoming a machine learning guru.
Yet, regardless of the goal, small or big, never forget to celebrate your achievement. Do that jig, sing, anything you want, but do it. And tell your friends about it.
And if you feel like taking days off in your routine, that is great too. Taking care of oneself also means knowing when to stop and relax.
Watching the world fall apart is a lonely feeling. It is what many in their homes feel right now.
Which is why it is so important not to let go of individual goals and social closeness despite the physical distance.
Professor Olivier Oullier is the president of Emotiv, a neuroscientist and a DJ
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
About Housecall
Date started: July 2020
Founders: Omar and Humaid Alzaabi
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: HealthTech
# of staff: 10
Funding to date: Self-funded
Results:
5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 1,400m | Winner: Eghel De Pine, Pat Cosgrave (jockey), Eric Lemartinel (trainer)
5.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 1,400m | Winner: AF Sheaar, Szczepan Mazur, Saeed Al Shamsi
6pm: Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan National Day Cup (PA) Group 3 Dh500,000 1,600m | Winner: RB Torch, Fabrice Veron, Eric Lemartinel
6.30pm: Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan National Day Cup (TB) Listed Dh380,000 1,600m | Winner: Forjatt, Chris Hayes, Nicholas Bachalard
7pm: Wathba Stallions Cup for Private Owners Handicap (PA) Dh 70,000 1,400m | Winner: Hawafez, Connor Beasley, Ridha ben Attia
7.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh 80,000 1,600m | Winner: Qader, Richard Mullen, Jean de Roaulle
The specs: 2018 Ford Mustang GT
Price, base / as tested: Dh204,750 / Dh241,500
Engine: 5.0-litre V8
Gearbox: 10-speed automatic
Power: 460hp @ 7,000rpm
Torque: 569Nm @ 4,600rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 10.3L / 100km
THE DEALS
Hamilton $60m x 2 = $120m
Vettel $45m x 2 = $90m
Ricciardo $35m x 2 = $70m
Verstappen $55m x 3 = $165m
Leclerc $20m x 2 = $40m
TOTAL $485m
The specs
Engine: 1.4-litre 4-cylinder turbo
Power: 180hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 250Nm at 3,00rpm
Transmission: 5-speed sequential auto
Price: From Dh139,995
On sale: now
DMZ facts
- The DMZ was created as a buffer after the 1950-53 Korean War.
- It runs 248 kilometers across the Korean Peninsula and is 4km wide.
- The zone is jointly overseen by the US-led United Nations Command and North Korea.
- It is littered with an estimated 2 million mines, tank traps, razor wire fences and guard posts.
- Donald Trump and Kim Jong-Un met at a building in Panmunjom, where an armistice was signed to stop the Korean War.
- Panmunjom is 52km north of the Korean capital Seoul and 147km south of Pyongyang, North Korea’s capital.
- Former US president Bill Clinton visited Panmunjom in 1993, while Ronald Reagan visited the DMZ in 1983, George W. Bush in 2002 and Barack Obama visited a nearby military camp in 2012.
- Mr Trump planned to visit in November 2017, but heavy fog that prevented his helicopter from landing.
How it works
A $10 hand-powered LED light and battery bank
Device is operated by hand cranking it at any time during the day or night
The charge is stored inside a battery
The ratio is that for every minute you crank, it provides 10 minutes light on the brightest mode
A full hand wound charge is of 16.5minutes
This gives 1.1 hours of light on high mode or 2.5 hours of light on low mode
When more light is needed, it can be recharged by winding again
The larger version costs between $18-20 and generates more than 15 hours of light with a 45-minute charge
No limit on how many times you can charge
Indoor cricket in a nutshell
Indoor cricket in a nutshell
Indoor Cricket World Cup - Sept 16-20, Insportz, Dubai
16 Indoor cricket matches are 16 overs per side
8 There are eight players per team
9 There have been nine Indoor Cricket World Cups for men. Australia have won every one.
5 Five runs are deducted from the score when a wickets falls
4 Batsmen bat in pairs, facing four overs per partnership
Scoring In indoor cricket, runs are scored by way of both physical and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net in different zones, but only when at least one physical run is score.
Zones
A Front net, behind the striker and wicketkeeper: 0 runs
B Side nets, between the striker and halfway down the pitch: 1 run
C Side nets between halfway and the bowlers end: 2 runs
D Back net: 4 runs on the bounce, 6 runs on the full
Western Region Asia Cup T20 Qualifier
Sun Feb 23 – Thu Feb 27, Al Amerat, Oman
The two finalists advance to the Asia qualifier in Malaysia in August
Group A
Bahrain, Maldives, Oman, Qatar
Group B
UAE, Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia
UAE group fixtures
Sunday Feb 23, 9.30am, v Iran
Monday Feb 25, 1pm, v Kuwait
Tuesday Feb 26, 9.30am, v Saudi
UAE squad
Ahmed Raza, Rohan Mustafa, Alishan Sharafu, Ansh Tandon, Vriitya Aravind, Junaid Siddique, Waheed Ahmed, Karthik Meiyappan, Basil Hameed, Mohammed Usman, Mohammed Ayaz, Zahoor Khan, Chirag Suri, Sultan Ahmed
MATCH INFO
Jersey 147 (20 overs)
UAE 112 (19.2 overs)
Jersey win by 35 runs
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Result:
1. Cecilie Hatteland (NOR) atop Alex - 31.46 seconds
2. Anna Gorbacheva (RUS) atop Curt 13 - 31.82 seconds
3. Georgia Tame (GBR) atop Cash Up - 32.81 seconds
4. Sheikha Latifa bint Ahmed Al Maktoum (UAE) atop Peanuts de Beaufour - 35.85 seconds
5. Miriam Schneider (GER) atop Benur du Romet - 37.53 seconds
6. Annika Sande (NOR) atop For Cash 2 - 31.42 seconds (4 penalties)
Long Shot
Director: Jonathan Levine
Starring: Charlize Theron, Seth Rogan
Four stars
Points Classification after Stage 1
1. Geraint Thomas (Britain / Team Sky) 20
2. Stefan Kueng (Switzerland / BMC Racing) 17
3. Vasil Kiryienka (Belarus / Team Sky) 15
4. Tony Martin (Germany / Katusha) 13
5. Matteo Trentin (Italy / Quick-Step) 11
6. Chris Froome (Britain / Team Sky) 10
7. Jos van Emden (Netherlands / LottoNL) 9
8. Michal Kwiatkowski (Poland / Team Sky) 8
9. Marcel Kittel (Germany / Quick-Step) 7
10. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Norway / Dimension Data) 6
The Bloomberg Billionaire Index in full
1 Jeff Bezos $140 billion
2 Bill Gates $98.3 billion
3 Bernard Arnault $83.1 billion
4 Warren Buffett $83 billion
5 Amancio Ortega $67.9 billion
6 Mark Zuckerberg $67.3 billion
7 Larry Page $56.8 billion
8 Larry Ellison $56.1 billion
9 Sergey Brin $55.2 billion
10 Carlos Slim $55.2 billion
