Reading Time: 5 minutes We all know the feeling. There are times when farming can seem relentless. There’s another decision to make, another conversation to have, and always another job waiting to get done. Even so, if you or someone on your farm feels like you’re getting burned out, consider it for what it probably is — a signal […] Read more
For the fun of it!
[The Rent Shake-Up: Management] Prioritizing fun is good for you and your family, and also great for your farm
Thriving with the science of positive psychology
Optimism and pessimism aren’t personality traits. They’re choices
Reading Time: 5 minutes Positive psychology is the study of human flourishing. It offers evidence-based insights, tools, skills and strategies for coping and for resilience during life’s challenges. “It’s about building up what’s right with us, not trying to fix what’s wrong with us,” explains New Dundee, Ont. well-being educator and coach, Rebecca Byers. Our thoughts, actions and behaviours […] Read more
Farm psychology: Keep a firm grip on BioAging
Guide Psychology: What if your age wasn’t measured in years, but in health and vitality?
Reading Time: 4 minutes Editor’s Note: Bonnie Whitehead, MSc. (Psychology) continues her new Country Guide column demonstrating how the rapidly evolving science of psychology can improve your business and personal farm success. Imagine if your age wasn’t measured in years, she writes below, but in health and vitality. My son was nearly 12 lbs. at birth. When he was […] Read more
Editor’s Note: Getting real about what 2021 means
Reading Time: 2 minutes The worst thing about agriculture is that it goes in cycles. Or so an uncle used to say. “And the worst thing about cycles,” he said, “is that wherever you are in one, it feels like it’s going to stay that way forever.” So maybe Uncle Lyle wasn’t as scientific as Bonnie Whitehead, who launches […] Read more
Farm psychology: aging and generativity
Guide Psychology: There are four essential acts of generativity
Reading Time: 4 minutes Editor’s Note: Bonnie Whitehead, M.Sc. (psychology) launches her new CG column demonstrating how the rapidly evolving science of psychology can improve your business and personal farm success. She begins with generativity and its exciting opportunity to keep us strong and vibrant as we age. Our motivation to achieve is deeply embedded in our personalities. The […] Read more
Find your flow
The path to feeling happier and healthier, from the science of positive psychology
Reading Time: 5 minutes If you’ve ever looked up at the clock and been surprised at how much time has passed, you were likely experiencing what positive psychologists call a state of flow. It’s in these flow experiences that you lose your sense of self. Your worries disappear and time slows down, says Sarah Gregg, a life and business […] Read more
Creating a better place to work
Use new findings in psychology to create spaces where you and your family will thrive
Reading Time: 5 minutes It’s a basic human need to have a space where you feel comfortable, safe and secure. Having a place to rest, refresh and revitalize can help us cope with the extraordinary challenges of farming and the pandemic. While we can’t control everything in our environments, if we pay attention to what we can control we […] Read more
How to help a grieving friend
No, you can’t take a friend’s grief away. But you can help
Reading Time: 5 minutes When a friend has suffered the death of a loved one, we want to help but often we are unsure what to say or do. Even worse, we worry that what we think we should do could be exactly the opposite of what we actually should say, and could cause damage to our friend or […] Read more
Use science to be a better agvocate
To capture someone’s interest you need to find a way to connect on an emotional level
Reading Time: 3 minutes As a farmer, you use science every day. On a day like today you might even use it to calculate how much snow load your barn can withstand, or to improve the success of your agvocacy efforts. Research shows that to build successful farmer-consumer relationships, we need to connect with people emotionally by telling our […] Read more
Promises to yourself
When the pressure is on, farmers get amazing things done. Now, a new technique called WOOP can help you score when the pressure is off as well
Reading Time: 5 minutes Farmers are good at getting things done under pressure. When the crop needs to get in the ground or the hay has to be baled before the rain, farmers follow through. But when there’s no deadline, farmers can fall prey to procrastination just like everybody else, says Carleton University professor Dr. Tim Pychyl, who also […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
