How Reading Affects Your Brain

As you read these words, your brain is decoding a series of abstract symbols and synthesizing the results into complex ideas. It’s an amazing process. The English writer Katie Oldham described the “surreal” act of reading a book this way: “You stare at marked slices of tree for hours on end, hallucinating vividly.”

And as if it weren’t already strange enough, consider this: If you do enough of it—that is, read a lot—it may not only rewire parts of your brain, but perhaps even make you a nicer person. (Maybe. More on that below.)

While the brain remains a massive and often murky frontier for scientific research, we’re devoted fans of the written word—and we’re always keen to learn more about the neurological effects of one of our favorite pastimes.

A recent adaptation

The act of reading hinges upon not one part of the brain but the interactions among several, which have to do with recognizing symbols, relating them to sounds and spoken language, and ultimately extracting meaning. That’s because, from an evolutionary standpoint, reading and the human brain are relatively new acquaintances. (In fact, the extent to which language—written or not—is a built-in function of the brain has itself been a subject of ongoing debate.)

To frame this another way, “We were never born to read.” So begins Maryanne Wolf in her book Proust and the Squid:

Human beings invented reading only a few thousand years ago. And with this invention, we rearranged the very organization of our brain, which in turn expanded the ways we were able to think, which altered the intellectual evolution of our species. . . . Our ancestors’ invention could come about only because of the human brain’s extraordinary ability to make new connections among its existing structures, a process made possible by the brain’s ability to be reshaped by experience.

—Maryanne Wolf

(Wolf has also noted that because the act of reading integrates other functions that have to do with your sense of place, as well as touch, diminishing those senses—as reading on a screen instead of a page often does—can make long reads tougher to navigate and harder to remember afterward.)

Just as the brain can learn to take on the multifarious requirements of processing language from symbols—thanks to a property called neuroplasticity—it seems apt to retain the effects of doing so, as well.

For instance, researchers at Emory University found that reading a novel heightens connections in the parts of the brain that deal with language reception. The study’s lead author, neuroscientist Gregory Berns, says it also taps into a process known as grounded cognition, by which reading about an action such as swimming activates neurons that are associated with that act, even while you’re sitting still:

The neural changes that we found associated with physical sensation and movement systems suggest that reading a novel can transport you into the body of the protagonist. . . . We already knew that good stories can put you in someone else’s shoes in a figurative sense. Now we’re seeing that something may also be happening biologically.

—Gregory Berns

Berns says it’s worth noting these effects aren’t limited to the moments while you’re reading; rather, they’ve been detected via brain scans several days after the fact. Even if a book doesn’t change your life, it might change your week.

Enhancing empathy?

That transportive property by which fiction can project readers into other people’s lives may also help us better relate in real life. Such was the finding of a 2013 study at The New School in New York, which found this benefit specific to the readers of literary fiction: They seem to excel at tests that involved understanding other people’s feelings.

That result did not hold for the readers of nonfiction or genre fiction, by the way. But before you toss out your beach reads and histories in order to focus on the complete works of Chekhov, you might want to be wary of headlines that overhype the conclusion—e.g., “‘Mind-Reading’ Skills Boosted By Reading Literature, Study Suggests.” The brain is monstrously complicated; we still have much to learn of its machinations.

Still, the suggestion seems to get some credence from more recent work by Keith Oatley, a University of Toronto cognitive psychologist who also happens to be a novelist. Fiction, Oatley says, is akin to a flight simulator—a kind of life simulation that allows us to gain experience without, you know, crashing and burning.

When we read about other people, we can imagine ourselves into their position and we can imagine it’s like being that person. . . . That enables us to better understand people, better cooperate with them.

—Keith Oatley, cognitive psychologist

There are skeptics, however, who worry such interpretations risk unduly narrowing the benefits of an activity we ultimately do for pleasure. Rather than “literature as PX90 workout for the soul,” book columnist Mark O’Connell argues, “I wouldn’t want to be without those books or my having read them, and . . . their importance to me is mostly unrelated to any power they might have to make me a more considerate person.”

Reading may just help your brain chill

Whether it ultimately makes you a better person or just a happier one, there is research suggesting the out-of-body experience that comes with a good book might be the empirically best form of relaxation. That’s from the work of David Lewis, a cognitive neuropsychologist at the University of Sussex:

This is more than merely a distraction, but an active engaging of the imagination as the words on the printed page stimulate your creativity and cause you to enter what is essentially an altered state of consciousness.

—David Lewis

That also seems to hold true even if you’re not inclined to tangle with the likes of Tolstoy while trying to de-stress: “It really doesn’t matter what book you read,” Lewis says, so long as it’s “thoroughly engrossing.”

Whether you read to soak in brilliant writerly techniques for your own next draft, or simply because it’s too loud on the train to enjoy podcasts—and whether you prefer leather-bound first editions or the alluring glow and convenience of a smart phone—Grammarly is glad to be part of the way you enjoy words.

Earliest Convenience: Is It Awkward to Use This Phrase?

Your out-of-office email message says, “I’m away from my desk right now, but I’ll get back to you at my earliest convenience.” Have you created a grievous business faux pas? Surely, you meant well. How could it possibly be impolite to say that you’ll do something just as soon as it’s convenient for you?

Language has power. Words and phrases are open to interpretation. They can convey a certain tone, depending on the context in which they’re used.

Mark Twain said, “The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter—’tis the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.” The trick to clear communication lies in choosing words and phrases that are less likely to be misinterpreted—the lightning bugs rather than the lightning.

Is there a problem with “earliest convenience”?

As impolite phrases go, there are certainly worse offenses. Whether this one rubs us the wrong way depends on the context in which it’s used.

At my earliest convenience

Let’s look at our out-of-office message example from above.

I’m away from my desk right now, but I’ll get back to you at my earliest convenience.

Our Verdict: Don’t use

Saying you’ll return someone’s email or call at your earliest convenience sounds impolite. Yes, you mean that you’ll get back to the person who’s contacted you as soon as you can, but what the recipient hears is something more like, “I’ll get back to you when (and maybe if) it’s convenient for me.” The implication is that you’ll do it when you feel like it, or when you’re good and ready, or maybe never. Snooty!

At your earliest convenience

But what if you’re using “at your earliest convenience” to tell someone that you’re okay with them getting around to your request when it’s convenient for them? Let’s look at an email between colleagues, John and Mary.

Hi Mary,

I’m going to need our profit and loss statement from Q1 in order to prepare a report. Would you send it to me at your earliest convenience?

Thanks, John

Our Verdict Okay to use, but . . .

. . . there are better ways to express that a request isn’t urgent. Although it isn’t rude to tell Mary that it’s okay for her to tend to your request when it’s convenient, “at your earliest convenience” still falls short on a few counts.

• It’s not specific enough. You’ve told Mary you need something, but you didn’t tell her when you absolutely need it by. She could assume you don’t really need it at all. A better option would be “. . . at your earliest convenience, or no later than [date].”
• It sounds jargony. One of the reasons many people dislike “at your earliest convenience” is that it sounds like business jargon—something we all love to hate. Use plain language instead.
• It’s easily misinterpreted. What if Mary sees your request as urgent when you meant to say that you were in no hurry? She may take time out of her day to rush through your task, which could turn out to be anything but convenient for her.

Alternatives to “Earliest Convenience”

As phrases go, dropping “earliest convenience” from your repertoire is the safest bet. But what should you use instead?

At my earliest convenience

We’ve already stated that you should drop “at my earliest convenience” from workplace and personal communication tout de suite. It comes across as inconsiderate, if not outright rude.

If you do have time to honor a request, instead of saying you’ll get around to it when it’s convenient, tell the person when they can expect your response. (“I’ll reply when I return to the office on [date].”)

At your earliest convenience

Although there’s nothing wrong with this phrase, it might actually be too polite, or at least too open-ended. Although you could use softer, less jaron-laden language like “whenever you have time” or “as soon as you’re able”, once again, we prefer specificity.

Let’s revisit the John and Mary email example and make it more specific.

Hi Mary,

I’m going to need our profit and loss statement from Q1 to prepare a report I’ll be presenting next Monday. Would you be able to send me the P&L no later than Wednesday of this week?

Thanks, John

Here, instead of telling Mary to get around to sending the P&L statement whenever it’s convenient for her, and leaving her to wonder how soon he needs them, John has used a call-to-action to ask whether she would be able to send them over by Wednesday.

Now, Mary knows what John needs and when he needs it. Plus, having the CTA in the form of a question could prompt her to reply, letting him know whether she’ll be able to accommodate the request.

Bonus: Mary’s reply will document the exchange. If she says that yes, she can have the P&L statement ready by Wednesday and doesn’t deliver, John can follow up. If she still doesn’t respond, he can point to this email trail when he has to explain why the P&L didn’t make it into his report. Way to cover your backside, John!

7 Writing Tips That Will Help You at Work

Let’s get the bad news over with first: no matter how much you write, it will probably never become the kind of mindlessly automatic task for which you’re fully free to zone out.

In other words, writing steadily for an afternoon will never be as meditative as a long drive down an empty highway. You have to keep filling the progress bar yourself. Seated at the keyboard, every moment a writer spends mentally compiling a grocery list or critiquing the coffee shop’s playlist is a moment that zero writing is done. It’s difficult.

That said, the upsides are many. If you’re the type for whom writing is mandatory—you don’t feel normal if you’re not stringing words together in your mind—then this list is for you. Here, we appreciate not just the handy tips that guide us to write better, but the accompanying lessons that have enhanced our very lives.

1Know how to open and expand your case

Thoughtful prioritization is essential not just to writing well, but to many aspects of effective communication. A good storyteller’s entry point is deliberate. From there, you have to recognize the difference between a telling nuance and a meaningless detail; pruning your sentences accordingly leads to a tight, muscular draft.

But this proclivity to discard extraneous asides has applications beyond the realm of word economy, or writing altogether: knowing how to decide your point and establish it forcefully can help in all manner of real-life interactions.

Whether you’re trying to win over a hiring committee or vying for the attention of a harried doctor, being able to succinctly and understandably summarize complex matters is an invaluable skill.

2You can’t win ’em all, but you can up your odds

There’s no on switch for creativity. Some days, it may take just a few short hours for a thousand pristine words to come pouring out of your fingertips like they’ve been waiting for someone to open the spigot. But other days, dragging even a few hundred words out of your mind and onto the page can be a bruising struggle.

Seasoned writers sometimes look at this the way a veteran poker player thinks about luck. You’d be a fool to presume you can control such variance, but with diligence, you can situate yourself to reap the maximum benefit while surviving the attendant rough patches. As a writer, if you find peace with this, the other vicissitudes of life will be that much less tilting.

3Hone not just presence of mind, but also endurance

There are a million jobs where the first thing you do after showing up is put your brain in a drawer and forget everything until it’s time to clock out. For better and for worse, writing isn’t one of them.

Writers in dynamic environments like agile startups and fast-paced newsrooms have to quickly grow their capacity to stay engaged—you’re constantly processing new information, communicating your appraisal of it, refining your decisions and explaining why. Practicing doing all this with grace and spirit is by turns taxing and rewarding. Some even say it’s a bit like a game.

4Plumb new and multifarious opportunities to learn

As writers, some of the lessons we glean are subtle: we notice some prose that overworks a distracting adjective like zestful, and like a young Stephen King, vow to never touch such a silly word again. The world is full of instructive examples of how not to write, if we look carefully.

Other times, the key takeaways beat you over the head, like an editor who insists you recast every sentence you hand in that contains the passive voice, or the one who long ago decided the only good adverb is a deleted adverb.

Taking edits, particularly from brusque managers on deadline, can sting the ego in a way that makes helpful writerly pointers hard to internalize.

Developing the fortitude to respond to feedback with buoyancy—to keep asking questions and suggesting fixes rather than retreat inward like a wounded animal into a cave—is a life lesson unto itself. The ability to handle it will continue to serve you two jobs later, when another editor remarks “Sorry to make your life’s work out of these revisions,” and you can truthfully reply, “I’ve had worse.”

5Empathize with your audience—and everyone else

“Pity the poor reader,” a wise editor once said. As a writer, you’re constantly putting yourself in someone else’s shoes. That’s not just the case for fiction authors imagining gritty lives as pioneers and space pirates, either.

Good writers frequently ask themselves, “What’s my audience going to think as they read this? Is this part too long? Could this section be clearer?” Reapproaching one’s draft with fresh eyes means constantly considering a stranger’s perspective.

This is a worthy exercise not just for the sake of clear writing but also patience with the world around us. People who can seem strange and frustrating to deal with are more easily understood and forgiven when we’re practiced at considering their point of view.

6Take care of yourself as only a writer can

Because writing is an exhausting discipline, those who keep at it learn ways to look after themselves. For Japanese writer Haruki Murakami, a big factor is going to bed early. Murakami is also an advocate for running, as is Joyce Carol Oates. Heavy metal music is integral to the creative process, at least for King.

Plus, if you routinely write in a distracting environment like an office with an open floor plan, you’ve probably had to devise a few strategies for surmounting the ambient vexations and quieting the mind enough to, you know, get some work done.

The writerly muscle known as the brain is prone to spasms; any knowledge worker versed in basic care for such situations is bound to be happier for it.

7Know when you’re done

You start by pondering. Then, if things go well, you plan, write, edit, revise, and polish. Somewhere along the way, if you’re not mindful, you end up fiddling, reordering things in ways you’re not sure matter, tweaking tenses, debating the inclusion of a stray but endearing adjective, and generally failing the final, vital step of mashing Send.

At least, that’s how it goes until you’ve been through it a few times.

Getting writing done resembles packing for a camping trip. You want to be thoroughly prepared, but not overloaded—to trim unneeded bulk, but not at the expense of something you might need. (Wait, what am I forgetting?) At some point, you have to stop agonizing over your inventory and just go.

The result, once you get there, might even be worth writing about.

Defence vs. Defense—Which Should I Use?

Let’s dispel another spelling mystery. It’s defense against defence, and if you think it’s one of the British English vs. American English things—you might be onto something.

Defence and defense are both correct ways to spell the same word. The difference between them, the fact that one’s spelled with a “c” and the other with an “s”, comes down to the part of the world in which they are used. In the United States, people spell it with an “s”—defense. An American would write something like this:

Of course our team won; we had vastly superior defense.

In parts of the world where British English is used, they use the spelling with a “c”—defence. A Brit would write:

There’s no defence that could have stopped that attack.

This difference in spelling carries over to the inflected forms of the word only partially. In words like “defenceless,” “defencelessly,” or “defenceman,” the British spelling retains its “c,” instead of changing it for an American “s”—”defenseless,” “defenselessly,” or “defenseman.” But when the suffix added to the word begins with an “i,” in both American and in British English the resulting word is spelled with an “s”:

He was added to the team because of his strong defencive performance.

He was added to the team because of his strong defensive performance.

The platoon had to move to a more easily defencible position.

The platoon had to move to a more easily defensible position.

It should also be noted that you might come across the word defense being used as a verb. This is particularly common in the US when talking about sports, when the word is used instead “defend against”:

The team defenses the opponent’s advance.

The team defends against the opponent’s advance.

This usage is considered incorrect by some style guides, and it would be better if you didn’t use defense as a verb outside the context of sports.

Examples

Centre-back Joel Matip’s return is set to bring a calming influence to Liverpool’s defence but manager Jurgen Klopp has tried to deflect attention away from the 25-year-old.

The Daily Mail

For some like Veronica, a research scholar in chemistry, mastering a few self-defence techniques has provided an opportunity to get fitter.

The Hindu

The team needs to sustain its defense no matter who it is facing.

The Columbus Dispatch

Fowler, who struggled defensively early in his career, played spectacular defense with the Cubs, after he started playing deeper.

The Huffington Post

This Is How to Evaluate a Future Employer in a Job Interview

Do you have an interview coming up? You are probably preparing for it all wrong! Typical job candidates spend most of their time rehearsing answers. Instead, they should be looking for ways to evaluate their potential employer. Here’s how to use your job interview to find out if a job is right for you.

Why You Should Evaluate Potential Employers

Harvard Business Review reported that, on average, workers change jobs once every three or four years. Of course, an employee might change jobs for unavoidable or unforeseeable reasons. Others unknowingly set themselves up for failure on the job interview.

A recent study by Leadership IQ found that nearly half of newly-hired employees fail within the first 18 months. For some of these new workers, the problem is that they struggle to fit into the company’s culture. Within the first few weeks of working a new job, they might find out that they don’t work well with their supervisors, but it’s too late! Eventually, their discontent is too strong, and they quit the job they worked so hard to acquire. What a waste!

RELATED: 4 Must-see Ways to Improve Your LinkedIn Profile

Boris Groysberg, a Harvard Business School professor, says that the ability to evaluate a job offer is an essential skill for modern professionals. “Yet,” the Harvard Business article states, “most people do it poorly.” Thankfully, you can discover a significant amount of information about your employer during the interview. Equipped with the facts, you can decide whether the job will work for you.

Ask the Right Questions

According to Dr. Thomas J. Denham, founder of Careers in Transition LLC, your boss is one of the seven most important factors of job satisfaction. “Without a boss who is committed to helping you learn and succeed, other benefits aren’t worth as much.” In Denham’s article “Evaluating Job Offers and Negotiating Salary,” he suggests gauging your chemistry with your boss just like you would with a romantic prospect. Do you get along with him or her? Would you feel comfortable with your potential boss’s management style? Is he or she interested in your growth?

To discover these factors, ask if your interviewer minds a few get-to-know-you questions, such as “Why did you decide to enter this career? What do you like best about your job? What’s the hardest part about working here?”

What the Answers Reveal

How did the employer respond when you suggested asking questions of your own?

With Dismissiveness: A flippant or incomplete response is a red flag. The supervisor may be stingy with her time—a potential disaster if you need clarification of job tasks in the future.

With Outrage: Does he seem offended that you dare to question him? If he doesn’t realize that it’s important for you to evaluate the job, he might never have your interests at heart. You want to work for someone who considers your needs, not someone who gets huffy under the slightest provocation.

With Delight: If the interviewer is pleased that you’re so interested in getting to know her, it’s a good sign! Don’t you want an employer who is open and friendly?

With Criticism: Kay Bosworth, a former editor for a business education magazine, describes a good boss: “He is honest and straightforward, which means you should not have to worry about where you stand with him. He’s willing to share responsibility when things go wrong.” If the manager blames his team for problems during the interview, you might be next under fire if you work under his direction.

With Seriousness: A reasonable manager would realize that the more you know about your working conditions, the better you can evaluate if you will fit in with the company. Your questions deserve respect. Complete answers reveal that the boss takes your concerns seriously.

If the Interviewer Isn’t the Boss

What should you do if someone other than the boss conducts the interview? You can still learn much about management from the interview. You might ask what resources will be provided to do your job. If the resources are scarce, it could reveal that the managers are out of touch with the needs of the employees or that the company might be struggling to make ends meet.

Also, take a gander around the building before and after your interview. Do the employees seem happy? How is the workspace? Contented employees usually invest time in making their offices homey because they want to stay at their job long-term. Bare personal cubicles indicate that employees have a sense of detachment from their job.

Don’t lose the opportunity to get to know your future employer. If you ask the right questions, you’ll successfully evaluate whether the job is a good fit for you. What will your next interview reveal? Much will depend on how observant you are.

When to Use Of vs. Off?

• Of is a preposition that indicates relationships between other words, such as belonging, things made of other things, things that contain other things, or a point of reckoning.
• Off is usually used as an adverb or a preposition. In both cases, it indicates separation or disconnection.

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Mixing them up is always a mistake, but of and off are commonly confused nonetheless. Below, we’ve listed some common situations where you want to use of and some where off is the correct choice.

When to Use Of

We use of when we want to show that people or things relate to other things or people. For example, when we want to say that something or someone belongs to or is a part of something or someone else, we can do it like this:

Tiffany stared at the floor of her room.

He resigned his position as a member of the school board.

We can also use of to say that something consists of something else, or that it contains something else:

He picked up a piece of wood.

She likes to drink a glass of milk before going to bed.

When we want to give a position in space or time, we might use of to link the position with a reference we already know:

He didn’t feel at home north of the Wall.

At the time of the Viking raids, people spoke a very different kind of English.

Of could be used when we create a noun phrase from a verb phrase:

They had to clean up the house before their parents arrived.

They had to clean up the house before the arrival of their parents..

When to Use Off

Off is the opposite of on:

The radio was on, but she needed peace and quiet so she turned it off.

You should always make sure the stove is turned off before leaving the house.

Off can also be used when we want to say that something is away from a place:

He was walking his dog without a leash, and the dog ran off.

After walking Taylor home, Steve set off into the city.

We can use off when we want to say that something has been removed:

He cleaned the spilled soup off the kitchen floor.

They took the wheel off the car.

Examples

My favourite film of 2016 was the spine-tingling British production Under the Shadow from Iran-born, London-based writer/director Babak Anvari.

The Guardian

Can the Guardians battle the bad guys while still keeping their band of ne’er-do-wells together?

Wired

The Briton could only win the title if Rosberg finished off the podium.

Reuters

Sony and its partners showed off a bunch of games at yesterday’s PSX Keynote event.

Forbes

Who vs. Whom

Whom should be used to refer to the object of a verb or preposition. When in doubt, try this simple trick: If you can replace the word with “he”’ or “’she,” use who. If you can replace it with “him” or “her,” use whom.

• Who should be used to refer to the subject of a sentence.
• Whom should be used to refer to the object of a verb or preposition.

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Who or whom? If you’re like most English speakers, you know that there’s a difference between these pronouns, but you aren’t sure what that difference is. After reading this article, you might conclude that knowing when to use who or whom is not as difficult as you think.

When to Use Who

In a sentence, who is used as a subject. Let’s look at a couple of examples:

Who would like to go on vacation?

Who made these awesome quesadillas?

When to Use Whom

Whom is used as the object of a verb or preposition. Consider these examples:

To whom was the letter addressed?

Whom do you believe?

I do not know with whom I will go to the prom.

The Difference Between Who and Whom

How can you tell when your pronoun is the object of a verb or preposition? Try substituting “he” or “she” and “him” or “her.” If “he” or “she” fits, you should use who. If “him” or “her” fits, you should use whom. Keep in mind that you may have to temporarily rearrange the sentence a bit while you test it.

Who/whom ate my sandwich?

Try substituting “she” and “her”: She ate my sandwich. Her ate my sandwich. “She” works and “her” doesn’t. That means the word you want is who.

Whom ate my sandwich?

Who ate my sandwich?

Let’s look at another:

Who/whom should I talk to about labeling food in the refrigerator?

Try substituting “he” and “him”: I should talk to he. I should talk to him. “Him” works, so the word you need is whom.

Whom should I talk to about labeling food in the refrigerator?

You can also use questions to determine when to use who and when to use whom. Are you talking about someone who is doing something?

Gina drives her mother’s car to school.

Yes, you are talking about someone doing something, so use who in your question.

Who drives her mother’s car to school?

Now look at this sentence:

The car is driven to school by Gina.

No, the subject of the sentence (car) is not performing the action. Use whom in your question.

The car is driven to school by whom?

By whom is the car driven to school?

If you think the whom examples sound awkward or prissy, you are not alone. Many people don’t use whom in casual speech or writing. Others use it only in well-established phrases such as “to whom it may concern.” Some people never use it. It’s not unusual at all to hear sentences like these:

Who do you believe?

Who should I talk to about labeling food in the refrigerator?

Who vs. Whom Quiz

The Best Ways to Set Goals and (Actually) Get Results From Them

A few years ago, I had to come to terms with my burgeoning habit of browsing housing rental ads on Craigslist for places in the Pacific Northwest. I’d look at the listings and wonder, What would it be like to live in Washington? Wondering soon turned to obsession, and obsession spurred research. Before I knew it, I’d made a decision—I was going to leave my ancestral home in the upper Midwest and trek two thousand miles to live near the shores of Puget Sound.

I’d set a goal: “Head west, young (*cough*) woman! Head west!”

I’m at my desk now writing this article from what I consider to be the happiest place on earth. The natural surroundings, the people, and the culture called me here and I have an overwhelming sense that I’ve found where I was meant to be. But I couldn’t have done it without setting goals.

It turns out that I accidentally did goal-setting right. I chose one overarching intention, set a concrete goal, which I focused on from a positive angle, and then broke it down into achievable steps. Although I didn’t look into goal-setting techniques before I determined that I was moving west no matter what it took, I got lucky—psychology backs up my methods. Here’s how I made it happen.

Begin by setting your intention.

What do you want? Start with the big picture. For me, moving west was part of a more abstract desire: “Find your place in the world.” Your overarching motivation might be to get healthier, or to be less solitary. Your intention isn’t the same as your goal; it’s the why behind it.

Take time for deep reflection. What do you truly want to accomplish or see change in your life? We have a tendency toward wishful thinking, but it’s effort, not daydreaming, that makes our wishes into reality. Setting an intention is the first step toward actualizing your desires.

Set a concrete goal.

Now it’s time to set your primary goal, the Big Thing you want to achieve that will bring you closer to your intentions. There are just a few simple rules.

• Aim to be actual. Think of this process as taking a big abstract goal and making it more concrete. For me, this step meant taking “find your place in the world” a step further with “move to the Pacific Northwest.” For you, “get healthier” might begin with “be more active.” Make sure your goal is something you can actually do. You may want to become a rich, famous novelist, but that’s dependent on a lot of outside factors, from agents to editors to fickle markets. It’s okay to be ambitious, but keep your goal within the realm of possibility. “Finish writing a novel” would be a better place to start.
• Frame your goal in a positive way. When I decided to move west, I thought of it as beginning a new life adventure rather than getting the hell out of my small Midwestern town. Positive motivation is the key, whereas negativity and avoidance-based goal-setting doesn’t seem to work as well. So, choose goals like “eat healthier” over “lose weight.”
• Write down your goal, and then write a little bit about it every day as you imagine what your life might be like if everything progressed perfectly. Do this for several days in a row. Research shows this technique works!
• Make sure it’s about you. The only person you can control is yourself, which is why a goal like “get people to like me” doesn’t work while “be more sociable” does.

Break your goal down into actionable steps . . . backwards.

I wanted to move west. I knew that much. Now, I had to figure out how to make it happen. That involved assessing my huge goal, figuring out all the smaller steps I’d need to take to get results, and prioritizing them. Trying to suss out how to get from A to Z can feel overwhelming. That’s why it’s sometimes easier to work backwards. My move west is a good example of that process in action.

I imagined the very last thing I would need to accomplish right before achieving my goal—“move into my new place.” What would have to happen right before that? Hmm. I’d have to drive cross-country. And before that? Pack my moving truck. And prior to packing my moving truck, I’d have to pack my stuff into boxes.

But before I could pack a moving truck, I’d have to actually rent one. The flow of your action plan won’t always be linear, and you’ll realize that certain steps (packing a truck) are sub-tasks of another (rent a truck). That’s okay. The idea of working backwards is simply to get things rolling along. Pondering your steps from the top down can feel overwhelming, but working backwards breaks that spell. Think of it more as a brainstorming session. You’ll organize everything later.

Keep the process fluid. Part of achieving your goals is being able to adjust your action plan as you go along. For instance, I originally planned to secure a moving truck, and I even went so far as to rent one. But then I decided that I didn’t have furniture valuable enough to warrant me paying nearly $3,000 to move it across the United States. I revised my plan, organized a huge moving sale, donated what I couldn’t sell, and packed my most important treasures into my minivan.

Goals are meant to help you shape yourself into the person you want to be. It’s all you, baby! Just remember that nothing, not even your goal itself, is written in stone. It’s completely up to you to decide where you want to be in life and how you’ll get there. You’re the master of your fate.

Study Shows Political Language Is Changing, Affects Parties Differently

Though we might not think much about them in the context of all the issues discussed during elections, rhetoric and language play a critical role in the success of U.S. presidential candidates. The 2016 presidential election process has been particularly fascinating and prompted us to take a closer look at how election language has changed over time and how it influences candidate success.

In our study, we found:

• the complexity of politicians’ language is decreasing, according to analysis using seven different Grammarly clarity algorithms, such as sentence length and frequency of the passive voice, and
• less complex language correlates with higher poll results for Republican politicians, while simpler rhetoric corresponds to lower poll results for Democrats.

Do you follow U.S. presidential elections? Have you noticed any changes in language over the years?

Share this infographic with your readers by copying and pasting the embed code below. Please attribute and link the infographic to https://www.grammarly.com/plagiarism-checker#political-language-changing-affects-parties-differently

Methodology Grammarly aggregated the debate transcripts transcribed by UCSB. We ran our most accurate and applicable clarity checks for speech on the transcripts. Grammarly focused on the candidates who were in general elections since 1960 for the study of general elections. For the 2016 election cycle, we analyzed candidates who had an average rating of at least 5 percent from July 1, 2015, to May 8, 2016. The top 15 topics were taken from Google’s On the Issues Rich Cards.

What Part of Writing Is Important at Work?

Are you a confident editor? Tell us!

This poll is part of a series that Grammarly is running aimed at better understanding how the public feels about writing, language learning, and grammar.

Please take the poll and share your thoughts in the comments. We can’t wait to hear from you!

If you are interested in more, check out last week’s poll.

Willpower Is a Muscle—Here’s How to Make It Stronger

According to the American Psychological Association (APA), children who demonstrate stronger willpower in the lab end up having better school attendance and stronger academic performance while also being more likely to have “greater physical and mental health, fewer substance-abuse problems and criminal convictions, and better savings behavior and financial security” as adults. Yet, in the APA’s Annual Stress Survey, lack of self-control is the leading reason Americans fail to follow through with healthy lifestyle changes. We’d all like more willpower. Unfortunately, many of us lost whatever lottery would have given us more self-control.

Right?

Wrong. It turns out that willpower is a skill that can be practiced and strengthened.

Your inability to keep your hand out of the cookie jar despite years of New Year’s resolutions might actually come down to a weak or underdeveloped willpower muscle rather than a predestined lack of self-control. But, before you start berating yourself about wimpy willpower muscles. . .

Take your eyes off the cookie jar. Look at me. This is exciting.

. . .new research shows that your willpower may not really be all that weak. In some ways, our modern world sets us up to fail. But in the face of all this, you can get better. So, how do you increase willpower?

What Is Willpower? How Does It Work?

Before we dive into the juicy stuff, it will be helpful to get on the same page about what we mean when we say “willpower.”

Essentially, you use willpower when you forego immediate gratification in order to achieve long-term goals.

According to Roy F. Baumeister, author of Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength, understanding self-control comes down to understanding these things:

• Willpower is like a mental muscle.
• It fatigues like a muscle if it is worked too hard, leading to “ego depletion” or “willpower depletion.”
• Exercising restraint isn’t all that can exhaust the mental energy needed for self-control; decision-making of all kinds also depletes willpower.

With that context, it becomes more clear why your willpower might not be the problem: your environment plays a role, too. Dr. Kathleen Vohs explains, “[t]here is research that shows people still have the same self-control as in decades past, but we are bombarded more and more with temptations,” and “[o]ur psychological system is not set up to deal with all the potential immediate gratification.”

Just let that sink in.

All the media we consume, all the advertisements, the fast pace of life, the seemingly unlimited options at the store—even having too many clothes in your closet can be a drain on your willpower! Between all the temptations we encounter and the thousands upon thousands of decisions we make each day, no wonder that willpower is nowhere to be found when we need it most.

So, what’s the good news?

According to loads of research, you absolutely can strengthen and increase willpower so that in the face of everything, you will reach your goals.

How to Increase Willpower

More good news: there are several research-backed strategies to help you manage your willpower resources and strengthen your self-control muscles—even if you think you have none. The simplest strategies for improving self-control include meeting your basic physical needs and removing unnecessary decision-making from your daily life. The more complex strategies will take time and effort but are most effective in helping you fortify your willpower over time.

1Eat regularly.

The severe lack of determination you feel when you’re hungry isn’t just in your head. Research supports the idea that willpower requires a lot of brainpower, and the brain needs food. If you aren’t feeding your brain enough or often enough, your willpower will suffer. For this reason, if you’re trying to lose weight—or even write that term paper—eating small meals often improves your self-control.

2Remove temptations.

In his ground-breaking Marshmallow Experiment (yes, that’s what it was called), Dr. Walter Mischel and his team placed a plate of marshmallows on a table and gave children a choice between eating one marshmallow immediately or waiting for an unspecified time for two. What they found is that children who distracted themselves—closed their eyes, looked around, etc.—were able to resist temptation much longer than those who didn’t take their eyes off the plate of pillowy marshmallows. This “out-of-sight-out-of-mind” tactic has been confirmed to work for adults—in offices, with candy. So, if you want to avoid willpower depletion, remove some temptations.

3Reduce the number of decisions you have to make.

Remember willpower feeds on the same energy as all your decision-making. Try to limit the number of decisions you have to make. Here are some ideas for how to reduce the number of choices you make day-to-day.

• Prepare your meals in advance once or twice a week.
• Plan your weekday outfits on the weekend or try a capsule wardrobe. While planning an entire week of outfits is great if you live somewhere with reliable weather, a capsule wardrobe can have a similar effect and give you flexibility. Basically, you just pick items that match one another. My closet, for example, is all based on the same palette. It makes dressing—and shopping—much less stressful.
• For projects, create a structured plan to follow or get a professional to help. If you’re doing something like trying to get in shape, doing the same structured exercises might help you stick to it. Also, hiring a professional to handle the details can pay off big time. With my personal trainer, all I do is show up. He worries about the rest—which exercises, how much, and he gets it all set for me. Plus, I made a friend.
• Outsource! Somewhat related to hiring a professional, outsourcing decisions is a good way to get things off your plate or just have a little fun. For example, at our office we get lunch deliveries from various places nearby—we just have to order it. Some folks, however, have discovered someone else on the team with similar tastes and told our office manager to always order what so-and-so is having. For larger projects, like publishing a report or planning an event, learn to let go of control. Get everyone on the same page to start, but then let others own some decision-making.
• Batch tasks. This won’t really help you limit the number of decisions you have to make, but it will help you remove the distractions that some decisions cause. Check your email at fixed times or, if you use Slack, learn to love the “Remind me about this” function.

4Focus.

According to Baumeister, one of the worst things you can do for your willpower is try to make too many changes at a time (ehrm, New Year’s Resolutions?) You’re much better off picking one.

5Do some emotional TLC.

Unsurprisingly, emotions can have a big impact on your willpower.

• Show your emotion. Tom Heatherton and Katherine Vohs measured self-control of people who had just seen a sad movie. One group had been told not to show their emotions and another group had been told to let their emotions out. The group that showed their sadness performed better on the willpower tests, presumably because they didn’t need to use up their self-control supply trying to hide their emotions. So, let it out!

• Stop people pleasing. Making others happy and conforming to their standards is a surefire way to zap your willpower. Find ways to motivate your behavior that don’t require external approval.
• Check your frame of mind. Baumeister found that just thinking positively about one’s willpower improved self-control outcomes in tests. So, if you’re having trouble resisting temptation, think about a few examples where you exhibited restraint successfully before trying again.

6Increase your motivation.

Inevitably, there will be times when your willpower is waning. In times like these, focus on motivation. Research by Mark Muraven shows that low-willpowered people perform better on self-control tasks when they’re told they will be paid. When you’re feeling temptation taking over, focus instead on how you can better motivate yourself. In the weight-loss game, for example, there apps like Gympact that bill you for not hitting the gym and pay you for living healthfully.

7Use some “Implementation Intention.”

In Willpower, Baumeister and co-author John Teirney outline how to cope in the face of temptation and bolster your self-control using a technique called “implementation intention.” It works this way: before you experience a temptation, you should already plan out your response. Let’s say you are avoiding unhealthy food. If you’re at a party and someone offers you dessert, you can plan to decline and instead ask for some fresh fruit. The key here is to think about situations when your willpower will be tested and prepare a response in advance—basically make your decision in advance.

8Practice self-control.

The most challenging but best way to strengthen your willpower muscles is to actually use them. Baumeister suggests creating simple but challenging tasks that require some effort to adhere to. For example, you can commit to turning the light off in every room you leave, putting away your clothes at the end of each day, or eliminating filler words from your speech. These relatively easy tasks, practiced diligently, will hone your self-control skills—and build your confidence in the face of temptation.

Without a doubt, fortifying willpower isn’t easy, but the benefits that come with reserves of self-determination can give you an edge. Researchers have even shown that strength of willpower is more strongly correlated with academic performance than IQ is. The investment you make in your self-control skills is one of the best you can make in your life.

So, now the question is, what are you going to do with your willpower?

How to Get Organized During Your Job Search: 6 Helpful Tips

Job hunting is no one’s favorite activity. Customizing your resume and cover letter for each position (not to mention typing the same information found in the resume you just attached into various application systems) can be grueling work. Job hunting is a full-time job, and you’re not getting paid a dime for it.

Getting organized can save you time and make the process less frustrating. Here are six ways to streamline your job search to make it not only easier on you, but potentially more successful.

1Make a list of keywords.

Quick! Can you name all of your job skills in under thirty seconds? If someone asked you what types of positions you’re qualified for, would you be able to rattle them off easily? If so, great—you know how to market yourself well. But if you’re like most job seekers, odds are good that you could benefit from some self-evaluation.

Before you begin your job search in earnest, sit down and make a list of your skills. When I was job hunting, my list included things like writing, editing, communication, and copywriting. Next, focus on the types of positions that might be right for you. Make a list of all the job titles you can think of that would be within the scope of your search.

Here’s a tip: Keep your list handy. (See below for how I used a spreadsheet.) You’ll need it as you’re browsing job sites. Add to it as you find new job titles and keywords that pop up during your search.That way, you’ll be broadening the scope of your search as you go.

2Find opportunities with job search alerts.

Now that you have an idea of what you’re looking for, you can start digging into job boards. Many will send you email alerts with new positions that match your skills. Here are a few to help you get rolling.

• Indeed
• SimplyHired
• LinkedIn Jobs
• Glassdoor
• Monster

Here’s a tip: While you shouldn’t put your eggs into one basket by focusing solely on one job search site, it makes sense to consolidate your efforts by narrowing your search to a few top sites that are likely to net you the best results.

3Spreadsheets are your friends.

When I was job hunting a few years ago, I found it impossible to keep track of the status of my applications. I wasn’t very spreadsheet savvy, so it never occurred to me to use a free spreadsheet tool like Google Sheets to track my job search efforts.

The good news is you don’t have to be a spreadsheet wizard to use Excel or Sheets. All it takes to create an efficient tracking system is the ability to name a few columns with appropriate headers and then fill in the blanks. (Trust me, it’s easy.) Here are the columns I would use in my search if I had it to do it over again:

• Company – The name of the company you’ve applied to.
• Position – The title of the position you’re interested in.
• Job Listing Link – It can be helpful to have a link to the original job listing so you can refer to it later.
• Application Date
• Contact – If you have a contact name, put it here.
• Email – Add your contact’s email address if you have it.
• Interview Date
• Follow-up – If you scored an interview, this is a good place to note how you followed up.
• Status – Do you have a second interview scheduled? Are you waiting for a response? Track your current status here.
• Comments – This is a good place to add any thoughts or insights you’ve gained as you were researching the company and position. Don’t rely on your memory when you have a lot of job search irons in the fire.

A spreadsheet would’ve saved me a ton of time in my job hunt by preventing me from having to search through various emails and links to remind myself of where I’d applied and what my status was.

Here’s a tip: Your spreadsheet can be a catch-all for things related to your job hunt. Create a new tab to store a list of job search site links (like the ones listed above) so you don’t have to hunt them down anew each day. Create another tab to store a list of job skills keywords and the titles of positions you’re qualified for. You never know when you’ll need to refer to them as you’re searching through open positions.

4Use a calendar.

If you’re anything like me (the ADHD is strong with this one), you’ve woken up in a cold sweat, your heart racing, thinking Is my job interview this morning? Did I oversleep? Do I have only ten minutes to get ready and race out the door? Oh em gee!

I never missed an interview. I was never late for one, either. But the fear that I might mess up was strong and evoked a near steady state of low-level anxiety. A calendar would have helped alleviate that.

These days, I use Google Calendar, but any calendar app can make the process of tracking upcoming interviews and things like networking events or job fairs much easier. Having a calendar takes the stress out of having to remember upcoming appointments and eliminates those heart-pounding morning wakeups.

5Make a schedule.

As I mentioned earlier, a job search can be like a full-time job in itself, except that it has no pay and no benefits. #SadFace

You can streamline your day by setting a schedule. This was something I did right when I was in the market for a new gig. I stepped into my office at 9 a.m. every weekday. First, I checked my email for any replies from hiring managers. Then, I looked at my new job alerts and checked job boards for any new listings. Next, I focused on putting in applications, which was a more time-consuming process because I was careful to customize each cover letter and tweak each resume.

Think of your job search as a job you’re reporting to each day. Not only will it help you stay committed and on track, it will bring some purpose to your downtime.

6Use templates.

Templates are a time-saver. Make customizable templates for your cover letters (and please do customize each one) and other inquiries and replies. You’ll thank yourself when you’re not writing every single email from scratch. Save templates in Google Docs or another word processing program so you can quickly access them.

Here’s a tip: Although they may not show up in your email client, other clients may see font changes and other oddities that are remnants of copying and pasting. To strip formatting from the text you paste, use Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + V to paste.

Taking a little time to get organized and plan your job search in advance will save you time and prevent irritation and stress. Go get ’em!

How to Write Powerful Bullet Points

Any writer who’s spent time in the trenches publishing articles online knows it’s hard to keep a reader’s attention. In fact, according to Tony Haile’s 2014 article on Time.com, 55 percent of readers will spend fifteen seconds or less actively on a page reading the article that took you many times longer to write and carefully proofread. Like it or not, our online culture, which blasts us with a never-ending stream of content 24/7, has made us skimmers rather than deep readers.

What’s a content creator to do? You could keep your content short, but there’s evidence that longer pieces get more social engagement and links. The key to writing articles that hold a reader’s attention is not to make them shorter but to make them more readable, and doing so requires expert organization that calls attention to key topics. There’s arguably no more useful organizational tool than the venerable bullet point.

How to write powerful bullet points

According to Copyblogger, “the essence of a great bullet is brevity + promise.” By using bullets, you’re demonstrating that you know how to be concise and cut to the chase. Then, you must deliver on that promise by making every point essential and impactful. Let’s demonstrate the power of bullet points with a list of tips for writing awesome ones:

• Think of a bullet point as a mini headline. It needs to be concise and attention-grabbing in a way that intrigues readers and compels them to read more.
• Highlight elements key to understanding the content of your article. There’s no room for fluff here, so call out what’s most important.
• Keep it simple. Avoid complex outlines and don’t use sub-bullets if you can help it.
• Keep bullets thematically related. Bullet points highlight key elements of very specific topics, so stay on a single track.
• Make your bullet points symmetrical . . . just like the ones here. Notice how each point begins with a bolded directive and ends with a one-sentence explanation.
• Work in keywords. Search engines tend to give bulleted lists a little more weight.
• Don’t overdo it. You want your post to look like an article, not a grocery list.

What is a fascination?

A fascination is a copywriting technique for creating points that make your readers so intrigued (fascinated!) that they’re compelled to get more info. It’s a go-to marketing tactic you’ve no doubt seen in advertising. Let’s invent a make-believe product to show you how fascinations work.

---

The Amazing Party Animal Personality Enhancer!

Use this simple device during any social event and you’re virtually guaranteed to

• develop killer dance moves
• become the most entertaining person in the room
• attract 180 percent more attention from potential love interests
• increase your notoriety in your social circles by 83 percent

via GIPHY

---

Okay, so this “personality enhancer” sounds too good to be true (or suspiciously like your favorite party beverage), but the points are compelling. Who doesn’t want to become an entertaining, attractive, well-known dancing machine?

The same technique can work well when you’re trying to get readers to spend more than fifteen seconds looking at your post. If it fits the tone of your article, frontload it with bulleted items that make compelling promises. You’re telling visitors that, if they take the time to read this article, they’ll get to know more about the fascinating topics you highlighted.

Grammar basics of using bullet points

Bullet points often create confusion for writers. Do you capitalize each one? Put periods at the end? When should you use numbers instead of bullets? It turns out that making your articles easy to read through the strategic use of bullet points requires a little know-how. Here are a few guidelines.

The introductory sentence

If the text introducing your list is a complete sentence, it should end with a colon. If it’s a fragment, forget the colon and jump straight into the list.

Numbers or bullets?

If your action items need to take place in a specific order, use a numbered list rather than bullets.

EXAMPLE:

Here’s how to give your dog a bath:

1 Place a shower cap on your dog’s head.

2 Give him his rubber ducky to provide emotional security.

3 Gently bathe your dog. Avoid getting water in his big sad eyes.

You could also use a numbered list if your introductory text promises a certain number of items, like the three best reasons to bathe your dog. (But do you really need reasons?)

via GIPHY

Punctuation with bullet points

If the text of your bullet point is a complete sentence (or multiple sentences), use capital letters and punctuation. If your points are not structured as proper sentences, you don’t need to end with punctuation. Capitalization is a style choice—with sentence fragments, you can choose to start each with either upper- or lower-case letters.

The structure to use with bullet points

Don’t mix and match sentence structures. Your points should be consistent, either all sentences or all fragments.

Make sure the grammatical structure of your bullet points is parallel by starting each with the same part of speech. For instance, if you start one point with an adjective, start them all with an adjective.

CORRECT:

Adopting a dog will make you

• popular with dog lovers
• famous for having the most adorable pet on your block

INCORRECT:

Adopting a dog will make you

• popular with dog lovers
• you’ll be famous for having the most adorable pet on your block

Here’s a tip: Read each bullet point with the text that precedes it to make sure each one is parallel and makes sense as a sentence.

Using the correct example above, you would read:

“Adopting a dog will make you popular with dog lovers.”

But the incorrect example makes no sense as a sentence, so you know you need to edit:

“Adopting a dog will make you you’ll be famous for having the most adorable pet on your block.”

Keep your style consistent

Some of the bullet point style rules aren’t hard and fast. Unless you’re following a specific style guide (such as the AP Stylebook or The Chicago Manual of Style), use the style that looks best to you, but remember to keep it parallel and keep it consistent, because those things are non-negotiable. With a little precision, you’ll create bullet points that will catch your readers’ attention and keep them on the page so your carefully crafted words earn more than just fifteen seconds of their time.

What Is a Prepositional Phrase?

A prepositional phrase is a group of words consisting of a preposition, its object, and any words that modify the object. Most of the time, a prepositional phrase modifies a verb or a noun. These two kinds of prepositional phrases are called adverbial phrases and adjectival phrases, respectively.

At a minimum, a prepositional phrase consists of one preposition and the object it governs. The object can be a noun, a gerund (a verb form ending in “-ing” that acts as a noun), or a clause.

He arrived in time.

Is she really going out with that guy?

To these two basic elements, modifiers can be freely added.

He arrived in the nick of time.

Is she really going out with that tall, gorgeous guy?

Some of the most common prepositions that begin prepositional phrases are to, of, about, at, before, after, by, behind, during, for, from, in, over, under, and with.

Prepositional Phrases That Modify Nouns

When a prepositional phrase acts upon a noun, we say it is behaving adjectivally because adjectives modify nouns. A prepositional phrase that behaves adjectivally is called, quite logically, an adjectival phrase.

The cat in the middle is the cutest.

I always buy my milk from the convenience store on Main Street.

My mother has always wanted to live in a cabin by the lake.

In the first of these sentences, in the middle answers the question of which cat the writer thinks is the cutest. Similarly, on Main Street gives us information about which store the writer is describing, and by the lake tells us what kind of cabin the writer’s mother is dreaming about. All of these adjectival phrases provide specificity to a noun in order to enhance our understanding.

Prepositional Phrases That Modify Verbs

When a prepositional phrase acts upon a verb, we say it is behaving adverbially because adverbs modify verbs. A prepositional phrase that behaves adverbially is called an adverbial phrase.

To find the person who stole the last cookie, look behind you.

Harry drank his Butterbeer with fervor.

In the first sentence, behind you answers the question “Look where?” In the second, with fervor answers the question “Drank how?”

Prepositional Phrases Acting as Nouns

Less frequently, prepositional phrases can function like nouns in a sentence.

During the national anthem is the worst time to blow your nose.

After the game will be too late for us to go to dinner.

How to Avoid Excessive Prepositional Phrases

It is tempting to overuse prepositions and prepositional phrases. If you see more than one preposition for every ten or fifteen words in your writing, you should edit some of them out. You may be surprised at how much more elegant and economical your writing is when you make the effort to do this.

It is best to behave with caution when running with a sword in the presence of Magneto.

There is nothing grammatically incorrect about this sentence, but it has two “with” phrases, an “of” phrase, and an “in” phrase, which is a sure sign that it could be written more efficiently.

In Magneto’s presence, run cautiously with swords.

Here, it was possible to replace one of the prepositional phrases, with caution with the correlating adverb cautiously. Of Magneto was simply a possessive that can be easily converted into Magneto’s. Four prepositional phrases have been reduced to two.

Another way to reduce prepositional phrases is to switch from a passive voice to an active voice. There is a famous example to illustrate this concept.

Why was the road crossed by the chicken?

Clearly, the passive voice makes this sentence fussy and the prepositional phrase by the chicken seems a bit silly. It would be better written in an active voice, with the chicken in the driver’s seat where it belongs.

Why did the chicken cross the road?

Hanged vs. Hung—Learn the Difference

Even the most hardened grammarians don’t condone capital punishment for grammar offenses, but we do tend to get hung up about hanged. Hanged can only refer to someone’s death by hanging. If you are wondering, “Is it hanged or hung?” establish whether a deadly action has taken place.

It’s one of the few times when grammar becomes a matter of life and death.

The Past Tense of Hang

Hung is the past tense of to hang when it means “to suspend or be suspended.”

Hanged is the past tense of to hang when it means “to kill someone by tying a rope attached from above and removing the support from beneath.”

to hang = to suspend

Present Tense	I hang	you hang	he/she/it hangs	we hang	you hang	they hang
Simple Past Tense	I hung	you hung	he/she/it hung	we hung	you hung	they hung
Present Participle	I am hanging	you are hanging	he/she/it is hanging	we are hanging	you are hanging	they are hanging
Past Participle	I/you/we/(s)he/it/they hung	—	—	—	—	—

to hang = to kill by hanging

Present Tense	I hang	you hang	he/she/it hangs	we hang	you hang	they hang
Simple Past Tense	I hanged	you hanged	he/she/it hanged	we hanged	you hanged	they hanged
Present Participle	I am hanging	you are hanging	he/she/it is hanging	we are hanging	you are hanging	they are hanging
Past Participle	I/you/we/(s)he/it/they hanged	—	—	—	—	—

How to Use “Hung”

Clothes can be hung on hangers and pictures can be hung on walls. Some people use the rule of thumb that things are hung and people are hanged, but that doesn’t always work out the way it should. It is possible to suspend people without intending to hurt them—for example, to harness someone to a bungee cord and dangle them off the bridge (which may seem like tempting death, but that’s more of an opinion than a fact).

We hung all of our clothes on hangers when we unpacked our moving boxes.

I ran straight home from school with my Grammar MVP Award and hung it on the wall.

After the jump, Juan laughed as he hung from the bridge, ready to be hauled back up.

How to Use “Hanged”

If you are deciding between hanged vs. hung and an act of execution is involved, always choose hanged. Hanged can also be used reflexively to refer to suicides (e.g., he hanged himself, they hanged themselves).

H. H. Holmes was hung for murder in 1896.

H. H. Holmes was hanged for murder in 1896.

The terminally ill man hung himself rather than face a torturous demise.

The terminally ill man hanged himself rather than face a torturous demise.

So when you are playing the letter game Hangman, the figure you draw is your hanged man, not your hung man.

Difficult Differences Between “Hang” and “Hung”

Because it was common practice in centuries past not only to execute criminals by hanging but to also display their bodies for a period of time to deter other potential criminals, it is just possible that you will need to elucidate in your writing that a deceased person spent some time suspended post-execution.

Conveniently, history is rife with examples.

Captain Kidd was hanged at Execution Dock, London, in 1701. He was gibbeted and hung over the River Thames for a further three years as a warning to pirates.

Certain phrasal verbs containing hang confuse some writers as well. To hang out, which means “to casually socialize with friends,” should become hung out in the past tense. Hanged out implies something much less casual (and more deadly).

We hanged out at my mother’s house last Friday night.

We hung out at my mother’s house last Friday night.

Similarly, to be overly concerned about something is to get hung up on it, not hanged up.

Sure, I didn’t wash my hands before cooking dinner, but don’t get hanged up on it.

Sure, I didn’t wash my hands before cooking dinner, but don’t get hung up on it.

“Hanged” vs. “Hung”: Summary

Using the correct past tense of to hang is simple once you make the distinction between its use for capital punishment and its more innocuous meanings. All you need to remember is that hanged has to do with a person’s demise, and hung is used for all other definitions of “to hang,” including idiomatic verbal phrases that contain it.