Sunday 13 October 2013

Getting The Most From Your Brain






Here is the brain showing the prefrontal cortex which chews up fuel such as glucose much faster than people realize.  " We have a limited bucket of resources for activities such as decision making and impulse control, Dr. Roy Baumeister from Florida University explains,  " and when we use these up we don't have as much for the next activity. " Make one difficult decision and the next is more difficult. This effect can be resolved by drinking a glucose drink. Baumeister tested this hypothesis  using lemonade sweetened either with glucose or a sugar substitute,  and  the impact on performance was marked.

This helps us understand why it's easy to get distracted when tired or hungry.  When you are tired and just can't think straight it's not you it's your brain. Your best quality thinking lasts for a limited time. The answer is not always " try harder ".

Some scientists think the the prefrontal cortex is energy hungry because it is still new in evolutionary terms and needs to evolve further to meet today's information demands. Knowing this and understanding the brain processes involved in an activity such as decision making you can learn to respect your limitations rather than fight them.

You can think of conscious thinking as a precious resource.

Prioritize prioritizing , as it is an energy - intensive activity.

Schedule the most attention -rich tasks when you have a fresh and alert mind.

Use the brain to interact with information rather than trying to store information, by creating visuals for complex ideas and by listing projects.

All these great ideas from ' Your Brain At Work ' by David Rock

Looking forward to sharing some more of his brain  tips soon.












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