“It’s the willingness to leave the comfort zone that is the key to keeping the brain new,” he says. Michael Merzenich, a pioneer of plasticity research, and author of Soft-wired: How the New Science of Brain Plasticity Can Change Your Life says that going beyond the familiar is essential to brain health. “Neglect of intense learning leads plasticity systems to waste away,” says Norman Doidge in his book, The Brain That Changes Itself. Without mental stimulation dendrites, connections between brain neurons that keep information flowing, shrink or disappear altogether.Īn active life increases dendrite networks and also increase the brain’s regenerating capacity, known as plasticity. When you’re comfortable and life is good, your brain can release chemicals like dopamine and serotonin, which lead to happy feelings.īut in the long-term, comfort is bad for your brain. Stop Feeding Your ComfortĬomfort provides a state of mental security. Separating these differences is simple enough to do once, but doing so continually can be tough. Important tasks are things that contribute to your long-term mission, values, and goals. Your ability to distinguish urgent and important tasks has a lot to do with your success. It’s one the only ways to master your time. Sometimes important tasks stare you right in the face, but you neglect them and respond to urgent but unimportant things. Last-minute distractions are not necessarily priorities. Urgent but unimportant tasks are major distractions. ![]() Your productivity, creativity and next big idea depends on it. Give Up the Urgent Distractionĭisconnect. ![]() Narrow down your most important tasks to 3, and then give one task your undivided attention for a period of time.Īllow yourself to rotate between the three, giving yourself a good balance of singular focus and variety. Remove potential distractions (like silencing your mobile, turning off email alerts) before you start deep work to avoid the temptation to switch between tasks. Research shows that task switching actually burns more calories and fatigues your brain – reducing your overall capacity for productive thought and work. It compromises how much actual time you spend doing productive work, because you’re continually unloading and reloading the hippocampus/short term memory. Your concentration suffers when you multitask. ![]() The ability to multi-task is a false badge of honor. Set yourself up for success by making a plan and targeting specific areas you’re going to declutter, clean up, and organize over a prolonged period of time. You’re not going to clean up your entire space in a day, so start small to make it a daily habit that sticks. Start decluttering today in small, focused bursts. Get rid of clutter at your office, on your desk, in your room, and you will send a clear message of calm directly to your brain. We are all looking for ways to create more meaningful lives with less to distract us. When the book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing, by Marie Kondo became a best-seller, it wasn’t too surprising. It can create long-term, low-level anxiety. There’s a strong link between your physical space and your mental space.Ĭlutter is bad for your mind and health. And when you can’t concentrate, everything you do is harder and takes longer than you’d like. ![]() Imagine if you could concentrate your brain power into one bright beam and focus it like a laser on whatever you wish to accomplish. Mental fog is often described as a “cloudy-headed” feeling.Ĭommon conditions of brain fog include poor memory, difficulty focusing or concentrating, and struggling with articulation. Great article from the CLEAR and UNFOGGY brain of Thomas Oppong (thanks, Thomas!!!)
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