Exploiting The Brain

Alena Holligan@sketchings

sketchings.com

Wife and Mother of 3 young childrenPHP Teacher at TreehousePHP Users Group Leader Women Who Code Leader

For Fun And Profit

Your Most Important Tool

Physical

Learning

Memory

Everyone With A Brain Stand Up

Read Aloudenthusiastic

motivational

fascinating

enjoyable

fun

humorous

useful

beneficial

simple

profitable

valuable

easy

Rearrange Sentence

Talk This Beneficial Is Fascinating

Priming

Elderly PrimingWords: Old, Gray, Florida

Significantly longer to walk to the elevator

Done on psychology students

Did the priming influence you? NO

Why? Make things up

We don’t say “I don’t know”instagram.com/ginalee/

PhysicalSleep, Food & Exercise

Sleep

-Leo J. Burke

"People who say they sleep like a baby usually don't have one."

Question:How Much Sleep Do You Get?

Sleep Experiment 5 days mimicked Alzheimer's

hallucinations and paranoia

30% loss in cognitive ability after 1 night

Physical Affects: blood pressure, immune system, body temp

Factor to obesity

trouble metabolizing glucose

feel hungry

get cravings

longer to feel full

Didn’t Feel Impaired

Some People Need Lessinsomniac gene

Probably Not You!

AnalyzeHow much do you need, sleepcycle.com

Wake up at the same time everyday, even weekends - go to bed when you’re tired

Go to bed at the same time everyday - wake up without an alarm

Write down how you feel, multiple times - both physically and emotionally

morning lark (1/10)

night owl (2/10)

play to your strengths

When Are You At Your Best?

Sleep Hacks90 minute cycles

Create a routine

Turn off electronics or f.lux

Stop caffeine

Cool and Dark

Room/Bed is Sacred

SOUND

SMELL

Quick Tip

Naps Improve Performance26 min nap = 34% improvement ~ army

Everyone With A Brain Stand Up

Exercise

Why Exercise

improves blood flows

clears waste (in your brain)

improves performance

actually makes brain bigger

Walking Desks

Walking Meetings

Boeing

Mayo Clinic

Start your day with Yoga

Quick TipTime Out App

Exercise for 75 minutes to maximize mortality reduction by 20%

Food

Food As FuelBrain adores glucose

2% of mass

20% of energy

Your brain needs fat

Protein signifies full

Balance: carbs, proteins and fats

Water

Supplements

Caffeine and Alcohol are drugs, use carefully

Quick Tip

Drink Water

Change the way you think about food.

Find a good supplement

Learning

Assimilated Knowledge

Learned

Integrated with existing knowledge

Remembered over time

Deployed as Behavior

Learned

Use multiple modalities

Attention needs engagement

Elaborate, Meaningful, Context

Stories and Examples

Integrated With Existing Knowledge

Make it yours - do something with it

Teach

Remembered Over Time

Forgetting stuff is a feature not a bug

Take frequent breaks

Follow up

Spaced Repetition (The Mnemosyne Project)

Deployed As Behavior

Have the right attitude

Make it a habit - habitica.com

Quick Tips

Make up crazy story

Smells and Sounds

Location

Everyone With A Brain Stand Up

Managing Information

Bombarded With Information Overload

new languages

new technologies

new approaches

conferences

books

blogs

podcasts

social media

Continuous Partial Attention

Attention Is PreciousBe Selective

Information Diet

Selective Ignorance

Pick something you care about

Skim the rest

Use your friends

Prune Aggressively

If you’re not reading it delete it

Email Is Like Gamblingvariable reinforcement

Turn Off Interruptions

TV

Email

Facebook

Cell Phone

ProductivityInbox Zero (declare bankruptcy)

Getting Things Done (GTD)

Pomodoro Technique (Agile)

Sounds (focusatwill.com)

Location, Location, Location

Quick Tip

External BrainCapture ideas to generate more ideas.

We Forget (No, you wont remember!)

Computers Don’t Forget

Paper Doesn’t Either

Wiki is a great tool for teams

Final Review

Final Review

Mindfulness

Balance

Quality over Quantity

Engage your Senses

Try new things

Write it down

Don’t forget to breathe

Resources

BooksPragmatic Thinking and Learning

Predictably Irrational

A Whole New Mind

Getting Things Done

Your Brain: The Missing Manual

The Secret Code of Success

Brain Rules

Mind Hacks

Sway

Nudge

Drive

Websites

brainrules.net

lifehacker.com

43folders.com/izero

MindHacks.com

FocusAtWill.com

ted.com

emotiv.com

OpenBCI.com

There’s An App For That

sleepcycle.com

justgetflux.com

dejal.com/timeout/

habitica.com

coach.me

Pomodoro

How Do You Eat An ElePhpAnt?

…one bite at a time!

Take One Small Bite Today

Alena Holligan @Sketchings

Sketchings.Com Wife and Mother of 3 young children

Teacher at TreehousePHP Users Group LeaderWomen Who Code Leader

https://joind.in/talk/8d5b0