Use It Or Lose It

When we react to every little thing that comes up at work, we lose focus and attention.

Counter this by scheduling extra time to complete a task, engaging in single-tasking, and setting reasonable expectations for yourself and for others on how much you are able to produce in a given day.

Stress is unavoidable, but we can create systems to decrease its influence over our capacity to work. These systems vary from person to person but they often include meditation, aerobic exercise (i.e. running, cycling, walking), surrounding yourself in nature, and eating healthfully.

When you know an upcoming project will generate stress, anticipate scheduling periods into your work plan to participate in the stress management activities that work for you.

Memorization doesn’t necessarily mean learning. The test for whether you understand a subject or not is the capacity you have to explain your subject or argument. 

You need to feed your brain proper stimuli in order to counter degeneration. An active cognitive lifestyle requires continually feeding your brain activities that are intensive, repetitive, and progressively challenging.

Some example activities are: doing a jigsaw puzzle, learning a new instrument, participating in sports activities that require hand-eye coordination responses, and various brain exercises.

Set up a system where you focus on a specific project intensely for 25 minutes at a time, followed by a 5 minute break. Repeat this process 3–4 times and then take an extended break for about 10–15 minutes.

However, while you are on a break do not suddenly shift to multi-tasking, do just one thing at a time. Preferably, give your eyes a break from the screen or do something that requires movement.

To manage stress from whatever you’re working on, set specific deadlines for each step of your project. This will create a system for your project, which will deal with some of the common uncertainties that are associated with doing something hard or outside of your comfort zone.

Writing your ideas and meditating on them is important so you don’t commit to a flawed idea for lack of thought. It’s also good to give yourself some time and do other things as our brains often come up with alternative solutions when we are working in unrelated tests.

Schedule ahead of time your day and revise it accordingly as unexpected tasks pop-up.

It’s less about how much gets done and more about establishing a vision as to how your work day will unfold.

Unless the task requires, keep only one or two windows open simultaneously. Don’t keep them minimized either, close them and reopen only if you are taking a break or the task at hand is finished.

By minimizing the sources of distraction you will have an easier time diving into cognitively demanding work.