For a long time, the 1980s and ’90s have been considered the NBA’s “golden years,” first with the Lakers-Celtics rivalry and then with Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. <ul><li>Whatever its flaws, the NBA is one of the more functional institutions in American society.</li></ul> <ul><li>Talent so plentiful that even the middling teams are full of strong players. The broader lessons for the world economy are very optimistic.</li></ul> <ul><li>Viewed from the present, however, so many of those teams and players seem mediocre.</li></ul>

Talent rules, but...

In general, today’s NBA talent is better coached, assessed & receives better medical care, making it easier to recover from injuries. <ul><li>The 3 top MVP candidates all come from outside the U.S. — Jokic is from Serbia, Embiid from Cameroon, and Antetokounmpo is from Greece and originally Nigerian.</li></ul> <ul><li>all about seven feet tall, and they are all capable of hitting shots from three-point range.</li></ul> <ul><li>That is a skill most tall stars did not have until recently, and it is a sign of better teaching and training.</li></ul>

MVPs come from outside the U.S.

The NBA shows that it is possible, over time, to do a much better job of both finding and mobilizing talent. <ul><li>most parts of the world are not as well-run as the NBA, so the process will be slower than it ought to be. But it is underway.</li><li>imagine business and science (and maybe politics?) all improving at the rate of professional basketball.</li><li>the process will be slower than it ought to be, but it is underway.</li></ul>

Global talent is more accessible than ever

A short and sweet analogy: NBA vs. The World Economy

(Bloomberg Opinion) -- Whatever its flaws, the NBA is one of the more functional institutions in American society. Two years ago, as Covid was advancing, the league was quick to shut down the regular season, and in the summer of 2020 it pulled off the playoffs bubble with few hitches.

productivity

Productivity

Discover the world of business and economics.

economics

Economics

Talent Rules in Both the NBA and the World Economy

Being unmotivated is not fun.We know we have goals to achieve, it is important for us to achieve our goals and leave our mark on the world, but we fail to find the motivation needed to accomplish them.If this situation describes you, you’re not the only ones. While lack of motivation does not have a magic solution, there are ways that can greatly help, so I decided to write you a complete article with tips and mental tools for finding motivation. Lets dive in!For the full article and more comprehensive coverage of these hacks check out the linked article.

Top 5 Motivation Hacks That Could Change Your Life


The hardest part about motivating is pushing ourselves to just start. The thing is, once you start and get into a state of execution, things roll on from there. The second sentence we write will connect to the first sentence we wrote. The third sentence will connect well to the second sentence, and so on, until we finish the task. The most difficult sentence to write is the first sentence.Once you start working, positive momentum is built. We begin to draw energy and power that becomes motivated from the things we have been able to accomplish.

1. Create momentum

There are many explanations for why. What lies behind the why can spur us to do whatever we want. Our why is the real reason why we do things.Sometimes it is related to our fulfillment and sometimes it is related solely to our need to make a living (of course the ideal situation is a fulfillment that brings us economic abundance).Either way if we connect to the reason for the things we need to do but lack motivation, it can encourage us to simply perform.Take a moment to remember why you chose this occupation in the first place.

2. Connect to your why


If I told you that in a year you achieved your goals and became successful, how would you feel now? Would it help you find motivation to perform the tasks that will lead you there?It is said that a picture is worth more than a thousand words, so if I were to show you a picture from your future that illustrates the success and happiness you are experiencing, how would you feel now?I guess you would be motivated.If we have in mind a picture of what our success looks like, right down to the last detail, we can whenever we want to watch it and find motivation to accomplish what we want.

3. Go back to the future


Thanks for reading! For tips 4 and 5 make sure to check out my full article linked above!

One is not born at the top of the mountain, but climbs to it .Sometimes we climb it and sometimes we go backwards, but the main thing is to keep climbing and enjoy the road. Because the way is life itself.

Honestly, it is not easy to get up and fulfill ourselves even in calm times.
Sometimes the work required to achieve the goals we have set for ourselves, seems complicated, boring, involves a long…

personaldevelopment

Personal Development

motivationandinspiration

Motivation & Inspiration

timemanagement

Time Management

Top 5 Motivation Hacks That Could Change Your Life

Backup plans can undermine goal pursuit by devaluing the rewards associated with achieving a goal, thus reducing motivation.Backup plans draw tangible and psychological resources away from your primary goal in both the planning and execution stages.Students can focus on superordinate and concurrent goals as ways to have backup plans while limiting their impact on motivation and performance.

The Key Points

Accept reality and have a backup plan, but always follow your dreams no matter what.

If you have a backup plan, then you’ve already admitted defeat.

<ul><li>A backup plan is <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/basics/self-sabotage">self-sabotage</a>, imbuing doubt in the value of our goal and/or our ability to complete it.</li><li>Backup plans can devalue the rewards that come from achieving a goal and, thus, demotivate you to complete that goal. </li><li>Backup plans undermine our goals by gobbling up finite resources.</li><li>Goal shielding refers to the automatic, subconscious process by which our brains inhibit intrusive thoughts so that we can focus on goal pursuit. </li></ul>

The Problem With A Backup Plan

One may become biased toward the backup plan due to the sunk cost fallacy. Although this phenomenon normally refers to our tendency to stick to plans longer than we should because we’ve invested heavily in them (i.e., “throwing good money after bad”), the more resources we commit to our backup plan, the more likely we are to change course. So creating a backup plan often begets using the backup plan.

Sunk Cost Fallacy

Backup plans are risky business. They decrease desire and commitment to the initial goal, create an additional cognitive burden, and ultimately hinder performance.  Nobody wants to be a nurse, teacher, or engineer in a vacuum. Students learn in order to help other people, expand knowledge, build things, or satisfy other self-relevant needs while also earning a living wage. Discussing important decisions in service of students’ superordinate goals may help them stay focused on what really matters, even if they need to switch their major, program, or career path in order to achieve it.

Two Key Strategies: Superordinate Goals

Superordinate goals can also afford the opportunity to pursue concurrent goals. For example, if you want to lose weight, you can consume fewer calories and exercise more; it’s not an either-or situation and neither strategy must be relegated to “backup plan.” But students can only take so many classes at once and often cannot be in two programs simultaneously. To the extent possible, colleges should facilitate and nudge students toward classes, internships, and other experiences that help them progress toward both Plans A and B.

Two Key Strategies: Pursue Concurrent Goals

Having a Plan B for college or your career is prudent but may come with a cost.

problemsolving

Problem Solving

The Backup Plan Paradox

Brooks’ law is the observation that “adding manpower to a late software project makes it later”. Applied wider, this principle shows that adding more resources, especially people, to various types of projects is often unhelpful and counterproductive.

Brooks’ law

A classic example of Brooks’ law is a software project behind schedule. This leads management to allocate more developers to it, which causes further delays because it takes time to train the new developers. Another example is a project that could be handled quickly by a small team but is delayed because too many people are added unnecessarily so that communication and decision-making slow down.

Examples of Brooks’ law

<ul><li>“Nine women can’t make a baby in one month”</li></ul> <ul><li>“You get water by digging one well a hundred feet deep, not a hundred wells one foot deep”</li></ul> <ul><li>“What one programmer can do in one month, two programmers can do in two months”.</li></ul>

Humorous statements associated with Brooks’ law

Brooks' law can be expanded in three ways to generalize it and consider it in other contexts. <ul><li>Brooks's law can be applied to other endeavours such as different types of business, academic, and hobby projects.</li><li>Brook's law can be applied to negative outcomes other than delays. E.g., adding people to a software project might lead to a worse product or increased conflicts between team members.</li><li>Brook's law can be applied to resources other than manpower. For example, adding money to a certain project might not lead to it finishing faster because spending more money doesn't address the real problem.</li></ul>

Generalizing Brooks’ law

<ul><li>Adding more people to a project doesn't mean it will be completed faster.</li><li>People who are already working on the project must spend time training newcomers.</li><li>It takes time for new people to join the project to become productive.</li><li>Time is spent on communication rather than work, which can quickly rise as people are added to a project. The larger a group is, the more agreement and organization it will need.</li><li>Certain tasks cannot be divided into partitions that separate people can handle.</li></ul>

Rationale behind Brooks’ law

Whether or not Brooks' law applies in a situation depends on various factors, such as: <ul><li>The attributes of the people working on the project - their ability and willingness to teach others.</li><li>The attributes of the people who are being added to the project - their ability and willingness to learn new material.</li><li>The number of new people added to the project.</li><li>The overall team size.</li><li>The group's social dynamic.</li><li>How group members are expected to communicate.</li><li>The hierarchy and decision-making process.</li><li>The type of tasks involved in the project</li><li>Why additional manpower is added.</li></ul>

Caveat about Brooks’ law

<ul><li>To account for Brooks's law, you should avoid assuming that adding more resources to a project will help.</li><li>Assess whether you should add resources, how many and in what way.</li><li>Consider how adding more resources can help the project or harm the project.</li><li>Consider how effective adding the resources will be in leading to the desired outcomes.</li><li>Consider how efficient adding resources will be in terms of avoiding wasted resources.</li><li>In some instances, changing the project's scope or moving its deadline is preferable.</li></ul>

How to account for Brooks’ law

If someone else in your organization insists on adding more resources, consider doing the following:<ul><li>Ask them to explain their reasoning, and explain the flaws in it.</li><li>Explain to them why it’s a bad idea, potentially while mentioning Brooks’ law.</li><li>Help them find an alternative solution.</li><li>Convince them to add fewer resources.</li></ul> A humorous solution is the Bermuda plan, which involves putting 90% of a company’s programmers on a boat and sending them to Bermuda so that the remaining 10% can finish the work.

Adding unnecessary resources

leadershipandmanagement

Leadership & Management

Adding Manpower to a Late Project Makes It Later – Effectiviology

<ul>
<li>Your time is now. Stop acting like you have all the time in the world.</li>
<li>If you keep waiting to get started, you’ll wake up one day and wonder where your life went.</li>
<li>Manufacture urgency – urgency is not natural – it has to be created and recreated e.g. cut your target completion date in half and start now.</li>
<li>The amateur sits around waiting to be inspired – the pro creates inspiration.</li>
</ul>

1. Create Urgency

<ul>
<li>Indecision is a big dream killer.</li>
<li>Too much choice means you don’t get to focus on what is really valuable, on what is really important.</li>
<li>Kill thinking you can have everything, kill thinking you don’t have to make a choice.</li>
<li>Instead of opting for choice, choose. Instead of allowing yourself options, decide what’s most meaningful to you – CHOOSE.</li>
</ul>

2. Choose

<ul>
<li>A lack of vision and clarity means you end up serving the dreams of others.</li>
<li>Create a vision so big and bold you feel electrified and uneasy. Captivate yourself, captivate your emotions. It should resonate deeply and move you – you should be able to touch it, smell it, live it – it should bring you to tears. You should feel an energetic shift as you think and talk about, like experiencing your dream holiday, like testing your dream car.</li>
</ul>

3. Captivate Yourself

<ul>
<li>Growth requires constant challenge, something that stretches you, that pushes you to the edge of your perceived limits.</li>
<li>Without challenge we wither away, we fade. We become complacent, stuck, bored, apathetic. Our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual capacity – no longer being tested – start to suck the life force out of us.</li>
<li>Doing the same thing and expecting change is madness.</li>
</ul>

4. Choose Growth

<ul>
<li>Don’t allow your potential to be wasted –take action, implement what you read and learn.</li>
<li>Motivational conferences and reading alone won’t make it happen. Move from KNOWING to DOING (the endless reps, practice, challenge – this is when it starts to get hard – and where most people quit ) to BEING (where the magic happens ).</li>
</ul>

5. Start Doing

“When you experience resistance, laugh at it. Smile at it. See it for what it is—a sign you’re growing.”

<ul>
<li>Keep heading towards your goal no matter the obstacles and rejections.</li>
<li>Persistence kicks in when that initial high of doing something new wears off. People fail because they don’t stick with the process after the good feeling fades, and through the hard times.</li>
<li>Know that you will face obstacles, sleepless nights, existential crises and moments that bring you to your knees – that’s part of the path.</li>
<li>Behind every overnight success are years of effort, struggle, and rejection and consistent action.</li>
</ul>

6. Do It Daily

Fall in love with delayed gratification. A farmer doesn’t plant seeds and wake up yelling in frustration the next day that the crop hasn’t bloomed. Instead they trust the process – with sunshine, water, and patience the crops will bear fruit. Why do some people fail to reach their goals? They expect too much too early and give up at the first sign of struggle – overnight success is a decade in the making.

7. Delayed Gratification

Maximum Urgency + Maximum Accountability = Maximum Results
<ul>
<li>The more successful you are, the higher you get, the more accountability and urgency forms part of your experience.</li>
<li>Create systems, structures and people to ensure you follow through – this will ensure consistent productivity over the long term.</li>
</ul>

8. Get Support

<ul>
<li>Lack of focus is the number 1 obstacle standing between people and their dreams.</li>
<li>Reaching our goals involves self-control, delayed gratification and ignoring distractions and temptations that can divert us from our path.</li>
<li>Emails and social media are dream killers – putting you in the driver’s seat for someone else’s vision.</li>
<li>In a world telling you to choose others, choose yourself. You need to be selfish to achieve success.</li>
</ul>

9. Say No And Focus

“If you don’t fill your day with high-priority items, others will fill your day with low-priority items.”

<ul>
<li>At the core of the 1% Rule is the use of reverse engineering to breakdown any large vision into its smallest common denominator, so tiny that it’s impossible for you to fail to make progress each and every day.</li>
<li>Process over end result – when you focus on small daily actions tied to a larger vision – you feel inspired rather than overwhelmed.</li>
<li>Dream big but start small.</li>
<li>Break your vision down into CORE OUTCOME, CORE PROCESS and 1% (DAILY) PROCESS.</li>
</ul>

10. Adopt The 1% Rule

1% progress + daily application(consistency) + persistence (focus) + time (endurance) = SUCCESS
It would actually be more than 1%+1%+1%…= 365% upgrade across a year – due to compounding, we have the potential of advancing by 3700% over a year. That’s a huge upgrade in terms of our health, relationships, finances etc, all by enacting a small 1% daily action, and doing it with consistency, persistence and patience.

The 1% Rule

• 1% progress – make progress and move forward daily, no matter how small.• Consistency – do the action daily – each and every day – and see your effort compound over time.• Persistence – stick with it beyond the initial high and choose it again and again, despite challenges, obstacles and distractions.• Endurance – stay with the process for long enough to see your dreams come true. Have patience.

Consistency Is The Key 

<ul>
<li>Make a process you love – you will spend more time carrying out the process than in the achievement of the end result so ensure you enjoy it.</li>
<li>Track your progress – reflection is just as important as action – assess where you are with your goals, and if you are heading in the right direction.</li>
<li>Celebrate small wins – this will keep you inspired and on track – progress no matter how small is motivating.</li>
</ul>

How To Improve 1% Each Day?

Emails and social media are dream killers – putting you in the driver’s seat for someone else’s vision

In a highlight reel, microwave world — you're led to believe success is right around the corner: It's not working. Not only is it not working with your ability to achieve your goals, we've never been more frustrated, stuck, stressed and unfulfilled. Most personal development is all about the big and bold vision, yet these days we're not missing ambition or dreamers... We're missing results and execution. But what if there was a way to shut off the noise, fall in love with the process and take one step forward every single day as you paint your life's masterpiece? Enter The 1% Rule — a daily system designed to help you close the gap without the crushing pressure that has kept you stuck in the past. The 1% Rule was designed to answer three core questions: Why do some people seem to achieve massive success with everything they do — while others can't seem to get out of their own way? What separates those who get excited and inspired for a season, a quarter or a few months — and those who are consistently on fire? ​ What are the mindsets, principles, routines and behaviors of those who execute daily, and those who sit on the sidelines pondering? ...through answering these questions over the last decade in the trenches with thousands of people — they are now the framework of The 1% Rule and are yours today. It's time to take your power back, grab your copy now. If you're ready to ditch the highlight reel illusion... If you're tired of sitting on the sidlines waiting... If you're frustrated with the 24/7 noise... You've come to the right place!

Understand yourself and those around you.

psychology

Psychology

books

Books

In a highlight reel, microwave world — you're led to believe success is right around the corner: It's not working. Not only is it not working with your ability to achieve your goals, we've never been more frustrated, stuck, stressed and unfulfilled. Most personal development is all about the big and bold vision, yet these days we're not missing ambition or dreamers... We're missing results and execution. But what if there was a way to shut off the noise, fall in love with the process and take one step forward every single day as you paint your life's masterpiece? Enter The 1% Rule — a daily system designed to help you close the gap without the crushing pressure that has kept you stuck in the past. The 1% Rule was designed to answer three core questions: Why do some people seem to achieve massive success with everything they do — while others can't seem to get out of their own way? What separates those who get excited and inspired for a season, a quarter or a few months — and those who are consistently on fire? ​ What are the mindsets, principles, routines and behaviors of those who execute daily, and those who sit on the sidelines pondering? ...through answering these questions over the last decade in the trenches with thousands of people — they are now the framework of The 1% Rule and are yours today. It's time to take your power back, grab your copy now. If you're ready to ditch the highlight reel illusion... If you're tired of sitting on the sidlines waiting... If you're frustrated with the 24/7 noise... You've come to the right place!

Tommy Baker helps dreamers, visionaries, and entrepreneurs bring those dreams to life —and create a life they can’t wait to wake up for. As the author of UnResolution, The 1% Rule and The Leap Of Your Life, Tommy believes living up to our potential is what we’re here for.

Tommy Baker

The 1% Rule: How to Fall in Love with the Process and Achieve Your Wildest Dreams

One reader asked Tim Ferris how he incorporates the different facets into his life:<ul><li>being creative, </li><li>getting stuff done, and </li><li>finding time for self-reflection and contemplation,</li></ul> considering that we all only have 24 hours in a day, and each endeavour can take your full attention. Tim answers that you will never find balance. You have to create balance. You have to schedule it in your calendar in advance to cover these bases in your daily, weekly, or monthly life.

Finding balance in your life

You have to put what you want to do on the calendar. If you don't, it's not real and you are not going to find balance. You have to fight every lesser tendency by putting it into the calendar. This is the only way to integrate various parts into your life. If they are not in your calendar, it's not going to work. You will neglect important areas and pay the consequences in the long run.

Integrate various parts into your life

The cost of daily switching between activities is extremely high and may not work very well. <ul><li>Instead, block out a day where you batch the productive things such as recording videos or phone calls with your team. Then try and cover the artistic and self-reflection on other days.</li><li>On a quarterly basis, you can also block off a week for creative endeavours.  </li><li>Prebook a time off where you get to unplug.</li></ul> Whichever way you do it, stay consistent.

Block time off in your calendar

How to balance being creative, getting stuff done, and finding time for self-reflection and contemplation. | Sign up for Tim's free "5-Bullet Friday" newsletter: https://go.tim.blog/5-bullet-friday-yt/ SUBSCRIBE: http://bit.ly/1dSzTkW About Tim Ferriss: Tim Ferriss is one of Fast Company’s “Most Innovative Business People” and an early-stage tech investor/advisor in Uber, Facebook, Twitter, Shopify, Duolingo, Alibaba, and 50+ other companies. He is also the author of five #1 New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestsellers: The 4-Hour Workweek, The 4-Hour Body, The 4-Hour Chef, Tools of Titans and Tribe of Mentors. The Observer and other media have named him “the Oprah of audio” due to the influence of his podcast, The Tim Ferriss Show, which has exceeded 400 million downloads and been selected for “Best of iTunes” three years running. Connect with Tim Ferriss: Sign up for "5-Bullet Friday" (Tim's email newsletter): https://go.tim.blog/5-bullet-friday-1/ Visit the Tim Ferriss PODCAST: https://tim.blog/podcast/ Visit the Tim Ferriss BLOG: https://tim.blog/ Follow Tim Ferriss on TWITTER: https://twitter.com/tferriss/ Follow Tim Ferriss on INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/timferriss/ Like Tim Ferriss on FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/TimFerriss/

creativity

Creativity

videos

Videos

How to balance being creative, getting stuff done, and finding time for self-reflection and contemplation. | Sign up for Tim's free "5-Bullet Friday" newsletter: https://go.tim.blog/5-bullet-friday-yt/

SUBSCRIBE: http://bit.ly/1dSzTkW
 
About Tim Ferriss:
Tim Ferriss is one of Fast Company’s “Most Innovative Business People” and an early-stage tech investor/advisor in Uber, Facebook, Twitter, Shopify, Duolingo, Alibaba, and 50+ other companies. He is also the author of five #1 New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestsellers: The 4-Hour Workweek, The 4-Hour Body, The 4-Hour Chef, Tools of Titans and Tribe of Mentors. The Observer and other media have named him “the Oprah of audio” due to the influence of his podcast, The Tim Ferriss Show, which has exceeded 400 million downloads and been selected for “Best of iTunes” three years running.

Connect with Tim Ferriss:
Sign up for "5-Bullet Friday" (Tim's email newsletter): https://go.tim.blog/5-bullet-friday-1/ 
Visit the Tim Ferriss PODCAST: https://tim.blog/podcast/
Visit the Tim Ferriss BLOG: https://tim.blog/
Follow Tim Ferriss on TWITTER: https://twitter.com/tferriss/
Follow Tim Ferriss on INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/timferriss/
Like Tim Ferriss on FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/TimFerriss/

Tim Ferriss has been listed as one of Fast Company’s “Most Innovative Business People” and one of Fortune’s “40 under 40.” He is an early-stage technology investor/advisor (Uber, Facebook, Shopify, Duolingo, Alibaba, and 50+ others) and the author of five #1 New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestsellers, including The 4-Hour Workweek and Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers. The Observer and other media have called Tim “the Oprah of audio” due to the influence of The Tim Ferriss Show podcast, which is the first business/interview podcast to exceed 100 million downloads. It has now exceeded 800 million downloads. 

Listen to The Tim Ferriss Show podcast: https://tim.blog/podcast
Sign up for Tim's "5-Bullet Friday" free email newsletter with 1.5M+ subscribers: https://tim.blog/friday 


Tim Ferriss

How to Live a Full Life: Integrating Productivity + Creativity + Self-Reflection | Tim Ferriss

To be successful in many careers, it's not enough to be right. You have to be right and think differently (e.g. scientists, investors).Independent mindedness is the art of being right when everyone else is wrong.

Think Different, Think Unique, Be Right When Others Are Wrong

<ul><li>Contrarian nature.</li><li>Display an amusement in denying conventional wisdom.</li><li>Relentless fact-checking.</li><li>Have a desire to determine the truth.</li><li>Curiosity.</li><li>Novel ideas that drive progress.</li></ul>These characteristics need not be possessed in equal measure. Also, don't hold an extreme belief in any specific truth. Believing conspiracies is worse than being convinced by orthodox beliefs.

Characteristics of Independent-Minded People 

Conventionally minded people may be unwilling to admit or even unaware that they are conventionally-minded.How to develop independent mindedness:<ul><li>Develop relationships with independently-minded individuals</li><li>Attempt to empathize with diverse individuals.</li><li>Be generally skeptical or untrusting of conventional wisdoms.</li><li>Avoid fads.</li></ul>

What To Do If You Don't Possess An Independent Mindset

philosophy

Philosophy

How to Think for Yourself

Light is a powerful stimulus for our mental and physical health.  Light controls when we are asleep and when we are alert. Lights directly affect how our nervous system functions.

Light affects your sleep and your energy levels


Wake up, go outside and get 5 - 20 minutes of bright light exposure. 	If you get up before sunlight, use bright artificial lights.  The aim is to get as much bright light during the day and as little as possible between 10 PM and 4 AM. This will have enormous physical and mental health benefits. Bright light exposure through windows or windshields doesn’t work as they filter the light that activates your neutrons. Blue light is great to create alertness and well-being throughout the day.

The best way to get sunlight exposure

Cortisol is a key hormone for health. Every 24 hours there is a peak cortisol release. This wakes you up in the morning and gives you focus. If you wake up early, you will get a peak early in the day. But when cortisol arrives later in the day, people get mood issues. Late-shifted cortisol is also contributing to depression.

Cortisol in the body

Your peak of alertness happens about 90 minutes before your natural sleep time. While it will pass, it can give you a useful indicator of your optimal bedtime. Before bedtime:<ul><li>Taper off thinking and anticipation.</li><li>Non-sleep deep rest (NSDR) is a powerful tool that helps you relax, and reduce stress and anxiety. </li><li>Yoga Nidra and Reveri (a self-hypnosis app) can help you relax your nervous system before you go to sleep.</li></ul>

Evening routine

Behavioural tools are the foundation of sleep and wakefulness. When you learn progressive relaxation techniques, you get better at falling asleep and feeling alert when you wake up.Supplements and prescription medication can be great, but they don’t rewire your brain as behavioural tools do. Supplements that can help with depth and transition to sleep:<ul><li>Magnesium threonate or magnesium bis-glycinate (100 to 200 milligrams)) makes you feel drowsy.</li><li>Apigenin (50 milligrams) is taken 30 - 60 minutes before sleep.</li><li>Theanine (100 to 400 milligrams) has positive effects on jitteriness and anxiety.</li></ul>

Behavioural tools before medication and supplements

Ideally, you should sleep in a cold room and cover yourself with warm blankets. If you get too hot, you can jump heat by extending your feet or hands. Take a cold shower or ice bath to heat up in the morning. You will experience a dopamine increase. When you expose yourself to cold water, you build a reservoir of heat generation.

Temperature is an important stimulus for wakefulness

Naps should be shorter than 90 minutes. Most of the rewiring and neuroplasticity occurs during deep sleep and also during a short nap. Short naps accelerate neuroplasticity and learning, especially if you nap after an intensive learning session. If you have problems with the afternoon slump, delay your morning caffeine for 90 to 120 minutes after waking.

The short nap

The two most common reasons for waking up at night:<ul><li>Too much or too little exercise throughout the day. Generally, 150 to 180 minutes per week of zone 2 cardio and resistance exercise 3 or 4 times a week is sufficient.</li><li>Going to bed too late. Every hour of sleep before midnight recharges you deeper than the hours after midnight.</li></ul>

Why people wake up in the middle of the night

Caffeine creates wakefulness in the body and brain. It also increases the sensitivity of the dopamine receptors.<ul><li>It makes us more motivated to go out and pursue goals.</li><li>It makes us focus on things outside our immediate experience.</li></ul>However, try and taper off caffeine toward the afternoon for better sleep.

Caffeine boosts adenosine

The Basal ganglia are important for controlling and integrating thought and action. Some of the circuitry in basal ganglia pathways are involved with the “go” action and “no-go” suppressing functions. As children, we learn no-go behaviours (don’t interrupt, sit still). As adults, everything is “go, go, go” and we seldom rehearse the no-go functions.  We need to continue to keep the no-goes circuits in working order., e.g. resisting the urge to pick up your phone.

Tips to control bad impulses

Dr. Andrew Huberman explains how small behaviours can make a huge impact on your health. 

 Leading neuroscientist and Stanford University School of Medicine professor Dr. Andrew Huberman goes in-depth on how small behaviors can make a huge impact on your health.  Dr. Huberman offers essential insights into how light affects your sleep and your energy levels, which supplements actually work, tips to control bad impulses, exercises to slow the aging process, and so much more.   Dr. Huberman has made numerous significant contributions to the fields of brain development, brain function and neural plasticity, which is the ability of our nervous system to rewire and learn new behaviors, skills and cognitive functioning. Huberman is a McKnight Foundation and Pew Foundation Fellow and was awarded the Cogan Award in 2017, given to the scientist making the most significant discoveries in the study of vision. His lab’s most recent work focuses on the influence of vision and respiration on human performance and brain states, such as fear and courage.    --  Want even more? Members get early access, hand-edited transcripts, member-only episodes, and so much more. Learn more here: https://fs.blog/membership/ Every Sunday our Brain Food newsletter shares timeless insights and ideas that you can use at work and home. Add it to your inbox: https://fs.blog/newsletter/ Follow Shane on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/ShaneAParrish 

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Master the best of what other people have already figured out so you can use their lessons in your life to create an unstoppable advantage.   Shane Parrish is an entrepreneur and sought-after speaker. His newsletter (https://fs.blog/podcast) offers timeless insights you can use to change your life.    In The Knowledge Project, Shane interviews people at the top of their game. Every episode is packed with hard-earned lessons that you can use in your life. Tune in to create an unstoppable advantage.   Sit down and learn from the best. Previous guests include Reid Hoffman, Esther Perel, Daniel Kahneman, Tobi Lutke, Marshall Goldsmith, Kunal Shah, Ander Huberman, David Sinclair, Ret. General Stanley McChrystal, Marc Andreessen, Patrick Collison, Robert Cialdini, Walter Isaacson, Chris Bosh, Kat Cole, Adam Grant, Angela Duckworth, Seth Godin, Matt Mullenweg, Lisa Feldman Barrett, Maria Konnikova, Bill Ackman, Annie Duke, Derek Sivers, Jim Collins, Naval Ravikant, and many others. They reveal hard-earned lessons on leadership, decision-making, hiring and firing, productivity, habits, and more.   New episodes are released every second Tuesday.   Learn more at https://fs.blog/podcast

The Knowledge Project with Shane Parrish

#133 Andrew Huberman: The Science of Small Changes

I’ve spoken about being a major procrastinator many times, but it’s time to go a little deeper into it and learn more. (If you’re a procrastinator like me and you’re reading this, chances are you’re procrastinating something right now, think about what it is.)

A Little More On Procrastination

To procrastinate means to delay something that needs to be done as soon as possible and actively finding ‘better’ things to do rather than doing the things that need to be done.It’s knowing fully well, the consequences of delaying something yet doing it only to face trouble at the end – be it by rushing through work or a project or having to listen to long lectures from seniors. Procrastinators are these exact people!

What does it mean to be a procrastinator?

We tend to put everything till the very last moment knowing fully well the negative outcomes of it yet focusing our attention towards things that are less attention demanding and something that can distance us from the work that needs to be done in the present.Procrastinators tend to have a much more optimistic idea of time and tend to push everything for later thinking they’ll ‘manage’ everything just fine. (Which is mostly just putting their luck to the test)

(According to so many different sources) It is commonly said that procrastinators only procrastinate to distract themselves from their fears of failure or inability to commit themselves to a particular work or continuously do it for a long span of time.They tend to procrastinate only to have more control over their emotions.According to some studies, procrastinators don’t really have control over their habit of procrastination, for them it is aresponse behaviour towards extreme authoritarian lifestyle one has had in the past or even in the present.

But then why is it that people tend to procrastinate?

According to some other studies, procrastinators procrastinate because they tend to prefer the “now” and value how they spend it instead of planning or worrying about the future. They prefer having fun and enjoying the present rather than waiting for it in the future.Some studies also claim that most of the procrastination done by the average person is unconscious and can probably be avoided if people simply focus more on their everyday life and be more organized.

There is also the final group of people that think the people who procrastinate do so because they lack the motivation to actually work and are unaware of the powers of their own emotions – of the present and the future and the role these emotions can play in getting the motivation they need for getting things done.

But what is the actual reason for procrastination? Why is it that we feel so much better just pushing things to the side and instead focusing our attention to less important, more fun tasks? The answer to this could be absolutely anything – it would differ from individual to individual, you will just have to look within yourself for this one.

-> The first and maybe most important thing is to embrace procrastination as a part of yourself. Know that you can't change everything about yourself, so instead of finding ways to change it and look for ways that you can be yourself

How To Use Procrastination Better 

1) make a to do list - preferably with more easier tasks at first and the tasks getting progressively difficult.2) making a mental (or physical) note of each thing you have to do and alloting time to it based on how long it will take you to do that specific task, and if you can, allot yourself some extra time just incase.3) use deadlines to your advantage - while alloting yourself time to work on something keep the deadline in mind and allot yourself a timeline which ends earlier.

A few steps to consider before saying "Just do it" are

4) create "punishments" for yourself for work not done (no, don't go beating yourself with a lamp like Dobby), make the punishments something that will test your self control, for example, something like no sugar for a whole week or not going on social media for a week. 5) control the distractions around you - as much as possible. It isn't easy to turn everything off and live like a monk, and it probably isn't the most wise thing for many people, but try to limit the distractions around you and try to hold yourself accountable for the things around you.

-> When setting up to get into the work zone know that it takes time to get into the rhythm of work and different types of tasks tend to have a different rhythm to it. So when you place work for yourself, try to group out similar tasks together to stay within the similar rhythm and not having to switch your mind from one type to another type of task.

-> When you get into the "Just do it" mindset, remember that it won't necessarily last for hours. So whenever possible try to write down all the things you need to get done and the possibile steps to do it and the things to keep in mind - this will be your blueprint. So the next time you feel even the smallest bit of energy, pass a glance at this blueprint and that will give you the idea and motivation to finish the task at hand.

-> Speaking of motivation - know that simply having an idea in your mind or a goal ahead of you won't always motivate you to stop slacking and start working. Sure, it does help to have a visual idea of what you're working towards, but sometimes feeling instead of simply seeing can be more help. -> Lastly, learn that overcoming procrastination and using your bad habits for your own advantage will take some time and a lot of effort and relapsing back can be completely normal but you need to be able to overcome those hurdles and not fall back.

Procrastination is a huge part of my life as I'm sure it is of many others as well, so maybe it's time that we look a little more deeper into the strange world of procrastinators and procrastination. 

When we have to do something we don't want to do, like responding to never-ending emails or filing our taxes, finding flow can be impossible.Most people can't afford to wait for flow - learn other methods to do what needs to get done, no matter what.

Flow is elusive

Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi coined the term “flow” in the 1970s. He defines it as “a state in which people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter; the experience is so enjoyable that people will continue to do it even at great cost, for the sheer sake of doing it.”Csikszentmihalyi wrote that during flow, “concentration is so intense that there is no attention left over to think about anything irrelevant or to worry about problems. Self-consciousness disappears, and the sense of time becomes distorted.”

What is “flow,” and why is it so hard to find?

Flow is great when you can get it. But the price of relying too much on flow is that when you can’t find it, you’re more likely to succumb to the vicious cycle of distraction—a horrible loop of frustration and perpetual time scarcity.<ul><li>If you feel anxious, restless, or poorly qualified for a task, for example, those internal triggers may drive you to pick up your smartphone to scroll through Instagram or check the news in order to forget that feeling for a while.</li><li>Likewise, a task that is not inherently engaging and enjoyable can elicit the internal triggers that lead us off track.</li></ul>

The dark side of striving for flow

Most people don’t know how to focus on things they dislike doing for very long. They constantly drift from one thing to another as soon as a task gets too hard, boring, or uncomfortable.There’s a way to stay focused on a task without waiting for the elusive state of flow. It’s called “play!” Play can simply be a tool that helps to sustain our attention long enough to complete the task at hand.Instead of trying in vain to find flow, we can do two things to turn any task into play:<ul><li>Add constraints.</li><li>Find the mystery.</li></ul>

Reimagining the task

That magical zone is great when you can find it. But what happens if you can't?

The Pursuit of "Flow" Is Overrated

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#133 Andrew Huberman: The Science of Small Changes

A Little More On Procrastination

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