I’ve recently become re-fascinated with the ways in which I can improve the functioning of my brain through vitamins, supplements, and tricks. I’ve been practicing GTD for a while, but recently got a few books on the chemical influencers and the effects of sleep. A great introduction to the power of modifying your behavior and diet by John Medina can be found here and here.
Some interesting points include:
- You can increase your “executive function” by a factor 80 – 100% just by exercising 3 times a week for 30 minutes.
- If you learn a skill and then need to apply it creatively, your chance of doing so correctly is increased by a factor of 3 if you sleep 8 hours between the acquisition of the skill and it’s application. i.e. learn new maths skills at night, and apply them in the morning.
- you have an attention span that lasts about 10 minutes—attention must be “re-aquired” every ten minutes and only emotionally charged information can do this. i.e. when teach or presenting to others, every ten minutes inject some significant emotional information to keep people tuned in
- lecithin with choline can dramatically improve memory recall
Sounds very interesting. I will definitely download those podcasts. Thanks!
Maybe I’ll actually get through more than the first few chapters of GTD now.
Interesting!
You probably already know this, but John Medina will be coming to Seattle Town Hall on April 10: http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/412744/
Unfortunately, I’ll be away. David Allen was also here recently, and I missed that (too). Maybe I need a sequel, like “Getting To Things” (vs. “Getting Things Done”).