訓(xùn)練大腦,讓你生產(chǎn)力更高的七個竅門
????進(jìn)化是一個緩慢的過程。就人類的發(fā)展史而言,那段聚居于小型部落并以打獵為生的日子離我們并不遙遠(yuǎn)。那時,在人的一生中,打交道的人不會超過一千個。我們的大腦生來就是為了應(yīng)對這樣一個世界,而不是為了無休止地應(yīng)付那些鋪天蓋地而來的工作和家庭事務(wù)。 ????難怪我們會覺得自己無法集中精力而且壓力重重,特別是經(jīng)常要駕馭混亂生活的職業(yè)女性。我對已婚高收入女性進(jìn)行研究后發(fā)現(xiàn),在她們中間,經(jīng)常加班的約占75%,在日常工作期間處理個人事務(wù)的也占75%左右。總有一些事情要讓人分散時間和精力。 ????不過,麥吉爾大學(xué)神經(jīng)學(xué)家丹尼爾?列維京在其暢銷書《有組織的頭腦:在信息過載時代做到心平氣和》中寫道,雖然“我們的基因還不能完全滿足現(xiàn)代文明的需要,幸運(yùn)的是,人類的知識可以做到這一點(diǎn)。現(xiàn)在,我們對怎樣突破進(jìn)化局限有了更進(jìn)一步的認(rèn)識。” ????成功人士“都學(xué)會了通過安排好生活,最大化自己的創(chuàng)造力和效率,這樣,自己便可以在普通事務(wù)上少花一點(diǎn)兒時間,并把更多時間用于完成讓人精神振奮、感到舒適和滿足的事情。”對于真正的名人來說,要做到這一點(diǎn)需要很多人共同努力。而對于其他人,列維京的建議是讓大腦少思考一些問題,以平復(fù)心緒,并把精力放在重要的問題上。 ????? 給物品找個去處。列維京寫道:“人類對地點(diǎn)的記憶力已經(jīng)進(jìn)化了幾十萬年,目的就是記住那些不動的事物,比如果樹、水井、山峰和湖泊?!蔽覀兠刻觳粫l繁外出,因此我們不會小心翼翼地記下汽車鑰匙、手機(jī)和錢包等物品的位置。對這些東西我們總是隨手放置,然后花很多精力去找它們。怎么解決這個問題呢?給這些東西找個家,比如門旁邊的盤子或掛鉤。可能的話,每件東西都買雙份,比如在辦公室和家里都放一副眼鏡,在廚房和工作室都放一把剪刀,這樣就不用把它們拿來拿去了。 ????? 為想要記住的事情建立觸發(fā)機(jī)制。在一生中,很多時候我們都處于“自動導(dǎo)航”狀態(tài),這是大腦保存能量的一種方法。但問題在于,一旦開啟某項(xiàng)例行程序,我們的大腦就不會發(fā)出暫停指令并提醒我們在這個過程中還有別的事要做。不過,如果記錄到了新的信息,我們的大腦就會發(fā)出警告。列維京寫道,因此,“可以用環(huán)境來提醒自己有哪些事要做。如果擔(dān)心自己在開車回家的路上忘了買牛奶,就可以在副駕駛位置上放一個空牛奶盒;如果是坐地鐵,就可以把它放到公文包里?!蔽覀兊拇竽X會發(fā)現(xiàn)這個東西跟環(huán)境格格不入,從而脫離“休眠”狀態(tài)。這種關(guān)注新鮮和意外事物的傾向正是電子郵件或短信提醒讓我們?nèi)绱伺d奮的原因。利用這一點(diǎn),為自己愿意花時間的重要事務(wù)建立提醒機(jī)制,比如聯(lián)系老朋友,再比如跟合伙人約個時間見面。 |
????Evolution is a slow process. In the timeline of our species, we’re not far removed from our days of living in small clan groups, hunting and gathering to survive. We would encounter no more than a thousand people in our lifetimes. Our brains were built for that world, not one where incessant interruptions at work and at home fly at us like swarms of angry mosquitos. ????No wonder we feel distracted and stressed — particularly professional women who are often managing lives that don’t stay neatly compartmentalized. In my research on high-earning women with families, I’ve found that about 75 percent do work tasks outside of work hours, and an equal proportion do personal tasks during the normal business day. There is always something competing for time and attention. ????But while “our genes haven’t fully caught up with the demands of modern civilization, fortunately, human knowledge has,” writes McGill University neuroscientist Daniel Levitin in his bestselling book,The Organized Mind: Thinking Straight in the Age of Information Overload. “We now better understand how to overcome evolutionary limitations.” ????Highly successful people “have learned to maximize their creativity, and efficiency, by organizing their lives so that they spend less time on the mundane, and more time on the inspiring, comforting, and rewarding things in life.” For true VIPs, this can involve a staff of dozens. For the rest of us, Levitin offers suggestions on how to create the calm that comes from giving our brains less to think about, so we can focus on what matters. ????? Give things a place. “Place memory evolved over hundreds of thousands of years to keep track of things that didn’t move, such as fruit trees, wells, mountains, lakes,” Levitin writes. We didn’t exactly transport much daily, which is why we’re not wired to keep track of things such as car keys, cell phones, and wallets. We misplace them, then spend much mental energy finding them. The answer? Give these things a home, such as a tray or hook by the door. When possible, buy duplicates so things don’t have to move: reading glasses for work and home, scissors for the kitchen and home office. ????? Create triggers for what you want to remember. We go through much of life on auto-pilot. It’s one way our brains conserve energy. The problem is that once you start a routine, your brain isn’t going to stop you to remind you of something else you intended to incorporate. But the brain does go on alert when it registers something new. So “use the environment to remind you of what needs to be done,” Levitin writes. “If you’re afraid you’ll forget to buy milk on the way home, put an empty milk carton on the seat next to you in the car or in the backpack you carry to work on the subway.” Your brain will recognize this out-of-context item and interrupt its reverie. This bias toward the new and unexpected is also why emails or text alerts make us so excited. Use this to your advantage, and set up reminders for important things you’d like to take time for: connecting with old friends, scheduling a date with your partner. |
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