Is Attention the Secret to Emotional Intelligence? New research suggests—is that your phone? Go ahead and reply. It’s OK, I’ll wait. Back? Daniel Goleman You’re not alone. It is this dilemma that animates Daniel Goleman’s new book, Focus: The Hidden Driver of Excellence. Goleman, the former New York Times science journalist turned best-selling author, is perhaps still best known for his 1995 book Emotional Intelligence, which was followed by Social Intelligence more than a decade later. But at first glance, the book’s subject matter might feel like a departure from Goleman’s previous work—until one actually starts to read it. “When I set out to write this book, I knew I was going to explore the explosion of new important research about attention,” says Goleman. I recently spoke with Goleman about these connections between Emotional Intelligence and Focus, along the way exploring the contemporary challenges to focus and considering how—or whether—we’ll be able to meet them. JM: I wonder if you could elaborate on that last part.
Five Ways to Develop a Partnership with Your Principal Rarely will a new principal leave things at a school just as they are. Sometimes those changes do need to happen, but the teacher perspective might be the principal is coming in and trying to fix things that aren't broken. Instead of saying, "Throw the bum out!" I have some suggestions to help teachers get off on the right foot with a new principal. (As a principal new to a campus and recently experiencing this.) Number One: Have a Face-to-Face Meeting Whether you like it or not, your principal can be your greatest ally in helping you inspire high-performance learning in your classroom. Number Two: Make Your Resource Needs Known The new principal knows that you need the appropriate materials and tools with which to create effective learning environments and inspire learning in your classrooms. Number Three: Write It Down It can be frustrating for a teacher to not get what was requested after talking to the new principal in the hallway. Number Four: Invite Her into Your Classroom
14 Ways to Fix Your Out-of-Control Schedule and Maximize Productivity From smart calendar apps to some obvious (but often overlooked) scheduling hacks, you can bend your daily calendar to your will -- and still leave time for play and family. But it does require that you focus, commit to a process and set aside real time for yourself. We asked 14 founders from Young Entrepreneur Council to share their best tips for getting a handle on that never-ending to-do list. 1. Find ways to actually divide your day and week into zones. -- Arjun Arora, ReTargeter 2. The app EasilyDo is like a personal assistant. -- Brittany Hodak, ZinePak 3. I've found that if I don't block out time for personal things like working out, eating clean food, etc., my days gets filled up with other "last minute" things. -- Patrick Conley, Automation Heroes 4. Even if a task doesn't have a deadline (but you need to get it done), tackle it in one to two sessions rather than returning repeatedly. -- Andrew Fayad, eLearning Mind 5. Use your calendar daily. -- Alfredo Atanacio, Uassist.ME 6. 7.
Why Walking Is Great For Your Creativity Let’s face it, sometimes those brilliant ideas just don’t come easily. Whether we’re writing a paper, a book, or just trying to come up with an original birthday gift, we’ve all been stuck waiting for inspiration to find us. Finding a solution to these creative blocks is no easy task, but a group of researchers at Standford University set out to do just that. To figure out how to get our creative juices flowing, researchers first considered data showing that exercise prevents cognitive decline. Next, they focused on more short-term mental improvement, and the long-held idea that walking increases creativity. Their experiments are fascinating, and may be exceedingly practical in application. To start, the scientists tested creativity before and after walking on a treadmill. To see if these effects decreased with subsequent walking, they tested people who walked multiple times. Next, the researchers wanted to see if walking outside was more powerful than indoors. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
5 Perspectives on Procrastination by Maria Popova We meant to publish this last Friday. What exactly is procrastination, this seemingly universal source of everyday vexation? And what can we really do about it? A long, long time ago we raved about this fantastic animated exploration of the nature of procratination by artist Johnny Kelly, created as his Royal College of Art graduation film in 2007 — an investigative study of putting things off that is as thoughtful as it is creatively outstanding. (You may recall more of Kelly’s work from pickings past.) Behaviroal economist Dan Ariely, author of the excellent Predictably Irrational and its fantastic sequel, The Upside of Irrationality, is easily the world’s most compelling researcher on the relationship between emotionality, rationality, morality and decision-making. We say we’re not designed to care about the future. We heart Ellen. From the morality of it (is procrastination a vice?) Brain Pickings has a free weekly newsletter and people say it’s cool. Share on Tumblr
11 Things That Make Workers Happy Forget raises and big bonuses, there are much simpler and cheaper ways to keep your employees happy. From offering benefits to giving them flexibility, companies can find a number of creative ways to keep their employees happy and productive. Here are a few to get you started. Offer room for growth Employees are unlikely to be happy if they continue to come to a job that offers no room for growth and advancement. "We found that providing developmental support, such as training opportunities and career mentoring, to employees who do not believe there are attractive career opportunities for them within the company, led to such employees leaving the organization," said Maria Kraimer, co-author of the study. The research found that having the ability to advance at work made employees more inclined to stay at a company to strive for those opportunities. Offer a good training program Employers shouldn't underestimate the impact training has on new employees and their future happiness.
5 Habits of People With Remarkable Willpower Willpower is not something you either have or you don't. Sure, some people may be more self-disciplined than you. Some people may be better at resisting temptation than you. But that's probably not because they were born with some certain special something inside them--instead, they've found ways to store up their willpower and use it when it really matters. They have remarkable willpower not because they have more of it, but because they've learned how to best use what they have. Here's how you can, too: 1. The more choices we make during the day, the harder each one is on our brain--and the more we start to look for shortcuts. In fact, we can't help ourselves: We've run out of the mental energy we need to make smart choices. That's why the fewer choices we have to make, the smarter choices we can make when we do need to make a decision. Say you want to drink more water and less soda. Or say you struggle to keep from constantly checking your email. Choices are the enemy of willpower. 2. 3.
24 Questions to Enhance Students Reflective and Critical Thinking Skills August 31, 2014 Reflection is a fundamental skill from which is branched out all other thinking skills. Reflection is a form of meta-thinking, a process of deep contemplation and pondering. It is also the basis of critical thinking for we can not raise critical thinkers if we do not have good 'reflectors'. When students are taught the art of reflecting, they become independent learners who are engaged in a constant process of assessment and re-assessment of their learning needs and strategies. Reflection is all about questioning. To cultivate a reflective culture within your class, students need to be encouraged to pose challenging questions as to the way they learn and think. Check the full graphic from this page.
Driven to distraction: Giles Colborne LDRLB -