77 Ways to Learn Faster, Deeper, and Better If someone granted you one wish, what do you imagine you would want out of life that you haven’t gotten yet? For many people, it would be self-improvement and knowledge. Newcounter knowledge is the backbone of society’s progress. Great thinkers such as Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Edison, Benjamin Franklin, Albert Einstein, and others’ quests for knowledge have led society to many of the marvels we enjoy today. Your quest for knowledge doesn’t have to be as Earth-changing as Einstein’s, but it can be an important part of your life, leading to a new job, better pay, a new hobby, or simply knowledge for knowledge’s sake — whatever is important to you as an end goal. Life-changing knowledge does typically require advanced learning techniques. Health Shake a leg. Balance Sleep on it. Perspective and Focus Change your focus, part 2. Recall Techniques Listen to music. Visual Aids Every picture tells a story. Verbal and Auditory Techniques Stimulate ideas. Kinesthetic Techniques Write, don’t type.
69 Awesome Brain Hacks That Give You Mind-Blowing Powers #49. You Can Tell How Much Someone Drinks From Their Eye Color There comes a time in every man's life when it will be necessary to drink another guy under the table. We merely follow them to their inevitable, disastrous conclusion. So naturally you'll pick out some blond-haired, blue-eyed pretty boy who looks like two Bud Lights would have him over a toilet. How? Picking the blue-eyed guy was a bad move. "I can't even get through my breakfast changing without a fifth of SoCo." A study of thousands of white men (all of them prisoners) found that for some reason, those with light eye colors like blue, green, gray or hazel, can handle more alcohol than men with dark eyes. "No, no. Even more interesting is the fact that this result was predicted before the study. As for what eye color has to do with alcohol tolerance, scientists are still on the fence. "You unbelievable bastard. #48. Person + Computer = Sociopath. Not only that, the email users actually felt justified in lying. #47. #46. #45.
Mind Modifications What is a Ganzfeld effect? The Ganzfeld (German for “complete/full field”) effect happens when the sensory system is steadily overloaded with a uniform signal. For example, a uniform, steady and all-encompassing soft light to the eyes will cause a “loss of vision”. This happens because, essentially, there is no change in the signal going to the brain, so the brain stops processing the signal. The Ganzfeld is interesting because it is a simple, yet effective tool which provides a mild form of sensory deprivation. Mild sensory deprivation through the Ganzfeld effect gives mild effects. Anyway, to enhance the effect, the basic idea is to extend the Ganzfeld idea to other senses than vision. While trying out the Ganzfeld with a big blank wall in a darkened room, for a short period of time I saw myself in a snowy parking lot. Experimenting with the Ganzfeld Effect A simple “Ganzfeld device” is easy to build; first, cut a uniform colour ping-pong ball in two. Uses of Ganzfeld
5 Ways To Hack Your Brain Into Awesomeness Much of the brain is still mysterious to modern science, possibly because modern science itself is using brains to analyze it. There are probably secrets the brain simply doesn't want us to know. But by no means should that stop us from tinkering around in there, using somewhat questionable and possibly dangerous techniques to make our brains do what we want. We can't vouch for any of these, either their effectiveness or safety. #5. So you just picked up the night shift at your local McDonald's, you have class every morning at 8am and you have no idea how you're going to make it through the day without looking like a guy straight out of Dawn of the Dead, minus the blood... hopefully. "SLEEEEEEEEEP... uh... What if we told you there was a way to sleep for little more than two hours a day, and still feel more refreshed than taking a 12-hour siesta on a bed made entirely out of baby kitten fur? Holy Shit! We're pretty sure Kramer did this once on Seinfeld. How Does It Work? #4. #3. 1. 2. 3.
10 More Common Faults in Human Thought Humans This list is a follow up to Top 10 Common Faults in Human Thought. Thanks for everyone’s comments and feedback; you have inspired this second list! The confirmation bias is the tendency to look for or interpret information in a way that confirms beliefs. The Availability heuristic is gauging what is more likely based on vivid memories. Illusion of Control is the tendency for individuals to believe they can control or at least influence outcomes that they clearly have no influence on. Interesting Fact: when playing craps in a casino, people will throw the dice hard when they need a high number and soft when they need a low number. The Planning fallacy is the tendency to underestimate the time needed to complete tasks. Interesting Fact: “Realistic pessimism” is a phenomenon where depressed or overly pessimistic people more accurately predict task completion estimations. Interesting Fact: unfortunately, this bias has serious consequences. Bonus Attribute Substitution
How To Set Goals For The Life You Actually Want It’s a commonly accepted sentiment that setting goals will lead you to success. Many of us believe life will be better by reaching those goals, so we make our plans, put our nose to the grindstone, and work our butts off until we’re there. Many high achievers I’ve worked with over the years reach their goals, but they end up missing their lives in the process--and not in a trivial “I’m-working-too-hard-to-have-friends” kind of way. No, they reach their goals and discover they were the wrong goals and the wrong path to get there. Here’s how to set the right goals for the life you actually want: 1. The first step to setting goals that will bring you an awesome life is to stop setting goals that will bring you a sucky life. Most goals are about a destination. 2. Instead of setting life goals, think about setting a life direction. Ask yourself: How do I want to spend my time? Now set your goal. Any number of goals could send Chris on a different journey. How do I want to spend my time? 3.
120 Ways to Boost Your Brain Power Here are 120 things you can do starting today to help you think faster, improve memory, comprehend information better and unleash your brain’s full potential. Solve puzzles and brainteasers.Cultivate ambidexterity. Use your non-dominant hand to brush your teeth, comb your hair or use the mouse. Write with both hands simultaneously. Switch hands for knife and fork.Embrace ambiguity. Readers’ Contributions Dance! Contribute your own tip! There are many, many ways to keep our brains sharp. 4 Lean Strategies You Can Use To Innovate Your Life Wouldn’t it be great if we could extract the strategies that go into developing the world’s greatest technological advances and use them for our own personal development? The most common methodology used today to bring about these advances is the lean innovation strategy. When Eric Ries released his book The Lean Startup in 2011 his approach to product development created a global movement. Everyone from startups acquired by Google to corporate giants like General Electric and Dropbox have adopted it. Here are four tips for innovating your life by going lean: 1. When Apple first thought of the iPod, Steve Jobs didn’t specifically set out saying he wanted a device with a stainless steel back, a navigating scroll wheel, and storage for your entire music library. As humans, we often disregard our long-term goals because we want immediate benefits for our actions. Like Apple, your vision is the most critical part of achieving what you want in life and enjoying it along the way. 2. 3. 4.
8 Things Everybody Ought to Know About Concentrating “Music helps me concentrate,” Mike said to me glancing briefly over his shoulder. Mike was in his room writing a paper for his U.S. History class. Mike made a shift about every thirty seconds between all of the above. Do you know a person like this? The Science Behind Concentration In the above account, Mike’s obviously stuck in a routine that many of us may have found ourselves in, yet in the moment we feel it’s almost an impossible routine to get out of. When we constantly multitask to get things done, we’re not multitasking, we’re rapidly shifting our attention. Phase 1: Blood Rush Alert When Mike decides to start writing his History essay, blood rushes to his anterior prefrontal cortex. Phase 2: Find and Execute The alert carries an electrical charge that’s composed of two parts: first, a search query (which is needed to find the correct neurons for executing the task of writing), and second, a command (which tells the appropriate neuron what to do). Phase 3: Disengagement 1. 2. 3. 4.
10 best competitive intelligence tools from 10 experts Posted on October 19, 2014 by Rob Petersen inShare117 Sun Tzu’s wisdom in The Art of War is as true today as it was in 500 B.C. Competitive Intelligence is the gathering of publicly-available information about an enterprise’s competitors and the use of that information to gain a business advantage. The goals of competitive intelligence include discerning potential business risks and opportunities and enabling faster reaction to competitors’ actions and events. If Sun Tzu were with us today, he would probably be using digital competitive intelligence tools to understand his adversaries. Here are 10 experts giving us their best competitive intelligence tools: GOOGLE TRENDS: Measuring individual sites (yours or competitor) is good but the real fun in this is comparing trends. COMPETE: Has a useful interface, speaks the right language (unique visitors, visits, etc.), offers the ability to compare multiple sites, and its data is easy to understand and well presented.
Beating Procrastination It's Friday afternoon and the clock is ticking. You're working furiously to complete a task before the five o'clock deadline, while silently cursing yourself for not starting it sooner. How did this happen? What went wrong? Well, there were the hours that you spent re-reading emails and checking social media, the excessive "preparation," the coffee breaks, and the time spent on other tasks that you could have safely left for next week. Sound familiar? Procrastination is a trap that many of us fall into. In this article and video, we look at why it happens, and we explore strategies for managing and prioritizing your workload more effectively. Do you choose more enjoyable tasks over high-priority ones? Is Procrastination the Same as Being Lazy? Procrastination is often confused with laziness, but they are very different. Procrastination is an active process – you choose to do something else instead of the task that you know you should be doing. How to Overcome Procrastination Warning: Tip:
Is This a Morning Task? Scheduling Important Activities for the Right Time of Day When are you at your most energetic? © iStockphoto/LP7 Like many of us, Alys's job has a mix of regular, routine duties that are usually urgent – as well as longer-term, more important tasks that are usually less urgent. She spends her mornings on the urgent tasks that she must get done. The problem is that she's a morning person. In this article, we'll examine how to find your best time of day (or week), and how to schedule tasks around that. Note: OK, some things do have to be done right away. Step 1: Find Your Peak Times Each one of us has a different "peak time" or highest-energy time during the day. Most people know instinctively when their "up" times are and when their "down" times are. If you're not sure when your peak times are... ... for the complete article: Mind Tools Club members, click here. Join the Mind Tools Club to finish this article AND get 1,000 more resources Join now for just $1, first month
Improve Your Concentration Achieving Focus Amid Distractions Learn how to improve your concentration, in this short video. How many times have you sat at your desk and tried to focus on a task, only to find that your mind is wandering? Despite your best intentions, you just can't concentrate. We've all been in this familiar, frustrating situation, and it's something that can really undermine your performance. In this article, we'll review strategies to improve your concentration and reduce your daily distractions. Environment Your personal work environment plays a large role in your ability to concentrate. Here are some ideas for improving your physical environment: Make sure you're comfortable – Start by ensuring that your chair and desk are at the right height for you to work comfortably. Nutrition Follow some simple nutritional tips: Drink water – Many of us don't think about drinking water while we're at work, yet dehydration can make us feel tired, irritable, slow, or even sick. Mindset Key Points
Effective Scheduling Planning to Make the Best Use of Your Time Google Calendar is a trademark of Google Inc. MS Outlook is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation. Hard work doesn’t always equate to a job well done. © iStockphoto/SumikoPhoto It's the end of another busy working day and, even though you came into the office early and left late, you don't feel as if you've accomplished anything significant. It's all too easy for this to happen. That's why it's so important to know how to schedule your time properly. The Importance of Scheduling Scheduling is the art of planning your activities so that you can achieve your goals and priorities in the time you have available. Understand what you can realistically achieve with your time.Make sure you have enough time for essential tasks.Add contingency time for "the unexpected." Time is the one resource that we can't buy, but we often waste it or use it ineffectively. How to Schedule Your Time There are a number of different tools to choose from. Key Points