Eric Barker's Blog, page 8

This Is How To Deal With Pain: 4 Powerful Secrets From Research

There’s a case in the medical literature of a butcher who slipped while working and got his arm caught on a meat hook. Yeah, ouch. The pain was bright, attention-grabbing, impressive, and very good at what it does – it was the Beyoncé of pain. He was in agony.

Then he realized the hook only caught his sleeve. Didn’t even penetrate the skin. And the pain went away. Weird, right?

Here’s another one — and at the risk of sounding less Eric Barker and more Clive Barker, I’ll warn you it’s a bit dar...

New Neuroscience Reveals 6 Secrets That Will Increase Your Attention Span

We’ve all wondered about it. You’re not crazy: yes, our attention spans really are declining.

In 2004, people averaged 150 seconds on a computer screen before switching to a different screen. In 2012, that dropped to 75 seconds. Studies from 2016 to 2021 showed it had dropped again to somewhere between 44 to 50 seconds.

And that’s an average. So half the time it’s shorter than that.

Yes, I know, now you want a t-shirt that says, “I Read Eric’s Blog And All I Got Was A Greater Sense Of My Own I...

New Neuroscience Reveals 8 Secrets That Will Make Your Memory Stronger

My memory consists of 70 percent lines from Rocky and Bullwinkle episodes and 30 percent embarrassing moments. Why? I have no idea. Often, memory seems to make no sense.

But here’s the thing: a lot of what we think we know about how memory works is wrong. First off, it’s not a perfect video recording of what happened. Memories are a lot more like Legos, assembled and reassembled each time, and rarely in the same way twice.

And memory isn’t even one system. It’s a collection of different system...

This Is The Most Fun Way To Make Your Life Awesome

I’m always writing blog posts on how to improve your skills and do more of what you enjoy. But there’s a type of response I’ve gotten used to receiving:

“But what are my skills?”

“But what do I enjoy?”

This is distressing to me. It’s a spiritual catastrophe. Figuring out what you’re good at and what you really enjoy doing are so critical to life. And a lot of people struggle with finding those answers. Well, time to do a post that addresses this issue…

Whether you’re starting out in life or st...

6 Things The Most Productive People Do Every Day

Sometimes “productivity” feels like a country you’ve heard a lot about but never thought you’d get a chance to visit. Articles, Twitter threads and YouTube Vox Pops all claim to have answers – which never seem to hold up when subjected to real life. It’s amazing you’re still sitting at a desk instead of shrieking on a ledge.

Well, distractedness is nothing new. And we can get some answers from people who struggled valiantly with the issue a long time ago. On this blog we’ve gotten insights on ...

This Is The Most Fun Way To Make Your Life Awesome

We just don’t take humor that seriously.

Yeah, it makes us happier, but its effects are much, much more profound than you might guess.

People who use humor to cope with stress have better immune systems, reduced risk of heart attack and stroke, experience less pain during dental work and live longer. Surgery patients who watched comedies needed 60% less pain medication. Heck, even anticipating humor has been shown to reduce stress.

Humor improves your relationships. Surveys say it’s the second...

These 5 Things Will Make You Smarter

John von Neumann could multiply two eight-digit numbers together in his head – when he was six-years old.

At 22 he was helping to develop what would become quantum mechanics. His off-the-charts mathematical ability made the Manhattan Project a success. He all but invented game theory. (Ever hear the term “zero-sum”? He coined the phrase.) And building on work by Alan Turing and Kurt Godel he laid the groundwork for the computer you’re using.

Students could barely keep up with his brilliant lec...

This Is How To Get Promoted: 5 Secrets From Research

You’re authentic, humble, kind, and smart. You put your head down and work hard. And it is officially driving you nowhere with a full tank of gas.

Meanwhile, the vile Decepticon in the next cubicle who has far more ambition and confidence than brains or work ethic is getting promoted. Apparently there has been an error in the records department at the universe’s Ministry of Fairness.

Don’t hold your breath while waiting for karmic retribution. When it comes to the workplace, no, life isn’t fai...

How to Be Happier Without Really Trying

Author Oliver Burkeman wrote: “Few things feel more basic to my experience of adulthood than this vague sense that I’m falling behind.”

It takes a lot to sustain this Rube Goldberg machine you call a life. All the errands and duties can feel like a case study in entropy prevention. And they never seem to end. The clowns keep coming out of the clown car and you’re like Beaker from the Muppets putting out fires in the lab.

You can get to the point where you’re setting a bold new standard for joy...

New Research Reveals 9 Secrets That Will Make You An Expert Negotiator

Negotiation is everywhere in our lives – we just don’t realize it. Dealing with bosses, spouses, kids — so often it’s a veiled negotiation. High prices and low salaries are often a tax on the inability to cut a deal well.

Problem is, some of us really don’t like negotiating. We equate the word with “zero-sum Thunderdome battle to the death.” And in our personal lives we’re afraid of being too pushy and alienating loved ones.

It doesn’t have to be that bad or involve the breaking of furniture. ...