Status Updates From The Organized Mind: Thinkin...

having the opportunity to multitask is detrimental to cognitive performance-info-mania being in a situation where you are trying to concentrate on a task & an email is sitting unread in your inbox can reduce efficiency IQ by 10 points
learning new info while multitasking causes the new info to go to the wrong part of the brain
the brain shifts attention there is a glucose cost same fuel you need to stay on task

multi-tasking makes us demonstrably less efficient
it has been found to increase the production of the stress hormone cortisol as well as the flight-or-fight hormone adrenaline which can over stimulate your brain & cause cause mental fog or scrambled thinking
multi-tasking creates a dopamine-addiction feedback loop effectively rewarding the brain for losing focus & for constantly searching for external stimulation

the human learning is influenced by context & by location where the learning takes place students who studied for an exam in the room they later took it in did better than students who studied somewhere else
just stepping into a different space hits the reset button on your brain & allows for more productive & creative thinking
because of rapidly changing tech digital files are rarely readable for more than 10 years

the frequently used liquors are within arm's reach of a bartender in what is called the speed rack attached to the base of the bar
less frequently bottles are off to the side or on the back shelf
bar in Kentucky would have many well-known brands of bourbon prominently displayed
a college town bar would have more tequila & vodka on display

the standard account for many years was that working memory & attention hit a limit at around 5 to 9 unrelated items more recently a number of experiments have shown that the number is realistically probably closer to 4
when people say they want to get organized they need to get control of their physical and psychic environments -make viable things you need regularly & hide things that you don't

use the environment itself to remind you of what needs to be done
MJ fastidiously cataloged every 1 of his possessions employed was 1 with the job title chief archivist
finding things without rummaging saves mental energy for more important creative task it is physiologically comforting to avoid the stress of wondering whether or not we're ever going to find what we're looking 4

1 of the big rules in not losing things is the rule of the designated place

until the 1600 the typical European home had a single room & families would crowd around the fire most of the year to keep warm
3 out or 4 Americans report their garage is to full to put a car into them
women's cortisol levels the stress hormone spike when confronted with such clutter men's not so much
elevated cortisol levels can lead to chronic cognitive impairment, fatigue & suppression of the body's immune system

our ancestors tended to eat what they could get their hands standard fare only because they were available: rats, squirrels, peacocks-& locust!
in the 1800's lobsters were so plentiful they were fed to prisoners & orphans, & grounded up as into fertilizer; servants requested written assurance that they would not be fed lobster more than twice a week

we should off-load as much information o the external world as possible
the index cards ensure that by keeping the head empty & keepin sequential formatting to a minimum, no fresh new unexplored ideas would be forgotten or shut out
mnemonic for fine sorting your To Do list
Do it
Delegate it
Defer it
Drop it
some of the best ideas you have come up with was when your were doing something else notes were a junk drawer

constant nagging in your mind of undone things pulls you from the present-tethers you to a mind-set of the future so that you're never fully in the moment & enjoying what's now people worry about home at work & work at home the problem is that you're never really in either place
anything unfinished must be written down
your brain needs to engage on some consistent basis with all of your commitments & activities

dopamine release strengthens synapses when you correctly categorize items according to a rule
our ability to use & create categories on the spot is a form of cognitive economy it helps us by consolidating like things, freeing us up from having to make decisions that can cause energy depletion
cucumbers & zucchini's are fruits we tend to eat them in lieu of "proper" vegetables such as spinach, lettuce & carrots

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