Accomplish What Matters: 8 TIPs Backed by Neuroscience

Dr. Julie Gurner @drgurner

Now I don’t Mean to brag But…

I recently accomplished something HUGE

How to Accomplish The things That matter

“the 10,000 Hour rule is a definite key in success”

-Malcolm Gladwell, Outliers: The Story of Success

Unfortunately…

science Thinks the “10,000 Hour Rule” May Be

An (Unproductive) myth

“It’s clear from this data that deliberate practice doesn’t account for all, nearly all, or even most of the variance in performance in chess and music.”

-Intelligence, Volume 45, July–August 2014, Pages 34–45 “Deliberate practice: Is that all it takes to become an expert?” David Z. Hambricka, http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160289613000421 - cr0005

Tip #1: Your willpower is a limited resource. Allocate Accordingly.

When you rely on self-control, you usE

mental energy and depleTE Your resources.

Eventually that

self-control is “fatigued”

Which is why… Forcing yourself to work

longer doesn’t work.

It’s a formula for burnout.

Tip #2: eat your way to productivity.

?

“The brain works best with about 25 grams of glucose in the bloodstream – about the amount found in a banana.”

- Leigh Gibson, Research Scientist UCLA

Tip #3: stop multitasking.

“It takes time (an average of 15 minutes) to re-orient to a primary task after a distraction such as an email. Efficiency can drop by as much as 40%.”

- Harvard Business Review, December 21, 2010 “You Can't Multitask, So Stop Trying” Paul Atchley, http://blogs.hbr.org/2010/12/you-cant-multi-task-so-stop-tr/

The most productive people work in 90 minute cycles with 15 minute breaks .

Tip #4: Mind your associations.

biological associations Cause anxiety / Fear responses when we watch a Horror Movie. work Associations Are just as powerful.

Tip #5: Ditch the dream board.

Positive Expectation – Drives effort. Positive Fantasies – sap motivation.

- Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol 83(5), Nov 2002, 1198-1212.e

“I don't like to talk about my dreams. I like to make them happen. I prefer to talk about them when they're done.”

- Diane Von Furstenberg

Tip #6: Work with your body & Brain.

working with your rhythm:

•  You’ll Get more done, •  Enjoy greater motivation, •  and do it All faster.

Tip #7: Get off the internet.

“for every 10 minutes people “fool around” online, they spend: •  2.9 minutes less on all other types of leisure •  2.7 fewer minutes working (or a more dramatic 3.75 minutes for

people in their 30s) •  1.2 fewer minutes on personal care - including sleep •  1 less minute traveling •  42 fewer seconds on household activities •  36 fewer seconds on educational activities”

- Washington post, October 22, 2013 “Here’s how the Internet hurts your sleep schedule, productivity and personal life” Scott Wallsten, Senior researcher at the Tech Policy Institute,

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2013/10/22/heres-how-much-the-internet-hurts-your-sleep-schedule-productivity-and-personal-life/

Tip #8: Take a vacation.

"Idleness is not just a vacation, an indulgence or a vice; it is indispensable to the brain… it is, paradoxically, necessary to getting any work done."

- Tim Kreider, New York Times

The biggest predictor of success?

Grit.

"the gritty individual approaches achievement as a marathon; his or her advantage is stamina.” - Angela Duckworth, Ph.D. University of Pennsylvania

Slides & PDF Available @ drgurner.com/ASE14

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@DrGurner

Dr. Julie Gurner

Slides & PDF Available @ http://www.drgurner.com/ASE14