Most people want to be productive. We want to do our jobs well and produce quality work. Regardless of the type of work you do, you probably want it to be worth doing. And you want the end result to be a positive accomplishment.
But sometimes it can be hard to be productive. Things can stand in our way and make it difficult to complete, or sometimes even begin, the projects we had planned to do.
With todayâs technology it may seem like we donât really have to use our memory to remember things. We can just look it up, right? Well, yes and no. Yes, we have a world of information at our fingertips that is easily accessible at any time, day or night. But then there are other things that we want to keep stored in our own memory banks for future or daily use.
When studying school work, learning a new language, taking on a new job or developing a new skill, these things all require memorization. And sometimes it can be a challenge to retain the information you need to know.
Before we had computers to remember everything for us, people memorized all kinds of things. Addresses, phone numbers, poetry, and speeches, just to name a few! Our brain can be trained to hold far more data than we usually ask it to.
The OODA loop model, otherwise known as âthe decision cycleâ was developed by US Air Force Colonel John Boyd as he sought to help pilots with their decision making process when in air combat.
Although this model wonât turn you into a fighter pilot, the core principles to better decision making are applicable to anyone. Like pilots, people from all backgrounds and cultures will find themselves in pressurised, emotionally dense, serious situations that require precise, meaningful decisions.
Itâs been three hours since you turned away from your computer screen. Your head has perked up, your eyes have reset and youâve snapped back into reality. All of a sudden you notice your legs are hot. Wait, theyâre a bit too hot. Your laptop stirs and whirs. The fan is panicking, shouting at you to stop. It, just like you, needed a break. It’s a chance to take a load off. Time to close some tabs.
If you use a computer for an extended period without closing any tabs, chances are it will overheat and potentially break. While we are not computers â not yet, anyway – a similar principle isnât entirely out of the question. The more you put on your plate, the fuller youâll feel. The more you over fill yourself, the harder it gets to move quickly and efficiently. Instead of moving through air, youâre moving through custard. Basically, things get more difficult.
Life can be a challenge at times, but standing firm with unbreakable confidence can make a difference in how you handle things. In his well known poem âIfâ, Rudyard Kipling writes, â…if you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirsâŚâ, he is referring to the action of remaining calm and sensible in situations where others are not thinking clearly.
When you have confidence in the decisions you make, and the actions you take, you may find that success and leadership are just two of the benefits you could reap from being a confident person.
Everyday we think about what weâre going to do. Our brains are busy deciding how to spend our day, what to eat, what to wear, what to say, and so on and so on. Every part of our lives is played out in our minds in order to produce actions throughout the day.
Sleep. Thereâs no hiding from it. You can postpone it as much as possible, but itâll eventually claim you. Rather than fight it or bemoan how little sleep youâre getting, itâs best if you learn to use sleep to your advantage. If you do, youâll be fighting fit on all fronts – everything will seem more possible and life will be filled with a base layer of energy.
Itâs easy to see why not prioritising your sleep makes your life not just more difficult, but a slog from minute one. According to some research from the University of Chicago, a four to five-hour sleep can reduce a manâs testosterone levels to that of a man 10 to 15 years his senior. Its biological power must not be underestimated. A lack of sleep is fundamental to our everyday existence.
In houses worldwide, youâll find neatness personified; cutlery organised according to its purpose, colour-coded bookshelves and even seasonally-racked clothes. In many of those houses, youâll also find a âmessy drawerâ – a slice; a taster, perhaps – of the human brainâs capability for facilitating disorganisation. Itâs a dumping ground for the miscellaneous items we canât quite seem to find a designated home for, but at the same time, its value isnât lost on its owners.
Another year is coming to a close and itâs a good time to be thinking about how it went, and what youâd like to see in the coming year.
You may be realizing that time is short, and you still have some things to accomplish before the year ends. But how much can you get done with only one month left to go? By following these next steps, you might find you can end the year feeling not only accomplished, but also excited about whatâs coming next!
Have you ever had one of those days where you canât seem to get anything done? At every turn, thereâs another distraction.
For example, say youâre just starting your day, and you hear a text notification. You pick up your phone to check the text, but then notice you have emails, one of which you have been anxiously awaiting. So you start to check your emails, when your alarm goes off reminding you to take your vitamins. So you walk into the kitchen to get your vitamins and notice the laptop laying on the table. This makes you think about the project you were going to work on today, and since youâre getting a late start you decide to send a text to let someone know youâre running late. Then when you look at your phone you notice the first text that came in this morning that you havenât answered yet.
