exploiting the brain for fun & profit #wcpdx 2016
TRANSCRIPT
Alena Holligan@sketchings
sketchings.com
PHP Teacher at Treehouse PHP Users Group Leader Women Who Code Leader
EXPLOITING THE BRAINfor Fun and Profit
YOUR MOST IMPORTANT TOOL
Learning
Perception
Memory
Sleep
Exercise
Infotention
EVERYONE WITH A BRAIN STAND UP
RUN IN PLACE
“AWAKE AND ALERT”
PUNCHES
“I LISTEN, PAYING ATTENTION, FOLLOW THROUGH”
READ ALOUD
enthusiastic
motivational
fascinating
enjoyable
fun
humorous
useful
beneficial
simple
profitable
valuable
easy
REARRANGE SENTENCE
talk this beneficial is fascinating
TWO TRUTHSEveryone is the same Everyone is different
PRIMING
ELDERLY PRIMING
Words: Old, Gray, Florida
Significantly longer to walk to the elevator
Done on psychology students
Did the priming influence you? NO
Why? Make things up
We don’t say “I don’t know”
THE BRAIN MAKES THINGS UP
WE DON’T EVEN REALIZE IT
I’M ALWAYS RIGHT. I REMEMBER THINGS WRONG.
MEMORY
SLEEP
Who gets 10 hours of sleep?
70% <8 hours
40% <7 hours
SLEEP EXPERIMENT
5 days mimicked Alzheimer's
hallucinations and paranoia
30% loss in cognitive ability after 1 night
chronic sleep deprivation is like 2 nights sleep
factor to obesity
feel hungry
get cravings
longer to feel full
DIDN’T FEEL IMPAIRED
SOME PEOPLE NEED LESSinsomniac gene
PROBABLY NOT YOU!
NAPS IMPROVE PERFORMANCE26 min nap = 34% improvement ~ army
morning lark (1/10)
night owl (2/10)
play to your strengths
WHEN ARE YOU
STRONGEST
HOW DO WE LEARN
FORGETTING STUFF IS A FEATURE NOT A BUG
ELABORATE MEANINGFUL
CONTEXT
SPACED REPETITION
Increased knowledge and retention
Timing is key
Information decay
computers can help
The Mnemosyne Project
EXERCISE
WHY EXERCISE
improves blood flows
clears waste
improves performance
actually makes brain bigger
Exercise for 75 minutes to maximize mortality reduction per minute 20%
Walking Desks
Walking Meetings
Boeing
Mayo Clinic
INFOTENTIONManaging Information Overload
new languages
new technologies
new approaches
books
articles
blogs
podcasts
conferences
BOMBARDED WITH
INFORMATION OVERLOAD
HOW DO WE KEEP UP
ATTENTION IS PRECIOUS
BE SELECTIVE
INFORMATION DIET
SELECTIVE IGNORANCE
PICK SOMETHING YOU CARE ABOUT
SKIM THE REST
USE YOUR FRIENDS
PRUNE AGGRESSIVELYif you’re not reading it, delete it
UTILIZE WHITE SPACERead or Listen
Commuting, Working Out, Waiting
TURN OF THE TV
Average = 151 hours of TV a month
Two hundred billion hours annually (US)
2,000 wikipedias a year
100 million hours a weekend watching ads
TURN OFF FACEBOOK
DISTRACTIONS
WE CAN’T MULTI-TASK
CONTINUOUS PARTIAL ATTENTION
INTERRUPTIONS KILL FLOW
EMAIL IS LIKE GAMBLINGvariable reinforcement
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
TURN OFF INTERRUPTIONS
INBOX ZERO
GETTING THINGS DONE (GTD)
POMODORO TECHNIQUE (AGILE)
pick a task
timed work
break
repeat
after 4 iterations longer break
= REWARD
EXTERNAL BRAIN
WE FORGET
COMPUTERS DON’T
PAPER DOESN’T EITHER
CAPTURE IDEAS TO GENERATE MORE IDEAS
No you won’t remember it later
WIKI IS A GREAT TOOL FOR TEAMS
FINAL THOUGHTS
-Ralph Keeney, Duke University
America’s top killer isn’t cancer or heart disease, nor is it
smoking or obesity. It’s our inability to make smart
choices and overcome our own self-destructive behaviors.
CHOOSE ONE SMALL STEP TODAY
RESOURCES
BOOKS
Predictably Irrational
A Whole New Mind
Getting Things Done
Your Brain: The Missing Manual
Pragmatic Thinking and Learning
Brain Rules
Mind Hacks
Sway
Nudge
Drive
Alena Holligan@sketchings
sketchings.com
PHP Teacher at Treehouse PHP Users Group Leader Women Who Code Leader