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Researcher Interview #1 Part 5 (Conclusion)
Click to Listen (6 1/2 minutes)
MT: This is Maura Thomas from RegainYourTime.com. Thanks for listening to the fifth and final part of my interview with Dr. John Dovidio, psychology professor at Yale University. You can see the previous posts by clicking the link at the top of this page and prior pages. And if you’re interested in reading up on the current research, please visit the “Research and Resources” page of this website.
What do you think about the danger that ah…I’ve read some…some research is suggesting that there is a real benefit in the…the quiet moments that we used to have, the time in between things…waiting in line, or even sitting at a red light, or…you know, just the moments in between other things that we…we used to have an opportunity for our mind to just wander and that time was…our brains sometimes used to process what we had heard, and to create connections among things and really where the learning happens. And now there is some fear that we don’t have those moments of quiet anymore because in every moment of stillness, we whip out our iPhone and check our email, or check our Facebook status, or jump on the internet, or play a game on our phone. And now that we have all this…this stimulation in our pocket, do you think that there’s a danger to losing those moments of..of “mind wandering” that we used to have?
JD: There is a lot of evidence that suggests that ah…part of learning is taking the time to consolidate, to reflect upon things, to make sure that what we know just has to reverberate enough in our head for it to stay there. That’s a simple way of saying it. There’s a lot of work that also shows that there are these times that we develop insights by ah…this kind of…not actively thinking about something, but different pieces, or different elements to the solution of a problem just appear to us through insight, and not in a logical fashion. And this insight comes usually during those periods following a period of consolidation and reflection, where you basically have to see, you have to sort of become inwardly focused to start thinking about the thoughts, and then those thoughts can become, can come to coalesce in some unique, synthetic way that becomes a creative insight. And if we’re always focused outward, we’re not going to do as much of that…we’re going to rely on creativity coming from the outside rather than from the inside. On the other hand, to give you the balance of it, is that the other thing about humans is that when we begin to feel we’ve reached a limit, we almost reflexively back off to gain at least enough solitude to be able to regroup, consolidate, and move forward. So the question becomes, not that we’re not going to have those moments of solitude, we just may have fewer and fewer of them as we go on. But if people need time to think, it’s not like we can’t turn off the machines. It’s not that we don’t go into a shower, where we don’t have our, our cell phone on and our computer on. Maybe when we start losing those private moments we’re in more trouble (laughing). But people will probably structure their day so that they’ll have those private moments at different times.
MT: Do you think that we’ll continue to recognize that we need those moments, and take them? I have people tell me all the time that their best ideas come to them in the shower, just for the exact reason that you just said. And one client even told me that he…he got some crayons…water soluble crayons, so he could write on the shower tiles because that’s when he has his best ideas and that’s what I told him, it’s because it’s the only time that you’re not interrupted. So..but…but that was a surprise to him. You know when I said that, he hadn’t thought about it. “Wow, you’re right,” he said. “Those are the only moments of quiet that I ever get.” So to me that..that raises a concern that…especially children who are constantly exposed to all the stimulation…while they may be capable of…of stepping back and taking those moments, they might not recognize that they need them.
JD: Yeah, I mean that’s…the biggest problem is with kids. I mean part of…of growing up has to do with seeking new stimulations and new information. And so kids tend not to be as reflective anyway. They…they tend not to…even if you give them that free time, doesn’t mean that they’re doing it…using the same kind of consolidation that an adult would…the way an adult would handle that. If in fact you…you don’t even allow them that time, then they’re going to be less likely to be able to do that when they become adults because they won’t know what to do with it. And so I think…again, the issue is probably…it’s not having all the media available. It has to do with things like, training people when to use it, when not to use it, having, you know…I think as adults enforcing a quiet time, a non-electronic time, is not a bad thing. Kids will resent it. Part of what we need to teach kids anyway is a little bit of self-control. “You can’t do what you want, when you want, all the time.” But part of being a kid is wanting to do what you want, whenever you want, as soon as you want.
MT: Right.
JD: So, I mean that’s the age-old challenge we have and now it’s just, the electronic media, which is more seductive, just makes it a little bit more complicated and much more difficult to do.
MT: Hmmm, great point. Well I want to be respectful of your time so while I feel like I could discuss this with you forever I will…I will call it here and say thank you very much for taking the time to speak with me. Dr. John Dovidio from Yale University, thank you very much.
JD: Well thank you!
MT: And thank you, for visiting, and be sure to check this space again for future interviews with researchers in the fields of attention, multitasking, productivity, and technology. This is Maura Thomas with RegainYourTime.com.
Researcher Interview #1 Part 4
Click to Listen (4 1/2 minutes)
MT: This is Maura Thomas from RegainYourTime.com. Thanks for coming back to hear part four of my interview with Dr. John Dovidio, psychology professor at Yale University. You can see the previous posts by clicking the link at the top of this page and prior pages.
…That’s actually a really great perspective. I talk to a lot of people often who are becoming a little bit overwhelmed with the idea that, you know, “there is just too much and I can’t catch up.” And I…I run into people every day who are deciding, in fact they even put it in these terms, “I’m trying to decide what my limit is. And…you know, ok I did email, and now I’ve done Facebook, but I’m not going to do Twitter! That’s just where I’m drawing the line, and anything else that comes out, I’m just all done.” (laughing)
JD: (laughing) Mmm hmmm.
MT: So…and there certainly is an age component to this. But it’s…it’s really interesting to hear you say…talk about how humans have overcome this throughout history and…and…how we’re actually really good at it, and perhaps people should…take heart in that…in that idea.
JD: Oh yeah, I’m mean, we’ve…we’ve overcome worse!
MT: Sure. Sure.
JD: (laughing) We could overcome quite a bit!
MT: (laughing) Right.
JD: But I do…you know, at the same time, I think you’re also right by saying…and the people you quoted are right by saying, you’ve got to be cautious, realizing that whatever benefits might…benefits might be coming with the software and hardware development that we see in communication, we have to always understand that there is probably something that’s going to be lost because we just have a limited amount of time, we have a limited capacity for attention, …we have a limited capacity for being able to think and make decisions. Those are the bounds of being human, just like any other animal. And so how do we actually teach people to use a lot of these media in a way that works to their benefit so that they don’t become overwhelmed or develop those habits so strongly that they’re hard to reverse.
You won’t remember this, and I really don’t remember it personally, but when television came in, you know, that changed everything, right? People said, “well television is taking away from human relations. People are no longer talking to one another, they are no longer looking face-to-face, what they’re doing is they’re sitting side-by-side, and the quality of their relationships is going to go down, and tv is going to be the end of everything because people are going to become sedentary, they’re going to become passive, they’re going to need more stimulation. And they’re going to lose sight between what’s real and what’s everyday life.” And to some extent that was true, but then people adjust to it and now we look at tv and we see that as “how…how benign and passive.”
MT: That was part four of my interview with Dr. John Dovidio, psychology professor at Yale University. I hope you’ll come back tomorrow for the fifth and final portion of the interview where I’ll ask Dr. Dovidio about the value of reflection and quiet moments. Also, if you’re interested in reading up on the current research, please visit the Research and Resources page of this website. This is Maura Thomas from RegainYourTime.com. Thanks for visiting!
(Click here for the conclusion of the interview.)
3 Tips to Beat Procrastination & Get Important Stuff Done
I saw this in my Tweet stream this morning:
and I had way more than 140 characters to say about it, so I was inspired to write a blog post about it today. Thanks @alexismadrigal, I hope this helps!
First, I suggest very selective and short-term time-blocking. YOU are the first person you’ll cancel an appointment with, so sometimes time-blocking can be tricky. But there are three rules that help make it more effective:
- Don’t block your time too far in the future, because it’s too uncertain. To get important things done, block time on your calendar today, or tomorrow, but go too far in advance and your priorities will change. and you’ll end up breaking those appointments with yourself. One exception to this: if you have an important deadline in the future, it’s helpful to block some time a day or so before that deadline in order to finish up the project, add final thoughts, or give it one last once-over (or actually do it, if you’re a deadline junkie!)
- Use time-blocking very selectively – only for very important things, and only once in a while. If you try to do it too often, it will just get in the way, and become routine. You’ll start breaking those appointments with yourself, and then you’ll have lost the effectiveness of the technique.
- Don’t make your time-blocks too long. It’s very difficult to block out a whole day, for example. Focus waxes and wanes, things like hunger cause distractions, the desire to “check on things” (voicemail, email, Twitter stream, etc) become too tempting. I find time-blocking works best in 2-hour chunks or less.
Ok, next tip. Even if you haven’t time-blocked, when you decide you are going to spend some time on an important task, ELIMINATE any possible distractions! This seems like a no-brainer but I’m always surprised at how uncommon it is. Close your email client, shut off any Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn (etc) notifications, silence your ringer, shut off the television, etc. If you need noise, play instrumental or classical music. Song lyrics tend to send our brain off in distracting directions, as does the tendency to sing along. Another option: white noise. Turn on a quiet fan, or go outside to the sounds of nature. Small personal rewards can help motivate you as well: If I spend 30 minutes on this, I’ll allow myself 10 minutes of a video game, or blog surfing, or a grande mocha latte, or whatever appeals to you.
One last tip…if you have something important to get done, but you just can’t seem to get your head in the game, grab a piece of paper and a pen and try “stream of consciousness” writing. This helps to eliminate mental clutter and uncover those intellectual gems you know are in there somewhere. Don’t censor yourself, and don’t try to organize as you write. Just write whatever comes to you, and chances are before too long your brain will find its way back to that important thing you’re trying to get done. Or the worst case is you’ll end up with some other pearl of wisdom or great idea. Our brains are much better at creative, strategic thinking and problem solving than they are at remembering details, and if we clear our mind of the minutiae (mental clutter), the “good stuff” often appears.
I hope you found this helpful!
Mastering Control Over Email & Twitter, Step 2
Yesterday was step 1: mastering control over the information. Next, you need to learn to master control over the technology it comes in on. Having your email client always open, with messages automatically downloading and giving you an indicator, means that your email is controlling YOU. Same is true for your Twitter client, and your browser windows with Facebook & LinkedIn pages up. Here are a few steps that integrate a process for controlling information and for controlling technology:
- For email, turn OFF the automatic download, so that messages only come in when YOU click send/receive (puts the control back in your hands, rather than keeping you at the mercy of constantly flowing email messages).
- Set aside time to click that send/receive button only 2-3 times per day, allowing yourself at least one full minute (or until you’re done, whichever comes first) for each message.
- Be sure that in that minute, you have moved the message out of your inbox (delete it, file it, or move it to your to-do list). Your email tool should allow you to easily convert emails to tasks. If you don’t have a good system for your to-do list, consider reading my earlier post Are Your Productivity Tools Complicating Your Life.
- Take the same approach with your Twitter feeds and your other social media tools. Yes, Twitter is like a constant “great” party, but sometimes you have to be ok with missing the party to stay home, if you catch my drift. Put another way (from @cjromb): think of Twitter like a river, jump into the flow every now and then, but accept that you can’t touch every drop of water.
I know that you are thinking, “I can’t possibly do that!” It’s a common response, so let’s talk about what’s going on when you aren’t doing this…
If you are constantly checking your emails, (not to mention your Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter Feeds), what you are forcing yourself to do, is to constantly multi-task. Tomorrow I’ll continue the post where we’ll address whether multi-tasking good or bad, and later I’ll discuss the other two steps for mastering control over email and Twitter.