Quick ways your brain can Boost Productivity.
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According to David Rock, author of Your Brain at Work and Founder of the NeuroLeadership Institute and Summit, here are a few ways to make your brain work more effectively to boost your productivity:
- Understand your energy cycle and complete tasks accordingly
Arrange work around your brain’s energy level in order to work productively and effectively. Whenever possible, carve out blocks of time, away from phones and e-mail, for different kinds of thinking. You can only do a few hours of high-grade, conscious thinking in a day so know when your brain does it best. Do not fill that time with low-grade tasks that can be done when you are tired or have low on energy. Prioritizing is key (Martin Langfield, The Human Brain in the Workplace, Reuters, November 5, 2009).
- Put the mind back into mindfulness:
Being mindful means being more alert and aware, meaning that you can better recognize what events or environments trigger certain emotions- i.e. threats. It is important to listen to your emotional queues so you can put everything into perspective and think before you react. “One study shows we generally have 0.2 second to veto an impulse after it emerges from the unconscious” (Martin Langfield, The Human Brain in the Workplace, Reuters, November 5, 2009).
- Know how much stress works for you:
Most people tend to perform better under a small amount of stress; however excessive levels can have the opposite effect. For great stress busting ideas, see our ebook.
- Enhance your conflict resolution skills:
Conflict in inevitable when working in large dynamic groups. Unfortunately, we often transform technical issues into people issues unjustly. Enhance your conflict resolution skills so you can sift through the negativity more effectively. Consider enrolling in conflict resolution training classes and learn from the experts.
