Sleeping To Learn and The Truth of Success
Online Publications Best Picks for November
It appears that the popular understanding and practical application of personal development are about to fundamentally change, if Malcolm Gladwell and recent scientific findings are to be believed. Success is not merely dependent on an individual’s innate ability – in fact, success is a function of hard work, culture and unfair social advantages.
This means that success, observed from an individual’s point of view, is incomplete, and one must factor in environmental influences extraneous to the individual if we want to make sense of success.
Also in this edition is the importance of a quality rest for the brain. You have been told that sleep is important, but recent research will tell you exactly why and how it is so fundamental to your well-being and personal effectiveness.
Our Top Five Picks for the Month
CNN/Fortune Magazine
Malcolm Gladwell’s book, Outliers: The Story of Success, has been making headlines for debunking the popular myth that success is attributable solely to innate talent. In this interview, he reiterates his belief to what the main ingredients to success are, namely, the need for deep and extensive practice (Gladwell cites 10,000 hours with a single skill are needed to develop a true proficiency) as well as being born to certain unfair privileges (age and cultural advantages). Gladwell explains how these factors are key to understanding the phenomenal successes behind individuals like Bill Gates and the mathematical genius that is common within Asian cultures.
Gladwell also mentions that as a a result of his revealing study on success, he hopes that companies will increasingly place a higher premium on developing rather than acquiring talent.
The Economist
The Hawthorne Effect describes an interesting phenomenon in the performance of groups of individuals, and how their productivity is affected by changes in their surroundings and their work conditions.
This article relates the findings from a series of experiments performed on groups working at Western Electric’s factory at Hawthorne, Chicago. These studies revealed that environmental factors like lighting, good working relationships and better working hours impacted performance just as much as innate ability. The findings stress the need to pay attention to workplace surroundings and work culture, as opposed to merely subscribing to management policies focused on the individual.
The Huffington Post
Napping Boosts “Sophisticated” Memory
Good sleep will help with memory and understanding, recent studies at the University of California claim. Increasingly, researchers are placing less emphasis on sleep duration, and more on “sleep intensity”. Sleep intensity is measured by undisturbed periods of “slow-wave sleep” (a state of very deep sleep that comes before rapid eye movement (REM) sleep). This means that good quality sleep is more about uninterrupted rest than it is about the length of time in bed. Studies showed that rats with interrupted rest for 12 days showed effects of their poor sleep (decreased ability to retain information and learn) even though they had been allowed to “catch-up” with sleep for 2 weeks. Sleep experts urge people with sleep problems to consult sleep therapists to solve their sleeping disorders.
Scientific American
Procrastinating Again? How to Kick the Habit
Chronic procrastination – defined as delaying on acting on a task, even though delaying will adverse effects – afflicts between 15 to 20 percent of adults and 80 to 95 per cent of college students. Identified causes of procrastination include lengthy durations between present moment and the time of reward, indecisiveness, a false belief that the reduced time to complete a task results in a state of flow, and a quick relief from not working on an apparently odious task.
These “causes” contribute, over time, to forming a procrastination habit that can be impossibly difficult to break. Researchers and therapists advise procrastinators to break their habits by pushing themselves to “just get started”, which will reveal that the task at hand was far less unpleasant than initially perceived. This practice will hopefully help to break old habits and form new ones.
Society of Human Resource Management
Recent research has found that the brain of a 71 year-old has the same ability to form new connections as a 17 year-old. What, then, is the cause for seemingly degraded mental capabilities?
The main culprits, it seems, are lifestyle related. Approximately at the age of 30, people usually stop learning new concepts, tend to sleep less, and are under considerable stress. All of these factors result in a reduced capacity to learn and absorb information. The solution is to limit the time exposed to learning new things to 20 minutes and then follow it up by ensuring a period of quality rest. This way, the brain will not be too exhausted to convey the information to the basal amygdale. An interesting perspective is the effect of good relationships and their influence on the brain’s neural reactions, giving basis to how positive work cultures boosted performance.
(This paper was featured in David Rock’s blog, in November)
Top Ten Online Publications In November 2008
CNN
The Economist
Forbes
BusinessWeek
Do smartphones make you stupid?
The New York Times
Scientific American
Procrastinating Again? How to Kick the Habit
The Huffington Post
Napping Boosts “Sophisticated” Memory
Self Growth
Learning from Celebrities about Work Life Balance by David Bohl
Office Arrow
Beat Job Burnout: What to Do (and When to Quit)
Society of Human Resource Management
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