Hack your brain - Ways to improve your thought processes

by Christine

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@tech_christine Hack Your Brain Ways to improve your thought processes

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Flywheel

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@tech_christine You can improve yourself

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@tech_christine

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@tech_christine Evette Software Engineer Nick Network Engineer Dell Product Designer Peyton Product Manager

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@tech_christine What's her struggle? • Thoughts just keep circling around • Feels overwhelmed with worries and general chaos • Everything wrong is happening to her Evette Software Engineer

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@tech_christine A Solution? Mindfulness

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@tech_christine – Jon Kabat-Zinn professor/creator of the Stress Reduction Clinic and Center for Mindfulness “Mindfulness is awareness that arises through paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgementally”

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@tech_christine What is mindfulness? • Mental habit of paying attention without thinking • Logging for your brain

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@tech_christine Let's try a quick meditation

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@tech_christine How to practice mindfulness • Focus your attention on something • Keep your focus, but don't judge yourself • Don't strive to hard •Simple but not easy

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@tech_christine Might even call this the Secret Sauce

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@tech_christine Am I going to need a lot of props?

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@tech_christine Nope There is no perfect way to meditate

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@tech_christine Do you have to do mindfulness meditation in order to be mindful?

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@tech_christine What can it help with? Emotional balance Response ﬂexibility Down-regulation of fear

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@tech_christine But wait there's more... Insight Empathy Morality Intuition

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@tech_christine How will this help Evette? Thoughts just keep circling around • Allows her to redirect thoughts Feels overwhelmed with worries and general chaos • Helps with fear and chaos by down-regulating Everything wrong is happening to her • Helps her ﬁnd insight and perspective Evette Software Engineer

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@tech_christine What is the struggle? • They have a resolution list a mile long • Starts and stops trying to tackle procrastination, healthy eating, exercise... • Lots of to-do lists Dell Product Designer

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@tech_christine An idea to help? Habit building

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@tech_christine –Will Durant, writer/historian/philosopher (often attributed to Aristotle) “…we are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then is not an act but a habit.”

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@tech_christine What is a habit? • Not just "something you do every day" • Frequently recurring behaviors, that trigger when a cue is encountered • Then the behavior is performed automatically

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@tech_christine Think of habits like helper scripts Once you write one, just run it at it works Once a habit is ingrained, it becomes automatic

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@tech_christine

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@tech_christine Example Habits • When you wake up (trigger), you brush your teeth (habit). • When you get to work (trigger), you check your email/slack (habit). • When you get stressed (trigger), you eat cheetos/ chocolate (habit).

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@tech_christine How to form a habit? 1. Identify your goal 2. Create environmental triggers 3. Deﬁne your reward

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@tech_christine Identify the trigger •Figure out existing triggers •Look for something already in your routine •Examples: •Showering •Eating Breakfast •Commuting

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@tech_christine

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@tech_christine The Negative Habit Loop

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@tech_christine Tips for making a habit stick •Find what you like about the habit •Have a habit buddy •Have a way of keeping score •Make it hard to not do the habit

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@tech_christine Treat your habit like a sprint and have a retro

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@tech_christine How will this help Dell? They have a resolution list a mile long • Mark that list oﬀ one at a time Starts and stops trying to tackle procrastination, healthy eating, exercise... • Habits build on habits, start small Lots of to-do lists • Make sure the habit is part of a long term goal Dell Product Designer

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@tech_christine What is the struggle? •Avoids Challenges •Gives up easily •Feels threatened by the success of others Nick Network Engineer

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@tech_christine What is a solution? Growth Mindset

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@tech_christine

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Think of yourself like vanilla software It is just a starting point, can always improve with more add-ons and frameworks

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@tech_christine Belief ➡ Action ➡ Growth

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@tech_christine Questions to challenge why • Why hide deﬁciencies instead of overcoming them? • Why look for friends or partners who will just shore up your self-esteem instead of ones who will also challenge you to grow? • Why seek out the tried and true, instead of experiences that will stretch you?

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@tech_christine

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@tech_christine Fixed vs Growth Mindset I suck at math vs Math has been challenging for me I’ll never be an artist vs I feel dissatisﬁed with all of the art I’ve tried to make I’m not good at handstands vs I haven’t learned how to do handstands yet

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@tech_christine

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@tech_christine How to put it into practice? • Accept you are not perfect, but can improve • Change your perspective on failure and criticism • Don't focus on the end result, focus on the process • Learning fast != learning well

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@tech_christine If you ﬁnd yourself discouraged Remember, “I’m just not good at this yet.”

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@tech_christine Imposter syndrome and mindset • Just a mindset • Like a ﬁxed mindset, it might be helped by focusing on growth xkcd.com/1954

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@tech_christine How will this help Nick? Avoids Challenges •Embrace Challenges for learning opportunities Gives up easily •Only through some perseverance can you learn Feels threatened by the success of others •Find lessons and inspirations in others success Nick Network Engineer

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@tech_christine What is the struggle? • Has a long reading list and no time • Backlog of emails and articles to read • Wants to stay current in tech and business articles Peyton Product Manager

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@tech_christine A solution? Speed Reading

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@tech_christine Reading is a three step process 1. Fixate 2. Saccade 3. Process

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@tech_christine Speed Reading Techniques •Skimming •Meta guiding •Rapid Serial Visual Presentation (RSVP)

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@tech_christine RSVP Example

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@tech_christine Increase your throughput

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@tech_christine Note of caution speed and comprehension can be a trade-off

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@tech_christine A solution? Speed Reading Smarter Reading (which might make you faster)

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@tech_christine Better Reading Technique 1. Skim before 2. Improve your ﬂuency to help your speed 3. Know what you want, before reading 4. For better retention, think and examine the text

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@tech_christine How will this help Peyton? Has a long reading list and no time • Reading time gains will help cut that list Backlog of emails and articles to read • Skim the ones with less retention needed, read smarter with others Wants to stay current in tech and business articles • Will be a thing of the past Peyton Product Manager

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@tech_christine Evette Software Engineer Nick Network Engineer Dell Product Designer Peyton Product Manager Mindfulness Growth Mindset Habit Building Speed Reading # ✒

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@tech_christine Mindfulness Growth Mindset Habit Building Speed Reading # ✒

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@tech_christine What questions do you have?

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@tech_christine Put your comments and feedback here!

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@tech_christine Mindfulness Resources • Timeless Truths for Modern Mindfulness by Arnie Kozak • Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation In Everyday Life by Jon Kabat-Zinn • https://nickwignall.com/how-to-start-a-mindfulness-practice/ • https://www.mindful.org/jon-kabat-zinn-deﬁning-mindfulness/ • https://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/mindfulnessmatters/2016/09/ why-i-meditate.html#Zaf9kZtxufdT1z3W.99 • https://counterculturist.net/mindfulness-meditation-beginners/ • http://bethannvetter.com/meditation-or-attunement? • https://blogs.scientiﬁcamerican.com/guest-blog/what-does- mindfulness-meditation-do-to-your-brain/

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@tech_christine Habit Building • Essential Zen Habits: Mastering the Art of Change, Brieﬂy by Leo Babauta • The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg • https://zenhabits.net/how-habits-are-formed/ • https://zenhabits.net/habit-motivations/ • https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2009/aug/how-long-does-it-take-form- habit • https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-media-psychology- eﬀect/201705/the-habit-replacement-loop

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@tech_christine Growth Mindset Resources • Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol S. Dweck • https://www.mindsetworks.com/science/ • https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5836039/ • http://theconversation.com/growth-mindset-interventions-yield- impressive-results-97423 • https://fs.blog/2015/03/carol-dweck-mindset/ • https://hbr.org/2016/01/what-having-a-growth-mindset-actually- means • https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/tvc/vol34/iss1/6/

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@tech_christine Speed Reading • Language at the Speed of Sight: How We Read, Why So Many Can’t, and What Can Be Done About It by Mark Seidenberg • https://tim.blog/2009/07/30/speed-reading-and-accelerated- learning/ • https://www.scotthyoung.com/blog/2015/01/19/speed-reading- redo/ • https://link.springer.com/article/10.3758/BF03197271 • https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone. 0036091 • https://skeptoid.com/episodes/4229

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@tech_christine christine-seeman.com/talks Thank you to Prairie.code organizers and volunteers! And to all of you for attending today '

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getﬂywheel.com/about/careers