The best piece of advice I have read about getting things done was written by Frank Tibolt in his book The Touch of Greatness. The rules are simple, only two.

First, write down whatever you that you have to do from the most important to the least. Second, act on it and don't don't stop or move to the next item until you have completed the previous one.

You might want to try this yourself.

Before you call it a day at the office, do a list of things that you have to do tomorrow. Number it and put in on top of your desk before you leave. When you come back to the office the next day, start acting on that list and keep going. Keep at this habit and see the difference that it makes.

Letter To Yourself

When you let your conscious mind take a break from a task, your subconscious mind continues to process the information in the background. Sometimes, insightful ideas will flash into your mind. To encourage this, you can try this exercise.

Sit down and write a letter to yourself about the problem you are working on. Pretend that you are writing the letter to someone who knows nothing about the project; give a good description, including everything that you have done to date. Be as detailed as possible. Don't forget to mention any constraints that are imposed on the problem and what types of solutions are preferred. Then, give your subconscious a deadline. For example, you could write, "I expect a full report by the end of the week!" It may seem silly to write to yourself in this way, but give it a try. Now close up the letter and put it away.

Unbeknownst to you, your subconscious will continue to think about the problem. When the deadline approaches, open up the letter and read it. Chances are that by that point (or possibly earlier) you will have experienced a flash of insight that illuminates a potential solution.

Source: Braingle

What You See Is Not Always What You Do

This is interesting.

ScienceDaily reported  findings of a Dutch researcher' Hemke van Doorn cooperation between two separate visual systems; namely the visual observation system and the other that takes care of the movement. Read more here

Make an Error and Remember Longer

People remember things better, longer, if they are given very challenging tests on the material, tests at which they are bound to fail.

Research by Nate Kornell, Matthew Hays and Robert Bjork at U.C.L.A. that recently appeared in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition reveals at  have found this not too surprising finding.  We all know that if we have a made a mistake about something, more often than not we tend to remember the correct answer longer. This is because we attach an emotional value to the incident.

Another Reason to smile

Psychologists at the University of Cardiff in Wales found that people whose ability to frown is comp­romised by cosmetic botox inject­ions are happier, on average, than people who can frown. psychologists at the University of Cardiff in Wales found that people whose ability to frown is comp­romised by cosmetic botox inject­ions are happier, on average, than people who can frown.

“It would appear that the way we feel emotions isn’t just restricted to our brain—there are parts of our bodies that help and reinforce the feelings we’re having,” says Michael Lewis, a co-author of the study. “It’s like a feedback loop.” In a related study from March, scientists at the Technical University of Munich in Germany scanned botox recipients with fMRI machines while asking them to mimic angry faces. They found that the botox subjects had much lower activity in the brain circuits involved in emotional processing and responses—in the amygdala, hypothal­amus and parts of the brain stem—as compared with con­trols who had not received treatment.

The concept works the opposite way, too—enhancing emotions rather than suppressing them. People who frown during an unpleasant procedure report feeling more pain than those who do not, according to a study published in May 2008 in the Journal of Pain. Researchers applied heat to the forearms of 29 participants, who were asked to either make unhappy, neutral or relaxed faces during the procedure. Those who exhibited negative expressions reported being in more pain than the other two groups. Lewis, who was not involved in that study, says he plans to study the effect that botox injections have on pain perception. “It’s possible that people may feel less pain if they’re unable to express it,” he says.

Source: The Scientific American

Neurogenesis

Neurogenesis is a term that is used to refer to the birth of neurons in the brain. Neurons are the basic building blocks of the human brain. There are more than 100 billion of these cells in human brain. Each neuron has two or more protrusions called dendrites and axons. It receives inputs and produces outputs signals to enable us to live and interact with our surroundings. It was first established in the 1960s following work done by Dr Pasko Rakic of Yale University. Further research done over the years especially the last decade has shown that neurogenesis occurs throughout adult life.

The study of neurogenesis is important to find improved treatments for mental disorders such as Alzheimer, Huntington, epilepsy and traumatic brain injury.Researches have found that neurogenesis occurs in the hippocampus, an area that is associated with learning and memory, and the olfactory bulb, which is the area responsible for the sense of smell. Research shows that thousands of neurons are produced each day but most of these new cells die within weeks. In order for the neurons to survive it needs support from neighbouring glial cells, nutrients and also connection to other neurons.

Though there are many questions that unanswered about what actually triggers neurogenesis, scientists have experimental evidence that neurogenesis is enhanced by:

1) Physical exercise

2) Enriched environment

3) Specific types of learning

4) Certain drugs used as antidepressants

Current research is focused on learning about the new neurons’ contributions to the brain’s activities. Neurogenesis though is still an emerging field, thus far has provided insights about degenerative brain diseases.

Fallacy No3: Appeal To Authority

This is one of the most common fallacy of all time. It goes something like this:

1. Mr N is (claim to be) an authority on the subject S.

2. Mr N. makes a statement C about S.

3. Then C must be true.

Look out for this fallacy. We are more often than not fall for this.