Hacking Your Brain For Fun and Prot

Nathaniel T. Schutta

Who am I?
Nathaniel T. Schutta
Frameworks http://www.ntschutta.com/jat/

@ntschutta Foundations of Ajax & Pro Ajax and Java UI guy Author, speaker, teacher

 Sleep Exercise Learning Managing Information Distractions Predictably irrational External Brain Road Blocks

The Plan

trying to code with *all* of the family around is nearly impossible. Normal people don't understand how we nerds concentrate
Brian Sam-Bodden http://twitter.com/bsbodden/status/6896250794

Our brain is our greatest asset.

Despite recent advances, still many unknowns.

Learn more daily.

Neural decoding?
http://www.newscientist.com/article/ mg20427323.500-brain-scanners-can-tell-what-yourethinking-about.html

Often via freak accidents.

Simple steps, big payback.

70% < 8 hours, 40% < 7 hours.

Sleep matters.

Were not sure why we sleep.

Quite vulnerable...

Not about rest.

Brain is incredibly active.

Key to learning.

Aids memory formation.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/ 2009/09/090915174506.htm

Transfer of information.

Use it to solve problems.

Circadian rhythm is in our genetics.

Some genes turn on once every 24, 12 or 8 hours.

http://esciencenews.com/articles/ 2009/04/23/a.biological.basis.8.hour.workday

Lack of sleep hurts performance.

Naps improve it.

http://dilbert.com/fast/2009-05-26/

Think no one naps?

35% of men 18-49 take daily naps.

26 minutes = 34% improvement.

At 3 p.m., brain really wants to nap.

Bad time for meetings.

Part of some cultures.

Sleep deprivation severely affects the brain.

Effects felt within 24 hours.

Blood pressure rises.

Trouble metabolizing glucose.

Immune system suppressed.

Body temp drops.

1959, Peter Tripp stayed awake for 8 days.

http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=mXrANL9aqz8&feature=related

To raise money for charity.

Hallucinations, paranoia.

Randy Gardner stayed up.

For 11 days.

For the science fair...

After 5, mimicked Alzheimer's.

Hallucinations, paranoia.

Interrogation technique.

Skip a night?

30% loss in cognitive skill.

Contributes to obesity.

Feel hungrier.

Leptin goes down, ghrelin goes up.

Sparks cravings, longer to feel full.

Consistently getting only 6 hours a night...

Like skipping 2 nights.

Worse, people didnt realize they were impaired.

http://www.spokane.wsu.edu/ResearchOutreach/ Sleep/documents/2003SLP-VanDongen-etal.pdf

Some people need less...

Insomniac gene?
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/ 2009/09/090916153136.htm

Sleep deprivation is only part of the story.

http://www.ickr.com/photos/kevcole/2327954530/

kevincole

http://www.ickr.com/photos/steve_brace/217149481/

Stevie-B

1/10 are early chronotype.

2/10 are late chronotype.

When are you at your best?

Does that work in your ofce?

We evolved by walking.

A lot.

Up to 12 miles a day.

Any of you walk 12 miles a day?

Brain loves glucose.

2% of mass, 20% of energy.

Generates a lot of waste.

Exercise improves blood ow.

Paves new highways.

Flushes free radicals.

Stimulates Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor.

Improves brain function.

Exercisers signicantly outperform.

Walking desks.

Walking conference rooms!

Walking meetings.

Boeing.

Mayo clinic: ofce of the future.

Learning.

Change is constant.

Must be able to learn.

How do we do that?

Cramming doesnt work.

Elaborate, meaningful, context.

Stories, examples.

Repeat to remember.

Spaced repetition.

Spaced Education.
http://harvardmagazine.com/2009/11/ spaced-education-boosts-learning

Increases knowledge and retention.

SpacedEd.

http://www.spaceded.com/

Questions repeat.

Timing is key.

We forget.

Actually good that we do.

Information decay is predictable.

Not the same for everyone.

Or every fact.

Computers can help.

Piotr Wozniak.
http://www.wired.com/medtech/health/ magazine/16-05/ff_wozniak

SuperMemo.

http://www.supermemo.com/

There is an open source alternative.

Mnemosyne.

http://www.mnemosyne-proj.org/

Learning with lists.

http://lifehacker.com/5192079/ smartfm-boosts-learning-with-lists

smart.fm

https://smart.fm/login

Skills acquisition.

Shu Ha Ri.

http://www.aikidofaq.com/essays/tin/shuhari.html

Learn the principle, abide by the principle, and dissolve the principle.
Bruce Lee

Understanding evolves.

William Schutz.

Simplistic, complex, profoundly simple.

Looks easy at rst...

Lots of confusion!

Quest continues.

Dreyfus model.

5 stages.

Novice - recipes.

Advanced beginner moves beyond rules.

Competent - can troubleshoot.

Procient - self correct.

Expert - intuition.

Rules are key for beginners.

Rules *kill* experts.

Expert = 10 years?

Most folks are advanced beginners.

Dunning-Kruger effect.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning-Kruger_effect

Cognitive bias.

Lake Wobegon.

Incompetent people overestimate their skill.

Competent people underestimate.

Condence trumps expertise...

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20227115.500humans-prefer-cockiness-to-expertise.html

Hmmmm...

Managing information.

Infotention.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/ rheingold/detail?blogid=108&entry_id=46677

Theres a lot of bits out there.

New languages, technologies, approaches.

Books, articles, blogs, podcasts, Twitter...

http://www.ickr.com/photos/paulsynnott/2874663697/

gwaar

How do you keep up?

Attention is precious.

Dont waste it.

Be selective.

Cant read it all.

Consider an information diet.

Pick the areas you care about.

Go deep on that.

Skim the rest.

Selective Ignorance.

Use your friends ;)

Prune aggressively.

If youre not reading it, delete it.

If theyre not updating...

A/B stream.

Take advantage of dead space.

Bring articles to meetings.

Read while waiting.

Listen on the way to work.

Or while you workout!

Books on CD.

Turn off the TV?

Average American - 151 hours of TV a month.

http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/online_mobile/tvinternet-and-mobile-usage-in-us-continues-to-rise/

Two hundred billion hours annually (U.S.)

2,000 Wikipedias a year.

100 million hours a weekend watching ads.

Thats a Wikipedia a weekend. On ads.

http://www.shirky.com/herecomeseverybody/ 2008/04/looking-for-the-mouse.html

Thats a lot of surplus.

Imagine what even a small change might mean.

Distractions.

We cant multitask.

Our kids...maybe.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/10/ weekinreview/10stone.html

16 to 18 - 7 tasks

early 20s - 6 tasks

30s - 5.5 tasks

Doesnt work.

Well, if it involves thought at least.

Driving and cell phones?

Texting = 23x crash risk.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/28/ technology/28texting.html

Driving and distractions.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/19/ technology/19distracted.html

Sure, you can walk and chew gum...

but probably cant text and walk...

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/17/ technology/17distracted.html?hp

IM, email, phone call, music, work?

Variable reinforcement!

http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/001302.html

Linda Stone.

Continuous partial attention.

http://continuouspartialattention.jot.com/WikiHome

Interruptions kill ow.

15 minutes to reload.

Think about debugging.

Youve created a model in your head.

And I stop by to ask about the game.

Sorry about that.

In context vs. out.

Project rooms work.

Its all in context.

Easy to tune out.

Turn off interruptions.

Email, IM, etc.

Set expectations.

Immediate response?

Really?

Email apnea.
http://www.hufngtonpost.com/linda-stone/ just-breathe-building-th_b_85651.html

Zero inbox.
http://video.google.com/videoplay? docid=973149761529535925

Email bankruptcy.

http://www.43folders.com/2006/07/28/email-bankruptcy

GTD.

No meeting Friday.

Quiet time/ofce hours.

How about scheduling meetings for < 1 hour?

http://appft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PG01&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO %2Fsrchnum.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=%2220090119148%22.PGNR.&OS=DN/20090119148&RS=DN/20090119148

Pomodoro technique.

Pick a task.

25 Minutes.

by tanakawho

http://www.ickr.com/photos/28481088@N00/2641260615/

Work.

Take a break!

Rinse and repeat.

Take a longer break!

http://www.pomodorotechnique.com/

Treat yourself.

http://www.dilbert.com/fast/2008-11-20/

Change blindness.
http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=38XO7ac9eSs&feature=player_embedded

Rare things are hard to nd...

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/ story.php?storyId=122561355&ps=cprs

Needles really are hard to nd in haystacks!

Prevalence effect.

We miss rare things.

Beginners Eyes.

Predictably Irrational.

Loss aversion.
http://www.psychologyofgames.com/2010/01/04/ loss-aversion-achievements-and-trial-conversions/

Losses hurt more than gains.

Can you say stock market?

15 c vs 1 c...

73% choose trufe.

What about 14 c vs free?

Same deal right?

Nope.

69% choose the kiss...versus 27%.

$10 gift card...free? Or $20 gift card for $7?

Most take the free one...

FREE is powerful.

With free, we overlook the downside.

Ask a friend to help you move...

Offer him $10. What happens?

Pick up late? Itll cost you.

Guilt vs. pay the ne.

Social vs. market norms.

Delicate balance.

Once a market transaction, hard to go back.

Anchoring.

Companies want a social contract...

But then they cut benets, picnics, etc.

Cant have it both ways.

External Brain.

We forget.

Computers dont.

Neither does paper.

Ideas happen.

Just hits you.

Be prepared.

Capture them when they happen.

Pen and paper.

Hipster PDA, Moleskine, index card.

http://www.43folders.com/2004/09/03/ introducing-the-hipster-pda

Ill remember that later.

Probably wont.

Write it down.

Ideas beget ideas...

Capture them and youll get more!

Youll surprise yourself.

Developer notebooks.
http://gusmueller.com/blog/archives/ 2009/03/developer_notebooks.html

Havent I done this before?

Write it down!

http://eldnotesbrand.com/ http://www.pocketmod.com/ http://www.moleskine.com/index_eng.php

We get stuck.

What is going on here?

Explain it to a coworker.

http://www.ickr.com/photos/clairity/2377357636/

*clairity*

Doodle.

Daydream - helps you solve problems!

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/ 2009/05/090511180702.htm

Take a walk.

Or go for a run!

Indirection can help.

Check your assumptions.

Grab a cube toy.

Put the problem down.

Still nothing?

Sleep on it.

R-mode processing.

Search and retrieve.

Non-verbal.

Not directly controllable.

Runs in the background.

Unpredictable results!

Answer can come days later.

Distract the L-mode.

Prime the pump...hop in the shower.

Brains are very powerful tools.

Simple steps.

Big payoff!

Books
Brain Rules A Whole New Mind Mind Hacks Your Brain: The Missing Manual Lifehacker Nudge

Books
Predictably Irrational Sway The Black Swan Getting Things Done Pragmatic Thinking and Learning Drive

Websites
http://www.brainrules.net/ http://lifehacker.com/ http://www.43folders.com/izero http://www.mindhacks.com/

Questions?!?

Thanks!
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