Want To Be More Productive? Start by Doing Less
Writer Oliver Burkeman, psychologist Laurie Santos, and organizational psychologist Melanie Katzman discuss the illusion of perfectionism, the signs of burnout, and the limits of productivity. According to their research, the constant drive to improve often leaves people more exhausted and less productive – even if their intentions were to grow, improve, or achieve bigger goals. Together, they explain how accepting “good enough” and finding value beyond work can lead to greater balance and lasting happiness.
2:59 Series: Brain BriefsRelated Videos [03]
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Willpower Likely Won’t Save You from Your Bad Habits. Science Explains Why
Your brain makes habits stick. The good news? The same science shows how to replace the bad ones. Why are bad habits so hard to break? Neuroscientist Carl Hart, PhD, journalist Charles Duhigg, and psychologist Adam Alter, PhD explain how your brain wires habits as cue-routine-reward loops that control nearly half of your daily life. They show why willpower alone rarely works, why technology fuels new forms of addiction, and why habits can only be replaced, not erased. About Carl Hart, PhD: Dr. Hart is an Associate Professor of Psychology in both the Departments of Psychiatry and Psychology at Columbia University, and Director of the Residential Studies and Methamphetamine Research Laboratories at the New York State Psychiatric Institute. A major focus of Dr. Hart’s research is to understand complex interactions between drugs of abuse and the neurobiology and environmental factors that mediate human behavior and physiology. About Charles Duhigg: Charles Duhigg is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and the author of The Power of Habit, which spent over three years on bestseller lists and has been translated into 40 languages, and Smarter Faster Better, also a bestseller. Mr. Duhigg writes for The New Yorker magazine and is a graduate of Yale University and the Harvard Business School. He has been a frequent contributor to CNBC, This American Life, NPR, The Colbert Report, NewsHour, and Frontline. About Adam Alter, PhD: Adam Alter is an Associate Professor of Marketing at New York University’s Stern School of Business, with an affiliated appointment in the New York University Psychology Department.
6:52 Series: Brain Briefs)
The Art and Science of Failing Well
Failure is inevitable, but your response to it is a choice – and it makes all the difference. Journalist Tim Harford, PhD, psychologist Tal Ben-Shahar, PhD, and organizational behavior expert Robert Sutton, PhD, reveal how failure can become the foundation of success when it’s examined and built upon. Reframing failure as information, rather than a personal setback, is what sets productive thinkers apart.
6:16 Series: Brain Briefs)
3 Experts Explain Your Brain’s Creativity Formula
What makes the human brain capable of creativity? Neuroscientist David Eagleman, creativity researcher Scott Barry Kaufman, and productivity expert Tiago Forte each explore a different part of the puzzle: how humans evolved additional cortical “space,” how imagination builds on the knowledge we gather, and how organizing your thoughts in a “second brain” helps ideas take shape. Together, their perspectives explain why creativity depends on storing, combining, and transforming the raw material we collect over time.
2:56 Series: Brain Briefs