Welcome back to The Science of Self, where you change your life from the inside out. Today is Thursday, January 18th, 2024. Today's episode draws from Peter Holland's book, Super Brain. In this episode, we'll learn that the brain's flaws and strengths are sometimes the same. The brain wants to make life easier, but this can't backfire and cause us to be lazy and biased. However, none of this is a problem if we maintain awareness and creatively work around our tendencies and limitations. You can check out the full audiobook at audible.com or Amazon or iTunes, and check out Peter Holland's website at bit.ly slash Peter Holland's. Thanks for being with us today, and let's hear the episode.
Speaker:As we have established that we need to focus our attention on a single thing, we can use different strategies to create an environment as free of distractions as possible, which encourages us to enter a flow state and do our best. How it connects to the brain: Attention is one of our main cognitive processes that direct the brain’s focus to one thing or another. However, it is limited, so we need to be smart about what we choose to pay attention to. This technique exploits the neurally based limits of our attention to allow us to focus more effectively and ensure that our brain is storing the information we want and that our focus is on the right place. Here are the main strategies we can use to create an optimal environment that facilitates attention. •Scheduling One of the first causes of distraction is the lack of planning. We feel overwhelmed when we have too many things to do simultaneously. Scheduling can help us focus on a single task and know exactly how much time we have to do it (Schmidt, 2020, Distracted learning: Big problem and golden opportunity). Planning doesn’t come easy to everyone, and some struggle to be consistent with it.
Speaker:It’s worth noting that others might have work likely to have emergencies or unplanned tasks popping up all the time. Try to create broader schedules or account for different situations, for instance, having two possible choices for a particular time depending on requirements. You don’t have to plan the day down to the most minute detail. In fact, for many, this can become more of a problem, as missing a single thing can lead to a chain reaction of missed appointments or tasks. Instead, outline your day in general terms and decide the order of the tasks to do. Allow yourself to focus on a single one at a time and deal with others as they come (Schmidt, 2020, Distracted learning: Big problem and golden opportunity). If you are in a role or a situation when you are likely to get interrupted for other tasks or demands, for example, from other people if working at home or your colleagues in the workplace, consider leaving short spaces of time to deal with their needs or requests if they cannot be postponed. It’s also important to schedule a particular time for checking your email, phone, and messages.
Speaker:Don’t keep notifications on all of the time. Instead, mark it as a task you will complete at one point rather than allow it to interrupt all the rest of the things you are doing. Schedule for interruptions. Keep your schedule at hand. Some people favor digital apps or calendars, while others like a notebook or planner. What’s important is that it’s comfortable for you, and you can easily have it on you whenever you need to check. If you have trouble scheduling in advance, you can focus on the next few hours or take it a day at a time. In addition, one particular variation of this is time boxing.
Speaker:•Time boxing Time boxing is a particular strategic approach to scheduling that involves allocating time boxes or periods to a particular task. During this time, all you will focus on is the task. It’s a good idea to make your time boxes bigger for tasks with cognitive demands, as it allows your brain to plug into the task and reach maximum productivity through a flow state. Time boxing involves allocating a specific period. You can use hard or soft boxes. You need to stop what you are doing with hard boxes once time runs out. With soft boxes, you might continue if there is nothing important to follow, but you note it as a stopping point. Hard boxes are better to start with when you are not used to this way of working (Eyal, 2020, Timeboxing: The Most Powerful Time Management Technique You’re Probably Not Using).
Speaker:It sounds very simple, but it’s a good way of getting our brain to focus. You know that you will get to other tasks eventually, and an alarm can take off the pressure to watch the clock. Time boxing helps you have a clear idea of what you have to focus on and when to stop. •Eliminating distractions Unless you work in a sensory deprivation chamber, you really can’t eliminate all distractions, which is fine. We can focus on the distractions that are the most disruptive ones. First, we have social media, our smartphones, messengers, emails, and so on. We have mentioned that you should set a fixed time when you check your messages and emails. Otherwise, these invade the rest of your time and provide a constant stream of distraction.
Speaker:You can do the same with social media or your favorite sites. If you know that you will have the chance to scroll through Facebook or Instagram during lunch or at another point during the day, it becomes easier to resist the temptation to distract yourself with these. The good idea is to turn off notifications for all your apps and messenger services. If you can, put your phone in plane mode. However, notifications that pop up on the screen or make noise are the worst offenders and immediately make us want to check them, so these should be removed (Glaveski, 2019, Stop Letting Push Notifications Ruin Your Productivity). Many people find it easier to avoid checking social media or the web if they are cut off completely, so the temptation is not there. There are apps and software that can block the Internet or cut off access to specific time-wasting sites and social media while allowing access to the ones you might need for work. Some are “softer” and can be turned off easily, while others are more difficult to disable.
Speaker:Sometimes, a worry is that you might not see an essential message, or people will be upset that they can’t reach you. Let others know when you are off the grid and leave a way of communicating with you if this is a significant concern. For example, a phone call can be distracting, but not the same way as a continuous stream of texts. Other distractions can be harder to deal with. For example, if you are working from home, your family members might assume you are available. It’s important to set boundaries. One good idea is to have a sign that marks when you should not be disturbed like a closed door or an actual do not disturb message. You can also use noise-canceling headphones or white noise and music to help you focus if you are often distracted by the sounds of other household members (Allen et al., 2020, Boundary Management and Work-Nonwork Balance While Working from Home).
Speaker:Regarding your workspace, you might limit the distractions available there. Put your smartphone away and keep the things you are likely to need at hand. For instance, have a bottle of water, a pencil, or the papers you will require there. Having to get up continuously can be annoying and distracting. Pay attention to the distractions coming from your own body. Eat a snack, drink water, stretch. These can help you stop feeling distracted faster than trying to ignore them. •Single task at a time Many people are used to multitasking, but as we have seen, our brain does not like this.
Speaker:While it might help us feel more productive, that is usually an illusion. We get more done when we go task to task (Marchewska et al., 2020, Multitasking Effects on Individual Performance: An Experimental Eye-Tracking Study). Decide what you will focus on and commit to that one task for a specific period. If it’s monotonous or boring, give yourself 15 or 25 or 45 minutes to dedicate fully to this task, and then you can move on. Often, you will finish sooner than that, but giving it your full attention ensures that you won’t just do it better but that it might provide you more satisfaction. •Using flow states Csikszentmihalyi first described a flow state as a state that reflects a full immersion in an activity. When we are in flow, we focus on what we are doing. We are not conscious of the passage of time and might feel that little time has passed when we have been doing the task for a while.
Speaker:It is associated with satisfaction and engagement, and we might not be worried about anything as we do the task (Abuhamdeh, 2020, Investigating the “Flow” Experience: Key Conceptual and Operational Issues). Entering a flow state is a good way of ensuring our attention is directed. It also has other benefits for us. Our brains love being in flow, and it seems good for our emotional health and well-being (Abuhamdeh, 2020, Investigating the “Flow” Experience: Key Conceptual and Operational Issues). In flow, our brains cut down on all extraneous brain activity. We stop worrying, thinking about ourselves (for example, whether we are looking silly or what we have to do tomorrow), and this leads to measurable changes in the electric activity of our neurons. Our frontal cortex works optimally and helps us make better choices and solve problems more effectively (Gold & Ciorciari, 2020, A Review on the Role of the Neuroscience of Flow States in the Modern World). How can you enter this flow state?
Speaker:You have done it before when enthralled by a film, playing a game, having an exciting conversation, or many other situations. Flow happens when we find a good balance between our skills and the task's challenge. Ideally, the task is just as challenging as we need it to be, just a little above our skill level. Too much challenge or excessively high difficulty can put us off the task because of frustration. On the other hand, a task too easy evokes boredom (Gold & Ciorciari, 2020, A Review on the Role of the Neuroscience of Flow States in the Modern World). While we are not always able to make a difficult task easier, we can divide it into smaller and more manageable chunks, reducing the difficulty level. As for tasks that are too boring, you can add more difficulty by adding something known as micro flow. It involves setting constraints (finishing in 15 minutes or doing it only with your left hand), making a game of it, or doing something at the same time, like doodling, playing with a fidget toy, or another thing that adds more stimulation to reduce boredom (Davis, 2010, Using Waiting Time Well: Toward a Theory of Microflow).
Speaker:Flow is easy to sustain and very pleasant to experience. It is a state that our brain relishes and seeks, so it is likely to enhance your motivation for the tasks you know can bring it forth. It’s essential to manage our attention, and author Adam Grant suggests that it’s a better idea to do this rather than just focus on managing our time. When we can pay full attention, our brain works best, but multitasking is akin to self-sabotage, and, what’s more insidious, we can’t always tell just how much distractions affect us. Flaws in our thinking: cognitive biases So, we can’t pay attention to more than one thing at a time, at least, not without having to pay costs in terms of outcomes and accomplishments. And yet, most people believe that they can multitask successfully, with some feeling more productive when they have various things going on simultaneously. This suggests that we don’t have an intrinsic awareness of the things best for our brain or our performance. This is an issue that many cognitive scientists have recognized.
Speaker:When we make decisions or judge a situation, we rarely know exactly why we arrive at a particular conclusion or why we see things in a certain way. Cognitive bias comes in to explain why this happens. A cognitive bias is a mistake in thinking or making decisions we all are prone to making at some point. These are typical errors that can lead to worse outcomes, and they are associated with the way our brain functions. Neural networks have association as their central property, and the brain likes to find patterns in information to combine them. Regarding cognitive information, this can lead to distortions. For example, we might be likely to recognize coincidences as a pattern and act accordingly, leading us to superstitious behaviors (and not just humans, even pigeons’ brains have the same processing flaw). Our brains might make associations that are inaccurate (Korteling, Brower, & Toet, 2018, A Neural Network Framework for Cognitive Bias).
Speaker:For example, imagine that you did not take an umbrella with you, and it rained. Logically, there is no connection, but you might remember other times this has happened and conclude that it will rain whenever you don’t take an umbrella. This is a relatively innocuous example. In other cases, bias can lead to significant harm. For example, many gamblers fall prey to the so-called gambler’s fallacy and make losing bets. Bias can make us hire a worse candidate while ignoring a better one for a job, make a bad financial decision that will make us feel guilty and have a real cost, or trust a person that will trick us. Let’s consider some of the most common cognitive biases. •Halo effect The halo effect involves us judging a person more negatively or more positively based on a single characteristic, usually attractiveness.
Speaker:We tend to perceive more attractive people as smarter, more capable, and more knowledgeable (Talamas, Mavor, & Perett, 2016, Blinded by Beauty: Attractiveness Bias and Accurate Perceptions of Academic Performance). •Misinformation effect The misinformation effect is a bias where receiving new and inaccurate information after a situation can change our memory and perception of the situation itself, even if we know the information was false (Challies, Hunt, Garry, & Harper, 2016, Whatever Gave You That Idea? False Memories Following Equivalence Training: A Behavioral Account of the Misinformation Effect). •Anchoring effect The anchoring effect involves our judgment being affected by any information we received beforehand, even unrelated. For example, if a person sees a large number and then gets to look at a price tag for a product, they are more likely to see it as a fair or low price. Their judgment is influenced by having seen a large number, even if it had nothing to do with the product's price (Furnham & Boo, 2011, A literature review of the anchoring effect). •Bandwagon effect We prefer things that are popular or, rather, those that we see as being more popular. This can apply to political candidates, shows, opinions, and anything else that seems more attractive if it seems favored by the majority (Barnfield, 2019, Think Twice before Jumping on the Bandwagon: Clarifying Concepts in Research on the Bandwagon Effect). •Familiarity bias We usually prefer things familiar to us.
Speaker:When we choose, we favor the brands or products we already know over new ones. This can go beyond product choice to political decisions or life choices that show a preference for the status quo (Blanchard, 2016, Familiarity Bias: Examining a Cognitive-Affective Mechanism Underlying Ideological Support for the Status Quo). These are just a few examples. There are many more cognitive biases out there, and we are all subject to their effects. The truly interesting thing is that we are not aware of these biases or their impact. If asked why we chose one thing over another, we are unlikely to say: “Oh, the person who sold it to me was attractive. Clearly, this means that they were more competent." But the effect remains without us knowing it.
Speaker:Cognitive biases are byproducts of our usually efficient and effective brain and its way of dealing with situations that threaten our survival. We can’t be fully rid of these biases (and believing we are bias-free is another bias), but we can learn about them and account for them to make better decisions. Technique #3: Structuring your decisions It matters little whether you pick orange or apple juice based on your bias. If you choose a workplace or even a career, it matters a lot using this as a guide. Pay special attention to the decisions associated with significant consequences for yourself and others around you. How it connects to the brain: Our brain structures thinking and decision-making processes in a particular way that works most of the time. However, it also leads to cognitive biases, which are common to all of us and can be seen as persistent bugs in our reasoning. They can lead us astray in important choices, which makes it important to know how to neutralize their effects and make our decisions better and stronger.
Speaker:We cannot eliminate our biases because they are intrinsic to our brain’s functioning, so learning about them and reducing their effect is the best choice. Here is where you can structure your decisions. •Recognize that you might be susceptible to bias The first step is very simple. Recognize that you might make biased choices even if you feel objective. Your brain operates in specific ways that are good for your survival, but have side effects. If you account for them, you can improve your outcomes. Even if something feels natural and evident, it might not be so from an objective viewpoint. •Consider the opposite Consider the opposite is a cognitive strategy that asks you to think of any reasons your initial judgment might be wrong, even if it feels right.
Speaker:Ask yourself if there are way you might be inaccurate and make an honest attempt to engage with the question (Korteling, Gerritsma, & Toet, 2021, Retention and Transfer of Cognitive Bias Mitigation Interventions: A Systematic Literature Study). •Seek contrary perspectives, evidence, and opinions It’s easy to find information aligned with our opinions (confirmation bias), but we might need opposing information. This can be more useful, even if it generates frustration. Make a conscious effort to consider information that goes against what you believe to be true. Are the sources reliable? Can you see why someone might believe things contrary to your opinion? This doesn’t mean you must change your opinion all the time. But contrary information can make your perspective more nuanced and effective.
Speaker:Ask advice from contrarians and bring in those who will have a different perspective, whether because of their background or other factors (Wolf, 2012, How to Minimize Your Biases When Making Decisions). •Reframe the problem We take an overly negative or positive view of any situation. One way of addressing bias is to flip the situation around. Find the negatives in a good situation and the positives in a bad one. It can help you get a more detailed understanding and makes your mind more flexible (Wolf, 2012, How to Minimize Your Biases When Making Decisions). •Don’t commit too soon Sometimes, we realize that we have made a mistake, but we have committed to our choice. Don’t make public announcements, and don’t tell people until you are certain, especially in complicated situations. Social pressure can make you dig in even if you learn on some level that your decision was influenced by bias.
Speaker:•Speed and stress don’t help Take your time with complex decisions. When we have to make them under pressure, feeling anxious or tired or rushed, we are more susceptible to bias, and our brain uses the bias to make quicker choices. We can’t always avoid pressure, but taking a few moments to think and breathe in and out can help us make a more rational choice (Korteling, Gerritsma, & Toet, 2021, Retention and Transfer of Cognitive Bias Mitigation Interventions: A Systematic Literature Study). •Use objective measures Sometimes, a good solution is to develop objective measures to determine whether your decision succeeded. Involve checklists, outside observers, and other tools that will help you reduce the impact of bias (Wolf, 2012, How to Minimize Your Biases When Making Decisions). Our identity improves our habits Do you think of yourself as an athlete? Maybe as a gamer or as an entrepreneur or an activist? The question of our identity is very significant.
Speaker:Our brain likes having things that are clear cut and can fit in specific categories. We group the people around us and ourselves in groups. When we feel like we belong to a group, we tend to value the characteristics associated with the group. We get defensive if we attack this part of our identity and view outsiders with suspicion (Abbink & Harris, 2019, In-group favoritism and out-group discrimination in naturally occurring groups). The in-group and out-group biases are powerful and can contribute to negative situations, like exclusion or discrimination or in-group favoritism. But we can turn this tendency around to achieve better results. Technique #4 Shifting your group identity When we link our identity to our habits and everyday practices, it becomes easier to sustain them. Our identity is the narrative we tell ourselves about who we are and who we want to be.
Speaker:It impacts our choices and behaviors: what we do and what we avoid, what type of values we hold and how they manifest in daily life (Verplanken & Sui, 2019, Habit and Identity: Behavioral, Cognitive, Affective, and Motivational Facets of an Integrated Self). How it connects to the brain: Our brains are deeply oriented towards social motivation. Being rejected, for example, hurts just as much as physical pain and occurs in the same brain circuits (Kross et al., 2011, Social rejection shares somatosensory representations with physical pain). Identities are also connected to groups. For instance, if we are part of a movement, we might feel more inclined to give the movement money, participate in their protests, and endorse their values. Our behavior changes if we suddenly have a “break-up” with the cause. Here is an example. A person who belongs to a casual group of friends who get together in bars to drink might engage in drinking and smoking with their friends.
Speaker:This might even become a habit. But if they join a group of fitness fans who jog and drink smoothies, the person might slowly shift the habit of drinking. They will adopt new habits to better fit with their new crew and a better fit with their new identity as a person who cares about their health, exercises, etc. Our brain does not like the state of dissonance that appears when our values and actions don’t match and is very concerned with belonging, so we are more likely to be motivated to fit with our new identity. The technique involves two aspects. First, it can involve finding a group that fits the values and lifestyle habits you want to have. The second is to build a conscious link between this new identity and the habits you will develop every day. •Find a community that lives your values It’s easier to exercise if you surround yourself with people who exercise, talk about fitness and health, and who can support your initiative.
Speaker:This works on several levels. First, joining a group like this can give you access to advice and new experiences that can sustain your new habits. Second, it can motivate you to be more like the people around you, not just to fit in better, though this can be a good reason, but also because you will learn from them and be influenced by their practices (Sani, 2012, Group identification, social relationships, and health). It’s something our social brain is very, very good at. Does this mean that it’s time to break up with all the friends who smoke and watch TV? Not really. Social support and close relationships matter too. However, building new connections with new people can help to shift to a new habit.
Speaker:You might spend less time with the friends whose lifestyle and habits are very contrary to your goals and immerse yourself more intensely into the new group or culture. Just make sure that you feel comfortable with this group and that it does not offer toxic practices, for example, in the case of exercise, unhealthy diets or steroid use. •Attach the identity to yourself Saying that you’re a smoker shows an entirely different level of commitment to the behavior than saying you are someone who smokes. This also applies to healthy habits. Saying you are a non-smoker can help you avoid cigarettes because this avoidance becomes a part of your identity (Sani, 2012, Group identification, social relationships, and health). Sometimes, we start with an aspirational label, e.g., saying you are a non-smoker even if you could not fully give up cigarettes. That’s OK. Imagine your ideal self - the version of you that has accomplished this.
Speaker:It’s aspirational. When tempted or confused, ask yourself: what would a non-smoker do? What would my ideal self do in this situation? This is a way to make better choices and sustain them. It motivates you to keep going, and identity labels have a powerful effect on our brain. We can see it in many situations, and our brain falls for it a lot. A company like Apple, for example, builds a large aspect of its branding around the idea that using their products is not just a consumer choice. It’s an identity choice.
Speaker:People who use Apple products are different. And it works! You can even see the in-group and out-group conflict between Apple and Android users, as it has become about more than just a phone brand. It’s about identity and belonging to a group. Our brain is not perfect. It can make poor choices and is very driven by a host of tricky biases, especially those we are unaware of. Our attention can be limited, and we can sometimes fall into bad habits or the tendency to let our desire for identity and belonging derail us. But when we gain this awareness, we can turn these situations to our advantage.
Speaker:Think of it this way: the brain’s flaws and strengths are sometimes the same. The brain wants to save energy, create shortcuts and make life easier, but these tendencies can backfire and cause us to be lazy, habitual and biased. However, none of this is a problem if we maintain awareness and creatively work around our tendencies and limitations. Takeaways •Brains have limited attentional capacity, and multitasking comes with a switching cost. We can tweak our environment to make the most of our attention and be more productive: we can fine-tune our scheduling strategy, use “time-boxing” and cut down on distractions. It’s easier to get into a “flow state” when we focus on one task at a time without distraction. •Cognitive biases are distortions in our judgments and perceptions, and can undermine our ability to think clearly, especially if they’re unconscious. To make more objective decisions, acknowledge that you may be susceptible to bias, seek contrary perspectives, reframe the problem and don’t act in haste.
Speaker:•Finally, we can use our need for identity to support good habit formation by seeking communities with shared values and deliberately attaching that identity to ourselves. That concludes today's episode from Peter Holland's book, Super Brain. Once again, please take a moment to visit the author's website at bit.ly-PeterHollins.com. You can sign up for some free resources there as well. I'm Russell. Thanks for joining us today, and we'll see you again next Thursday for the next episode from The Science of Self, where you improve your life from the inside out.