Exploiting The Brain
Alena Holligan

@sketchings

sketchings.com
Wife and Mother of 3 young children

PHP Teacher at Treehouse

PHP Users Group Leader

Women Who Code Leader
For Fun And Profit
Your Most Important Tool
Physical
Learning
Memory
Everyone With A Brain
Stand Up
Read Aloud
enthusiastic
motivational
fascinating
enjoyable
fun
humorous
useful
beneficial
simple
profitable
valuable
easy



Rearrange Sentence
Talk This Beneficial Is
Fascinating
Priming
Elderly Priming
Words: Old, Gray, Florida
Significantly longer to walk to the
elevator
Done on psychology students
Did the priming influence you? NO
Why? Make things up
We don’t say “I don’t know”
instagram.com/ginalee/
Physical
Sleep, Food & Exercise
Sleep
-Leo J. Burke
"People who say they sleep like a baby
usually don't have one."
Question:
How Much Sleep Do You Get?
Sleep Experiment
5 days mimicked Alzheimer's
hallucinations and paranoia
30% loss in cognitive ability
after 1 night
Physical Affects: blood
pressure, immune system,
body temp
Factor to obesity
trouble metabolizing
glucose
feel hungry
get cravings
longer to feel full
Didn’t Feel Impaired
Some People Need Less
insomniac gene
Probably Not You!
Analyze
How much do you need, sleepcycle.com
Wake up at the same time everyday, even weekends

- go to bed when you’re tired
Go to bed at the same time everyday

- wake up without an alarm
Write down how you feel, multiple times

- both physically and emotionally
morning lark (1/10)
night owl (2/10)
play to your strengths
When Are You
At Your
Best?
Sleep Hacks
90 minute cycles
Create a routine
Turn off electronics or f.lux
Stop caffeine
Cool and Dark
Room/Bed is Sacred
SOUND
SMELL
Quick Tip
Naps Improve Performance
26 min nap = 34% improvement ~ army
Everyone With A Brain
Stand Up
Exercise
Why Exercise
improves blood flows
clears waste (in your brain)
improves performance
actually makes brain bigger
Walking Desks
Walking Meetings
Boeing
Mayo Clinic
Start your day with Yoga
Quick Tip
Time Out App
Exercise for 75 minutes to maximize
mortality reduction by 20%
Food
Food As Fuel
Brain adores glucose
2% of mass
20% of energy
Your brain needs fat
Protein signifies full
Balance: carbs, proteins
and fats
Water
Supplements
Caffeine and Alcohol are
drugs, use carefully
Quick Tip
Drink Water
Change the way you think about food.
Find a good supplement
Learning
Assimilated Knowledge
Learned
Integrated with existing knowledge
Remembered over time
Deployed as Behavior
Learned
Use multiple modalities
Attention needs engagement
Elaborate, Meaningful, Context
Stories and Examples
Integrated With Existing
Knowledge
Make it yours - do something with it
Teach
Remembered Over Time
Forgetting stuff is a feature not a bug
Take frequent breaks
Follow up
Spaced Repetition (The Mnemosyne Project)
Deployed As Behavior
Have the right attitude
Make it a habit - habitica.com
Quick Tips
Make up crazy story
Smells and Sounds
Location
Everyone With A Brain
Stand Up
Managing Information
Bombarded With
Information Overload
new languages
new technologies
new approaches
conferences
books
blogs
podcasts
social media
Continuous Partial
Attention
Attention Is Precious
Be Selective
Information Diet
Selective Ignorance
Pick something you
care about
Skim the rest
Use your friends
Prune Aggressively
If you’re not reading it
delete it
Email Is Like Gambling
variable reinforcement
Turn Off Interruptions
TV
Email
Facebook
Cell Phone
Productivity
Inbox Zero (declare bankruptcy)
Getting Things Done (GTD)
Pomodoro Technique (Agile)
Sounds (focusatwill.com)
Location, Location, Location
Quick Tip
External Brain
Capture ideas to generate more ideas.
We Forget (No, you wont remember!)
Computers Don’t Forget
Paper Doesn’t Either
Wiki is a great tool for teams
Final Review
Final Review
Mindfulness
Balance
Quality over Quantity
Engage your Senses
Try new things
Write it down
Don’t forget to breathe
Resources
Books
Pragmatic
Thinking and
Learning
Predictably
Irrational
A Whole New
Mind
Getting Things
Done
Your Brain: The
Missing Manual
The Secret
Code of
Success
Brain Rules
Mind Hacks
Sway
Nudge
Drive
Websites
brainrules.net
lifehacker.com
43folders.com/izero
MindHacks.com
FocusAtWill.com
ted.com
emotiv.com
OpenBCI.com
There’s An App For That
sleepcycle.com
justgetflux.com
dejal.com/timeout/
habitica.com
coach.me
Pomodoro
How Do You Eat An ElePhpAnt?
…one bite at a time!
Take One Small Bite
Today
Alena Holligan

@Sketchings

Sketchings.Com
Wife and Mother of 3 young children
Teacher at Treehouse

PHP Users Group Leader

Women Who Code Leader
https://joind.in/talk/8d5b0

Presentation Bulgaria PHP