Photo Credit: PhotoJonny

From Driven by Paul R. Larence and Niten Nohria:

All of these events [debunking of belief systems] have led people to a cynical and severely skeptical view of the world and even to a loss of faith in the possibility of further human development and progress. This has led them to a refusal to believe and to a fear of any general explanation of human existence or positive vision of the future. 

This segment was taken from a chapter discussing the intersect of the drive to defend and the drive to learn. Humans in general have a drive to learn and make sense of the world. This is what leads people to religion, science, spirituality, communism, etc. The last 150 years according to the authors has been a story of debunking on belief system to another. This has lead to an existence where out of self defense, people choose not to have a system not based on belief but of criticizing others' belief systems. I will admit that I to fall habit of this from time to time.

This behavior unfortunately expands well beyond the search for meaning, here are some other areas that people fall victim to a sort of paralysis by analysis:

Diet

No matter what you choose to eat, like eggs for example, there will be one "expert" saying eggs are good for you and another "expert" taking the opposite stance. A person trying to eat a healthier diet does not know who's right and just gives up and returns to their diet of high fructose corn syrup that the government, through corn subsidies, says is good for them.

Exercise

Cardio, weight training, yoga, pilates: which should I do to lose weight? The whole fitness industry is a sham. Magazines will tell you to do start running one month and the next month they tell you its bad for your knees. Then they tell you to use machines instead of free weights because you are less likely to hurt yourself, but the next month they tell you to use the free weights because the machines don't use all the stabilizer muscles. The idea is to keep you confused so they can move you from one product to the next keeping sales high. Those trying to lose weight end up back on the couch because of all of the conflicting stories even when picking one thing, anything, and sticking to it would be better.

Environment

Paper bags waste trees, plastic bags are made from oil cause us to go to war, disposable is better because you use less water, reusable is better because it keeps disposable crap out of the landfill. A very similar problem to that discussed above in exercise. The best solution could be to not buy anything, but the retailers would never tell you that!

Domestic or Foreign; Local or Global

Foreign products come from sweatshops; Any money is better than what they had before; Buy domestic to keep jobs here; Domestic labor unions drive up prices and bankrupt companies with pension plans that ultimately require a government bailout; I just can't buy anything any more without feeling guilty!

The list goes on, and on, and on. What to do? Stop listening to people. Turn off the TV, computer, radio, and anything else that bombards you with advertisements. Go on a low information diet. Spend the time that you would normally be wasting doing one of these activities and instead reflect on what you truly believe the right answer is. Come up with your own belief system, one in which only you can debunk as you advance through life. Stop letting others determine what you think. 

-Rex

Photo Credit :stevendepolo

Most of us have identity and self-esteem issues. We don't like what we see in the mirror, we are constantly paranoid about what people might be saying about us, and we place low value on ourselves as individuals and our work. This is what makes it difficult for people to give and receive complements. We are afraid to give them because we think the receiver will take it the wrong way, and we assume the person is being insincere when giving us a compliment.

Compliments are very important, however, because if given the right way they can make the other person happier. Working, living, and associating with happy people will elevate your mood as well. So, how can we compliment someone in a better manner?

Be Selective

When you complement someone, you want it to mean something. Do not be effusive in your praise to someone. If you compliment someone every time you see them it will stop being praise and at a point start becoming brown-nosing. Constantly complimenting someone waters down the value. If you are selective and choose the right moment to issue a compliment it will carry more weight.

Be Specific

When you compliment someones appearance, pick a specific part of their outfit or a certain characteristic about there hair and makeup today. Don't just say you look pretty. Complimenting a specific trait shows that you are attentive and genuinely care. Same goes for complimenting an action or a performance such as there work on a project. Pick out something distinct and explain how this action effected you in a positive way. 

Location

Complimenting a person in public requires a different strategy than complimenting someone in private. In a crowd, people are often more defensive and may take the compliment the wrong way. Even if you have the best intentions, what you say may be misunderstood. Be extremely particular with your word choice. In private, people will let their guard down and be more receptive to what you have to say.

Body Language

Body language is crucial because much of what someone is communicating shows up through body language rather than words. Pay close attention to your smile, eye contact, and touch. People notice when you roll your eyes or put up a phony smile. Do not compliment someone unless you truly mean it because your body language will tip the other person that you are being insincere.

This post was inspired by an article from Elizabeth Bernstein of the Wall Street Journal titled Why Do Complements Cause So Much Grief?

Photo Credit: susanvg

Think you are a good multi-tasker? Think again.

Since you are reading this post, I will assume you are at a computer. You probably have many different applications going on right now and many more processes running in the background. It would appear that your computer is an excellent multi-tasker. What the computer actually does however, is line up the processes and loops through them one by one, spending a fraction of a second on a process, executing the next step, and moving on to the next process. The loop is executed so quickly that to the human eye, it appears the computer is multi-tasking.

Now the sample computer just described is using a single core processor. A duel core processor can handle two processes simultaneously and so on.  Each core can be considered a "brain" in the computer. A quad-core computer has 4 "brains". The last time I checked, humans still only have one brain and therefore function in a similar matter to the single core processor. The only difference is computers can block out other distractions more efficiently than humans. Computers don't make errors.

When a person attempts to handle multiple processes, to continue with the computer lingo, simultaneously we end up performing each task slower while increasing our odds for error. There is plenty of research to prove this, which is why many states are passing laws regarding using cell phones while driving. It is too dangerous for us to attempt to perform both tasks at the same time.

Multitasking will not increase your productivity but rather inhibit it. Batch work and uni-tasking, focusing solely on one task will produce better results at a faster rate.

Remember that doing two things at once is doing two things poorly.

-Rex

For more info on not multitasking check out these sites:

Zen Habits

The Minimalist Path

Getting Things Done an excellent resource for tips on batch work

Four Hour Work Week 

Articles on the inefficiencies of human multi-tasking

Human Multitasking

Think Your Multi-tasking, Think Again.

Multi-Taskers bad at Multi-Tasking