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Posts in "Digital garden"

Writing is the best medium for deep thinking

Writing is often seen as the best medium for deep thinking because it offers you a structured way to organize and explore your thoughts. When you write, you force yourself to formulate your ideas clearly and coherently. This process of turning vague thoughts into concrete words helps you better understand and analyze difficult concepts. Additionally, writing allows you to look back on what you have written, so you can revise and improve your thoughts. This reflective aspect makes writing a powerful tool for deep thinking and self-discovery.

Moreover, writing is a way to acquire and process new knowledge. As some writers say, they write not only about what they already know but also to learn about what they do not yet understand. This learning process during writing stimulates critical thinking and creativity, as it challenges you to make new connections and consider different perspectives. By writing, you are essentially having a conversation with yourself, in which you ask questions, seek answers, and deepen your understanding.

Finally, writing offers a lasting and tangible way to capture thoughts. This allows you to revisit and evaluate ideas later, which is important for building knowledge and insight. Unlike fleeting thoughts or conversations, writing provides you with a permanent record that you can review and expand upon. Thus, writing becomes not only a means for deep thinking but also a valuable instrument for personal and intellectual growth.

Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right

The statement “Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right” highlights the importance of your beliefs in what you can achieve. This phrase, often attributed to Henry Ford, suggests that your mindset greatly influences your success. If you believe you can do something, you are more likely to work hard and overcome challenges. This idea is similar to a growth mindset, where you believe that your abilities and intelligence can be developed through effort and hard work.

If you think you can’t do something, it can lead to actual failure. This negative way of thinking can cause you to put in less effort, give up more easily when faced with difficulties, and be less creative in finding solutions. Research shows that how we think about things, like stress, can sometimes have more impact on our health than the stress itself.

In short, the statement emphasizes the importance of having a positive and flexible attitude. Talent and intelligence are important, but often it is our beliefs and the willingness to learn and grow that truly make the difference. By believing in ourselves, we increase the chances of success and personal growth.

Work in a daylit workspace

Natural light is very important for regulating our biological clock, which helps us sleep well and stay healthy. Research shows that daylight can reduce stress and improve your mood, allowing you to concentrate better and work more efficiently. Additionally, natural light can help with certain health issues, such as seasonal depression.

A workplace becomes more productive when there is plenty of daylight. By designing offices to allow a lot of natural light in, companies can ensure that their employees feel better and are more satisfied. This can be achieved by strategically placing windows, using glass walls, or installing systems that distribute light well. This creates a workplace that not only looks beautiful but also helps improve work performance.

Add some art to your workplace for reduced stress and increased creativity and productivity

Artworks can create a calming and inspiring environment, which helps improve the overall work experience. This is because visual stimulation through art can contribute to a positive mood, which in turn reduces stress and promotes a sense of well-being.

Additionally, art in the workplace can stimulate creativity. Artworks can serve as a source of inspiration and new ideas, which is especially useful in creative professions or during brainstorming sessions. By being regularly exposed to art, employees can improve their imagination and problem-solving skills, leading to innovative solutions and a dynamic work environment.

Lastly, art contributes to increased productivity. A pleasant and aesthetically appealing workspace can increase motivation and engagement of employees. When people feel comfortable in their work environment, they are more likely to work efficiently and with more dedication. Moreover, art can serve as a social signal that a company values culture and creativity, which can contribute to a positive company culture and attract talent.

Reduce mobile phone use to improve your life satisfaction, well-being, and health

Research shows that spending less time on your phone can lead to a healthier and happier life. By reducing your phone usage, you become more aware of your habits and make more conscious choices. This can lead to better management of technology. A study indicates that even reducing your phone usage by just one hour a day can make you feel significantly better. You then have more time for activities that make you happy, such as exercising and meeting friends.

Interestingly, using your phone less sometimes works better than completely stopping the use of digital devices. This is likely because by completely stopping, you don’t learn how to manage and control your phone usage.

A videoconference provokes a narrow focus on the screen, which hinders divergent thinking

Videoconferences require participants to focus their attention on a small part of the screen. This limits their thinking processes, which can lead to less creativity and fewer new ideas. Research shows that videoconferences make it harder to come up with new ideas because people have to concentrate on the screen, which narrows their thinking ability.

The body’s response to the visual field plays a role in this. When people are relaxed, their pupils become smaller so they can see everything around them. But in stressful or exciting situations, the pupils become larger and they see less of their surroundings. This works both ways: when you are relaxed, your attention broadens, and with a wide attention, you become more relaxed.

The increased cognitive load during videoconferences, as shown by the increase in pupil size, makes it harder to think outside the box. The need to constantly stay focused on the screen and its interactions means that the brain has less room to wander and make new, creative connections. All of this leads to a reduction in divergent thinking, which is essential for innovation and problem-solving.

Sorting emails into folders wastes a lot of time; use one archive folder and search for emails when you need them instead

Sorting emails into different folders may seem like an efficient way to keep your inbox organized. However, research shows that creating complex folder structures does not necessarily lead to higher efficiency in retrieving emails. The process of manually sorting emails into specific folders takes a lot of time and effort (an average of 67 hours per year!), and these preparatory actions often turn out to be inefficient. Instead of spending time categorizing each email, this time can be better spent on other productive tasks.

An alternative approach is to use a single archive folder for all emails. This method utilizes the powerful search functions that are available in most email programs today. By simply searching for keywords, senders, or dates, users can quickly and effectively retrieve the necessary emails without the need for an extensive folder structure. This not only reduces the time spent organizing emails, but also increases the speed and efficiency of retrieving information.

Additionally, data supports the idea of opportunistic access, where people who rely on search and threading features have more success in finding emails than those who use complex folder structures. This suggests that using a single archive folder, combined with search functionality, is a more practical and efficient approach to email management. It not only simplifies the process, but also utilizes modern technology to increase productivity.

Decision fatigue only affects people who believe that willpower runs out quickly

Psychologist Carol Dweck has discovered that how we think about willpower affects how tired we feel after making decisions. People who believe their willpower is quickly depleted often feel exhausted after a difficult task. However, those who believe that willpower is not quickly depleted are less affected and may even perform better after a challenge.

This idea is related to Dweck’s theory of the “fixed mindset” and the “growth mindset.” People with a fixed mindset believe that their abilities and resources, such as willpower, are fixed and limited. This can cause them to become tired more quickly and give up more easily when faced with problems. People with a growth mindset believe they can grow and that their willpower can be replenished, allowing them to better handle difficult situations.

To believe that willpower is not limited, you can start by challenging this thought. This can be done by achieving small successes in situations where you would normally give up, and using these successes as evidence that your willpower is stronger than you thought. It is important to realize that the moment just before giving up is often the hardest, but pushing through can lead to a change in your way of thinking and a stronger belief in your own resilience.

Keep essential information in your mind so you can access it quickly without having to look it up

It is important to keep essential knowledge at hand so you can use it immediately when needed. This means training your brain to recognize and remember important information, allowing you to respond faster and better in different situations. This process helps you become less dependent on external tools because you already know a lot yourself.

An important part of this is actively engaging with information. This means not just reading or hearing information, but also working with it by discussing it, trying it out, and applying it in different situations. This helps you remember the information better. It is an ongoing process of learning and repetition, training your brain to recognize patterns and automatically come up with solutions. This way, you can act quickly without first having to search for information.

While digital tools can be handy, it is important to first make the most of your own brain. This means investing time and effort in truly understanding the information you encounter. By filling your brain with knowledge and actively using it, you build a strong foundation that allows you to respond quickly and effectively to new challenges and situations.

Zoom prioritises refresh rate over resolution for camera streams, so presentations shared over a virtual camera are not as crisp as screen sharing

Zoom chooses to prioritize speed over image quality when streaming camera footage. This means that if you use a virtual camera in a Zoom meeting, the images are often less sharp than when you share your screen. Zoom ensures that the video runs smoothly, meaning the images move faster but are less sharp. This is done so that the video does not stutter when someone is speaking.

When you share your screen, image quality is more important. This is because you often share static images or text that need to be clearly readable. Therefore, Zoom makes the images sharper, even if they move less smoothly. This difference means that virtual cameras, which Zoom sees as regular cameras, are always less sharp. As a result, presentations via a virtual camera may appear less sharp than via screen sharing.

There are ways to improve image quality if you still want to use a virtual camera. Zoom has screen sharing features that you can use to enhance quality. For example, you can use the share “Content from a a 2nd camera” option and adjust the settings by choosing “Optimize Screen Share for Video Clip”. This can help find a better balance between speed and image quality, depending on what you need and what your computer can handle. Until you have a more powerful computer, it may be wise to avoid virtual cameras and instead use Zoom’s screen sharing options.