Overloaded circuits why smart people underperform review

They suffer from a newly recognized neurological phenomenon that the author, a psychiatrist, calls attention deficit trait, or ADT. The result is black-and-white thinking; perspective and shades of gray disappear. People with ADT have difficulty staying organized, setting priorities, and managing time, and they feel a constant low level of panic and guilt. Get enough sleep, switch to a good diet, and get adequate exercise.

Break down large tasks into smaller ones, and keep a section of your work space clear. Try keeping a portion of your day free of appointments and e-mail. Hallowell recommends that companies invest in amenities that contribute to a positive atmosphere. To read the complete article, please click here. They pump up your motivation, help you maintain attention, and don't interfere with working memory, the number of data points you can keep track of at once.

But when you are confronted with the sixth decision after the fifth interruption in the midst of a search for the ninth missing piece of information on the day that the third deal has collapsed and the 12th impossible request has come across your computer screen, your brain begins to panic, reacting just as if that sixth decision were a bloodthirsty, man-eating tiger.

Certainly, if a real tiger is about to attack you, survival is the mode you want to be in. But if you're trying to deal intelligently with a subtle task, survival mode is highly counterproductive. When the frontal lobes approach capacity and we begin to fear that we can't keep up, the relationship between the higher and lower regions of the brain takes an ominous turn. Thousands of years of evolution have taught the higher brain not to ignore the lower brain's distress signals.

In survival mode, the deep areas of the brain assume control and begin to direct the higher regions.

As a result, the whole brain gets caught in a neurological catch The deep regions interpret the messages of overload they receive from the frontal lobes in the same way they interpret everything: primitively. They furiously fire signals of fear, anxiety, impatience, irritability, anger, or panic. These alarm signals shanghai the attention of the frontal lobes, forcing them to forfeit much of their power.

Meanwhile, in response to what's going on in the brain, the rest of the body - particularly the endocrine, respiratory, cardiovascular, musculoskeletal, and peripheral nervous systems - has shifted into red alert. In a futile attempt to do more than is possible, the brain reduces its ability to think clearly.

In survival mode, the manager makes impulsive judgments. He feels compelled to get the problem under control immediately, to extinguish the perceived danger before it destroys him.

He is robbed of his flexibility, his sense of humor, and his ability to deal with the unknown. He forgets the big picture and the goals and values he stands for. He loses his creativity and his ability to change plans. He desperately wants to kill the metaphorical tiger. At these moments, he is prone to melting down, to throwing a tantrum, to blaming others, and to sabotaging himself. Or he may go in the opposite direction, falling into denial and total avoidance of the problems attacking him, only to be devoured.

This is ADT at its worst. How can we control the rampaging effects of ADT, both in ourselves and in our organizations? The following four preventive measures go a long way toward helping executives control ADT. First, promote positive emotions. The most important step in controlling ADT is to create an environment in which the brain can function at its best.

When you comfortably connect with a colleague, even if you are dealing with an overwhelming problem, the deep centers of the brain send messages through the pleasure center to the area that assigns resources to the frontal lobes.

Even when you're under extreme stress, this sense of human connection causes executive functioning to hum. By contrast, people who work in physical isolation are more likely to suffer from ADT, for the more isolated we are, the more stressed we become.

The bottom line is this: Fostering connections and reducing fear promote brainpower. When you make time at least every four to six hours for a face-to-face exchange with a person you like, you are giving your brain what it needs. Second, take physical care of your brain. Sleep, a good diet, and exercise are critical for staving off ADT.

Though this sounds like a no-brainer, too many of us abuse our brains by neglecting obvious principles of care. You may try to cope with ADT by sleeping less, in the vain hope that you can get more done. This is the opposite of what you need to do, for ADT sets in when you don't get enough sleep.

There is ample documentation to suggest that sleep deprivation engenders a host of problems, from impaired decision-making and reduced creativity to reckless behavior and paranoia. A good rule of thumb is that you're getting enough sleep if you can wake up without an alarm clock.

Diet also plays a crucial role in brain health. Many hardworking people habitually inhale carbohydrates, which cause blood glucose levels to yo-yo. This leads to a vicious cycle: Rapid fluctuations in insulin levels further increase the craving for carbohydrates. The brain, which relies on glucose for energy, is left either glutted or gasping, neither of which makes for optimal cognitive functioning.

The brain does much better if the blood glucose level can be held relatively stable. When a manager is desperately trying to deal with more input than he possibly can, the brain and body get locked into a reverberating circuit while the brain's frontal lobes lose their sophistication, as if vinegar were added to wine. The result is black-and-white thinking; perspective and shades of gray disappear. People with ADT have difficulty staying organized, setting priorities, and managing time, and they feel a constant low level of panic and guilt.

ADT can be controlled by engineering one's environment and one's emotional and physical health. Make time every few hours for a "human moment;" a face-to-face exchange with a person you like.

Get enough sleep, switch to a good diet, and get adequate exercise.