Which Came First to Attention: Consciousness or Unconsciousness?
National Public Radio played an interview with Cal Tech scientist Cristoff Koch speaking on the source of consciousness. I looped around in my head for a while looking for a landing spot to store and process his concept. The best I could do was to believe he was saying the less you pay attention the more you pay attention. It’s like dreaming for answers; disconnect the left/logical brain from the right/creative brain and you’ll be there, wherever that is.
It oddly made sense to me since I use dreamwork with clients for brainstorming and problem solving. In other words the less you try to force a solution the more clear the solution becomes. Daydreaming really works and is a form of consciousness that is sorely underrated. So if you’re looking to solve that dratted math problem stop trying so hard to pay attention. Let your eyebrows relax. Move in to your unconscious to find the answer.
Do I have this right? What do you think?
Napping Impacts Attention
Nap to Improve Business Relationships
Napping for Business Attention
Remember when George Costanza in ‘Seinfeld’ had a bed built under his desk at work? It seems he wasn’t off the mark at all! Reported by Behavioral Health Care Journal this week, napping is now encouraged at the office for an increase in sociability. Finally, I can nap and quote a study that shows it’s not only good for people in the South American countries, but for everyone. Today on Oprah, Dr. Oz supported the need for 7-9 hours of sleep per night – it’s even supposed to help reduce weight! Now that’s something to pay attention to.
At the SLEEP 2009 conference in Seattle last week, researchers from the University of California – Berkeley revealed results of a study that ‘showed naps with rapid eye movement sleep refresh the brain’s perception of positive emotions.’ It seems study participants taking a 60 to 90 minute nap mid-day with REM sleep were much more receptive to happy facial expressions than those who didn’t. In fact, participants without a nap had an increased reaction to negative emotions. Have you ever been called cranky because you reacted to the way someone looked at you after 3 p.m.?
Once again we learn that we knew all we needed to know in kindergarten – a nap a day keeps you alert to pay attention.
BHC Journal interviewed two of the principal investigators of the study who were at the conference: Dr. Matt Walker, Professor of Psychology and Director of the University of California – Berkeley Sleep and Neuroimaging Laboratory, and senior research scientist Ninad Gujar.
http://www.bhcjournal.com/default.aspx?articleId=29692&tabid=252
Business Daydreaming Believers
DayDream for Business Inspiration
Let's Become a Daydream Nation
A small to mid-size business owner walks in the door for another day’s work bombarded by the office crisis du jour as well as customers calling and meetings beginning to run late. How do you stay focused and what do you pay attention to first? and last? What has prepared your attention attitude for this daily management while maintaining the vision that grows the business? And is it any different for the stay-at-home mom or independent business owner? Try daydreaming, says Kalina Christoff of the University of British Columbia in Canada, http://www.livescience.com/health/090513-daydream-brain.html. Her study ”shows our brains are very active when we daydream – much more active than when we focus on routine tasks,” Christoff said.
According to one CEO, Greg Thompson of Atlanta’s Thomco, Inc., it’s the time you take away from the office that prepares you for the office, something he learned from his father, Roy Sr.. For instance, Mr. Thompson is a member of a CEO group that meets one day a month, every month. There he and the other members spend time brainstorming ideas, co-creating solutions and supporting their visions together. They invigorate each other, sharing the passion for excellence in business. But it’s also the time you allow yourself to drift and stare out the window.
What? Daydreaming in the office? It seems I was working very hard after all in school. But visionary CEO’s and small business owners make daydreaming work for them. Going back to my blog on Daniel Pink’s book, “A Whole New Mind” this is the cultural creativity that he says is able to ‘activate this right hemisphere capacity…as we transition out of the Information Age.’ The Rev. John Strickland from Unity Atlanta referred to the value of taking the biblical sabbath Sunday, June 7, 2009. He expanded the one-day concept to complete breaks from the work environment, using the sabbatical that some companies and universities give to their employees to refresh and reinvigorate their commitment to work.
What if you can’t get away? Take a mini-sabbatical and Business Daydream with me in your office! Business Daydreaming is just a call away. Let me guide you on a short daydream in your office, to refresh and lighten your day. This is a simple exercise of focused daydreaming on the topic of your choice, perhaps the problem that won’t resolve no matter how hard you think about it. Don’t think. Daydream. Put a one-hour weekly daydream on your calendar today.
What if you could take your business to the next level and Business Daydream at the same time with Maureen? Hmmm…
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