This is a guest post from Tracy Alloway, PhD. Enjoy!
Take a Predictable-Time-Off Break (for Working Adults)
>
> Turn off your BlackBerry to turn on your productivity. That’s the
> message from Leslie Perlow at the Harvard Business School. Perlow got
> in touch with the Boston Consulting Group, an elite consulting firm,
> and asked some of its team members to turn off their BlackBerry in the
> evening once a week. They were to be incommunicado. No messages about
> the new text for tomorrow’s presentation, no alert that Hannerty was
> out for blood after the printer paper fiasco, no ping about whose turn
> it was to get coffee in the morning.
>
> At first, this predictable time off (PTO) was looked on with
> suspicion, but soon everyone started seeing benefits: workers were
> happier with their jobs and, more important for the company,
> productivity was up. We know why this is: constant messaging can be a
> drip, drip, drip effect for your working memory, always asking it to
> be on. By giving it a well-deserved break every so often, you can let
> it relax and recharge for more important things, like giving that
> presentation.
>
>
>
> PTO Rules
>
> · Turn the phone off in the evening at least once a week; the
> more often, the better.
>
> · Let others know you won’t be available. If you don’t do this,
> you’ll have some angry colleagues and clients!
>
> · Relax. Take it as an opportunity to unplug, which means stay
> away from the computer! Go for a run, wrestle with your son, or let
> your daughter braid your hair as you tell her a story.
>
> Excerpt from The Working Memory Advantage: Train your Brain to
> Function Stronger, Smarter, Faster. clik
>>>
> Short Bio
>
> Tracy Alloway, PhD and Ross Alloway, PhD have published research on
> working memory in a variety of contexts, from education to aging, from
> happiness to lying, from barefoot running to Facebook. Their research
> has been featured on the BBC, ABC News, Huffington Post, Salon, The
> Washington Post, and Newsweek.
thanks, Tracy
doug
There is more to life than work.
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