放慢生活节奏是把事情做好的秘诀。

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Every now and then I write an article that unintentionally exposes my own problems. Here I am, pushing self-help content each month, showing people how to live more effectively. Then I begin my research and realize I’ve got holes in my game.

This is one of those articles. It’s about overstimulation. Too often, it is ignored or mistaken for something else. Its effects are vast and ongoing. Learn to avoid excess stimuli, and you’ll unchain an industriousness that was always there waiting for you.

我时不时地写一篇文章，无意中暴露了我自己的问题。我在这里，每月推送自助内容，向人们展示如何更有效地生活。然后我开始研究并意识到我的游戏中存在漏洞。

这是其中一篇文章。这是关于过度刺激。很多时候，它被忽略或误认为是其他东西。它的影响是巨大而持续的。学会避免过度刺激，你就会释放出一直在等着你的勤奋。

The surest sign you are overstimulated

Many of you already know about the danger of social media and flashing screens. It is becoming old science that they impair cognitive function and the ability to complete tasks. Yet people still don’t seem to get how severe the impact is.

Consider this, your eyeballs aren’t just tethered to your brain, they are considered actual brain tissue. Your retina made of the very same substance as your frontal lobe. Technically, when you look someone in the eyes, you are looking at the only visible part of a person’s brain. These organs are the highway for destructive stimuli.

For example, when mice are exposed to screens that resemble cell phones and TV, they perform significantly worse in cognitive tests: mazes, memory, and various forms of problem-solving. When they are less engaged in screens, they move through mazes with cold and natural efficiency. Distractions are ignored.

你被过度刺激的最可靠迹象

你们中的许多人已经知道社交媒体和闪烁屏幕的危险。它们会损害认知功能和完成任务的能力，这已成为古老的科学。然而，人们似乎仍然没有意识到影响的严重程度。

考虑到这一点，你的眼球不仅被束缚在你的大脑上，它们被认为是真正的脑组织。您的视网膜由与额叶完全相同的物质构成。从技术上讲，当你看着某人的眼睛时，你是在看一个人大脑中唯一可见的部分。这些器官是破坏性刺激的高速公路。

例如，当老鼠接触类似手机和电视的屏幕时，它们在认知测试中的表现要差得多：迷宫、记忆和各种形式的解决问题。当他们较少参与屏幕时，他们会以冷静和自然的效率穿过迷宫。干扰被忽略。

Practice dopamine fasting to boost work ethic

I still have days when I look back and wonder what I actually got done. I’m sure I did nothing. But technically, I was still doing things. I was in my bed scrolling Facebook and watching YouTube. I checked my Medium stats a few dozen times. Everything becomes about pleasure. That’s all dopamine hits do. Data scientists are not hired to do what’s best for you. They are hired to boost engagement, which often involves you swirling the drain of app notifications.

This is why dopamine fasting is so effective. You are unwinding your instinct to juke your pleasure receptors. When you actively disengage from this loop, you are priming your brain to engage and get things done without feeling that tug of applications.

The big idea here is cognitive awareness, also called metacognition. The highest performers are great at it. Rather than living like a wild animal, giving in to each whim, they step outside of themselves and observe their performance. They take a critical third-person view. They see the chaos and put a stop to it.

To practice this, take a piece of paper and begin marking a line when you catch yourself itching for a dopamine hit. As you begin marking your paper, you drive awareness of that impulse. It’s not unusual to have 50 lines on your first try. Focus on lowering that number each day.

To take it a step further, notice when other objects trigger bad habits. For example, I have a blue Yeti cup that often triggers me to pour myself a soda. When I hide it, I tend to drink less soda and sugar crash less often. I’m far from a metacognitive master, but it’s a step.

Doing nothing becomes everything

Famed author, Raymond Chandler, had a brilliant strategy for procrastination that I have used for years. It’s called the “Nothing Alternative”:

When you are feeling unproductive, don’t allow yourself to do anything. This means no entertainment devices, no books, nothing. It is very boring. But if you make this rule and allow yourself only to do only one thing, you will find yourself walking the plank and doing that very task. It feels like putting yourself in time out. But you’ll find your task beats the despair of boredom.

Meditation is also extremely effective at the Columbia University,Improve memory and attention span) if you can’t get focused. When I’m most distracted, I close my eyes and focus on not allowing in any thoughts. It is in those moments that mental silence is most difficult. My head is full of chaotic energy and thoughts that gust and jerk around inside of me. But in the end, I feel still and focused. I am prepared to work. Start with 5–10 minutes. A little bit goes a long way.

Why objectives help defeat overstimulation

Robert A. Heinlein once said, “In the absence of clearly defined goals, we become strangely loyal to performing daily trivia until ultimately we become enslaved by it.”

Having goals streamlines your efforts into a tunnel past the noise. There doesn’t need to be a huge checklist. It dilutes task importance. Keep the list simple and short. It heightens your connection to your goal. It fortifies you from useless distractions.

Unlike with mice experiments, we don’t see the results from the “control self” that is outperforming us. Like an efficient mouse, start by knowing what maze you want to get through. Then ignore anything that distracts you from that journey. Stay vigilant. Consider any distraction as a wrong turn in a maze that is hard to come back from.

The takeaway

Too many people are chained to repetitive, unproductive habits that are designed to keep them in a feedback loop. Focus on slowing down your mind. Do this by practicing meditation and having forced disconnect periods from technology. I have a two-hour window each day where no screens are allowed.

Productivity isn’t about getting everything done, it’s about getting the right things done. Have clear goals. Force yourself to do nothing if you are procrastinating. Doing nothing has a habit of turning into doing something. Above all, be selective about what you allow into your mind. Filter out as much noise as possible.

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练习多巴胺禁食以提高职业道德

我还有几天回过头来想知道我到底做了什么。我确定我什么都没做。但从技术上讲，我仍然在做事情。我在床上滚动 Facebook 并观看 YouTube。我检查了我的 Medium 统计数据几十次。一切都变得与快乐有关。这就是多巴胺命中所做的一切。雇佣数据科学家不是为了做最适合你的事情。他们被聘用是为了提高参与度，这通常涉及您在应用程序通知的流失中旋转。

这就是多巴胺禁食如此有效的原因。你正在放松你的本能来嘲笑你的快乐感受器。当你主动脱离这个循环时，你正在准备让你的大脑参与并完成工作，而不会感觉到应用程序的拉扯。

这里的重要思想是认知意识，也称为元认知。表现最好的人在这方面做得很好。他们没有像野兽一样生活，屈服于每一个心血来潮，而是走出自己，观察自己的表现。他们采取批判性的第三人称视角。他们看到了混乱并制止了它。

要练习这一点，请拿一张纸，当您发现自己因多巴胺受到刺激而发痒时开始标记一条线。当你开始在你的论文上做标记时，你就会意识到这种冲动。第一次尝试时有 50 行并不罕见。每天专注于降低这个数字。

更进一步，注意其他物体何时会触发坏习惯。例如，我有一个蓝色的雪人杯，它经常让我给自己倒一杯苏打水。当我隐藏它时，我倾向于少喝苏打水，也少吃糖。我离元认知大师还很远，但这是一步。

无所事事成为一切

著名作家雷蒙德·钱德勒 (Raymond Chandler) 有一个绝妙的拖延策略，我已经使用了多年。它被称为“无可替代”：

当你感觉效率低下时，不要让自己做任何事情。这意味着没有娱乐设备，没有书籍，什么都没有。这很无聊。但是，如果你制定了这条规则并允许自己只做一件事，你会发现自己在做那件事情。感觉就像把自己置身于时间之外。但是你会发现你的任务战胜了无聊的绝望。

如果您无法集中注意力，冥想也非常有效 at the Columbia University,Improve memory and attention span)。在我最心烦意乱的时候，我会闭上眼睛，专注于不允许有任何想法。正是在那些时刻，精神上的沉默是最困难的。我的脑子里充满了混乱的能量和想法，在我的内心汹涌澎湃。但最终，我感到平静和专注。我准备工作。从 5-10 分钟开始。一点点有很长的路要走。

为什么目标有助于克服过度刺激

罗伯特·A·海因莱因（Robert A. Heinlein）曾经说过：“在没有明确定义的目标的情况下，我们对日常琐事变得异常忠诚，直到最终被它奴役。”

有了目标，你就可以把努力简化成一条穿越噪音的隧道。不需要有一个庞大的清单。它淡化了任务的重要性。保持列表简单和简短。它增强了您与目标的联系。它使您免受无用的干扰。

与小鼠实验不同，我们看不到表现优于我们的“控制自我”的结果。就像一只高效的老鼠，首先要知道你想通过什么迷宫。然后忽略任何让你分心的事情。保持警惕。将任何分心视为迷宫中的错误转弯，很难回来。

要点

太多的人被束缚在重复的、非生产性的习惯中，这些习惯旨在让他们处于反馈循环中。专注于放慢你的思维。通过练习冥想并强制断开与技术的连接来做到这一点。我每天有两个小时的窗口，不允许使用屏幕。

生产力不是要完成所有事情，而是要完成正确的事情。有明确的目标。如果你拖延，强迫自己什么都不做。无所事事有变成做某事的习惯。最重要的是，对你允许进入你脑海的东西要有选择性。过滤掉尽可能多的噪音。


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