Two Awesome Hours

Answering every e-mail involves making decisions,

The study suggests that if you want to solve a particularly dicey problem, letting your mind wander by engaging in an unrelated and cognitively easy task can help you find some creative solutions to that problem.

Anxiety is a way of revving us up to be on high alert and ready to react to whatever may come our way.

mind wandering seems to help with the highly challenging task of long-term planning.

Planning not to do something tends to fail. It’s important to plan to take a new action in the moment, which you would prefer to take. Just planning a new action makes it more likely to succeed.

Emotions—even some we may perceive as negative, such as anxiety—are great tools for getting our minds energized and focused for the task ahead.

An implementation intention is a plan to implement a certain action if a relevant cue arises.

The executive functions that the brain handles include decision making (Should I wear a red or a blue shirt this morning?), planning (First I’ll go to the dentist, then on the way from the dentist to my house, I’ll stop to pick up dinner), and holding on to thoughts for a short time while we need them (I need to remember the name of the person I ju

First, as soon as you finish a task, rather than thinking about what you can do easily right away, label this moment as a decision point.

a ten-minute nap helped reduce fatigue and improve alertness as well as a variety of cognitive tasks, with the benefits lasting for about two and a half hours.