The time management technique that has swept Japan has saved the children who are busy with the final season
Hello everyone, I'm Curly Rabbit.
It's approaching the end of the semester again, and parents in the circle of friends may have the same feeling as me: why do children forget things so quickly when they learned something they learned a month or two ago?
There is less than a month to go before the exam, so many courses to Xi, just think about it makes my scalp numb.
At this critical time, what kind of time management strategies can help children remember a little more without sacrificing sleep?
Recently, I read a book by a Japanese neurologist
"Why Elites Are Time Control"
, followed the practice for a period of time, and felt deeply charcoal in the snow-
Compared with studies in Europe and the United States, this method is more effective for East Asian populations trapped in the vortex of involution.
The core essence is:
Brain
Scientifically control concentration, easily achieve 4 times the workload of others, and enjoy 2 times the entertainment time, which is equivalent to 4 hours more than before every day.
With today's dry goods, there is also a time management schedule at the end of the article to make it more efficient, welcome to pick it up.
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In addition to being a doctor, the author also does self-media on multiple platforms, publishes 3 books a year, reads more than 20 books a month, sleeps 7 hours a day, exercises 4-5 times a week, participates in more than 15 dinners a month, and travels overseas for more than 30 days a year... is a master of time management.
Morning: Five ritual sense up
Brain efficiency
Why do many people have poor time management?
From the perspective of brain science, it is actually the wrong task at the wrong time, resulting in the brain not performing at the level it should be, spending more time, and the efficiency is very low.
This book gives a particularly simple strategy -
Wake up within 2-3 hours in the morning, which is the golden time for the brain to work efficiently.
At this time, if you do tasks that require a high degree of concentration, such as writing, learning English, and doing math problems, you will be 2-4 times more efficient than other times.
The back is related to the law of the human brain's concentration rise and fall.
In 2016, JINES MEME, a smart glasses that can detect eyeball and eyelid activity and determine whether the wearer is fatigued, collected data from 5,000 people and found that:
The most focused time of the day is 6-7 a.m
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After 9 a.m., the person's concentration begins to slowly decline
At 2 p.m., the lowest point is reached, and at 4-5 p.m., it starts to pick up again.
So, the efficiency of 1 hour in the morning is equivalent to 4 hours in the afternoon.
And like
Listening to online classes, watching documentaries, listening in English, reading in English, etc., tasks that do not require a lot of brain cells can be completed well in the afternoon and evening.
If we put the cart before the horse, schedule what we should do in the morning in the drowsy afternoon
, it wastes the golden time of the brain.
Some people will say, "I don't have a clear brain when I wake up in the morning, so what's the most efficient way to say it?" The reason may be that the brain has not been properly activated in the morning.
The author recommends 5 interesting methods:
#1: A 5-minute hot shower after waking up
When we sleep at night, the nerves that control us are called parasympathetic nerves, and our body temperature drops, and our heartbeat and breathing rate slow down, preparing us for sleep.
During the day, the dominance is given to the sympathetic nerves, and we have a higher body temperature and a faster breathing rate to prepare for the activity.
If you wake up groggy in the morning, it means that the parasympathetic nerves are still in control of the brain. One way to activate the sympathetic nerves is to take a 5-minute hot bath in exchange for 3 hours (36 times) of highly focused Xi time. Outdoor walks and jogging have the same effect.
#2: Sleep with the curtains open
When the morning sun shines on us, it stimulates the secretion of a neurotransmitter called serotonin in the brain.
Serotonin controls our daily routine, in the morning when the sun rises, serotonin secretion will increase, in the afternoon to evening, serotonin activity decreases to prepare us for rest, and in sleep, serotonin is almost not secreted, so when we first wake up, serotonin levels are almost zero.
If serotonin secretion is insufficient, people can easily develop depression.
Sleeping with the curtains open allows light to pass through the eyelids to stimulate the retina, causing the brain to start secreting serotonin.
When we are woken up by the sun, the brain already has a certain level of serotonin, and we can quickly switch to a state of efficient learning and Xi.
#3: After waking up, open your eyes for 5 minutes before getting up
If you can't get up if you are woken up by the sun, there is another trick - open your eyes and lie down for 5 minutes.
Because serotonin secretion requires more than 2500 light irradiation for more than 5 minutes, as long as the lighting is not very bad in the room, when the curtains are opened, the illumination can basically be achieved.
And opening the eyes is also to make serotonin production as much and fast as possible.
Don't close your eyes and sleep anymore after the alarm goes off, make sure you try to keep them open!
#4: 5-10 minutes of cardio
There are many ways to boost serotonin production:
Walking, jogging, climbing stairs, jumping exercises, as well as deep breathing, reading aloud, vocal Xi, singing, etc., can be effective for 5 minutes.
The easiest way is to take a walk outdoors for about 15 minutes, which not only basks in the sun, but also exercises, killing two birds with one stone.
#5: Chew well
When we chew, the masticatory muscles will contract and relax rhythmically, which can also promote the secretion of serotonin, allowing the brain to switch to a vigorous and awake mode.
It should be reminded that porridge, milk cereal, and soup that are too soft are difficult to stimulate the secretion of serotonin because they are not chewed hard enough.
It is recommended to give children brown rice, whole wheat bread, pasta and other foods that are more chewable, and it is best to chew 20 times in one bite of food before swallowing it to give time for serotonin to be secreted.
At the same time, there are also things that will turn the brain's prime time into garbage time once you do it, such as watching TV, including watching the news, watching TV dramas, watching videos, etc.
When we wake up in the morning, our brains are like a clean and tidy desk, and the intense visual stimulation is to force a bunch of useful and useless information into the brain.
A disorganized brain is extremely disruptive to concentration.
We will not be able to enter the flow state for a long time, and we will be easily interrupted by the surrounding environment, so the golden time of 2-3 hours in the morning may be lost.
Instead of watching TV and watching videos, it is possible to extend this time to 4-5 hours.
Afternoon: How to focus on 90% recovery?
For us adults, the afternoon is the most common time to touch fish, let alone children.
After a morning of high-intensity study, Xi and work, the concentration has dropped by 40-50% at noon, but if you can take advantage of the lunch break and take some measures, you can completely restore the concentration to about 90% in the afternoon.
Conversely, if you don't take a 60-minute lunch break and don't use it well, you may lose 2 hours of focus time in the afternoon.
#1: Eat out for lunch and boost serotonin
The key behind this is serotonin in the brain, a brain substance that can make people feel relaxed and feel peace & love.
By noon, our serotonin levels drop, so find ways to increase them. As mentioned earlier, basking in the sun, rhythmic exercise, and chewing can all be achieved.
Then, going out for lunch can achieve all 3 goals at the same time. The key is to be sure to get out into the sun, and it's not enough to just go downstairs and grab a bite to eat at the convenience store.
If you cook at home, you can also take food outdoors when the weather is good, and your brain vitality will be restored a lot.
#2: Walk around and activate "place neurons"
When we come to a new and unfamiliar place, the "place neurons" in the brain are activated.
It is a memory cell that is found in our hippocampus and is responsible for the perception of places and spaces, so that we can remember where we are.
When activated, the entire hippocampus will come alive and our memory will be enhanced (so it will be extra effective to memorize while walking).
#3: Close your eyes and activate α brain waves
It's no secret that taking a nap boosts your energy in the afternoon.
But for those who don't have the conditions to take a nap, or really can't sleep, there is a method that is also good for the brain: deprive yourself of your vision and close your eyes.
Scientists have analyzed human brain waves and found that when we open our eyes, brain waves are dominated by high-frequency β, and when we close our eyes, low-frequency α brain waves appear in the brain.
To really rest our brains at noon, we have to activate α.
Close your eyes, block the input of visual information, and your brain is empty, thinking about nothing. Large foreign companies such as Google and Nike are now actively introducing courses such as meditation and mindfulness to their employees, which is also based on this reason.
Of course, it's more perfect if you put on music (hearing), light up aromatherapy (smell), soak in a hot bath (touch) and close your eyes at the same time.
To put it simply, it is to let a large number of complicated visual information continue to bombard the brain, not only can not relax, but make the brain redundant information and more fatigued.
Evening: The second golden period of the brain
Whether it is school or vacation, every night to go to bed, it is only 4-5 hours, and almost every mother will feel that there is not enough time at night.
But by changing our mindset, we can use some of the brain's properties to create another brain prime time for our children.
#1: Exercise first, then Xi
This is very scientific from the perspective of brain science. When we do aerobic exercise:
The brain secretes a type called BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor), which increases the number of nerves in the hippocampus and strengthens long-term memory.
The brain also secretes dopamine, which makes people feel happy and more motivated to study Xi work.
Promotes the secretion of growth hormone.
People who exercise for 150 minutes per month have a 65% improvement in sleep quality, a 65% reduction in daytime sleepiness, and a 45% reduction in concentration problems.
#2: The quality of the 2 hours before bedtime determines the next day's concentration
As mentioned earlier, the brain at night is innervated by the parasympathetic nerves, so switching from the sympathetic nerves during the day actually requires a period of "cooling" time.
2 hours before bedtime, the brain should not be stimulated too much. Otherwise, the next day's concentration will only recover 70-80%.
Things you should never do are-
Eating, exercising, bathing too hot, visual entertainment/watching shiny things (watching videos, playing games, watching TV), staying in places with too bright lights (game parks).
Especially when eating, if you are too full before going to bed, you will not secrete growth hormone when you sleep.
If you want your child to grow taller, keep this in mind.
#3: 15 minutes before bedtime, the golden time for memory
Studies have said that 15 minutes before bed is the best time to remember.
This time period is used for memorization, and the speed and effect can rival 1 hour during the day.
This is because the process of our recitation is to fill the brain with information, and if a bunch of new information comes in immediately after reciting, it is easy to cause obstacles to the organization and fixation of memory.
And reciting 15 minutes before bedtime, and going to bed immediately thereafter, there will be no conflict or above. And when you sleep, your brain will automatically help you prune your memories, fix new memories, and clean out old memories that you don't use.
But on the other hand, be careful not to instill too much in the brain before going to bed, especially negative content.
Good content will be remembered more deeply, and the same is true for bad content.
Many parents will review the situation of the day with their children in front of whom, and it will become a criticism meeting when they talk, and the children may fall asleep with grievances and resentment, which must be harmful to their brains.
Similarly, it is absolutely not recommended to swipe your mobile phone under the banner of "relaxation" before going to bed.
After reading this book, my anxious heart also relaxed a lot.
As many students from prestigious schools tell us:
I've found that the best people in the class are often not the hardest-looking people. And those students who seem to never relax in their daily study and Xi will not be a group of people with excellent grades.
In this book, the author constantly emphasizes that "the brain should work efficiently under the premise of being happy and well-rested".
The motivation to use your time effectively is how to complete a three-hour task in one hour and spend the rest of your time resting, playing, exercising, and spending time with your family. It is highly recommended that you read the whole book, and it is also useful for energy management in the workplace.
I think this is the most needed time management technique for East Asian adults and children who are constantly wound up.
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