Discover the full collection of #ThinkfullyHabits
When facing a problem, our confidence can fluctuate – and widely so. Psychologist, Daniel Kahneman, called over-confidence, ‘the most significant of the cognitive biases’. In getting to grips with this bias it’s critical to understand when we are most prone to it.
Read MoreCreativity can appear mysterious. It's impossible to force ourselves to be creative and have ah-ha! moments because so much of what the brain does behind the scenes doesn't involve our direct attention or control. But, what if something as simple as briefly drifting into sleep could help?
Read MoreWhat are the next two letters in this series - O, T, T, F, F…..? Sleep pioneer, William C. Dement, set this challenge to 500 students, with an instruction to think about the problem for 15 minutes before going to sleep and to write down any dreams they remembered as they awoke.
Read MoreDo you struggle to get out of bed in the morning? If so, it could be your advantage. Cognitive neuroscientist Mark Jung-Beeman suggests that when we’re stuck on a difficult problem, one of the best things we can do is set our alarm clock to go off a few minutes early.
Read MoreTake this challenge: You have a cardboard box full of sand and some buried coins. You’re given a set of chopsticks and a spoon. Without tipping the box over or touching the sand with your hands, how do you get the coins out?
Read MoreYou are taken into a room with a table which has three items laid out i) a box of tacks ii) a book of matches iii) a candle. Your task is to attach the candle to the wall using any of the items available, without the candle wax dripping onto the table below. What do you do?
Read MoreIf we asked 100 people, how many do you think mull things over or sleep on things as part of how they routinely work? What’s your best guess?
Read MoreHow are you feeling? It turns out that your mood could be the difference between solving a problem, or not.
One evening, single parent Jerry Swartz simply wanted to occupy and entertain his three children so he brought home a laser pointer to show them. He started by shining the light onto different objects in the house and eventually started to shine the pointer onto moving objects to keep them engaged. They were simply relaxed, happy and everyone was in a good mood. Then he recounts that unexpectedly, “I knew I had it.”
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