Journal

  

  "I never lose, 

either I win or 

I learn."

  —Nelson Mandela

"The smartphone keeps us on automatic pilot and it inhibits us from making healthy choices, as we are responding to life on an automated and unconscious neurobiological basis. We socially isolate, are intolerant of boredom, and are always connected somewhere other than where we actually are at the moment. In short, we are over-stimulated and attention-impaired. Add to this the intoxication and expectation of broadcast capability, where our digital culture places little value on real-time experiences that are not recorded and broadcast; it’s as if our experiences didn’t occur unless witnessed by others. This phenomenon further contributes to the experience of FoMO, or "fear of missing out," which is the idea that we must transmit and bear witness to our lives via social media for fear that we will either be missed or will miss something. Ironically, what we seem to be missing is the present-centered experience of our own lives."

—Dr. David Greenfield, founder of The Center for Internet and Technology Addiction

  

"New research from Johns Hopkins Medical School shows that performance increases due to caffeine intake are the result of caffeine drinkers experiencing a short-term reversal of caffeine withdrawal. By controlling for caffeine use in study participants, John Hopkins researchers found that caffeine-related performance improvement is nonexistent without caffeine withdrawal. In essence, coming off caffeine reduces your cognitive performance and has a negative impact on your mood. The only way to get back to normal is to drink caffeine, and when you do drink it, you feel like it’s taking you to new heights. In reality, the caffeine is just taking your performance back to normal for a short period."

 

--Dr. Travis Bradberry

"We've always known that sleep is good for your brain, but new research from the University of Rochester provides the first direct evidence for why your brain cells need you to sleep (and sleep the right way). The study found that when you sleep your brain removes toxic proteins from its neurons that are by-products of neural activity when you're awake. Unfortunately, your brain can remove them adequately only while you're asleep. So when you don't get enough sleep, the toxic proteins remain in your brain cells, wreaking havoc by impairing your ability to think—something no amount of caffeine can fix."

--Dr. Travis Bradberry