Brain Rules

This is Part Four of the Brain Rules for Bloggers series, based on
John Medina’s Brain Rules. More links at the bottom of the post
(Assuming you aren’t asleep by then, of course!

Brain Rule #7: Sleep Well, Think Well (and blog better)

You there… Yes, you with the Starbucks Grande in your hand, and the dark circles under your eyes. Go take a nap, will ya?

Yes, I know there is so MUCH to blog about. I know about all the social media demanding your attention, the blog design that needs tweaking, the emails you need to answer. I know that the internet is open 24/7, that there is never, ever enough time, and that something has to give — but that “something” shouldn’t be your sleep.

On the surface, sleep may seem like a waste of productive time - but to your brain, snore-time is crucially important.

Denied downtime, your brain begins to falter, affecting mood, attention, working memory, and many other functions. Loss of just one night’s sleep can cause a 30% drop in cognitive function. Lose two nights, and the drop is 60%. More worrisome? The effects of sleep loss is cumulative, according to Brain Rules: “When sleep is restricted to six hours or less for just five nights… cognitive performance matched that of a person suffering 48 hours of continual sleep deprivation”

Ouch. But sleep is more than just a mental restorative to the brain - it’s time spent processing, replaying, sorting, and learning from the days events.

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This is Part Three of the Brain Rules for Bloggers series, based on John Medina’s Brain Rules. More links at the bottom of the post!

Brain Rules #5 and #6: Short and Long Term Memory - Repeat to Remember, Remember to Repeat (and become an unforgettable blogger)

What’s memory got to do with being a better blogger, you ask? I’d tell you, but I seem to have forgotten..

Ahem. Seriously.

Repeat visitors are essential for a successful blog - and that means you need your readers to remember to visit again, and again. Even in this age of RSS feeds, your audience needs to remember why they stay subscribed, why they click on your post titles, why they follow you at all. Both your branding and your content need to hit the “save” buttons in your reader’s brains, because, well… You may offer the best advice in the world, but if your readers forget about it as soon as they leave the page , the advice will never be applied - and your readers likely remember to come back, either.

By applying a little bit of knowledge about how our brains handle memories, you can make your blog and your content “unforgettable” - or at least, less forgettable. [click to continue...]

Continuing the shameless twisting of John Medina’s Brain Rules for my own nefarious purposes, I proudly present:

Brain Rule #4: We don’t pay attention to boring things (so don’t be a boring blogger)

Getting a reader’s attention is crucial for a blogger - keeping it is even more important. But with a gazillion bits of competing information whirling around in their heads, what makes a reader stay focused on YOUR blog post instead of the 3 dozen others cued up in their feed-reader? Learn to apply the basics of the brain’s attention span, and make your blog “sticky”.

In Ten Minutes or Less

The average human brain has about a 10 minute attention span. Even in the best conditions, with few distractions and a desire to focus - attention falters every 9.5 minutes. To keep someone’s attention beyond that, they need to be actively engaged, re-hooked, so to speak.

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Inspired by John Medina’s 12 Brain Rules, I’ve taken it upon myself to shamelessly steal borrow and adapt all 12 rules to the unique-and-special-snowflake needs of bloggers. Want to build a better blog? Start by building a better brain!

Brain Rule #1: Exercise Boosts Brain Power
(even in bloggers!)

Your brain needs exercise. No, not just the mental sort you get from researching for hours on end, practicing creative writing techniques, or mucking around with CSS code, I’m talking about real life old-fashioned get-your-heart-moving physical workouts. Getting the blood pumping increases the amount of oxygen and glucose available to the brain, making it work better *now*. Not only that, but 30 minutes of aerobic exercise just 2 times a week can cut your risk of dementia in half. (We won’t mention the added benefit of reducing blogger-butt-bloat) [click to continue...]

When most people discover a book that really connects for them, they can’t put it down. Me? I can’t keep it picked up!

Contrary, I know. But sometimes an author’s words hit all the right buttons, and my mental machinery gets all wound up and excited. It starts kicking out so many of its own ideas that I’m compelled to put the book down, pick up a pen and notepad, and scribble madly.

Brain Rules is one of those books. It sparked so many thoughts that I had trouble focusing on the book itself. My attempts to focus on a proper review have been even trickier. [click to continue...]