SCIENCE: Relaxing Makes You More Creative

Image via INC

You've probably heard the saying "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy." I suspect that most people interpret this as a comment on Jack's personality: He's "dull" because all he can think or talk about is work.
But that's not what the saying actually means. According to the latest neuroscience, overwork makes your brain "dull" in the sense of being the opposite of "sharp." Overwork, in other words, kills your creativity.
Scientists studying brain scans recently discovered that moments of creativity take place when the mind is at rest rather than working on something. And since creative approaches are so crucial to success, workaholics are working themselves out a job." That's why you should relax when you procrastinate, you'll probably end up doing a more creative job anyway! Read full article by Geoffrey James in INC. E.T.P. 5'

DESIGN, BUSINESS & INNOVATION

Photo: Luke MacGregor/Reuters via The Atlantic.

Here a very interesting article on the virtues of working less, which for us of course means worrying less about occupying your time with meaningful procrastination activities like visiting galleries, picnicking outdoors when the sun is shining, exercising or simply clicking on another tab and devoting 5 minutes to reading an inspiring article, instead of engaging into a starting contest with your computer screen just for cultural inertia.

"Even though the amount of time you work tends to match how productive you are as if on a sliding scale, length of work and quality of work at a certain point become inversely related. At some point, in other words, the more you work, the less productive you become. 

For example, working long hours often leads to productivity-killing distractions. Such is an instance of the saying known as Parkinson’s law, which states that work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion. Work less, and you’ll tend to work better.

Many people are still stuck on the fundamental importance of work compared to free time: the structure it gives, the purpose it affords, the morality it signifies. But what if we viewed leisure time not as goofing off, but as necessary time for reflecting, for inspiring creativity, and for saving up brainpower and energy for future work?" Read full article in The Atlantic. E.T.P. 7'

Illustration via Wired.

Mat Honan liked everything he came across in Facebook for 48 hours, here's what he has to say about his experiment: "The like and the favorite are the new metrics of success—very literally. Not only are they ego-feeders for the stuff we put online as individuals, but advertisers track their campaigns on Facebook by how often they are liked. A recent New York Times story on a krill oil ad campaign lays bare how much the like matters to advertisers. Liking is an economic act.

I like everything. Or at least I did, for 48 hours. Literally everything Facebook sent my way, I liked—even if I hated it. I decided to embark on a campaign of conscious liking, to see how it would affect what Facebook showed me. I know this sounds like a stunt (and it was) but it was also genuinely just an open-ended experiment." Read full article in Wired. E.T.P. 7'

DESIGN, BUSINESS & INNOVATION

Photo via Esquire.

Esquire Magazine welcome us all to the future, a future in which we can all (finally?) be porn stars. "Sex With Google Glass is a new App set to revitalise your frankly analogue sex life by enabling you to star in your own porn movie. In short, you’re going to be able to: film your sex from every angle using your glasses and your iPhone, swipe between views, see the action through each other’s eyes, turn the lights off and play music (with voice command) and get suggestions for your next position." Read full article in Esquire. E.T.P. 4'

Photo: Postcard by PaperChase. The Procrastinator (some) Times archives.

Sarah Horowitz in Fast Company talks about how American freelancers are redefining the term success and how there is a radical ongoing shift happening in America's economy and work culture. I honestly hope she's right. "The nation’s 42 million freelancers are rewriting the definition of success--and it has nothing to do with gold watches, but everything to do with time. Independent workers are establishing a new way to work--and in the process, they’re cultivating a new way of life. Success in 2014 is less about wealth than it is about value--the value of time, community, and well-being."

Photo: Katie Hill and Arin Andrews Bruce Weber via Dazed Digital

Inspiring, innovative and brave. Barneys New York has chosen 17 transgendered models to front its SS14 campaign and catalogue. "Photographed by Bruce Weber in New York, the Brothers, Sisters, Sons & Daughters campaign features both models and non-professionals from all over the trans spectrum . . . 10 per cent of all Barneys sales from February 11 will also be donated to the National Center for Transgender Equality and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center. Both organisations partnered with Barneys to create the campaign." Read full article in Dazed Digital. E.T.P. 6'