Timestamp:
00:00 - Introduction: Doodling Makes You Smarter?
00:22 - Meet Dr. Srini Pillay & 3 Brain Hacks Overview
00:50 - Daydreaming: Your Brain’s Hidden Productivity Engine
01:25 - Hack #1: Positive Constructive Daydreaming
03:10 - 3 Steps to Mind Wandering
03:29 - Hack #2: The Default Mode Network
04:55 - Hack #3: The Doodling Memory Hack
06:35 - Bonus Tip: The Corporate Napping Revolution
07:36 - Action Steps: Try These Brain Hacks!
08:16 - More Insights from Dr. Pillay & Membership Info
08:55 - Final Thoughts & Call to Action
09:10 - Your Next Breakthrough & Playlist Recommendation
Ash Roy's Video Transcript (This transcript has been auto-generated. Artificial Intelligence is still in the process of perfecting itself. There may be some errors in transcription):
Ash Roy:
So apparently doodling during a meeting can actually make you smarter. Yeah, the same thing we all got told of foreign school. Turns out, according to Harvard psychiatrist, Dr. Srini Pillay can boost your memory by up to 29%, which makes me feel slightly vindicated because when I was in school, I did a lot of doodling.
Hey, I am Ash Roy, and in this video, I'll be sharing some insights from an interview I had with Dr. Srini Pillay, a Harvard psychiatrist and assistant professor. I'll be sharing three effective brain hacks that help you to be more productive, and one of them is actually doodling. These three hacks look like they're time wasters, but they're actually your brain's hidden productivity engine.
You ready? Let's do this. In my last episode in this series with Dr. Srini Pillay, I mentioned that almost half of our lives is spent daydreaming. But here's the kicker, that's not a flaw, it's actually a feature in the human brain. Most of us think that daydreaming is destructive, but not all daydreaming is the same.
Some types of daydreaming can sharpen your creativity, improve your memory, and even help you achieve your goals faster. Dr. Pillay explained three of these techniques that most people dismiss as doing nothing, but when you implement them correctly, they can actually help your brain harness its natural abilities and optimize your brain for maximum success when it comes to goal achievement.
Let's dive into the first one, Positive Constructive Daydreaming. Now it sounds like an oxymoron. How can daydreaming be positive and constructive? Here's Dr. Pillay explaining it.
Srini Pillay:
46.9% of our days are spent daydreaming. Yeah, but there are things that I think, uh, people could remember to build into their day.
So, there's a thing called Positive Constructive Daydreaming. Plan your daydreaming time as you begin to withdraw your attention from the outside. You start to turn your attentional flashlight inwards. Mm-hmm. And you start this particular positive, constructive daydreaming with positive and wishful imagery.
So, something like lying on a beach or lying on a yacht, and you let your mind wander. And the funny thing about mind wandering in that context is that it's not quite as random as we think. It's, and when your mind is wandering, the lateral prefrontal cortex, which is the sort of the, the, the thinking brain is actually guiding the wandering.
So, you may think that your mind is just wandering crazily, but the reality is that your brain is sort of up to something. 'cause it's, it's on the lookout. But it's on the lookout with a certain sensibility guiding.
Ash Roy:
Here's the science. Your lateral prefrontal cortex, think of it like your brain's project manager is guiding the whole daydreaming process for you.
Your mind isn't wandering at random, it's actually being invisibly guided by your lateral prefrontal cortex. So instead of scrolling Instagram at lunch, I spend about half a minute with positive ideation, imagining myself achieving a certain goal and working towards. I let my lateral prefrontal cortex do all the work for me while I'm just enjoying my walk.
So, there's three steps to this.
First schedule it literally block out time to daydream on your calendar.
Second, pair it with something simple. Pair it with walking or gardening.
And thirdly, start with a positive image, positive ideation. Imagine a beach or a yacht. Imagine yourself hitting your biggest goal.
The second hack comes from something called the Default mode network, which honestly sounds like the name of an indie movie from the nineties. But it's actually a real thing. Here's Dr. Srini Pillay talking about it.
Srini Pillay:
The funny thing about mind wandering in that context is that it's not quite as random as we think.
It's that in fact. In your brain while these unfocused circuits are on the, it's called a default mode network. What we used to think was the do mostly nothing network, which is brilliant. Not true. It doesn't, it uses up most of the brain's energy, you know, about 20%. Of the brain's energy budget is utilized, rested effort just tax on another 5%.
So when you are in these mind wandering states, your brain is doing a lot of different work and it actually helps you become more creative and it also relieves your brain because it's allowing for an energy cycle. So it's allowing for your brain to become more energized in the focus circuits because it's taking the stress off of the focus circuits
Ash Roy:
at this bloom of mind, your resting brain actually burns more energy than your focus brain, which means when you're doing nothing, your brain is stitching ideas together, processing your day, recharging your focus circuits, and preparing your brain for insights, and that's why your best ideas hit you when you're in the shower or walking the dog.
So the next time you feel guilty about zoning out, remember you're not being lazy, you're running your brain's Hidden Performance optimization circuits.
Okay, section three. This is my favorite. The doodling memory hack. It's my favorite because it's so counterintuitive. Here's Dr. Pillay explaining why doodling really works
Srini Pillay:
at schools people are always shouting at kids for duty. You know, pay attention. Yeah. Well, Jackie Andra and her colleagues actually did a study. In which they showed that they gave people a telephone message to listen to, and they had them remember eight names and eight places. And what they found was that in the people who doodled, their memory was 29% better than the people who were paying attention.
Ash Roy:
Did you hear what he said? He said, doodles, remember up to 29% more than people who try hard and are paying attention. Why? Here's the sponge analogy. Dr. Pillay uses
Srini Pillay:
In the doodling state, your brain's unconscious, and this default mode network is turned on and your brain becomes more like a relaxed sponge so it can absorb information.
Whereas in that tight state, it's stiff. So imagine taking a stiff sponge and trying to absorb anything, right? Right. It's very difficult.
Ash Roy:
I love that analogy, A stiff sponge versus a relaxed sponge. When you try too hard, your brain stiffens up and it absorbs less. But when you doodle, you go into this state of relaxed alertness where you internalize more information and you absorb more.
So the next time you're on a Zoom call, or you're watching this video or any other video on our channel, consider doodling. Let your mind wander. Let your pen wander on the paper, and you'll be amazed at how much more you take in, not just consciously, but subconsciously. You might be surprised at how much you remember.
Since you've made it this far in the video I wanna share a bonus tip with you. It's about the corporate napping revolution. Companies like Google and Nike literally build napping pods in their premises or their teams. Maybe they do it because they don't want their staff to go home, but no seriously. Here's Dr. Srini Pillay explaining why they do this.
Srini Pillay:
Another example would be napping. You know, and a lot of corporations have now begun to build napping pods and rooms where people can nap because they know that five to 15 minutes of napping can actually give you one to three hours more clarity.
Ash Roy:
15 minutes of napping gives you three hours of clarity.
That's pretty insane Return on time investment. Don't you think that's better than most investments I can think of for the average person. Now, even if your office or your workspace doesn't have a napping pod, consider having a quick nap in your car or even closing your eyes for a few minutes. The important part is this.
Don't feel guilty for having a nap or taking a break. It's not laziness, it's strategy, and it's brain optimization.
Okay, let's look at some action steps. Here's your challenge. Pick one of these three techniques and try it for the next few days.
One, practice positive, constructive daydreaming when you go for a walk by priming your brain for about 30 seconds before going for the walk, and then allow your mind to wander.
Idea number two, doodle during your next meeting or while watching this video, grab a piece of paper, grab a pen, and doodle away As I'm talking and as you're watching this,
number three, take a five or 10 minute nap. Or just close your eyes and take a break and then track when your insights show up and report your results to us in the comments below.
I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. Now, all that is just scratching the surface of what Dr. Srini Pillay said in his 45 minute conversation with me. One of the other things he explained is called Psychological Halloweenism. We're pretending to be someone else. Can instantly boost your creativity and your productivity.
He also explained why Roger Federer never looked at his target when he served. The full interview is inside this membership, which I'm very excited to announce, and you can access it by just clicking on join next to the subscribe button in this YouTube channel. So if you'd like to support us for less than the price of a cup of coffee, just click on the join button.
And you'll get some really nice perks, which we intend to continue building on. You will not regret this very small monthly investment. Now, if this shifted your thinking around productivity, hit the like and subscribe button and share this video with somebody else who might benefit from it. Don't forget to leave a comment because I read every single comment and I might feature a future comment of yours in an upcoming video.
Remember, your next breakthrough might be just one doodle away. Now if you found this video useful, definitely click on this playlist, which we'll also link to in the description below where you have many more videos on a similar topic. Thanks for watching and I'll see you in the next one,
CIAo for now.