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Tags: #writings/bookapplications Links: { The Plateau Effect by Bob Sullivan

Application

3 Quotes

The Institute of Psychiatry at the University of London published a study on infomania that found checking your e-mail while performing another creative task decreases your IQ in the moment ten points. That’s the equivalent of not sleeping for thirty-six hours—or double the impact of smoking marijuana.

If it’s worth doing, you should get started right away. And even if it’s less than perfect, it’s certainly worthwhile

Trying new things literally rewires your brain, forcing it to open up long-closed neural pathways. Embracing diversity is such a profound concept that it actually can be, along with laughter and love, the best medicine.

3 Sentences

1. Creative improvements, delayed-gratification, and proper timing can help us overcome the resisting forces of acclimation, greed, and luck/overworking ourselves
2. Mitigating flow, distorted data, and poor risk management can be countered through acknowledgement and skepticism
3. Slow stagnation/failure and perfectionism can be countered by rapid outcomes, accepting failure, and taking the first steps

Author’s Purpose

• The authors have been doing extensive research on the plateau effect to help humankind from stagnating in their progress
  • Goes in-depth to some of the more prominent reasons for plateauing
  • Wants to help those who are struggling and want to make positive change in their lives
  • Uses various psychological experiments and references to other books with similar ideas

Important Ideas

• Acclimation’s role in the plateau effect
• The importance of timing in memorizing things
• Saturation, excessive repetition
• The principles of flow
• Adaptability
• Diversify our options and outcomes
• The danger of Perfectionism and how to overcome it

Personal Revelations

• I have been doing the same routine over and over again, and have done little to change it
• I’ve been stagnating in my reading speeds
• Listening to others can help us overcome our plateaus
• Most of the solutions and ideas were from other books I have previously read, so it’s nice to have some refreshers
• I need to overcome my personal perfectionism to start trying more things
  • My beliefs of failure is preventing me from starting a business
  • My perfectionism is preventing me from learning new video styles and techniques

Future Plans

• Identify the key areas in my life where I’m experiencing the plateau effect
  • Incorporate into my weekly review?
• Practice exploring opportunity costs and anchoring less
  • Decision-making procedure list
• Be conscious about whether I’m merely listening to people’s words or if I truly understand what they’re saying
  • Ask myself questions every now and then on whether I’m paying attention, and let them know if I wasn’t
• Don’t be so caught up with anchoring and evaluate opportunity costs, especially when investing
  • Have reviews of my portfolio
• Continue to break free from the shackles of perfectionism by trying new things and not obsessing over the details
  • Set restrictions to the amount of effort/time I can spend on projects
  • Ask myself whether spending that extra effort will be worth the increase in quality
• Have a mix of rationality and feeling

Further Reading

• Human Performance

References: