Happy Saturday, friend!

We’re back again with another edition of Productivity + Habits + Fun

😃 Fun Fact of the Week

Sloths can hold their breath longer than dolphins can!

Dolphins need to come up for air after about 10 minutes.

Sloths can slow their heart rates, and in doing so, they can hold their breath for up to 40 minutes!

🐦 Tweet of the Week

My day job is as a Project Manager.

That job is eerily similar to juggling or spinning plates.

So much is going on at once.

You have to keep moving to keep everything flowing.

I constantly have this sense of “I’m forgetting something” despite all the tools and tricks.

So outside of work, I like to draw and dance.

Those activities help me relax into Flow.

It brings a sense of deep contentment that you can’t get outside of Flow.

Maybe you noticed that this Flow has a capital letter, unlike the word “flowing” in the 4th sentence.

They aren’t the same thing.

Yes, a lot is happening.

Yes, a lot is getting done.

But one comes with euphoria.

The other comes with stress.

How are you getting into Flow each day?

💪 Featured Productivity Tip (part 1/3)

Did you know that people are more creative while showering?

If you think you aren’t creative:

“A creative idea will be defined simply as one that is both novel and useful (or influential) in a particular social setting.” – Alice Flaherty

We tap into creativity when we can relax the executive dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and “shift attention” to the medial prefrontal cortex, allowing more “uncensored” processes to occur. This is similar to what our brains do while we sleep.

Our friend dopamine is a key player in helping us relax into creativity.

The partner in crime, surprisingly, is distraction.

In tandem, relaxing dopamine and distraction (non-focused thoughts) allow the mind to turn inward and explore loose associations that exist in the background of your mind.

This leads to those bright ideas! 💡 

Next week, I’ll have a list of positive sources of dopamine for you to play around with.

🌎️ A New Epoch

Per the International Commission on Stratigraphy, we are now living in a period time called the “Anthropocene.”

It’s defining factor is “significant and lasting human influence.”

Click the photo to learn more!

🐶 “Top Data Dogs”

This is an odd but intriguing infographic.

This chart plots dog breeds along these axes of “our data score” and popularity.

They color code the breeds based on “type” and even show you which ones are more intelligent than others.

What’s your favorite breed, and do you agree with where it’s placed?

🤔 Decision-making Idea

False Consensus: We tend to believe more people agree with us than is actually true.

Example: I grew up in a small town.

In that setting, most of the people there genuinely believed in a lot of the same things.

When I moved to a much larger city, I realized that there were so many different ideas and beliefs floating around.

It was a little bit of a shock, but I’m so thankful that I’ve had the experience of opening my mind and world-view more.

Always remember that there are a lot of thoughts, opinions, and beliefs out there.

It’s worth taking the time to explore them.

🧠 Quote of the Week

What I think:

Another quote on perspective and attitude!

Life is rarely black and white.

It’s a mixed bag with good and bad, pros and cons, judgments and sacrifices.

But we can always choose what we focus our attention on.

Look for the silver lining.

Seek the positive.

How do you see this?

Thank you so much for spending some of you precious time with me. 🙂

I’m always looking to improve, so hit “reply” and let me know what you think!

Have an awesome week.

Sincerely,

Steven Sanders

PS - I hope to see you on Twitter and Instagram!