Making Your Brain Smarter

Who knew?

The University of Texas at Dallas has a Center for Brain Health dedicated to understanding, protecting and healing the brain.

Very impressive.

Every Tuesday this month, the center will be presenting a series of lectures... "The Brain: An Owners Guide" sponsored by The Container Store. Hors d'oeuvres and wine were lovely, as was the parting gift of a Container Store puzzle-book. Classy.

This week's lecture, "Make Your Brain Smarter" was presented by the founder of The Center for Brain Health, Sandra Bond Chapman, PhD, author of ... Make Your Brain Smarter.

www.makeyourbrainsmarter,com

Here's what I learned...
- Most of us can expect our brains to reach their peak at age 40 - then our brains begin their cognitive  decline.
- The expected decline is preventable and unnecessary.

Our left and right brains are designed to transmit data throughout all of its areas efficiently and in synchrony. Multitasking tends to interrupt the smooth transmission of thoughts, leading to brain fatigue.

A few key points from her book and lecture include...
- Take advantage of silence to think deeply and solve problems
- Perform one task at a time
- Choose two top tasks to concentrate on daily
- Avoid information overload
- Think, speak and write original ideas
- Be social
- Eat Well
- Sleep
- Engage in aerobic exercise 3-4 times a week.

Can't hurt. Might help. 

The Center for Brain Health offers ...
- Brain Health 'Physicals'
- High Performance Brain Training
- Multiple areas of research in brain-related areas (Autism, Alzheimer's, PTSD, Trauma etc) 


Next Tuesday's lecture... 
Michael Gazzaniga, PhD."Who's in Charge? Free Will and the Science of the Brain"

The Organizing Fool

I really like organizing and labeling things. Maybe it's the nurse in me or maybe it's that little O.C.D. tendency imprinted in my brain but I do get a certain joy out of "organizational activity".

I remember fondly when I first discovered 'The Container Store' back in the day. I had found my 'mecca'. If you couldn't find your container here, it was unlikely you would find it anywhere. Just visiting the store inspired me to organize myself silly. And, organize, I did. Boxes, files and various containers were labeled...

• Papers
• Shoes
• Momentos
• Letters
• Work-related Items
• Tools
• Tape
• Dog-Stuff
• Kid-Stuff
• Travel-Stuff
• Photos
• Organizational Tools
• Craft-Stuff

...and then while my girlfriends were receiving gifts of jewelery and such from their significant others one Christmas, I received my first 'Brother P-Touch Label Maker' from mine. My labeling activity reached its crescendo...

You name it - it was labeled.

The problem lied in the fact that my system proved to be a little 'flawed'. 

• Momentos -  may have included letters, work-related items, photos and/or kid stuff. 
• Papers - letters, dog stuff, travel stuff, craft stuff. 
• Kid-Stuff - photos, craft stuff, momentos, letters, travel-stuff 
• Travel-Stuff - could possibly contain photos, kid-stuff  and/or letters.

So I had to 'tweak' my organizational method and become more specific in what was being contained but then the complexity of my system got the best of me.

I'm thinking I may have had a little too much time on my hands..

Despite my efforts at creating an organizational paradise around here, a familiar refrain goes like this... "Joanie, where did you 'organize' my ...xyz now?" It comes from "Mr. Something". The question is delivered dripping with sarcasm but I choose to ignore it. The 'search' begins. Believe me, looking for his stuff that I happened to 'organize' somewhere does not exactly promote domestic bliss.

Should he ask for , oh, let's say... "Duke's Immunization Record?"  It could be found in "Dog-Stuff" or "Letters" or "Papers".

Reportedly, that drives him nuts.

So in an effort to maintain household harmony, I do not 'borrow' from the unlabeled 'stash box' (that he doesn't think I know about). Just a non-descript blue box that sits on his desk. Currently, it has scissors, a stapler, tape, glue, a pencil sharpener, reading glasses and some papers in it. 

Good for him.

For The Love of a Great Sale...

I knew it would be crowded and I would bet that every Obsessive-Compulsive-Neatnik within a fifty-mile radius would be out there in droves but my OCN-self just couldn't stay away...THE CONTAINER STORE was having a blow out sale!

If you didn't get to attend, step back with me for a moment and imagine your local 'State Fair'...

Hoards of somewhat sweaty people without direction, children squealing, upbeat announcements coupled with a sense of excitement and anticipation in the air. Turkey legs, cotton candy, wife-beater shirts and beer may round out your view. Now, quickly replace those thoughts with visions of  J.Crew, Ann Taylor, good shoes, Spanx and deodorant. It was the sale of the century! The Container Store in Plano, Texas was moving to a new location and the markdowns were incredible!

'Mecca' to those of us who just love to organize ourselves silly, yesterday's sale was a dream come true - 60% - 80% price reductions in containers for everything from bug collections to water. Life is good.

Within minutes of entering the store I prepared myself for a wild ride.

• A Plano Police Officer was posted at the front of the store - Good thinking - The throngs of customers inside warranted it.
• The ever-chipper Container Store employees, bedecked in their "Contain Yourself" t-shirts were literally everywhere - shifting products and being their helpful selves. At one point I had to ask one employee why they were continuing to rearrange things when the store would be closing tonight. The response? "We're moving them forward in order to create visual appeal". Of course. Love that about TCS.Worrying about visual appeal to the bitter end.
• Two lengthy (but well-mannered and tastefully-dressed) lines of customers extending clearly to the back of the store were waiting to be cashed out. All the while being enticed by further markdowns (baskets for 25 cents a piece!) and further promotions.
• Shopping Carts were a precious commodity and there was a line for them as well, but hey - I was in The Container Store - so I skipped the shopping cart line and snagged a few containers to put my  containers in and 'a-shopping' I went.

Although it took me about 30 minutes in line to reach the cashier and receive my extremely marked-down purchases, it wasn't all that painful. I was surrounded by like-minded pleasant OCN types, and tons of "visually appealing" containers.

Who could ask for more?