Brain Stamina

Hyper attention or deep attention? Which one would you say you are? For myself, I would have to say Hyper Attention. I constantly need to be stimulated, I can’t sit in a classroom and just focus on one things the whole time. I need different things thrown my way to get my brain going. I don’t think  I have ever been able to put myself in the deep attention category, I just don’t learn that way. I feel many of us lack the deep attention, so many of us are used to doing so many different things because we are always one our phones and computers doing multiple things while on them. Our mind gets so used to it that when we need to switch to deep attention it is nearly impossible.
Trying to bring out the deep attention in my brain was pretty hard up until I started doing make up, I need to have that focus on just one thing so that I can get the job done perfectly. I think we should start off there, applying it to what we love and expanding from there until we can control both types of attention.
For those who have always been the deep attention type, I think they should try doing more activities and play brain games to get it going and used to different things at once. This would help exercise the brain and help it grow to hold more knowledge and to focus on multiple things at once, it’s good to stimulate the brain.
Whether you have deep or hyper attention it is always going to be a challenge to achieve the other but in the end it will definitely help whether it be with school or different jobs.

The Kool-Aid

I would sometimes like to think of myself as being able to multitask but in reality I know I’m horrible at it. For example, while watching the documentary I was able to take notes and pay attention just fine and in doing that I thought I would be able to check my phone and keep that focus but as soon as I put my phone down I forgot what I had just watched. That goes for most of us, we all think we can do two or more things at a time and keep that focus on each thing but we can’t, as stated in the video, it slows us down.
I think I can focus pretty well while being on the computer, most people get distracted by emails and other sites but for me I just do what I  need to get done and worry about the other stuff later. The problem is  my cell phone and the fact that I have ADD. Usually I have it under control but sometimes it gets the best of me.

Personally, I think technology isolates you. I have a younger sister who met a boy online from Australia, he recently flew out here for Christmas vacation to meet my sister and although they got to interact in person and build that connection while he was here….what was going to happen when he went back home? They went right back to being on Skype 24/7. My sister doesn’t go out too much because they always want to talk to each other. Sure she has friends and they hangout but she definitely spends more time on her laptop than interacting with her actual friends who are only 15-20 minutes away. The problem is that people don’t really know how to manage their time. World of Warcraft is a perfect example, people spend all their time playing a game and forget they need to work and eventually quiet because they don’t know how to fulfill that desire to play and take care of the more important things in life.

I would consider my motivation to learn very high. I am always interested in learning new things whenever I can. As far as being an active or passive learner, I would put myself in the active learner category. I need that full depth explanation and the interaction from the teacher as well as the classmates, it helps me learn  better and it helps keep that focus instead of just sitting there taking notes.

Gone over board!

In chapter 3, “Gone over board” it begins by telling us how William Powers had moved his family from Washington, D.C. to Cape Cod. Moving was fairly easy because him and his wife were both writers so they weren’t tied down to any specific job place. Keeping in touch with everyone wouldn’t be a problem either due to technology.
After getting settled and trying to back his boat up Powers ends up getting it stuck. Not knowing too much about boats he tries to fix it himself, in the process he ends up falling off his boat. In his pocket he had his wallet and cell phone, he didn’t panic too much until he realized they had gone into the water as well.
For some of us breaking or losing a cell phone isn’t about not having a cell phone for the time being but more about emails, phone numbers, and pictures that are lost. That’s how it was for Powers after freaking out about the phone being in water. He was mainly worried about everything he had just lost and couldn’t get back because he didn’t back his phone up. He then began to realize and feel almost relieved that he was “disconnect.” The problem now a days is that we are so afraid to be disconnected from everyone even if it’s just for a day, let alone a couple of hours. Personally, I think it is good to have that break from technology every once in a while, it’s healthy.

Hello Mother

In chapter two of Hamlets Blackberry we learn that William Powers mother lives two hours away in Massachusetts. When he travels he likes to fly in and out of a particular airport so he is able to visit his mother on both ends.  Chapter two also explains how easy it is for us to make a simple phone call to let someone know that we will either not be able to make it or that we will be a few minutes late. Take the time to imagine life without cell phones, these phone calls that take a couple seconds to make would turn into 10 minutes due to pulling over, finding change, making the call, getting back in your car, and getting back on the road again.
One of the sentences that really caught my attention was “It’s good to be connected, and it’s bad to be disconnected” I definitely agree. Although being away from ourself phones allows us “The Gap” we need every so often, we also need it to stay in touch with our loved ones when we like. Maybe if we managed our time better on the cell phones we wouldn’t have such a problem with them and we would have more time to get other tasks done and let our mind wonder freely without a little screen in our face all of the time.
This book is really teaching a lot and I cannot wait to read more and maybe apply some of the strategies that William Powers uses in my life.

Best of Technonolgy

Technology has always been a big part of my life whether it be video games, computers, cell phones, or tablets. I’ve always found it quite comforting having technology to fall back on to keep in touch with loved ones when I was not able to see them quite often or for the loved ones that I have that do not live close by. The scary thing about technology is that most people cannot go a day without using their cell phone or computers, let alone a couple of hours.

Social networks have been there for me to find out important things for a while and I think that is great. I have family and close friends who have moved away and social networks give me a chance to be apart of their biggest moments in life. I will be having a baby late June/early July and I could not be happier that my family in Texas, San Diego, Sacramento, and Los Angeles get to be apart of that in some way.

Having access to different networks by using tablets, computers, and cel phones has helped me start a little freelancing business for myself. I post make up that I have done on myself and on others so that other people are able to view them and contact me when they need make up done for a dance, party, dinner, etc. Sure, a lot of things we do can easily be done without technology like it had been done for years but I think now that we have a wide range it has made life a lot easier for many of us.

Personally, when I have been on a certain social network for some amount of time and they decide they want to change their layout I can admit it is a little frustrating. When you are used to constantly using something for a good amount of time and they switch it up it might be a little hard to get used to. Luckily for me I just stick to Facebook, Instagram, and Tumblr. I do not have much to keep up on. For people who decide they do not want to be apart of a social network because the layout looks complicated is totally understandable. I never joined Twitter for the same reason, I am completely lost and have never been a fan. I think it is completely okay to want to have nothing to do with technology but I think everyone should at least try it out to keep in touch at least via email or text messaging.