Exploring Mental Exertion's Depths: Blood Oxygen Levels as a Mental Labor Tracker
In an effort to improve cognitive performance, researchers have developed a four-week program aimed at helping individuals manage their cognitive load more effectively. Here's a breakdown of each week's focus and the techniques involved.
Week 1: Notice and Name
During the first week, the focus is on identifying patterns in one's cognitive performance. Individuals are encouraged to pick two daily focus blocks, rate their perceived effort and quality after each block, and identify the hour of the day when effort feels lightest. This week is all about becoming aware of one's cognitive patterns and understanding when effort levels might be rising.
Week 2: Pace and Protect
The second week introduces a strategy for pacing oneself during the workday. This involves placing the most demanding task in the lightest hour discovered, inserting a sensory reset between heavy items, and adding a short movement snack after lunch. The goal is to maintain a steady cognitive load and protect the quality of work.
Week 3: Train Under Controlled Load
The third week is about structured training. Individuals are encouraged to introduce one structured challenge task, such as mental arithmetic, and track sleep timing and caffeine intake. This week is designed to help individuals understand how different factors, like sleep and caffeine, can affect cognitive performance.
Week 4: Personalize and Automate
The final week is about making the strategies personal and sustainable. Individuals are asked to pick the two practices with the biggest impact, build a modest effort budget for the week ahead, and plan a small celebration for finishing strong. The aim is to make these strategies a part of one's daily routine.
In addition to these weekly strategies, researchers also suggest the use of various tools to monitor cognitive load. For instance, mental arithmetic can be used as a task to measure cognitive effort, with individuals rating their effort on a simple one to ten scale.
Another tool is the simple self-monitoring toolkit, which includes rating perceived effort, recording accuracy or goal achievement, starting each block with ten breaths at a 4 and 6 pace, and maintaining a tall, relaxed posture.
Moreover, near-Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS) can be used to measure oxygen saturation in the brain during difficult cognitive tasks. This tool, which is quieter, more portable, and friendly to real tasks at a desk, can help monitor workload by non-invasively tracking changes in cerebral oxygenation.
Finally, EEG and fNIRS can provide immediate feedback about steadiness during a task and show whether one's pacing keeps the vascular response stable rather than spiky. These tools offer a practical trade-off for researchers studying effort, as they can be applied in everyday experiments.
In conclusion, this four-week program offers a practical and accessible approach to managing cognitive load. By understanding one's cognitive patterns, pacing oneself, training under controlled load, and personalizing strategies, individuals can improve their cognitive performance and maintain a high quality of work.
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