Economist June 16, 2012

An essay written by Venkatesh Rao, author, IT consultant and programmer, caused a stir in the blogosphere last year by suggesting that as many as one in four people could potentially transform themselves into ten-xers. Mr Rao divided daily tasks into short, low-value chores (answering e-mail, paying bills, going to the post office, etc) and lengthier, high-value activities (eg, coding software, composing music, writing books) that required a person's full creative juices to flow. The former he likened to aerodynamic drag; the latter to engine thrust. According to Mr Rao, boosting performance was simply a matter of increasing thrust and reducing drag. The greater the difference, the faster the mental processes would fly. All easier said than done. While managing the dreary drag work is something that can be mastered (or farmed out) without difficulty, thrust work is much harder to speed up. Creative tasks simply take longer to get started. But once underway, their momentum builds exponentially, until tiredness finally sets in and productivity falls. The creative momentum a person builds during a four-hour session is at least four times the peak momentum achieved in a two-hour session. Best, then, to schedule the longest blocks of uninterrupted time possible strictly for thrust work. Where Mr Rao's aeronautical metaphor stalls is when it comes to defining the engine for generating thrust. His tentative conclusion is that it has two components. One is a person's natural talent (for logic arguments, perfect pitch, or juxtaposition of words)—which may well be acquired in the womb. Lucky the few who are born with it. The other component is a person's capacity for metacognition. This psychological term describes the tricks people develop to control their own thinking processes. Figuring out how to do a particular task, and then making sure it is done correctly, involves cognitive processes of planning, evaluating and monitoring various activities—all of which people seem to get better at with practice."

LINK Ажлын үр бүтээмжийг сайжруулж, алгуур хийх ажлыг агшин зуурт амжуулах агуу ухааныг хэзээ яаж хэрхэн сурах вэ гэдэг бол эргээд амжилтанд хүрэх тол хүчин зүйл болой гэж би хувьдаа бодлоо л доо. Хэрэвзээ ажлын даалгаврыг хоромхон зууртаа амжуулж, оройн хоолноос өмнө бэлтгэлээ хийгээд амжуулчихвал гэртээ ганцаараа гүюүрч суулгүйгээр ганц хоёр бодсон санасан зүйлээ эвтэйхэн шиг цаасан дээр буулгаж, ирээдүйд хэрэгжүүлэх ажлын төлөвлөгөөгөө боловсруулмаар байдаг. Яарсандаа ч биш, зүгээр л бичих гэхээр энэ толгойд түмэн зүйл сэлгүүцэж, буман бодол эргэлдээд нэг л сэтгэл санаа тайван бус байгааг илтгэх юм. Урьд минь буй сонголтууд маань намайг тус бүртээ ондоо олон чиглэл салбар руу хөтлөн аваачих тул энэ замын уулзварт хийх тэрхүү шийдвэрийг нэг захаас нөгөө зах хүртэл нэг нэгэнгүй тунгаан бодож, шимтэн судлахгүй бол ганц хий гишгэхээс үүдэн хэдэн жилийн дараагаар хар толгойгоо нэгэнтээ буруутгах агшин ирэхээс ай миний бие айж эмээмүү.