Cognitive Health and Psychology
How to Orchestrate Cognitive Functions for Health, Happiness, and Productivity.
Six steps to gain cognitive elasticity for metacognitive skills that can be applied to any task, job, or situation in life
Introduction
Humans survive and thrive by orchestrating their cognitive capabilities knowingly or unknowingly. We have these inherent capabilities. However, awareness of these abilities and consciously orchestrating them can be invaluable for our success, health, and happiness.
Without going into scientific details, I aim to provide an overview of six cognitive functions that can be used as integrated metacognition skills to complete our tasks and achieve our goals.
Undoubtedly the human brain is highly complex. The neocortex (thinking brain) that manages our metacognition is extra complex as it is impossible to explain its physical functions even though it resides in the physical domain.
Therefore, I use the metaphor of orchestration to make my points clear and helpful. The orchestrator is the mind with consciousness and intention, which we still cannot scientifically define for consensus.
1 — Sharp Focus and Intense Attention
Focus and attention is the most fundamental and essential human capability to complete tasks. Every task requires information. With focus and attention, we use the information to complete a task.
The brain uses energy from food or fat stores to orchestrate our focus and attention. In addition, the brain needs neurotransmitters such as dopamine to process information.
Even though focus and attention look like psychological entities, they also have biological connections in the body. The critical point is that we cannot focus and pay attention without energy. Lack of physical and mental energy can cause brain fog.
The dose and intensity of focus and attention matter. For example, too much of them on a single task may cause paralysis of analysis and deplete dopamine reserves. We might feel overwhelmed, get stressed, and lose productivity. Finding the right balance is critical.
We can improve focus and attention using mindfulness practices such as meditation and visualization. Writing and reading can substantially contribute to the improvement of our focus and attention.
2 — Mindful Task Switching
Focus and attention require task-switching ability to complete our goals. Task switching refers to changing our focus and attention from one task to another. A simple example is walking, such as moving our legs from one position to another.
In the walking example, changing the speed, for example, slow, moderate, and fast walking, is part of task-switching activity in the brain. Writing is another example. We start with a word, add another, and more to complete a sentence. Then more sentences create paragraphs resulting in completing an essay or a book.
If not orchestrated well, task switching can cause cognitive loads. This is because the brain has a limited amount of energy. If we overload the brain with demanding tasks, it consumes the power required and shuts down. Then we face a lack of enthusiasm and motivation to complete the job.
One way of orchestrating tasks is to start with easy and simple ones in small steps. Rather than attempting to complete a few hundred pages of a document, we start with one paragraph and a page. Take a break and start small again.
If we follow this practical approach consciously and mindfully, we can achieve more effortlessly in a short time. Those small tasks have a snowball effect and help us to complete complex jobs.
From my experience, single-tasking can be more productive and joyful than multitasking. I explained the reasons in an article titled Here Are My Three Reasons for Not Multitasking Anymore.
3 — Effective Use of Working Memory
Working memory is closely associated with focus, attention, and task switching. Compared to previous items, working memory is relatively new. Working memory helps us create visual maps of objects and e.vents.
Working memory was introduced by Galanter Miller (Cognitive Psychologist) and Karl Pribram (Psychiatrist and Psychologist) in the early 1960s. They popularized the computational theory of mind.
Initially, working memory was considered a short-term memory. However, recent studies tend to see it as more long-term memory. The critical shift from old theories to new ones effectively manipulates information rather than keeping it in short-term memory.
While we need short-term memory to undertake tasks, we depend on long-term memory to process and complete them as intended. Newer cognitive models focus on enabling effortless and sustainable access to information related to our daily tasks.
We can measure working memory by combining the memory span with the concurrent processing tasks at hand. The more mental undertakings we can perform at a specific time, the better our working memory can be.
I provided practical tips to improve working memory in a previous article titled Here’s How to Improve Working Memory with Ten Steps.
4 — Functional and Intentional Planning
Focus, attention, task switching, and working memory allows us to plan and achieve our goals. Without planning, we cannot manifest anything to fruition. Thus, planning is an essential cognitive function for our survival. It distinguishes us from other living beings.
The critical aspect of planning is to map out the tasks and link them logically to produce new meanings and desired results. By planning our activities mindfully, we can gain cognitive flexibility and elasticity.
Planning helps us move from point A to B with an intention. The primary goal of planning is to prevent us from the effects of randomness and distractions in life.
5 — Mental Problem Solving
Previously mentioned cognitive abilities are essential for problem-solving. In the big picture, problem-solving is addressing an unpleasant or destructive situation. Creating an invention or a design requires a problem-solving approach. The end product of an invention is solving a problem for its user.
Problem-solving is a systematic approach using thinking, creativity, intuition, techniques, and tools. Problem-solving is not just troubleshooting, even though it requires this skill too.
Problem-solving starts with identifying and defining a problem. Then we draft a plan to solve the problem. To be able to solve a problem effectively, we need the right mindset, a structure, ask questions, and practice the solution process patiently.
There might be multiple revisions to execute the plan leading to solution alternatives. Once we produce several alternative solutions, we assess and choose the best solution to address the problem.
Several sub-skills of problem-solving include planning, research, creativity, communication, analysis, risk assessment, and integration. These activities are all mental tasks and part of our cognitive system.
6 — Leveraging Reticular Activating System
Even though the reticular activating system is not directly related to cognitive capabilities, it can significantly contribute to the achievement of our tasks, and it is closely related to focus, attention, task switching, planning, and problem-solving.
The Reticular Activating System (RAS) comprises a cluster of nerves in the brain stem. The primary role of RAS is to filter unnecessary information and only allow essential content. Thus it relates to focus and attention.
RAS can achieve filtering excessive information based on fixed parameters. These parameters are our safety, survival, and other factors which have supreme importance coded in the old brain that the cognitive system (thinking part of the brain) perceives.
RAS is critical for survival as this region filters unnecessary and inundated information from multiple senses. It focuses on seeking facts validated by our perception and beliefs coded as memory. The conscious brain might obtain proof by checking positives and negatives.
For example, if we imagine the failure and focus on it, the RAS will bring evidence of failures. Likewise, focusing on success brings success. Perhaps optimists are happier and live longer for this reason.
RAS establishes a bridge between the conscious and subconscious mind. The conscious brain can handle a small chunk of information. The solution to our problems is tapping into the vast ocean of the subconscious mind. This is where RAS plays a critical role.
Conclusions and Takeaways
As you can see from each item, the brain has multiple functions to complete tasks. Our metacognition can help us coordinate and orchestrate these functions.
This simple yet complex cognitive process determines our success and failure in life. Those who suffer miss one or more components of this process. Conversely, those who thrive follow this process mindfully.
In this path, an essential item is removing distractions. An effective way of managing distractions is by creating our own rules, planning, attention, focus, and mindful task switching.
As adults, no one should be running this system for us. We need to be the owner of our cognitive process. The demands of others shouldn’t derail us even though we support them.
Our mission, strategy, and goals belong to us. We must set our own agenda for our lives rather than allowing others to set it for us. We create our own rules and honor them.
A critical item is to rename failure as experience. The cognitive process might bring many small failures, which should be seen as learning experiences. Without making mistakes, the brain cannot learn.
Another critical point is to learn how to enter and work in the flow state. This unique state makes orchestrating our cognitive abilities effortless and productive. To create a flow state, we need to learn to let go of our concerns, anxiety, and worries about the outcome.
To orchestrate our lives, we must learn to act with skill and wisdom. Orchestration of our lives requires harmony of our physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual power. Altogether, they play the symphonic tune.
Awareness of our cognitive process puts us in the thriving mode. With self-awareness, self-discipline, self-confidence, and self-respect, we stay in the reality zone with optimism and orchestrate our life’s symphony to create our masterpieces.
This mental masterpiece can include our creativity, productivity, health, well-being, joy, and life satisfaction. Without orchestrating cognitive functions, we might struggle to be healthy, happy, and productive.
The key takeaway points of this post are:
1 — Focus on a single task and pay attention until the process ends.
2 — Switch between tasks with awareness shifting focus and attention intentionally.
3 — Gain cognitive flexibility and improve cognitive reserves for better mental health.
3 — Improve working memory capacity to perform tasks better.
4 — Use active and mindful planning to create desired results.
5 — Leverage the power of the reticular activating system to tap into the subconscious mind.
6 — Live mindfully with awareness of cognitive capabilities and use them effectively.
Unless we learn to orchestrate cognitive functions and practice them, we might struggle to be healthy, happy, and productive in life. Therefore, these metacognition skills are critical for our survival and well-being.
Thank you for reading my perspectives. I wish you a healthy and happy life.
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