About

Outsmart Yourself: Brain-Based Strategies to a Better You gives you insights into how your mind works and the tools you need to make lasting change. Taught by Professor Peter M. Vishton of William & Mary, these 24 practical lectures draw from a wealth of scientific evidence to take you inside your brain and show you why you behave the way you do - and what you can do to strengthen your creativity.

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Episodes

1. Take Control of Your Automatic Brain

30m

Recent decades have seen an explosion of understanding about our brains, and with this new information come some surprising and counterintuitive conclusions about our behavior and decision-making processes. In this first lecture, examine the disconnect between our actions and our consciousness of those actions. Are we as in control of ourselves as we like to think?

2. Beat Procrastination by Doing Nothing

30m

From time to time, procrastination affects us all. Here, you'll discover several evidence-based strategies for reducing procrastination by attacking it at its source. Three tips show you how to be more efficient and effective. Along the way, you'll study the neurochemistry of why we procrastinate - and what makes it so tempting.

3. Train Yourself like a Dog

30m

The unconscious plays a strong role in developing bad habits. To help you examine and modify your behaviors, Professor Vishton gives you several tips, ranging from the very simple (keep a notebook of your activities) to the complex (employ behavioral psychology). Which of your habits would you most like to change?

4. Clean Your Kitchen, Improve Your Diet

30m

What can neuroscience tell us about healthy eating? Can scientific insights help you curb unhealthy snacking? In this first of two lectures on food, see how simple changes such as cleaning your kitchen and changing your food's packaging may have a measurable effect on unhealthy eating habits.

5. Eat Slow, Eat Small, Eat Smart

30m

To be healthy, you must eat healthy. This second lecture on food considers the hormones that drive hunger cues and how your body responds to different foods. Find out why high fructose corn syrup is bad for you - and why exercise might not help you lose much weight.

6. The Myth of Multitasking

30m

Our modern world seems to demand multitasking. We constantly check email, make phone calls, and live on the go. But recent research clearly shows that we are more efficient and creative if we can focus on one task at a time - a strategy known as "monotasking." Consider how the brain works when confronted with multiple tasks.

7. Future You and Better Decisions

30m

Enter the fray of a negotiation between the "present you" and the "future you." Do you take $10 today, or wait for $15 next week? While the answer may seem logically clear, we have a powerful, built-in desire for instant gratification. Learn what you can do today to make decisions you will approve of tomorrow.

8. How to Become an Expert on Anything

30m

You might think talent is ingrained, and that either you have it or you don't. But cognitive research reveals that practice is just as - if not more - important for success in a given task. Discover strategies for how to practice any skill, and how to stick with it until you become an expert.

9. Tune Up Your Brain with Meditation

30m

We all have a conception of what meditation is - but what actually happens inside your brain? Could it be that meditation built into our evolutionary makeup? And how can regular practice benefit us? Reflect on the answers to these questions and more in this eye-opening lecture.

10. Take the Sleep Challenge

30m

Explore the mysterious realm of sleep. While your body may shut down, your brain performs important, fascinating work to help you be more focused, creative, and productive in your waking life. Here, you'll discover why eight hours of sleep is so crucial. Then you'll consider the role of dreams.

Extended Details

SeriesGreat Courses

Closed CaptionsEnglish

Artists

Peter M. VishtonWriter

Peter M. VishtonActor