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The Psychology of Money: 10 Ways to Spot a Liar Who Wants Your Money

There’s a lot of snakes out there trying to get your hard earned cash.  How can you tell if someone’s scamming you or not?

Web MD interviewed “JJ Newbury, a trained federal agent skilled in the art of deception detection to find out.”

He offered these 10 tips.  Here’s an appended version of the article.  You can read the complete article here.

Tip No. 1: Inconsistencies

“When you want to know if someone is lying, look for inconsistencies in what they are saying,” says Newberry, who was a federal agent for 30 years and a police officer for five.

Tip No. 2: Ask the Unexpected

“About 4% of people are accomplished liars and they can do it well,” says Newberry.

Tip No. 3: Gauge Against a Baseline

“One of the most important indicators of dishonesty is changes in behavior,” says Maureen O’Sullivan, PhD, a professor of psychology at the University of San Francisco. “You want to pay attention to someone who is generally anxious, but now looks calm. Or, someone who is generally calm but now looks anxious.”

The trick, explains O’Sullivan, is to gauge their behavior against a baseline. Is a person’s behavior falling away from how they would normally act? If it is, that could mean that something is up.

Tip No. 4: Look for Insincere Emotions

“Most people can’t fake smile,” says O’Sullivan. “The timing will be wrong, it will be held too long, or it will be blended with other things. Maybe it will be a combination of an angry face with a smile; you can tell because their lips are smaller and less full than in a sincere smile.”

These fake emotions are a good indicator that something has gone afoul.

Tip No. 5: Pay Attention to Gut Reactions

“People say, ‘Oh, it was a gut reaction or women’s intuition,’ but what I think they are picking up on are the deviations of true emotions,” O’Sullivan tells WebMD.

While an average person might not know what it is he’s seeing when he thinks someone isn’t being honest and attribute his suspicion to instinct, a scientist would be able to pinpoint it exactly — which leads us to tip no. 6.

Tip No. 6: Watch for Microexpressions

When Joe Schmo has a gut feeling, Paul Ekman, a renowned expert in lie detection, sees microexpressions.

“A microexpression is a very brief expression, usually about a 25th of a second, that is always a concealed emotion,” says Ekman, PhD, professor emeritus of psychology at the University of California Medical School in San Francisco.

“Almost everyone — 99% of those we’ve tested in about 10,000 people — won’t see them,” says Ekman. “But it can be taught.”

Tip No. 7: Look for Contradictions

“The general rule is anything that a person does with their voice or their gesture that doesn’t fit the words they are saying can indicate a lie,” says Ekman. “For example, this is going to sound amazing, but it is true. Sometimes when people are lying and saying, ‘Yes, she’s the one that took the money,’ they will without knowing it make a slight head shake ‘no.’ That’s a gesture and it completely contradicts what they’re saying in words.”

Tip No. 8: A Sense of Unease

“When someone isn’t making eye contact and that’s against how they normally act, it can mean they’re not being honest,” says Jenn Berman, PhD, a psychologist in private practice. “They look away, they’re sweating, they look uneasy … anything that isn’t normal and indicates anxiety.”

If you enjoyed this post, check out the entire Psychology of Money Series, and sign up for my feed!

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Don’t think this has any moral message?

Watch a film.

Just one.

Blog Notes and Statistics for March, 2009

Blog Stats

Blog income - see my Passive Income for March post.

* Visits - 7156 (+ 14% from Feb)
* Page views - 12687 (- 32%)
* Bounce rate - 63.92% (+1181%)
* Average time on site - 1 min, 42 sec  (no change)
*1.77 pages/visit (- 41%)

(above data from Google Analytics)  I don’t quite understand the dramatic drop in page views.  Did anyone else see the same thing?

I posted 28 articles in March (20 in Feb, 36 in Jan.)

Goals Progress

• Increase passive income to $75 per month. Got to $56 per month from $46.
  
• Fix scrolling of features section.  ( I believe a plug in has messed it up. ) Done.
  
• Shopping page? In progress- see the Deal Talk page above!
  
• Continue increasing readers, subscribers, traffic and comments. Feedburner subscribers ~ 150 at end of March. Up from last month by about 20?  It’s hard to get a montly average the way the data is presented.  I’ll need to make an excel spreadsheet or something.
  
• Find one new channel of revenue for the blog. To do
• Explore possibility of forming a Midlife Network, complete with widget, from the Alltop Midlife page. To do
• Develop new article series. Check out The Bloghound.  Send me contents - I’ll post it to help our traffic.
  

Blog Highlights

• Have become a proud member of the Pecuniary Network.
• Created a MyAlltop/GreenerPastures page.  Still working on it.
• Was featured in a post on the MSN Money Network

Twitter - 996 followers - Helping traffic.
Stumble - Still my best traffic generator.
Facebook - Helping traffic.  Need to work on.
Alltop’s topic pages:  Midlife and Personal Finance - not much traffic generated from these.

Goals for April

• Increase passive income to $75 per month.
• Hosting Money Hacks Carnival
• Continue work on the Deal Talk page
• Continue increasing readers, subscribers, traffic and comments.
• Find one new channel of revenue for the blog.
• Explore possibility of forming a Midlife Network, complete with widget, from the Alltop Midlife page.
• ???

How did your month go? Any suggestions for this blog?  Would you like me to look at yours and make suggestions or comments?  I would be glad to!

Photo credits: PicApp

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Snap Sunday Sermon - Holding the Emotion in Times of Stress

The current political and economic times have added an increased level of stress to all of our lives. With this comes more emotion, anxiety and inappropriate reactions.

When I am going through my daily activities and I feel a strong reaction, I’ve learned to hold on to it.

The reaction must obtain my approval before I release it.

Many times reactions, especially the strong ones, are based on incidences in our past. The feelings of these past incidences are triggered.  In the worst situations - such as with war veterans or rape victims - we call this Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD.)

But in times of stress created by everyday living , we also pull our past forward for comfort.

We do this because that part of our brain that stores emotions  - the amygdula - knows no timeline.

Consciously or unconsciously, we are controlled by previous experience - often locked in - unable to free ourselves.

Ways to heal:

Practicing Mindfulness. Conscious thought and awareness of these reactions can free us to be in the present.

Emotional Freedom therapy (EFT) is a needle-free acupuncture like treatment that has been getting positive press.  Get a free starter manual here and learn about calming hyper-response reflex.

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Are You Buried in Clutter? Get Organized.

Clutter equals Chaos.  Here’s 12 ways to reduce clutter, be more productive, feel lighter, and think more clearly.

Categories of Clutter

1. Too much stuff. Not enough space.
2. Too much to do. Not enough time.
3. Too much change. Not enough planning.
4. You’re a slob, admit it.

Clutter Control

A.  Clutter Type: Hoarding

Possible Causes:

Usually psychological: depression, attention deficit disorder, low self-esteem, fear of becoming homeless.

Clutter Control:

1) Reuse it, Sell it, or Recycle it. And if you can’t do any of those, throw it away!

You don’t need:

• those clothes from high school!
• three lawn mowers, two that don’t work.
• 6 potato peelers
• old magazines.  How often have you been able to go back and find that article you liked?
• stuff you haven’t used it for two or more years.

2)  If this is difficult to you, find yourself a good therapist.

B.  Clutter Type: Disorganization

Possible Causes:

Lack of time, psychological (see above),

Clutter Control:

1)  Buy the right tools, like

• storage bins for seasonal clothing,
• file cabinets for important papers,
• spice racks,
• magazine racks and bookcases.

2)  Purge.  See A.

3)  Set aside a regular time each week, both at home and at the office, to “tidy up.

4)  Hire a professional to get you started. Once a system is set up, it’s a lot easier to keep it going.

C)  Clutter Type: Time Management

Possible Causes:

High demands, life changes, such as getting married, or having a baby.

Clutter Control:

1)  Make lists

2)  Buy a daily planner such as a Franklin-Covey Planner. They also have software and classes.

3)  Prioritize your lists into what has to get done by today, tomorrow or next week

4)  Don’t schedule too much. Be realistic.  Rome wasn’t built in a day.

5)  Make appropriate timelines for any projects - that allow for a balanced schedule.

6)  Cut what you have to. Just say no.  If you know you won’t have time to do all that the boss is asking of you, and the boss just won’t listen, schedule a meeting with him.  Show him that the schedule is unrealistic, and ask him to prioritize your work.  It can be hard to push back, but I’m sure that he’ll agree that it’s better for you to get some things done well, than nothing done badly.

Yea, this is one of my “don’t do as I do, do as I say” posts. I haven’t mastered the de-cluttering philosophy yet.  I’m in process.

What are some ways you’ve organized your work, home, or life?

photo credits: PicApp

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Learn About Yourself With 100 Free On-Line Quizzes and Tests

I’m constantly amazed at all the free stuff available on-line.   My latest find - quizzes and tests. For example, I’ve found that I’m an INFP Myers-Briggs personality type, and “pretty moral” from the Robin Hood Morality Quiz.

Yea, many of these “free” tests are designed to just get my contact info. Once I swam passed the sharks, though, I found a lot that were legit, from places like:

• newspapers and magazines - such as CNN, Psychology Today, Oprah and, oh yes, even my new friends at AARP ( I just turned 50, for all you new readers.)
• researchers at universities or other organizations gathering data
• helpful organizations such as religious groups or Alcoholics Anonymous
• developers of tests who are refining them through data acquisition
• computer geeks
• marketers showing you a little of their product in the hopes that you’ll purchase the souped- up version.  These are sharks, but of a higher class.  They at least give a little.

If you want to find out more about yourself, I’ve compiled a list of links.  Dive in.  These should not have annoying pop-ups, etc.

Find any of these to really be sharks?  Know any others to add to the list?  Leave a comment or e-mail me.

Money

MSN Financial IQ Test - Can you manage your money?

Career

Three sites offer free Myers-Briggs tests:

• Humanetrics.
• The Personality Test Center
• Similar Minds

Aging

Real Age Test as seen on Today, MSNBC and 20/20

Longevity Calculator at AARP

Psychology

IQ Test

Personality Tests

The Robin Hood Morality Quiz - How honest are you?

Psychology Today - Self Tests on just about everything you do.

Do you drink too much?  How Much is Too Much?

Keirsey Temperament Sorter

Rate Yourself on dozens of different topics

Personal DNA

The Personality Lab

Learn Myself

Relationships

The acclaimed Gottman Institute has Quizzes on Relationships

Spirituality

Eclectic Energies -want to know where you are on the Enneagram?  Or your strongest Chakras? I-Ching?  6 different spiritual quiz assessments.

Miscellaneous

Math, vocabulary, or geography skills - also for teachers.

Typing speed

Design Your Own Test

Test Design

photo credit: PicApp

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The CEO Blank Check

With all this AIG business, the bailout mess is getting tougher for me to take.

Whoever heard of bonuses being given to employees of a company that goes belly up?

Has Webster changed the definition of the word bonus?

It used to be that creditors were lucky to squeeze any money out of these failures.

Now the US government just keeps printing money and throwing it at these companies.

And they not only survive, they have the audacity to give bonuses.

Sheesh.  Can I work for them?

Carnival of Debt Reduction #183 - Women’s History Month

Welcome to the Carnival of Debt Reduction. I encourage you to also take a moment to head over to the Carnival of Personal Finance at Green Panda Treehouse.  She has a cool music theme going.

Since it’s also Women’s History Month, and other carnivals this week will probably celebrate St Patrick’s Day, I thought instead I’d highlight some of the more interesting successful business women through history.

“In 1875, after her husband went bankrupt, Lydia Estes Pinkham started probably the first widely successful business run by a woman in America. Her product was a medicine for “all those painful Complaints and Weaknesses so common to our best female population.”  Even though Mrs. Pinkham had been in the temperance movement, as a student of phrenology she had studied human nature, and almost 20% of her concoction was alcohol, which she said acted “as [a] solvent and preservative,” certainly solving many a problem and preserving not a few of her fellow citizens. Many similar medicines of the past used alcohol as the active ingredient, which was often the only way respectable women were able to enjoy the intoxicant.  And during the banning of alcoholic beverages in America, especially in the 1920s, the Pinkham “medicine” enjoyed its greatest success.”

Debt Reduction

DR presents 10 Lies that Got You (and Keep You) in Credit Card Debt posted at The Dough Roller.

Leave Debt Behind presents How to Pay Down Your Debts Quickly posted at Leave Debt Behind.

Taking Charge submitted a post called Radical ideas to extinguish your debt.
Shaun Connell presents Short-Term Loans Cause Long-Term Destruction posted at Short-Term Loans.

Personal Finance Analyst submitted a post called Packing a Little Extra Snow on Your Snowball.

Studenomist presents Is an Education a Debt Sentence? posted at Financial Independence in Your 20s | Studenomics.

Consolidator presents Getting Information On Debt Consolidation Loans posted at Debt Consolidation Loans For Beginners.

Destroy Debt presents Debt Snowball, Highest Interest Debt First, or Avalanche posted at Destroy Debt.

Matt Sherberg presents Choosing the Best Debt Solution posted at Debt.

JD presents The Global Debt Disease & How It Affects You posted at debthelpcreditrepairpro.com.

Mary Pickford (1893-1979)
Actress - Pickford , star of Broadway productions and silent and talking films, was loved as “America’s Sweetheart.” A very savvy businesswoman, she co-founded United Artists in 1919 with the revolutionary idea of allowing filmmakers to have total artistic control over their films. As co-owner of United Artists, Mary Pickford became a millionaire several times over. In 1928, she won an Academy Award for Coquette. She continued producing films into the 1930s.

Banking and Credit

NH discusses car loan options in Should You Use a Private Car Loan or Dealer Financing? posted at Car Loan Tips.

The Digerati Life submitted a post called HSBC Direct Online Savings Account Review: With Free ATM Bank Card.

FMF presents Free Money Finance: Chase Freedom Lowers Rewards for New Cardholders posted at Free Money Finance.

CreditCardAssist.com presents How to Keep Your Credit Cards Safe posted at CreditCardAssist.com.

apply4-credit presents How Often Do You Request a New Credit Card Number? posted at Apply For Credit.

Debt Freedom Fighter presents Looking for Low Interest Refinance Loans? posted at Discover Debt Freedom.

Mr Credit Card presents Household Bank Credit Card Review posted at Ask Mr Credit Card.

Lisa presents Saving Money with Credit Cards posted at The Budgeting Blog.

Sun presents Lending Club Adds Yield to Maturity Data to Notes posted at Earn More Invest Wisely at The Sun’s Financial Diary.

Book Reviews

J. Money presents New favorite book: “The Richest Man in Babylon” posted at Budgets are Sexy..

Economy

Jim DeSantis presents You Are A Banker And A U.S. Automaker posted at On Line Tribune | Front Page Blog. He says that some businesses are all about conspicuous consumption without regard for the consequences.

Tony presents Small Business- The Ultimate Obama Casualty posted at Biz World Blog.

Michael Haltman presents Beware The Misleading Nature Of 24 Hour Business News posted at The Political and Financial Markets Commentator.

Steve Bernal presents What Do They Mean When They Say “Conscious Business”? posted at What Do They Mean When They Say conscious Business?.

Raj Patel presents Laid Off? No New Job? How Bad Can It Get? posted at DebtGoal.

Katharine Graham (1917-2001)
Publisher - Graham was the first woman president of a Fortune 500 company when she became president and then publisher of the Washington Post from 1963 to 1979. In 1971, she resisted tremendous pressure and threats when she printed the Pentagon Papers. In 1972, she supported the aggressive investigation of the Watergate burglary. The Post received a Pulitzer Prize for public service in 1973. Her autobiography Personal History won a Pulitzer Prize in 1998.

Investing

MoneyNing presents Zecco vs TradeKing - Online Stock Trading Comparison posted at Personal Finance Blog by Money Ning.

Investing School presents What are Treasury Securities posted at Investing School.

Money Management

The Happy Rock presents DD’s Monthly Expenses - February 2009 posted at The Happy Rock.

kathryn presents Avoid Paying $81 Billion on Your Credit Card posted at Out of Debt - Christian Finances and Debt Help. She says “Not everyone checks their credit card statements closely, but it is likely that Juan Zamora will be looking a little closer in the future. His last fill up of his 1994 Chevy Camaro cost him around $81 billion (that was with a “b”).”

Matthew Paulson presents Tips for Fixing a Busted Budget posted at American Consumer News.

Christian Financial Help submitted a post called Family budgeting troubles?

The Smarter Wallet submitted a post called Manage Your Money Well: 5 Common Personal Financial Mistakes To Avoid.

Debbie Ducker presents Your Children and Grandchildren Must Learn to Save Money posted at Ducker Promotion Ezine.

Todd presents The Best Time To Save For College Is Before Kids! posted at HarvestingDollars.

PFCreditCards presents Why I Still Get My Bills and Credit Card Statements in Paper posted at PF Credit Cards.

Coco Chanel (1883-1971)
Fashion Designer, Fashion Executive
“Where should one use perfume?” a young woman asked. “Wherever one wants to be kissed,” said Coco.
From her first millinery shop, opened in 1912, to the 1920s, Gabrielle ‘Coco’ Chanel rose to become one of the premier fashion designers in Paris, France. Replacing the corset with comfort and casual elegance, her fashion themes included simple suits and dresses, women’s trousers, costume jewelry, perfume and textiles.

Smart Shopping

Bargaineering.com submitted a post called How To Buy Checks Online.
Momma presents 25 ways to save money and bargain shop in small towns and rural areas: part 2 posted at Engineer a debt free life.
Britannica Blog presents A “Size Zero” Pill? Too Good to Be True? posted at Britannica Blog.

Random Acts of Kindness

kathryn presents You Can Afford to Be Generous posted at Out of Debt - Christian Finances and Debt Help.

Kitty O’Neal (1946- )
Stuntwoman ( Though not in business I added Kitty because she sounds very cool.)
O’Neal is one of the world’s greatest stunt women. She drove a 48,000 horsepower car at 618 miles per hour. She jumped off a 105 foot cliff, has crashed cars, been set on fire, and jumped off a ten- story building. She has performed stunts for TV shows such as Bionic Woman and Gemini Man. In 1970, O’Neal set a world record as the fastest woman on water skis at the speed of 104.85 mph. She was a diver and competed for the US in the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo.

References:  All information taken directly from About Women in Business and the Women’s National History Month website.

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Hosting the Carnival of Debt Reduction This Monday

Join me for the

Debt Defiant

Dumbing Down Debt

Debt be not Proud

Debt of a Millionaire

Debt as a Doornail

Drive me to Debt

Debtlilah

Carnival of Debt Reduction

This Monday.

Blog Carnival Round-Up (March 12th, 2009)

Check out these great Blog Carnivals.

And check back here - As I read through, I’ll be adding more of my favorites posts from them.

The Carnival of Personal Finance at Stock Trading To Go

• My Stimulus Tax Credit:  Should I Spend or Save My Tax Break at The Digerati Life.  I keep wanting to save it, but if I am a “responsible American,” should I be spending it?
  
• Energy Saving Gadgets presents Watts Up Pro, Kill a Watt Monitor (this is a great addendum to my post about the Google Power Meter
  

The Festival of Frugality at Funny About Money

• Inaccurate Grocery Story Pricing at Simple Forties - One of my pet peeves.
  

• Passive Family Income entered  Passive Income Opportunities: Think Creatively .  I liked these ideas.

The Money Hacks Carnival at Money Ning (just posting today!)

Other Carnival Notes:  I’ll be hosting the Carnival of Debt Reduction next Monday, March 16th.  Be sure to get your posts entered by 5 pm EST!  I’ll have a lot to go through.

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The Psychology of Money: Economic Survivor Syndrome

It wasn’t the first and it won’t be the last, layoff I’ve survived.

It was one of those small,”under the radar” types.  6 great hard-working people, all great at what they do.  I’m sure they’re scratching their heads right now, puzzled, hurt and angry at what happened.

As a layoff survivor, I’m also shaken.  I cared about these people.  Why them and not me?  Will I be next?

Keith Ablow, a noted psychiatrist and author of the book, Living the Truth, published a great article in my local newspaper today that addresses this issue.  I thought I’d share it in its entirety with you here.

Weathering Economic Survivor Syndrome

Living the Truth
Dr. Keith Ablow

With the economy under siege and mass layoffs around the country, men and women are sharing with me symptoms of depression and anxiety clearly triggered by job loss. Never before in my 16 years of practice have I seen so many people so shaken by joining the ranks of the unemployed, with all the challenges that presents to their self-esteem and confidence in the future.

I am also hearing from others who still have their jobs, but are clearly suffering the effects of what has been called “survivor syndrome” in the workplace. Witnessing layoffs of valued colleagues, they aren’t feeling relief or a sense of having triumphed over adversity. Rather, they feel as if they have little control over their futures, regardless of how well they perform.

They have a sense of impending doom that the next downsizing will include them. And many actually feel deeply troubled — even guilty — that co-workers have lost their jobs while they have kept theirs, almost as though, by staying aboard, they have sanctioned the firings themselves.

Indeed, recognized symptoms of survivor syndrome in the workplace include less motivation to excel at one’s job, a lack of trust in management, reduced loyalty to the organization and feeling like it might be better if the whole company were to perish all at once.

The roots of survivor syndrome sometimes lie in one’s life history. Seeing sudden distress in others can reawaken feelings of sadness, helplessness and anger attached to earlier life events, like sudden illness in a sibling or a treasured childhood friend suddenly moving out of state. But our vulnerability to the syndrome is ultimately connected to our wonderful human capacity to empathize with the plight of others.

Here are a few keys to overcoming survivor syndrome:

Realize that it’s unlikely anyone in the organization — including top managers — is eager to cut jobs or is unaffected by economic stress. There’s no bad guy to hate.

Focus on what you can do to make the workplace cohesive and to comfort those who remain on the job.

Reach out to see how colleagues you care about who lost jobs are doing, a week or a month later. They’ll appreciate it, and you’ll be showing yourself and them that camaraderie doesn’t haven’t to dissolve when a company downsizes.

¢¢¢

Keith Ablow, MD, is a psychiatrist, best-selling author, Fox News Contributor and founder of www.LivingtheTruth.com. He lives in Newbury. His column is reprinted from New York Post. Contact him at info@keithablow.com.

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Blog Notes and Statistics for February, 2009

Blog Stats

Blog income - see my Passive Income for February post.

* Visits - 6296 ( + 14% from January )
* Page views - 18746 ( + 5% )
* Bounce rate - 4.99% ( - 36% )
* Average time on site - 1 min, 44 sec  ( - 35% )
*2.98 pages/visit ( - 7% )

(above data from Google Analytics)

I posted 20 articles in February  (36 in January.)

Review of Blog Goals for January

• Increase passive blog income to $50/month
• Increase subscribers and Twitter followers 10% 
• Increase comments by 5%
• Find one channel of revenue through the blog  
• Come up with a “shopping” page plan (In process)

What I’ve been doing to increase comments:

1. Added Most Frequent Commentors list to sidebar
2. Continue latest comments links in sidebar
3. Frequently responding to commentors
4. Comment Luv
5. Increasing the number of genuine comments I’m leaving on my favorite blogs, and new blogs.
6. Frequently leaving comments on the blogs of bloggers who comment on my blog.

It’s a slow climb, so if you like my site, please sign up for my feed and my Twitter. Oh, and a stumble would be nice, too.)

Blog Notes

Greener Pastures has been added to two of Alltop’s topic pages:  Midlife and Personal Finance!

Here’s the feeds below.  If you have a chance, please go check them out. There ’s some great blogs on these pages. While you’re there, if you take a second to click on a link back to my site, it will help me move higher up on their page.

Twitter - Increased to over 700 followers.  This h.as helped traffic
Facebook - too early to tell what’s going on.  See next month.

Goals for March

• Increase passive income to $75 per month.
• Fix scrolling of features section.  ( I believe a plug in has messed it up. )
• Shopping page?
• Continue increasing readers, subscribers, traffic and comments.
• Find one new channel of revenue for the blog.
• Explore possibility of forming a Midlife Network, complete with widget, from the Alltop Midlife page.
• Develop new article series.

How did your month go? Any suggestions for this blog?  Would you like me to look at yours and make suggestions or comments?  I would be glad to!

Photo credits: PicApp

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Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-02-22

• @CommentLuv this is great this plug in - but I’m hovering and it is not working. Is there a trick to it? in reply to CommentLuv #
• lasr day of vacation today. Real world again, ugh #
• Getting psyched for SXSW? Check out http://sxsw.alltop.com/ #
• http://bit.ly/Ez16 Has the economy changed your lifestyle? - Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money #
• http://bit.ly/Ez16 #
• …ugh…feeling the pains of a late night out. I’m not a kid any more. #
• The Psychology of Money - Are You a Multitasking Maniac?: “I was talking on my cell phone while I was checking m.. http://tinyurl.com/c457ks #
• Carnival Round-Up (February 20th, 2009): Here’s a few great reads for ya. http://tinyurl.com/dz4fqx #
• hmmmm, now what shall I where to the Johnny Blazes Support the Arts Benefit tonight? #
• http://37mka 9 Best Ways to Get Laid Off. Are you staying below the radar? A light take on these hard times #
• Are You a Taxpayer or a Shareholder?: Yes, this is a trick question. http://tinyurl.com/bu9m4w #
• http://whatsthesoup.net/ “What’s the Soup” #
• If you like slapstick, and have not seen Paul Blart, Mall Cop, get to it #
• Enjoying my week off at home. Making believe I have a trust fund and will never have to go back to work. #
• Like the New York Times? Check this out: http://new-york-times.alltop.com/ #
• I’m watching my dogs sleep, and wishing I could have such peace. #
• Are you a Harley fan? Check out http://harley-davidson.alltop.com/ #
• reading about US officers in Iraq and graft. Is anyone not on the take? http://tinyurl.com/dgcyp9 #

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• Harley Davidson Collectibles Collectibles -> Transportation -> Motorcycles-> Harley Davidson The Harley Davidson motorcycle has become an integral part of Americana and the pop culture of this country....

The Psychology of Money - Are You a Multitasking Maniac? Is it a Good Thing, or a Bad Thing?

Here’s an example:

I was talking on my cell phone while I was checking my e-mail while I was watching the latest episode of Days of Our Lives I’d taped and, oops, here comes a text message, picture attached…did someone say video game?

Not such an atypical scene for most teenagers, and possibly for some adults.

Where I play the multitasking game is at work.  At work, time is money.  Or, more specifically, my time is the company’s money.  So the more efficient I can be, the more profitable the company will be.

What’s my job?  I do technical support for a biotech firm.  This means I have to answer the phone, which rings constantly, throughout the day.  And I have to also check e-mails with every “ding, you’ve got mail!”  This is because the big ticket in technical support is response time.   Be there or be square.  Of course, I also have ongoing projects to do in my “free time.”  Is your job like that?  I’m changing gears constantly.

This used to be considered the way to go.  If you could juggle 3 or 4 projects a day and take all your incoming phone calls and e-mails you’d be the cat’s meow.

Not anymore.

I googled “Multitasking Makes You Stupid” and got 74, 800 hits.

Why didn’t I know this?!

It wasn’t until my spouse showed me a recent article in an educationer’s magazine entitled “You Say Multitasking Like It’s a Good Thing?” by Charles J. Abate, that I realized my supposed proficiency at switching gears was actually “making me stupid” and slowing me down.

Abate found that a number of recent neurophysiological studies refute 3 basic myths believed about multitasking.  Here’s the myths Abate outlines, with a little piece of the scientific evidence refuting each claim:

Myth # I:  Multitasking saves time.

Meyer et al. proved that, much like a computer’s microprocessor, our brains are “unable to perform two conceptual tasks literally simultaneously.”  He did this by monitoring MRI’s of peoples brains while they were switching tasks.  He found that switching tasks created a bottleneck in the thought process while the brain was relocating “where it had left off” with the other tasks.  So, in actuality, it takes us longer to perform  tasks when we do more than one at a time.

Myth # II:  Multitasked learning is as good as single-task learning.

Knowlton et al., and others, have found that multitasked learning takes place in a different area of the brain than single task learning.  This area of the brain focuses more on “habitual - or procedural - learning” than “declarative learning.”  Declarative learning is a much more efficient way to learn.  Knowledge gained through habitual learning is less accessable, and less capable of being organized or manipulated.

Myth # III:  Multitasking is the forte of the young.

Studies showed that those in the 35-39 year age bracket performed given tasks while being periodically interupted with equal speed to 17-21 years olds.

So, do you talk on your cell phone and put on your make-up while driving?

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