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PODCAST

The OptimalWork Podcast

Hosted by Dr. Kevin Majeres and Sharif Younes, co-founders of OptimalWork, The OptimalWork Podcast will help you learn to challenge yourself in each hour of work according to your highest ideals. We discuss all aspects of Dr. Majeres"s approach to work, which he developed in his private practice and teaches at Harvard Medical School, and show how it applies to everyday situations like professional work, study, sleep, and relationships. For personalized plans to help you put the ideas into practice,

education self-improvement

All Episodes

00:26:32

33. OptimalWork at Home

The OptimalWork Podcast ·

2020/11/16

#33: In this episode Dr. Kevin Majeres and Sharif discuss the differences between applying OptimalWork at home versus a more controlled work environment like an office or library. Certainly, it may be easier to perform an uninterrupted Golden Hour in a more controlled environment. Nevertheless, since OptimalWork is all about learning how to work for the highest motives, namely, for the sake of the bonds with those closest to you, in important ways our approach really applies most easily to working

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00:24:01

32. Perfectionism: An Introduction

The OptimalWork Podcast ·

2020/11/09

#32: Perfectionism is a commonly-used label, but it's often not clear what it means. In this episode, Sharif and Dr. Kevin Majeres discuss the issue of perfectionism, its causes, signs, and effects. And they show how OptimalWork's approach is the perfect antidote.

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00:28:20

31. Theta Locking: The Muscle of Mindfulness

The OptimalWork Podcast ·

2020/11/02

#31: In this episode, Sharif and Dr. Kevin Majeres dive further into the concept of “theta locking,” a pattern of brain activity that occurs when we recollect our attention. What it shows is that mindfulness is not a fixed trait, but a kind of muscle that we can develop through practice. Our ability to sustain our attention is something that can be directly practiced in every time of meditation. Such practice leads to the greatest sustained intensity of our attention in work.

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00:23:42

30. The Best Exercises for Attention

The OptimalWork Podcast ·

2020/10/26

#30: In this episode Sharif and Dr. Kevin Majeres discuss the phenomenon of mindfulness and how you can use it to strengthen your attention. There are three key skills of attention that are developed through these exercises: monitoring your thoughts, disengaging from distractions, and redirecting your attention to the task at hand. When we deliberately train, through both physical exercise and attention exercises, we improve the "hardware" of our brain, so that it can perform better.

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00:26:44

29. The Cure for Procrastination

The OptimalWork Podcast ·

2020/10/19

#29: Procrastination always involves a double-deception. First, you get deceived by the thought of all the effort the task will take, as if that is what you face when starting the task. Next, you deceive yourself by putting it off, even though you know it’s better to get started. In this episode, Sharif and Dr. Kevin Majeres take a deeper look at the underlying causes of procrastination. Understanding the cause reveals the path to overcoming procrastination.

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00:24:30

28. Discipline? Let's be sincere.

The OptimalWork Podcast ·

2020/10/12

#28: If you’re trying to build a new habit but get frustrated by failure, you might think you need more discipline, more willpower. In this episode, Sharif and Dr. Kevin Majeres discuss the real source of constancy in struggle and growth: sincerity. Sincerity about your motives leads to a willingness to sacrifice particular satisfactions or outcomes in the pursuit of ideals. It thus provides the sure foundation for growth and change.

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00:22:47

27. The Post-Pre Flip

The OptimalWork Podcast ·

2020/10/05

#27: You may have wondered how to apply OptimalWork's principles to "passive" activities like attending class or meetings. This week, Sharif and Dr. Kevin Majeres discussed how to actively challenge yourself in these situations, in particular, by doing a "post-pre flip" to completely change how you prepare for them.

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00:22:20

26. Overcoming the Afternoon Slump

The OptimalWork Podcast ·

2020/09/28

#26: In this episode, Dr. Majeres and Sharif discuss the common, but avoidable, tiredness that often hits after lunch. It can lead to discomfort, decreased productivity, and longer work-days. Dr. Majeres outlines some key principles for engaging the afternoon slump as an opportunity for growth.

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00:23:53

25. When Anger Challenges Bonds

The OptimalWork Podcast ·

2020/09/21

#25: We’ve often discussed anxiety: it develops over time as you train your amygdala to perceive certain challenges as threats to be fled. Anger is the flip side of anxiety, when you train your brain to perceive challenges as threats to be fought. In this episode, Sharif and Dr. Majeres discuss how to shape your response to anger. Since it frequently occurs in the context of close relationships, we can discover in anger an opportunity to grow closer.

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00:24:08

24. The Key to Mastering Sleep (and anything else!)

The OptimalWork Podcast ·

2020/09/14

#24: Dr. Majeres and Sharif discuss an approach to sleep developed by Dr. Guy Meadows, as found in his book, The Sleep Book, and an app he has called Sleep School for Insomnia. The approach, which is centered around the idea of acceptance, mirrors OptimalWork's approach to any challenge: essentially, applying reframing, mindfulness, and challenge to sleep. We cover the theory and practice of this approach so that you too can master sleep — and use the principles to master anything else! Note: In the

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00:23:25

23. Patience and Thalamic Gating

The OptimalWork Podcast ·

2020/09/07

#23: Dr. Kevin Majeres and Sharif discuss the neurological phenomenon of thalamic gating: the way your brain selectively filters sensations based on what you act on. By changing your behavior — for example, your response to pain or fears — you can train your brain to simply stop noticing these triggers. The key conclusion is that being willing to suffer in the end reduces suffering. This episode presents the neuroscience to support this claim.

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00:23:27

22. Reframe out of Addiction

The OptimalWork Podcast ·

2020/08/31

#22: This week we discuss the nature of addiction, that is, repeatedly giving into a craving in which the costs outweigh the benefits. Addiction comes in many varieties. One mild example discussed is frequently giving in to distractions in work. The pattern of how addictions form is generally the same, and they are likewise broken by following the three steps of the Golden Hour, reframing, mindfulness, and challenge.

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00:26:31

21. A Vital Approach to Depression

The OptimalWork Podcast ·

2020/08/24

#21: A major new study in the American Journal of Psychiatry highlights three behavioral factors that substantially affect the likelihood of depression. In this episode, Dr. Kevin Majeres and Sharif discuss the study, as well as depression in general, and connect it to OptimalWork's approach.

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00:21:58

20. Train Your Attention with Silence

The OptimalWork Podcast ·

2020/08/17

#20: The practice of mindfulness is becoming more and more popular, but it can be difficult to understand what it really is, and what effects it has. In this session, we discuss the practice of mindfulness, distinguishing different types of mindfulness, and explaining how certain practices can help you to work at your best, by training your attention through the deliberate effort to attain silence.

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00:22:39

19. Transform Your Brain with Exercise

The OptimalWork Podcast ·

2020/08/10

#19: Exercise has a tremendous power to transform your brain. Surprisingly, exercise has been shown to be one of the most effective treatments for depression. In this video, we discuss why this is the case, and why exercise offers unique benefits for everyone, from shaping the way you approach challenges to the way your brain functions.

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00:20:21

18. Prepare Your Brain to Embrace Challenge

The OptimalWork Podcast ·

2020/08/03

#18: Embracing challenges starts with your judgements about them. If you’re stuck seeing challenges as threats, you need reframing. Rather than avoiding challenges, or forcing yourself to get them over with, reframing means recognizing each challenge as an opportunity for growth or service, by placing it in its true context of your whole life. Reframing is not just a mental trick — it causes an identifiable change in your brain. Among other things, this episode covers why it’s important and how to

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00:21:10

17. The Secret of Motivation

The OptimalWork Podcast ·

2020/07/27

#17: How motivated are you to tackle the challenges of the day? For many, motivation comes and goes, which means it’s not really under your control and, more importantly, it’s not really coming from you. You get motivated by things, rather than you motivating yourself to do what’s best. Dr. Kevin Majeres and Sharif discuss what motivation really is, what the only true stable source of motivation is, and how to cultivate it so you can always feel motivated to give your best.

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00:20:11

16. Putting People over Projects

The OptimalWork Podcast ·

2020/07/20

#16: In this episode, Dr. Kevin Majeres and Sharif discuss motives and priorities. It's common to see outcomes — like getting into the best school, securing a well-paying job, etc. — as ends in themselves. This approach has major costs: if you don't achieve the outcome, you get frustrated and double down on your outcome-focus; if you do, it just leads to you raise the bar and pursue an "even better" outcome. The alternative is to treat outcomes as means, not ends in themselves. They are a way to

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00:21:53

15. Transform Anxiety by Working at Your Best

The OptimalWork Podcast ·

2020/07/13

#15: In this episode Dr. Kevin Majeres and Sharif discuss the nature and cause of anxiety. Understanding how anxiety works and what it really is — which is quite simple — can help you transform your approach to it. Crucially, as Dr. Majeres explains, anxiety is not a disorder or something to be avoided. Anxiety can be transformed into your best performance by following three steps: reframing, mindfulness, and engaging the challenge. You can follow these three steps before a time of work, turning it

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00:26:49

14. Left & Right Brain, Part 2: Motives

The OptimalWork Podcast ·

2020/07/06

#14: Last week, we discussed the left-brain/right-brain paradigm as it bears on work, and this week we are building off the discussion to address motives. Psychiatrist Iain McGilchrist re-popularized this paradigm in his 2009 book The Master and His Emissary, grounding it in neuroscience and using it to explain aspects of psychology, society, and culture (in contrast to previous pseudo-scientific versions of the theory). The approach has profound implications for understanding what motivates your

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