Sip& Learn - A Neuroscientist’s Guide to Slacking Off

Perhaps we'd get more out of life if we spent a little less of it trying to get things done.

We've come to measure our self-worth by how much we accomplish. Even after a full day of work, there's often a lingering guilt that we haven't done enough. So we push ourselves harder, convinced that the answer to getting ahead is always to do more. But what if all that effort is actually making us less productive?

In this lecture, Dr. Jay Hosking will explain the neuroscience behind our relentless pursuit of productivity. Stress can help us concentrate and perform better under pressure, but our brains are not built to sustain that pressure indefinitely. Without adequate rest, the very effort we put into getting ahead can begin to compromise our ability to do good work.

Drawing on his research into the neuroscience of effort and motivation, Dr. Hosking will explain why our brains sometimes resist working harder and what happens when we continually ignore their need for rest. After all, rest is a fundamental part of being human, yet we've come to regard it as time that could be better spent working. Perhaps there's a stronger scientific argument for slacking off than we've been led to believe.

About the Lecturer

Dr. Jay Hosking, is a lecturer in the Department of Psychology at the University of British Columbia, where he teaches neuroscience and psychology. His research has focused on the neural mechanisms of working hard versus slacking off. Outside academia, he runs a YouTube music channel with more than 85,000 subscribers and is the author of Three Years with the Rat, published by Penguin Random House Canada.

Agenda

6:00 PM doors open. Guests are welcome to arrive early, order drinks, and have dinner before the lecture begins.

7:00 PM lecture begins, followed by Q&A.

8:15 PM wrap up. Guests are welcome to stay for conversation and another drink.