I never thought much about my brain beyond smacking my forehead when I forgot stuff. That is, until I became acquainted with the work of Dr. Daniel Amen and several other neuroscientists.

Dr. Amen (pronounced Ah’-mun) is passionate about brain health; he says you should do more than care about your brain; you should love it.. Amen isn’t some yahoo with a clever idea. He’s a Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine and a leader in applying brain imaging science to clinical practice.

Amen does brain imaging showing which parts of our brains we’re using and which parts are turned off. The good news is that we can turn these underused areas back on — or at the very least, improve their functioning — by doing specific kinds of things. Even better, we can prevent deterioration in first place by living brain-healthy lives.

Dr. Amen believes if you love your brain, you’ll think twice about doing evil to it: not sleeping enough, drinking too much, living in toxic stress, eating too many french fries, etc. You know, the typical North American lifestyle.

Let me get this straight. Productivity starts with making good decisions. Decisions happen in the brain. I need to love my brain in order to do right by it. Yikes. No wonder I suck at productivity.