Improving cognitive readiness with Blank Slate

If you’ve ever worn a fitness tracking device like a FitBit or an Oura Ring, you’ve likely been given a readiness score. Fitness trackers collect information like the quality of your sleep and changes in your heart rate to estimate how physically ready you are to tackle all of the challenges of the day.

Blank Slate is at the forefront of a new and equally important movement: estimating and predicting cognitive readiness. Beyond being physically ready to face each day, we need to be mentally ready to make quick and accurate decisions. Just as we train our bodies through exercise to be physically ready, we need to train our minds to be ready to perform the cognitive duties that allow us to make decisions.

Making good decisions starts with having a strong knowledge base. Even simply deciding where to go out for dinner requires you to recall a ton of information about what kinds of food you enjoy, where your friends or family like to eat, and which restaurants you’ve been to in the past. Blank Slate delivers enhanced cognitive readiness by ensuring that critical knowledge can be remembered quickly and accurately while people go through their day, making decision after decision.

Here’s another example to emphasize the role that memory plays in decision making. Imagine you’re out for a walk when you fall and break your leg. There are two people on the sidewalk near you, a paramedic and a software engineer. Which person would you trust to make the best decision about how to treat your injury?

The reason we’d all trust the paramedic over the software engineer is simple: paramedics know more about medicine than software engineers. Because they have a strong knowledge base, paramedics can make better and faster decisions about proper medical treatment.

The learning principles incorporated into Blank Slate’s platform combine to provide the most effective way to build memories that are both long-lasting and easy to recall. In just the last three months, one of our new clients in the security sector has increased their staff knowledge levels by 8 points and seen a 13.5% reduction in the time it takes staff to remember the answers to Blank Slate questions. Blank Slate prepares workforces to quickly recall information that they can use to make decisions, helping them achieve optimal cognitive readiness. And coming full circle, that’s exactly why Blank Slate is also used by the US Air Force’s highly trained, special warfare paramedics.

That’s not to say that physical readiness is not also important. A tired or sick body can’t support a well-trained, cognitively ready mind. So get good sleep, eat well, exercise often, manage your stress levels, and use Blank Slate.