4 BrainTools to keep your productivity engine in motion
It's hard to stay productive when building. Source: my whole life.
I usually fluctuate between Elon Musk-productivity and stoner-grade "I thought of uber first" procrastination.
But I’m the former when I listen to neuroscience and use these 4 brain tools below.
Procrastination = limbic friction
Procrastination is based in our biology.
It happens when our limbic system (biased towards easy, instant rewards and emotion/reward based decision making) overpowers our executive function system (the thinking/planning part of our brain (prefrontal cortex)).
It’s your brain choosing what feels good now (instant, easy rewards eg. checking social media) vs what feels hard, effortful (finishing that essay). Limbic friction is this battle between PFC driven productivity and limbic led procrastination.
BrainTools for Productivity
1 - Rule of 1 (focus)
1 task, 1 screen, 1 tab, 1 goal.
Every new tab/post it/email/browser is a distracting ‘task cue’ which hooks your brain’s salience network into weighing up that task vs what you’re doing. So get rid of them.
Go 1 screen focus - full screen mode, no notifications. Put your phone away from sight and reach. Remove any cue outside of what you’re doing.
2 - Batch tasks not time (efficiency)
Switching between tasks (e.g. long form writing vs excel) consumes energy, as each task has a different protocol (‘task set’) in the brain which must be ‘loaded’ up, executed, then swapped out for the next task. This comes with a restart cost.
Batching your tasks together (eg. 1 hour for emails, 1 hour video creation, 3 hours Java front end) makes your work more efficient (less new task time loss), less effortful (reduces switching energy costs) and creates an environment for ‘flow’.
3 - Make time loss visible
Visually track your work tasks over a week to see where you’re expending time/energy and map out what’s draining both of these resources. Download clockify, toggle or use excel, then commit to recording what you did and for how long each session was each day. Colour code with:
Red - time/energy sinks
Orange - tasks that could be delegated/automated
Green - what to do more of
This visual anchors time loss in something the brain can make sense of: a picture.
4 - Amplify your awakening-response
Do these 3 things to amplify your body’s natural awakening response for more energy and clarity throughout the day.
If possible, get sunlight within an hour of waking.
- Early morning sunlight triggers awakening-response timing in the brain, which gives you focus/alertness and wakes you up. Aim for 5-10 minutes outside if it’s bright, 30 minutes if overcast.
Delay caffeine for 2 hours
- Caffeine spikes cortisol + binds to adenosine receptors (your sleepy hormone), which causes the midmorning crash when cortisol drops post awakening response and your brain is full of it’s natural sleeping agent.
Sweat within the first 1 - 3 hours
- Morning exercise releases cortisol, epinephrine (adrenaline) and endorphins, which amplify your awakening response. In the research AM exercise has also been shown to improve energy throughout the day. Try 20 minutes, working up a sweat (outside even better to get light too).
TL:DR
Your brain wants to procrastinate, to do easy, neurally-rewarding things. Productivity means being aware of this to block out distraction cues, understanding your alertness over the day and getting a grip on your time.
Do this using these 4 BrainTools
- screen/task/tab/goal
- batch tasks not time
- make time waste visual
- amplify awakening response - in first hour awake get sunlight and exercise, then no caffeine for 2 hours
If you enjoyed this post and learnt something, you might also like our BrainTools podcast where we share the brain science and braintools for everyday life that we should have learnt in school.
You can find us on itunes, spotify or wherever you stimulate your cochlear nuclei with auditory info (listen to podcasts).
Thanks!
