Neuroscience Says 3 Brainy Habits Will Make You More Efficient, Productive, and Focused
As summer draws to a close, leaders often feel pressure to optimize their team's efficiency for the next quarter.
Common approaches like shortening break times, increasing meeting productivity, or analyzing email traffic seem logical but fail to account for how the brain functions. In fact, these tactics may do more harm than good by pushing teams to work against their natural cognitive rhythms.
Dr. Mithu Storoni, a Cambridge-trained neuroscientist and author of Hyperefficient: Optimize Your Brain to Transform the Way You Work, shared a more effective solution with me. Her research shows that true efficiency in today's technology-driven world comes from aligning work habits with the brain's natural rhythms.
Instead of pushing through fatigue, Storoni advocates for structuring work around periods of peak cognitive performance. By doing so, leaders can unlock higher quality output, greater creativity, and a more sustainable pace for their teams.
Here are three powerful strategies from Storoni's new book to shift your team's efficiency and productivity into higher gear.
1. Sync Work with Brain Rhythms
The brain's capacity for focus and creativity doesn't stay constant throughout the day. Storoni argues that to optimize productivity, you need to plan tasks around these natural peaks. Citing research published in Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine (YJBM), Storoni says we need to protect the early morning hours for creative thinking--those times when the mind is fresh and able to generate innovative ideas.
If your job involves ideation or strategy development, start the day early with tasks that require creative insight, and allow time for breaks in the afternoon to recharge. The brain's ability to focus sharpens in the mid-morning, around 10 a.m., and continues until early afternoon. This is the ideal time for tasks requiring deep concentration, such as strategic planning or data analysis. Storoni suggests minimizing distractions during this window, recommending against scheduling meetings or handling emails at this time.
As a leader, consider giving your team flexibility in their schedules to optimize for focus and creativity. Storoni notes, "Tailoring work schedules to match task types with brain states can significantly boost output and engagement."
2. Prioritize Progress Over Output
In a culture that often equates busyness with success, it's tempting to focus on output--the sheer volume of tasks completed. However, Storoni emphasizes the value of progress over output. While output shows that people are working, steady progress indicates they are motivated and likely finding meaning in their tasks.
Neuroscience research published in Frontiers in Neuroscience supports this with the concept of "Learning Progress." As the brain notices incremental improvement, it begins to enjoy the work intrinsically. This sense of progress sparks motivation and leads to higher engagement. Regularly check in with team members to ensure they're making progress, not just meeting output goals. If steady progress isn't being made, Storoni recommends reassigning tasks until the individual finds a better fit, which will ignite their intrinsic motivation.
"Progress is a key indicator of engagement," Storoni explains. "It's not about completing more work, but about finding fulfillment in the work."
3. Embrace Redundancy for Creative Sparks
It's easy to fall into the trap of eliminating every inefficiency, but Storoni challenges this idea. She explains that downtime, distractions, and "inefficient" moments can lead to bursts of creativity. When the brain isn't focused on the task at hand, it often makes connections that can lead to innovative ideas.
For example, when your mind wanders during a repetitive task, it's more likely to come up with creative solutions to unrelated problems. Storoni suggests embracing these moments of redundancy. Referencing research published in Psychological Science, "Creativity thrives in the space where the brain is free to wander," she notes. Instead of cutting out every non-essential task, allow some room for these slower, seemingly unproductive moments--they could result in breakthroughs that enhance long-term efficiency.
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