In Your Brain at Work, David Rock argues that by understanding the neuroscience behind how the brain functions, you can increase your productivity at work and optimize your efficiency and performance by working with your brain’s natural rhythms.
Rock specializes in neuroleadership—a term he coined to describe the use of neurological research to determine the best practices in leadership. He co-founded the Neuroleadership Institute to advise business leaders on how to improve their effectiveness and to generate productive work environments in their organizations; companies like NASA and IBM are among Rock’s clients. While his ideas are primarily aimed at people in leadership positions, many of his strategies can apply to workers at any level.
Rock uses an extended metaphor of the theater to illustrate his ideas: The brain is the stage, your thoughts are the audience, and actors perform his methods in hypothetical work scenarios. Instead of incorporating the theater metaphor, we’ve chosen to focus on Rock’s theories underpinning it. We’ve organized his strategies into five sections: energizing your brain, regulating your emotions, collaborating with coworkers, unblocking your creativity, and keeping your focus. Each section will begin with the neuroscience you need to know and will then cover the strategies you can use to optimize this knowledge.
Rock claims that when you’re aware of the fluctuation of your brain’s energy levels, you can plan your day around your ebbs and flows, enhancing your productivity. When you learn your brain’s patterns, you coordinate tasks that require your peak performance with times when your energy levels are highest. Conversely, you can schedule refueling or low-energy tasks for when you predict you’ll need them. In this section, we’ll cover the science behind your brain’s energy use and then give you approaches to work in tandem with your energy levels.
Today’s work environment often requires a series of cognitive tasks that drain the brain’s energy rapidly, decreasing productivity. Cognitive tasks occur in the area of the brain called the prefrontal cortex and include complex processes like critical thinking, problem-solving, and planning. When performing a cognitive task, your brain summons a large, interconnected neural network that includes all related data. For example, if you’re trying to plan for your next meeting, your brain will retrieve a network that consists of protocols your job requires, memories of past meetings, and even emotions tied to how well the meeting went last time. Your prefrontal cortex must sort through the network and decide what is necessary to focus on—all within milliseconds.
(Shortform note: Rock bases his theories of neural networks on assumptions that were widely accepted at the time his book was published: that the brain's different regions perform distinct functions such as rational thinking in the prefrontal cortex. Recent research, however, has cast doubt on that theory. According to neuroscientist Lisa Feldman Barrett in Seven and A Half Lessons About the Brain, because neural networks (she calls them clusters) are so interconnected and incorporate every part of the brain, it’s not accurate to say that different brain regions process different functions. She argues that it’s more accurate to think of the brain as a complex and active web of neurons.)
When your brain is fully energized, sorting through your neural network is fast and easy, but if you’re running low on energy, your brain struggles to focus on what’s important and can get distracted or overwhelmed with tangential information within that network. For example, if you’re not energized while planning the meeting, your brain’s attention might slip into a connected memory of what you wore to the last meeting instead, and you begin wasting time thinking about when you’ll be able to go to the dry cleaner’s. Extracting information from these networks requires considerable amounts of oxygen and glucose, and as these chemical levels move up and down throughout the day, the energy you have to be productive also fluctuates.
(Shortform note: Studies demonstrate that pushing yourself while your brain is not adequately energized not only has a negative impact on cognitive functions but on your whole body. When confronted with a stressful situation, your brain initially gets a boost of energy through cortisol and adrenaline; however, prolonged stress causes your brain to deplete energy at a faster rate. In addition to slowing down productivity, consistently low mental energy also leads to neuron atrophy (losing function in brain cells), memory impairment, and a weakened immune system.)
Rock argues that by understanding how cognitive tasks use energy, you can make predictions about what times of day will require the most energy and adequately prepare for them. Instead of trying to bulldoze through the day at full speed (and ending up distracted or stressed), you can pace your mental energy and plan your most important tasks accordingly.
Start your workday by prioritizing your tasks. Making to-do lists, scheduling, and other forms of prioritizing are high-order functions that demand a lot of energy from the prefrontal cortex. Sit down with your agenda at the very beginning of the workday, when your energy is at its peak.
(Shortform note: Psychologists sometimes group people by chronotypes—categorizations based on a person’s innate fluctuations of energy. Different chronotypes have different peaks and valleys of energy during the day, based on their hormones and circadian rhythm. Psychologists who use chronotypes echo Rock’s assessment that most people are productive soon after they wake up (they’re called Bears), but there are other chronotypes (Wolves, Lions, Dolphins) who are the most productive at other times of the day. Experts claim that following a suitable schedule for your chronotype can determine the best times to sleep, work, eat, and exercise.)
Plan to work on your most important and energy-consuming task before other tasks. As you continue through your day, your energy will begin to fluctuate, especially if external factors drain your energy even more, like an angry email or bad news from a partner. Accomplishing an urgent or stressful task first will decrease potential anxiety later on and give you motivation to keep going.
(Shortform note: Many productivity experts agree that starting your day with difficult tasks can make you more productive throughout the day. Some recommend challenging yourself in the morning by completing a strenuous exercise or taking a cold shower before work.)
Alternate high- and low-energy tasks. If possible, sandwich high-energy tasks between tasks that aren’t going to require as much from your prefrontal cortex—for example, take a lunch between two meetings or organize your office space before moving on to the next stage in your project.
(Shortform note: For some people with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), simple tasks can cost a lot of mental energy if they are mundane or repetitive, like paying bills or cleaning your desk. Even though these tasks might not require complex thought from your prefrontal cortex, they still require your brain to expend a significant amount of energy to motivate you to complete them, so you should categorize them as high-energy.)
Manage your energy levels directly: If you notice your brain tiring during an important task, or if you can’t schedule a long break, you can try to increase your brain’s current energy levels by replenishing your glucose and oxygen.
Diet and Exercise
Nutritionists agree with Rock that carbohydrates are the best at replenishing glucose for energy. That being said, diets are very personal; health, money, allergies, and so on can all determine what is best for a person to eat. Changes to your diet should be discussed with your doctor if possible. In general, simple carbs that have added sugars, syrups, and white flour should be avoided when trying to gain energy. The energy created from foods like pastries, sodas, juice, and candy all burn quickly and tend to have an addictive component. Better carbs for energy boosts are complex carbs found in barley, quinoa, whole grain cereals, and whole wheat bread.
Sitting for long periods of time affects the circulation of oxygen to the brain. Health experts say you can keep the oxygen going in your body by taking short exercise breaks every 15-25 minutes. Major changes like transitioning to a standing desk or simple changes like stretching at your desk can keep your circulation working efficiently.
In order to accurately manage your productivity, be aware of how the emotional part of your brain influences your mental energy. Rock explains that while cognitive tasks occur in the front of the brain, emotions are processed in the center regions, collectively called the limbic system. We’ll first discuss how the limbic system can both enhance and impede your productivity, and then we’ll cover ways to regulate your emotions so they don’t disrupt your energy levels.
Rock classifies the signals we receive from our limbic system as toward and away emotions because they pull us emotionally either toward something or away from it.
(Shortform note: Rock credits scientists Evian Gordon and Leanne Williams with developing the emotional spectrum of toward to away, defining an emotion as an automatic response to a stimulus; the response either puts your brain in a toward state, in which it’s receptive and eager for more information, or an away state when your brain can’t process information well. Gordon’s and Williams’s theory has been widely adapted in the fields of psychology and education.)
Toward emotions are positive feelings such as curiosity and happiness. When we experience toward emotions, our limbic system emits dopamine, serotonin, or oxytocin, all of which can give us a boost of energy we can use to complete a task (and make us want to move toward the task).
Away emotions are negative feelings like anxiety, fear, and sadness. Our cortisol and adrenaline levels heighten when we feel away emotions, and our brain wants to avoid the task (move away from it). Since avoidance is not an option in most cases, we expend even more energy forcing ourselves to work on the task. Consequently, the prefrontal cortex has less energy to do the task well.
For example, if you start a project that is new but compelling, you might be curious to try it. Your dopamine levels will rise, and your prefrontal cortex will reenergize to engage in the task. However, if the project is different from anything you’ve done before and requires skills you’re not good at, you may feel anxiety instead and have less energy to motivate yourself to get started.
(Shortform note: Though Rock’s focus is on creating toward emotions and reducing away emotions, away emotions are not always a bad thing. In the book Emotional Intelligence, psychologist Daniel Goleman explains that negative emotions are especially critical for survival as they allow us to assess a situation quickly. For instance, if you hear shouting, fear may alert you to potential danger even before you can register what is being said or who is shouting. Away emotions become a problem when they aren’t suited to the environment. For example, you know your boss has a loud voice and dramatic personality, but your emotions keep responding as if he’s shouting or angry at you.)
Rock illustrates that mindfulness—self-awareness—is the first step to harnessing your emotions for productivity. You have to be able to identify when you’re feeling away or toward emotions and then anticipate situations likely to trigger these emotions. After recognizing your emotional response, you can decide whether to use toward emotions to motivate you on a task or prevent away emotions from disrupting your task. Rock explains that we feel our away emotions more intensely, so the strategies he recommends mostly involve regulating our brains when threatened.
Techniques to Practice Mindfulness
Practicing mindfulness can help you recognize your away and toward emotions because it helps you build awareness of your brain and body, giving you a greater command of how they react to external stimuli. Here are some tips from mindfulness experts:
Start and end each day with breathing exercises. For a few minutes, take deep and slow breaths. Still your thoughts about work or other things going on and focus on the sensation of your breath and movement of your body.
Incorporate breathing breaks into your day. Designate a part of your routine as a trigger for a breathing exercise. For example, you can decide that each time you hang up a phone call or close a door, you’ll take five deep breaths to recenter yourself.
Eat meals in a separate location from where you work. Meals are an opportunity for your body to recharge. Don’t distract your refueling process while trying to work simultaneously.
Rock claims that you can minimize away emotions in stressful situations by preparing beforehand. He recommends the following techniques:
Carefully select which situations you participate in. If you know that a situation is going to be stressful enough to hinder you from doing your best, you can find ways to remove yourself from it. For example, if public speaking gives you anxiety, and you have an upcoming presentation, you could delegate the task to a team member or ask to complete parts of the project that don’t involve presenting.
Adjust your situation. You can decrease your away emotions by changing something about the event to make it more comfortable for you. For example, you realize you have multiple projects due on the same day. You know you’re going to feel overwhelmed once the deadlines approach, so you delegate some tasks to your team or ask for an extension on one of the projects.
(Shortform note: You don’t always have a say in what you’re assigned at work, so if you know that certain situations like public speaking or networking events trigger away emotions, experts suggest that you try to get exposure to your fears in a controlled setting. Programs like Toastmasters hold training sessions in common leadership skills and can help you build confidence.)
Deny away emotions your attention. Before a difficult situation, you can decide to not pay attention to away emotions. Rock clarifies that this choice is hard to do and requires practice in recognizing and deferring emotions from entering your prefrontal cortex. This method is also energy-intensive, and it may affect your productivity for the rest of the day.
Find Time To Address Away Emotions
If you successfully put your emotions on hold to accomplish a task, experts encourage you to take time later to process your away emotions. Reflecting on your away emotions can have several benefits:
If a situation constantly makes you feel discomfort and anger, your consistent, negative emotions may be a sign that you need to make changes in your life.
Negative feelings can give you a more realistic perspective of a situation, especially if you were previously naive or overconfident before.
Negative emotions help you learn from your mistakes. While away emotions are important, you don’t want to feel them often, so recognizing that a mistake brought you anxiety or stress may help prevent you from making the mistake again.
Rock notes that sometimes we’re not in a position to make changes before a situation, or our away emotions catch us by surprise. In these cases, we need to take different approaches during an emotional situation.
Express your emotion: Occasionally, the best way to get an away emotion out of our prefrontal cortex is to express it. For example, if an event brings you grief, allow yourself to fully feel the emotion; crying or other forms of release may be the best way to work through the emotion. Rock notes this is probably not the most productive strategy in the workplace, so you do need to be aware of how appropriate it would be in any given environment.
(Shortform note: If you need to express a powerful emotion, do so in ways that don’t invite unwanted consequences, so that you remain professional. For example, you might find a bathroom stall and allow yourself to feel your emotions in private. Or, write down your emotions to better focus on the situation calmly.)
Suppress your emotion: If you feel your away emotions rising, you can sideline them to bring the task at hand into focus. However, Rock cautions that it’s hard to appear calm or sincere when you have to abruptly suppress your emotions in the moment (as opposed to preparing beforehand). Depending on the situation, you may come off as cold or indifferent, especially if those around you are expecting an emotional response. For example, in a budget meeting, someone reports that a project has gone over the allocated costs. If you suppress a reaction and focus on finishing the meeting, people may interpret your response as not taking the report seriously.
(Shortform note: Some wellness experts assert that men especially have a difficult time both expressing and suppressing emotions. Men are often socialized to avoid emotional vulnerability, habitually suppressing emotions until they have no choice but to express them—often at inopportune times or at inappropriate levels of intensity. While Rock advises that you only suppress your emotions temporarily, it should be noted that male-dominated fields do tend to praise the ability to compartmentalize and remain rational. Continuous emotional suppression can lead to health risks like physical pain or an increased likelihood of substance abuse.)
Reinterpret your emotion: This is the approach that Rock believes works best in a professional setting. You can decrease your away emotions by naming them and then reframing them in an optimistic light.
First, acknowledge and name the emotion, either mentally or aloud. Try to do this in one sentence, like “I’m feeling anxious because I did not expect the boss to attend the presentation.” This simple act allows you to quickly address the emotion and quell the panic from being caught off-guard. When your brain can specifically identify the problem, you can take steps to solve it rather than letting a nebulous discomfort accumulate and take over.
Sometimes, the limbic system is soothed just by recognizing the emotion, but in situations in which the away emotion is too disruptive to stop there, Rock suggests trying to see your away emotions from a positive perspective. For example, you meet a coworker on your first day at a job, and they start to ask a long stream of questions. Your first reaction may be to feel interrogated and defensive. However, by reinterpreting the situation, you could view their questioning as a way to get to know you instead. By shifting your away emotion to a toward emotion, you can continue your day productively rather than letting your mind linger on a potentially negative interaction.
Identify What’s Within and Outside Your Control
One of the tenets of Stoic philosophy, according to Ryan Holiday in The Daily Stoic, is to gain control over your emotions by realizing they are one of the few things that are actually in your control. You can’t control what happens, but you can control how you feel and respond to it.
One of the Stoic methods of asserting control over your emotions is modifying your self-talk, or what your mind “says” to you after being triggered by a negative event. For example, if you had an embarrassing experience during a public speaking engagement, giving speeches may trigger your away emotions. While you’re on stage, your brain may be thinking, “I’m in danger. I’m going to humiliate myself again.” Instead, think to yourself with kindness and encouragement: “I’m doing something brave. I’m going to be OK.”
Even after you have a grasp on monitoring your prefrontal cortex’s energy levels and moderating your limbic system, your productivity can still be impacted by the people around you. Most careers require some level of collaboration. However, coworkers, bosses, and clients can all have varying degrees of mental energy and emotional regulation themselves. While you can’t control the emotions and actions of others, you can understand which work situations trigger intense away emotions (and thus drain energy) as well as methods to mitigate these situations.
(Shortform note: Susan Cain argues in Quiet that too much collaboration can hurt productivity and that in fact, learning and creativity best happen in solitude. Studies show that with the increased opportunity for socialization that accompanied the rise of open-office designs came a rise in interruptions, social friction, and background noise—all of which deter productivity. Cain suggests an office space that provides areas to collaborate and areas to work alone.)
In the modern world, jobs are usually tied directly to our livelihoods. Therefore, when you feel as though your job is being threatened, your brain interprets these threats as a risk to your survival, similar to the way our primitive ancestors would have assessed the danger of a predator. When you’re in danger, adrenaline kicks your brain into a fight-or-flight response; in the workplace, this can translate into either avoidance or intense confrontation. Either reaction can harm productivity.
You feel the most threatened at work when you encounter change you weren’t prepared for. Your brain functions best when it’s at an equilibrium, so any change—big or small—puts your brain into a state of dissonance, or disorder. It takes time and energy to regain your balance. If your brain doesn’t have an adequate amount of either, you’re more likely to respond with unchecked emotion.
For example, imagine that tomorrow is your annual review—the results of which determine your bonus for the year. You run into a coworker who reminds you that they sent you an email yesterday and makes a joke about how long you take to respond. Your brain probably didn’t anticipate this interaction, and most days, your brain may perceive it as friendly banter. However, with the stress of the upcoming review in which your job performance is evaluated, your brain could easily interpret the joke as a threat instead. This reaction could lead to lashing out at your coworker or being anxious during the review.
For leaders, it’s especially important to understand how unexpected change can cause threat responses in employees, and diminish them when possible.
(Shortform note: Rock’s counsel to minimize threat responses at work is especially relevant to the Covid-19 pandemic—surveys show that work-related stress has amplified since the virus’s outbreak. The pandemic introduced unexpected change into people’s work lives and intensified the strain of other stressors, such as anxiety over safety, job security, and work-life balance. Adequately preparing employees before making changes in these three areas may help reduce workers’ threat response.)
Rock points to two things that can upset the brain’s equilibrium, which leaders need to be particularly aware of: feedback and irregular procedures.
Feedback is inherently stressful. Criticism usually comes from an authority figure who has the power to make change in your life. Even if the criticism is intended to be constructive, an employee’s brain is going to immediately prepare the body for the threat of a major change.
(Shortform note: In Nine Lies About Work, authors Marcus Buckingham and Ashley Goodall assert that corrective feedback may not be necessary in the workplace, as it inhibits learning because it sends people into flight-or-fight mode. Instead, they recommend that leaders focus on providing positive feedback by pointing out what employees are doing well. They recommend that if an employee asks for corrective feedback, the leader asks them to first think about what they’re doing right, which will prepare their brain to accept negative feedback.)
Here are some ways Rock recommends that leaders reduce the stress of feedback:
Regularly provide positive feedback. The brain interprets positive feedback as things that are stable or even better than expected. Positive feedback also generates toward emotions, so the recipient will receive a dopamine boost, which can also increase energy and motivation.
(Shortform note: Positive feedback should be genuine and not seen only as a way to buffer negative criticism. Psychologists say compliment sandwiches don’t work. A compliment sandwich is an attempt to buffer negative criticism by placing it in between two compliments. Formatting feedback this way actually leads to people becoming less receptive to positive feedback. Instead, it conditions people to expect negative criticism to follow the compliments each time, and people become distrustful of expressions of appreciation.)
Consider public positive feedback. When people receive praise in front of their peers, it creates an even stronger dopamine response. However, Rock cautions that you must be careful using this method: Public positive feedback can sometimes backfire by eliciting an away response if another employee feels like they never receive recognition. Be deliberate in providing feedback to employees equally.
(Shortform note: Although it takes extra time to ensure public feedback is consistent and equal, sharing positive recognition is becoming the norm in many companies. Business experts recommend creating a designated space for public praise, like on the company’s social media page or within a company newsletter.)
Normalize learning curves. One of the most significant pieces of feedback for an employee in a new position is reassurance that an adjustment period is normal. A new worker may feel uncertain about their role and stress about potential negative feedback. A leader can reduce these away emotions by offering empathy. For example, a mentor can say something like, “I got lost a couple of times when I first started, so don’t be hard on yourself if that happens to you.”
How To Get Past a Learning Curve
A learning curve at a new job is stressful and can lead to anxiety and disappointment. Initially, you’re learning a lot of new information or skills, and it seems like you’re improving rapidly. However, once you get into the nuances of your new responsibilities, the sense of improvement will slow down to a more normal—and thus gradual—rate. This natural shift in starting a new position can cause employees to develop imposter syndrome, doubting their fit for the position and even quitting before they fully acclimate to the job.
Cognitive scientists suggest two ways to get through a learning curve:
Assume your company values learning. Most companies invest in training and want you to ask for help.This assumption gives you a more optimistic outlook and motivates you to keep trying.
Keep a log of your improvements. When everything is new, gains are noticeable, but you need to continue seeing your growth as the novelty wears off. A personal record of your accomplishments will help quell the doubts of imposter syndrome.
Focus “negative” feedback on the goal, not the employee’s weaknesses. When feedback consists of multiple ways the employee can do better, the conversation will center around the employee trying to defend themselves or feeling uncomfortable. Instead, Rock suggests asking the employee to reflect on how they can reach a specific goal. For example, if an employee routinely turns in work late, ask them how efficiency can be improved on projects. When you validate their solutions and add suggestions if needed, the employee feels more empowered in the evaluation.
(Shortform note: Psychologists say that it’s important to build trust before giving negative feedback. The receiver should believe that you have their best interest in mind and that your feedback is for their benefit. Once trust is established, experts also recommend that negative feedback be timely (given close to precipitating incident), concise (focused only on the feedback), and given without pre-judgment (listen to what the employee has to say about the issue.)
Be transparent. When feedback results in corrective measures, Rock says you should explain your reasoning, and make sure the other party understands the full context of a situation. For example, if an employee is being put on an improvement plan for a series of mistakes, the leader must be clear in what needs to change and why the improvement plan is being established. The dissonance the brain experiences will abate if the employee understands the specific actions that led to the consequence and what they need to do in the future.
Setting Clear Expectations for Feedback
Another way to be transparent is to define and separate the kinds of feedback you give. In Thanks For The Feedback, Douglas Stone and Sheila Heen explain that poor reactions to negative feedback are mostly due to a disconnect between giver and receiver. The recipient of criticism may feel like the feedback isn’t fair or isn’t accurate. Meanwhile, the person giving the feedback feels like their honesty and expertise aren’t being appreciated. A way to prevent a bad reaction is to set the expectation of what kind of feedback you’re giving. There are three types:
Evaluation: The recipient should expect to be measured against co-workers or company standards. This kind of feedback will most likely come with consequences if the behavior is not improved.
Education: The recipient should expect advice or suggestions for improvement. This kind of feedback is meant to encourage the employee to improve their performance without a threat of change to their status or position.
Appreciation: The recipient should expect recognition for their good work.
To reduce potential threat responses in employees, Rock recommends that leaders stabilize as many aspects of a job as possible. The brain is in its comfort zone when it knows what to expect. Surprises are unavoidable on the job, whether it's a glitch in a piece of equipment, a client responding unexpectedly, or any number of other everyday occurrences. That being said, the brain will have more energy to handle these obstacles if the supply isn’t exhausted by anticipating change or guessing what comes next.
A Flexible Schedule Is an Unpredictable Schedule
The brain’s adverse reaction to unpredictability partially explains why jobs that offer more flexibility end up making workers feel like they have less control. For example, if your job has an unpredictable travel schedule, it’s difficult to plan your life too far in advance. Employees who get to set their own hours often underestimate how long it will take them to do a task and consequently, make plans they can’t fulfill. Some experts suggest looking for jobs that value boundaries and balance rather than flexibility.
Here are some practices you can implement to establish consistency.
Develop routines or templates for recurring tasks. The brain doesn’t have to expend a lot of energy on something that’s become a habit. For example, if calling customers is a frequent part of the job, design a script employees can use to introduce themselves and the product. This way, employees don’t have to use energy to come up with a greeting for each phone call.
(Shortform note: Keep in mind that routines and templates should reduce mental energy for mundane and repetitive tasks; however, tasks that are complex or creative naturally require a lot of energy and don’t need to be as heavily regulated. Stoic philosopher Ryan Holiday argues that limiting workers’ autonomy is micromanaging. In Ego Is The Enemy, he explains that a leader who aims to control every action of their team members creates either workers who are resentful or workers who are dependent on corrections—both of which will lead to reduced productivity.)
Show your face in meetings. Facial expressions and body language help people understand what we’re communicating more fully. Misinterpretations can prompt threat responses, which happens much more easily over email or the phone than in person.
(Shortform note: If you must communicate using text, the authors of Difficult Conversations—Bruce Patton, Douglas Stone, and Sheila Heen—propose delivering your message with as much context as possible to avoid miscommunication. State your intentions, your expectations for follow-up actions, and provide specific details for your reasoning.)
Share goals and accomplishments across departments. When you send regular newsletters, emails, or other announcements reporting on the work of all departments, employees can get a sense of the goals the company is working toward and how their roles contribute. This information can help employees prepare for potential changes. For example, if a company wants to gradually implement a new kind of software, sharing the schedule of when each department will be updated gives employees more time to adjust.
Create spaces where people can share their personal lives. One of the ways to reduce uncertainty at work is for employees to have an idea of who they work with. Providing a lounge area or a digital forum that allows people to interact casually increases the likelihood of employees forming positive relationships.
Watercooler Conversations Can Be Productive
Studies have shown that building a sense of community can improve productivity and create a feeling of inclusion among coworkers. To create a sense of community, office spaces need to incorporate three factors: closeness, choice, and culture. If workspaces are missing any one of these, people tend not to engage in informal conversation and casual interactions.
People tend to interact with others close to them. Researchers found that the further people’s offices were from each other, the less they interacted. Connecting different departments or floors through a digital space such as an announcement board or messaging program can help bridge physical gaps.
People want the choice to interact. Open floor plans are meant to encourage conversation and collaboration, but many companies have found that people don’t use these spaces to work or talk together often. Researchers conclude that open floors don’t have enough privacy. Workers are likely to be interrupted or overheard. Separate spaces for work and community operate better, as employees can choose when to engage, and they have their own space for private conversation if necessary.
The work culture must foster interaction. If casual interactions are treated as a waste of time by management, or employees see that few people participate in social initiatives, they will not get the sense that the company wants them to socialize.
Creativity is a cognitive function that requires a significant amount of mental energy, and most jobs today require creativity to some degree. With technology advancing at an exponential rate, many workers must create solutions to problems that haven’t been seen before or invent new ways to distinguish their work from what’s already been done. When your brain doesn’t have an adequate amount of energy or loses focus, you can experience a creative block. We’ll cover the basics of what a creative block looks like and then the three steps Rock proposes to reactivate your creativity.
Too Much Creativity Can Be Counterproductive
While innovation is an important part of business, some business experts warn against over-emphasizing creativity when hiring new employees. Conforming to company policies, like following repetitive procedures and completing mundane tasks, is necessary if employees are to contribute effectively to a company’s operations. When a company prioritizes creativity, it must allocate time for brain-storming (which may or may not produce tangible results), accept failures as part of the process, and enforce changes if the ideas are implemented—all practices that can be disruptive in the workplace. When it comes to hiring, experts of this philosophy suggest looking less for evidence of creativity and more for evidence of work ethic and follow-through.
Creativity is the process of taking various networks in our brains and creating new combinations. Rock calls the new network insight and a mental block to finding new connections an impasse. An impasse can occur when the prefrontal cortex is low on energy or the limbic system is distracting you from going through your networks efficiently.
For example, imagine you’re trying to come up with a creative way to present your latest project, but the previous presentation didn’t go well. The memory of the unsuccessful presentation keeps popping up and distracts you from gaining insight into your new project. Additionally, in your anxious state, you forgot your lunch and haven’t been able to refuel from this morning’s tasks with glucose. According to Rock, you’re not going to be able to access your creativity unless you can work through this impasse.
Break an Impasse With Hypnosis
Preliminary studies suggest that hypnosis may help in breaking creative impasses, paving the way for insights. It may be that the deep state of relaxation refuels the brain and clears pathways for new neural connections to be formed. Hypnotherapy (therapy using hypnosis) is trending in some mental health circles, and some wellness experts encourage trying it for yourself by following a few simple steps:
Start by setting your intention. As an example, if you’re at an impasse, you could state your goal as gaining insight into your specific problem.
Open your mind to suggestion. To do this, close your eyes and engage with your other senses. For example, imagine each part of your body slowly winding down and relaxing.
Think (or listen to a recording of) positive affirmations. Foster an optimistic state of mind by reinforcing positive qualities about yourself. For example, think, “I am creative,” or “I am intelligent.” Positive affirmations help clear any anxiety or insecurity around an issue and encourage your mind to welcome solutions.
Visualize the results. Picture what it will be like once you come up with the answer. Will you be proud of yourself? Will you get a positive reaction at work? Having the image of your success helps your brain see the possibility as more concrete and accessible.
Make hypnosis part of your routine. The more you practice, the easier the process will get and hopefully lead to more insights faster.
Rock’s advice for finding a creative breakthrough is not to chase after inspiration but to methodically break the impasse.
The first step is to identify whether the source of the impasse is a lack of energy or an influx of away emotions.
The second step is to reflect on your previous solutions. Ask yourself how you were coming to the solutions to your problems and see if you notice a pattern. Were you focused on just one aspect of the problem? Were you discussing the problem with the same people?
The final step is to try something outside of the pattern you’ve identified, and once you have an idea, take immediate action. Your brain will experience a dopamine release from finding your creativity again, which is the best time to set your idea in motion. Additionally, by coming up with an idea, you’ll have a positive memory in your network for the next time you experience an impasse.
How to Get Inspired
Rock’s steps to find creativity apply to situations where you’re assigned a problem and struggle to find a solution. However, there are times when you must come up with both the problem and the solution, like when you’re looking for an idea for a new business endeavor or you want to invent a product. In these situations, some creatives believe that finding ways to spark insight may be the answer rather than focusing on overcoming impasses. Experts recommend the following tips for finding that spark:
Take advantage of idle moments. There are times in the day when we’re just waiting, like waiting for food to reheat or standing in a long line. Many people would pass the time on their phones or otherwise try to escape the boredom, but these are the moments when your mind can rest. A relaxed brain is one primed for new ideas.
Take time to play. Many activities we find fun also include an element of creative thinking. Creative play may beget more creativity. Additionally, playing should remove you from your office space, especially if it’s outside in nature. The change in scenery activates a dopamine release that may motivate creativity as well.
Start small. It can be overwhelming to come up with a completely original idea. Instead, focus on how you can make an existing product or idea better, and you may realize new problems that you can provide the solution to.
Persevere through failures. Creating something new often requires trial and error. Giving up after your first idea will dampen your motivation to be creative.
Notably, even though these techniques are aimed at finding insight rather than overcoming impasses, they correspond in some ways to Rock’s advice on impasses. Allowing your brain to rest, for example, can not only spark insight, but it can also give you a chance to reflect on both the sources of your impasse and your previous solutions. And, taking time to play might help you come up with ideas outside of the patterns of solutions you’ve already tried, which can overcome your impasse as well as prompt new insight.
Your brain can be filled with innovative ideas and creative solutions, but if you aren’t able to maintain the focus to implement them, you won’t be productive. Rock writes that the key to understanding focus is to recognize how the brain processes various tasks and apply strategies that support the brain’s system.
Most tasks at work require several different brain functions, and your focus shifts as you operate each one. Even a simple task like sending an email has many elements. For example, if you’re emailing a colleague about corrections you made on their project, you’re activating the network connected to your coworker, you’re recalling the changes you made, you’re considering your words carefully to minimize misinterpretations, you’re inhibiting your limbic system from making you anxious about sending feedback, and you’re physically typing. If you were to add a second task, like being on the phone, you’d double the list of functions that your brain now has to juggle.
Thus, if you need to do something accurately and creatively, Rock argues that you shouldn’t multitask. Neuroscientists have observed that when you add a second task, your brain experiences dual-task interference, in which each task prevents the other from being done properly, and the efficiency and quality of both tasks are cut almost in half.
(Shortform note: Productivity experts echo Rock’s advice to avoid multitasking but note that sometimes, you have no choice, and you have to juggle different tasks simultaneously. To minimize the inefficiencies that come when your brain has to switch between different neural networks associated with different tasks, try to work on related tasks together—working on tasks that are similar will allow you to more fluidly alternate between them because the neural networks for each overlap.)
To avoid dual-task interference, Rock provides some approaches to keeping your brain focused on one task at a time.
Reduce distractions. Put your devices away when you’re trying to concentrate. Even the smallest distraction from a notification or a pop-up on the screen takes your attention away for a few seconds, and your brain has to expend extra energy to refocus. Turn off or silence your phone. If you need to be more responsive, set a timer to check notifications periodically.
Dopamine Can Distract You
As we learned earlier, dopamine can boost your productivity by motivating you, but in Eat That Frog, Brain Tracey explains that dopamine can hinder your productivity when you multitask. If you’re working on a difficult task, your prefrontal cortex is expending energy to focus on this task. If a distraction comes in, such as, for example, your phone notifying you of text messages from a friend, your brain will release dopamine in response to the texts, which can pull you away from the difficult task. Thus instead of your brain being motivated to focus, it’s motivated to pay attention to the distractions.
When a task is challenging or tedious, the smallest distractions can create dopamine that will chip away at your focus. While silencing your device or blocking your line of vision may seem like minor changes, doing so can make a significant difference.
Follow a routine. Creating routines can help you keep your focus, as you don’t have to waste energy thinking about next steps. Even simple routines like the order in which you open your tabs at the start of work can ease your mind into a state of focus.
(Shortform note: According to James Clear’s Atomic Habits, you can create productive routines by being deliberate about your habits. Clear claims that as much as 50% of our daily activities are automated habits, so start by writing down habitual activity as you go about your day—including hitting the snooze button, brushing your teeth, and other small tasks—then reflect on what habits should be purposely arranged into a routine.)
Rock argues that you can conserve your mental energy by alternating between high- and low-energy tasks.
List your daily work tasks and identify each as high-energy (planning, creating, and so on) or as low-energy (organizing, eating, and so on).
Create a work routine that alternates as much as possible between the high-energy and low-energy tasks you listed. (Don’t forget to start the workday with the high-energy task of prioritizing!)
Rock provides options for responding to away emotions. Before a stressful situation, you can avoid or modify the situation, or keep emotions out of it. During a stressful situation, you can express, suppress, or reinterpret negative emotions.
What is an event or task at work that elicits away emotions (stress, anxiety, and so on)?
How might you prepare for that event or task in the future? Are there adjustments to the situation you can make ahead of time to lessen your stress response?
If you end up in that stressful situation again, how might you use Rock’s techniques to lessen the negative feelings associated with it? How might you professionally express your emotions? Can you rethink your emotions to put a positive spin on them?