Morning, CEO!
I have a personnel complaint to file.
As the founder of an “Agency of One,” I am technically the boss. But my primary employee (my brain) is insubordinate, unreliable, and prone to taking unauthorized naps during strategy meetings.
Some days, my brain is a useless, gray fog. Other times, it is a screaming ball of anxiety because a deadline is two hours away and I have nothing.
I assumed my brain was just a bad employee.
But I just read Hyperefficient by Mithu Storoni, and it turns out I’m not (just) broken. I’ve just been operating the machinery wrong.
1. The Brain Has Gears (And You’re Stuck in Neutral)
The author says our brains operate in gears, just like a car.
The problem is that I, apparently, have spent the last 40 years driving my brain using only the horn and the windshield wipers.
To run your Agency of One efficiently, you need to identify which gear you’re actually in.
Gear 1: The “Nap” Gear
This is you staring at a wall. Daydreaming about tacos. Spacing out.
The book calls this “clearing brain junk.”
Based on the amount of time I spend here, my brain must be absolutely spotless.
Gear 2: The “Actual Work” Gear
The Promised Land. This is where productivity lives. But naturally, it’s complicated. It has sub-gears:
Gear 2.1 (The “Almost” Zone): You’re trying to focus, but you’re also checking X/Twitter. The book calls this the “Inspiration Zone.” I call it “My Entire 20s.”
Gear 2.2 (The “Flow” Zone): The mythical state where you become a spreadsheet-crushing god. I visited this land once in 2012. It was nice.
Gear 2.3 (The “Big Brain” Zone): High energy. Learning hard stuff. Solving complex puzzles. It feels smart, but also kind of terrifying.
Gear 3: The “AAAAHHH!” Gear
The Panic Monster. The deadline is NOW. The building is metaphorically on fire.
Your brain gets hijacked. You don’t think; you react.
I send a lot of emails from Gear 3. They usually require apology emails later.
The goal? Chill in Gear 1. Work in Gear 2. Avoid Gear 3 like it’s a relative who wants to talk politics.
2. You Have Manual Controls (Use Them)
“But Hannah,” I hear my inner monologue scream, “I am just a passenger in this meat-vehicle! The gears shift themselves!”
NO.
This is the biggest upgrade for your CEO Operating System: You have a manual stick shift.
You can physically force your brain to change gears using your environment. It sounds like voodoo, but it’s biology.
Here is the Gear-Shift Toolkit:
1. Hack Your Lighting
To Upshift (Get to Work): Blast yourself with bright, blue-ish “cold” light. Ideally the sun, but a screen works.
To Downshift (Relax): Warm, cozy, reddish light.
(My vampire-cave office is, apparently, optimized for “permanent confusion,” which explains a lot).
2. Hack Your Soundtrack
To Upshift: Fast, loud, rhythmic music.
To Downshift: Slow, chill music.
CRITICAL RULE: No lyrics. Lyrics will distract your brain. Sorry, Taylor Swift. You’re banned during deep work.
3. Hack Your Body (Yes, really)
To Upshift: Exercise works best. But if you’re lazy (hi), just squeeze your fist. Really hard. Like you’re mad at a sandwich. Do it for 18 seconds. It tricks your nervous system into alertness. I am doing it right now. I feel... slightly more powerful.
To Downshift: The classic deep breath. 5 seconds in, 5 seconds out. It’s a cliché because it works.
4. Hack Your Eyeballs
To Upshift: STARE. Pick a tiny spot. A pixel. A speck of dust. Stare at it like it holds the nuclear codes. This forces “focus.”
To Downshift: Widen your gaze. Look at the horizon (or a wall). This signals safety to your brain.
3. Stop Trying to Be a Factory Robot
Here is the part that really messed me up.
I try to run my “Agency of One” like a 1920s assembly line. I try to work at a steady, “productive” pace for 8 straight hours.
Scientifically speaking? This is very, very dumb.
We aren’t robots. We are hunter-gatherers in suits.
Hunter-gatherers didn’t do “9-to-5.” They did a “Power Law” distribution:
“Chill... wander around... look for berries...” (Gear 1 / 2.1)
“OH MY GOD A MAMMOTH, SPRINT AND STAB!” (Gear 2.3 / 3)
“Big nap.” (Gear 1)
Most of the time: Low intensity.
Occasionally: Extreme intensity.
That’s how our hardware is wired. “A-ha!” moments and “Panic!” sprints, with long naps in between.
The “Actual” Way to Work:
Stop trying to be a machine. Work in 90-minute cycles (ultradian rhythms).
Here is the perfect Mammoth-Hunting Block:
First 20 Mins: Do the HARDEST thing. The scary thing. (Gear 2.3).
Next 40-70 Mins: Downshift to easier stuff. Emails. Formatting. (Gear 2.1).
Last 10 Mins: STOP. Stare at a wall. (Gear 1).
Repeat.
And apparently, don’t do more than 4 hours of the really hard stuff per day. Darwin didn’t. So now you have a scientific excuse to log off at 2 PM.
So, yeah.
This is the new company policy for Me, Inc.
No more treating my brain like a robot that refuses to boot up.
I am going to respect the gears. I am going to embrace the naps. I am going to be a biological god of productivity.
I am going to engage Gear 2.3 and sprint like a hunter-gatherer chasing a mammoth.
......Right after I watch this one last YouTube video.
Links:
https://www.mithustoroni.com
https://www.amazon.com/Hyperefficient-Optimize-Your-Brain-Transform/dp/0316566934
