This episode is for you. If you find that you can focus deeply and sometimes almost too deeply, you get really, really frustrated. If you are interrupted, you feel like it's hard to kind of stop once you're in that focus or maybe even suspect A DHD or autism or nervous system sensitivity. And you're just really exhausted of productivity advice that doesn't work or asks you to be more disciplined or have more willpower or like be more pro.

I don't know, one of those things. This episode is an excerpt from a recent teaching session inside of my online community and. Space of work, race, serve clients, both in group and one-on-one practices. We have different ways that we do that. And if you're curious, I would encourage you to go down below and book a curiosity call.

We cover the topics like work, money, nervous system support, and how to live in this really weird and crazy world as a sensitive human without burnout. You can go, like I said, down below to book a consultation call. I will also have a new course called Work Doesn't have to cost all your energy out soon if you prefer kind of more structure and self-paced.

Anyway, so this episode we cover the topics of why your brain is never. Off the default mode network and a task focus network, uh, as well as the salience network, which is like, I like to think of as like an internal switchboard 📍 and how sensory and emotional input can make transitions kind of feel abrupt.

We also talk about interception and how we can use that as a bridge, as well as I will give you four somatic practices, body-based practices that will help you exit hyperfocus without. Getting really frustrated at yourself or your loved ones.

This has been the foundation of understanding of especially neurodivergence and sensitive nervous systems for. The last 20 years, and it's basically telling us that your bega, your brain becomes active during rest, reflection, and internal thought. And that pattern of activity is called the default mode network.

It shows that the brain is never idle and that internal focus is this active energy consuming state. Um, and that there's always a tension in individuals who. Um, have sensitive nervous systems or might be diagnosis, um, autistic or have a DHD. The way that that default mode network works is different. It has a different pattern.

Normally it's going from one side to the other and back and kind of connecting through the brain. Inside of Neurodivergence, it has a different type of pattern, and that's gonna be particularly true. If you feel dysregulated. More often than not, your pattern will be different. So it's 'cause your brain is, if you're thinking about the dysregulation, it's off, but it.

It's actually on, but it's a different type of on that's a subject for a different day anyway. So because we know that your brain is never off, it's always in, um, it's even when it appears off, it's inside of a default mode network. We also. Found out or Buckner et al specifically, and his colleagues, Buckner and his colleagues expanded on that understanding using FMRI studies, and they found that this actually is involved in memory, self-reflection and thinking about the future.

So imagining and thinking about different tasks in the future, things that you might need to do, you might want to do. Buckner and his colleagues found specifically that this network becomes suppressed. When you are doing tasks externally that you're focusing on, and that explains why it can be so difficult to.

Switch between focusing on a task to then self-reflecting enough to say, I need to stop doing this task, and I need to move into something else, or I need to move into a different task or anything. So first of all, there's a, there's a switch there that is very, sometimes can be a little bit painful, and it's important that we recognize that that is using different modes in your brain.

One is on and the other is off. So even more so switching between deep focus and then doing other things. So even just that transition period of like, okay, let me, lemme just go back into the default mode network and not be focused on this task. It can feel really uncomfortable and very abrupt. And to switch between tasks, you have to go from default mode, network to task focus network and back and forth requires two different brain focuses.

It's very hard. Which tells us, um, which also, and then we have other researchers, um, Menon and Al who identified that, the salience network. So this is the system that decides what deserves attention and that. Is decided upon the sensory input that you're having, the emotional input that you're having, and even the bodily single signals.

This is the part of your brain, the salience network that acts as like the switch switchboard between internal and external focus. What's really important to understand about the salience network is that when it is under stress or it has a lot of load, so there's a lot going on. Even more so that transition between the task can feel overwhelming or dysregulated because it has to take inventory of all of the different things that are going on inside.

If there are more things going on inside, it's more things to take inventory of and it's already, as we spoke about doing something difficult, which is switching the networks of your brain and how it's working. So. If it's not becoming clear, I wanna be really clear that we need to work with the body and the sensory input that it's having and the way that the brain works, um, before or in conjunction with the mind.

They found that stronger inter interceptive awareness improves emotional regulation. Which then helps our transitions become easier. However, if we don't have a strong sense of what's happening inside of the body and an ability to kind of regulate that meaning, you're not overwhelmed by what's happening inside of the body, it can intensify the feelings of stress that we're occurring and make the salience network more loaded, which makes that transition feel quite threatening.

So when somebody says to you kind of just stop the task or even just start this task, what the body is feeling very much is like leave safety without some type of bridge. This is especially true because hyperfocus includes dopamine. So it's that feeling of, um, I'm doing something well. It's giving us a feeling of, um, autonomy.

Like, I'm just like, yes, I'm feeling good. It. It also has a feeling of certainty with it. Like you're, you're clear about what you're doing, you're focused on what you're doing, you know what you're doing, you know how to do it. There's predictability. If I'm inside of a task, I know probably what will happen in 30 seconds if I continue.

And probably what will happen in three 30 minutes and probably what will happen in three hours if I continue. Um, and there's also a temporary quieting of anything that might be happening inside of your internal body, even. First, or hunger, or just emotions and things that, or thoughts that you've been feeling.

So if you are more sensitive in your nervous system, that's gonna feel really, really soothing. Really, really regulating. So of course we don't wanna jump out of that regulating safe, wonderful dopamine experience and jump to something that's like, oh, now I've gotta go. Feel all my things again, and I've gotta like think, and I've gotta return back to uncertainty.

I've gotta make decisions and I've gotta like switch my brain over. That's a lot. You're asking a lot. So we wanna keep that in mind when we have expectations of ourself to not experience difficulty around this. So we have a transition problem.

I'm sharing this with you as well because. You are here because you want to use your energy. Quick, efficiently, you wanna use it? Well, you don't want work to take up so much of your energy. So my challenge to you is to continue listening to this and think about how can I also switch between tasks less in a world that requires and ask us to be constantly available.

I am asking you to set boundaries and I'm asking you to do it because it's going to help you long term. You're going to be a better person when you do engage with that per. Whoever is asking for your attention, you're going to be a better person for yourself. You're gonna do better work. And because I know that the work that you're doing in the world is good, the world is gonna become a better place for you because you are doing good work.

They found that there was significantly more stress and f frustration and just more load in your mind when you were switching between tasks. We talk a lot about capacity inside of, um, like inside of the academy, inside of our one-on-one work, and inside of any work with me and. A lot of us, a lot of you and even me, come to this work asking how can I increase my capacity?

The thing is, cognitive capacity is one of the things that is. Most hard, if not impossible to really increase once you're doing everything else optimally. Once you're sleeping, eating, and working through optimally, your mind can only hold so much. And one of the ways that we very easily deplete that capacity, even if it is just capacity for joy, is by having lots of interruptions and task switching, and it puts us in a very dysregulated state.

It sucks. The world doesn't really support us to not do it, but it is the case. So it's worth kind of asking how can I make interruptions occur less? I live with my phone on Do Not Disturb, and that's one of the ways that I do it, and I connect to my own notifications when I can. People who work with me know that I will get to them.

It just won't happen immediately. And. There are times where I make myself available for that kind of to, to be interrupted. And that's a part of learning to live in a world that benefits of that learning to be, um, conscientious of what other people need of you. Other people do need things from me, so I'm not saying don't check in with other people, but just be aware that this is having a cost on you and that you are in control to change that.

Which takes us to the next thing. So what are we gonna do to create somatic tools that actually work? How are we going to find focus easily, and how are we going to move away from feeling so connected to hyper focus that it feels dysregulating. Because this is not a motivation problem. This is like a calculation your nervous system is doing.

That's saying, what is the cost? What is the cost of disengaging from this hyper focus? Or what is the cost of going into something else? Because stopping from that task that you're doing can feel almost like there's grief. It can feel irritating. It can feel physically painful.

And it's going to be even more difficult if you're tired or if you've been fo hyper-focused for over 90 minutes, or if you're emotionally invested, if you care about your work,

which I think most of you often do in the things that you are hyper-focused on on.

One thing that's coming up is how important this is, and I was gonna save it to last, but I'm gonna share it now is like, the work here is not control. It is not to force yourself into fixing something or to creating some type of experience. It's actually relationship.

You are in relationship with your brain. You are in relationship with the tasks that you want to do. You are in relationship with those emotions, and I don't spend time with my friends personally. I dunno about you, but I don't spend time with my friends and say I'm expecting them to do a certain thing in the next three months.

I show up, I check in with them, I see what's happening, and then I step back. And I engage in other parts of my life and I get to know them, and if I want something from them, I get to know what would help them in providing that thing for me. What type of relationship would we have to have? How would I have to thank them?

What would, what conditions would they need? I'm curious about how we can work together. And so as we move into these four practices, I want you to be curious. I want you to offer this to your body, offer this to your brain, and get curious about what would help you be in relationship to understand what your brain and your body needs to be able to do more of the tasks that fill you up.

And support the relationships around you. Support the world around you, and support your goals and your ambitions and your desires. We'll come back here. Tool number one. I call this like, this is like the micro landing. Um, name out loud. Say it. Okay. I'm in deep focus. Everything is feeling really narrow and important.

And then switch and like, touch something. I do this one particularly. This is like my go-to one. I do this one when someone enters the room or something happens to like, stop me. I might be like doing something, a task, and I'm like, okay, I really should stop doing this and do the next thing. But I just, I feel like I can't.

And then if somebody answers enters the room, I'll say out loud, I'm focusing, I'm, I am in deep focus and everything is just feeling really important right now. And so and so just entered into the room. I'm now looking at that person and I will go and I'll say hello, and then I will literally just close my laptop keeping the tab up.

We'll talk about why that's important later, and I will just close my laptop and I'm like, okay, cool. I'm stopping. And I, it feels a little bit easier sometimes it's tar and so, so I'll do that and then I'll orient something around. I'll take a glass of water, I'll have a sip.

I'll touch something. Just extend my exhale a little bit and I'll kind of go, okay, I'm just gonna pause this. I'm not losing it forever. And what we're doing here is we're activating the part of the brain called the Insular, which is. Kind of supporting you in activating the salience network. So there are parts of the insular that are part of the salience network.

So it's kind of expanding where the attention is in your brain to use more parts of your brain so that it's easier to pull yourself out of the task focused network and also the vagal, um, nervous system response by looking and orienting towards things that bring you safety, you're reaffirming to your body.

Uh, we are safety. We can, we are in safety, we can transition. So that can be really helpful. You might choose to experiment with this for 30 days or for the next 30 days. You could experiment with number two, bookmark. I think this is a classic one that people have returned to. Um, it can become really overwhelming.

So this is like what you're naturally trying to do when you like leave a tab open or you sticky note things. If you choose this one, you leave a tab open or you write down what's next If you choose this. I really wanna encourage you at the end of each day to take all of those things and put them in, like schedule them into your calendar.

Such as like if you have a thousand tab opens and you're like, oh, these are all the things that I didn't finish. Put them on a like a calendar. In like, uh, event. Okay. During the next 30 minutes, I will look at all of these things. If they're just like things I was curious about, schedule time in your calendar when you can look at them and make a, like a notion board thing of things I'm curious about.

Um. The next step, like put them on your calendar. If they don't fit on your calendar, then you need to look at how you're managing your time and which things are working towards your goals. And some of them you might find aren't helping you work towards your goals. And then you might have to have play time and you have to look at them around play.

And then we have some other questions around, um, how you're using your time and how you want to be using your time and what your emotions are telling you about that. So that's number two. Um. There we go. Number three, which you could experiment with is timed permission. So instead of like forcing yourself to focus, we've spoken a lot about hyper focus, which I understood was more out.

You guys were more curious about this, so I put a lot of effort into that. But we did talk about like getting into focus and when you're in hyper focus. One of the harder things about getting out of hyperfocus can be like you feel like you have to fully commit to the next task. And so what can be really helpful is just like tip dipping your toes in and being like, I'm just gonna do that thing for 10 minutes and then if I don't wanna do that in 10 minutes, I can come back to this task.

And it's just like, okay, I'm just doing this for a period of time. I'm just trying. More often than not, you will find that you start that task and you are now interested in that task and you want to complete it. Um. But there's no commitment to otherwise. And if you just did it for 10 minutes, then win.

Tick that off your list. When I have a really big task, sometimes what I'll do and I'm like, especially when I don't really know what I'm doing, 'cause there's um, especially if you have a DHD, it can be really hard to like, know all of the steps and there's all of these little micro decisions and so it can feel really overwhelming 'cause you don't know exactly what you need to do, so you just don't do anything to combat that.

I really recommend doing just like a. Do this thing for 15 minutes, especially when I was dealing with my money at the beginning and I was trying to figure out what to do with my money. I was like, I don't even know what I don't know, so how do I know how to deal with this goal of mine? And so I was just like, I'm gonna do 15 minutes of it and 15 minutes.

If I just spent 15 minutes figuring out what I don't know and what I need to do, then I did that and that is a tick off my to-do list. Done. Dopamine happy. The next one we have is. Closure. This is like fully coming into your body and closing the loop, naming what you completed. I have a practice where at the end of most days, not all, I will write down or I'll voice message and then get Chachi BT to write them down 'cause I don't wanna use my hands.

I'll say, these are the things that I did today. These are like the wins. And so I will write that down and I'll put them in my app, and then every now and again when I need a bit of a boost, I'll go back and I'll read them, okay, these are the things that I did, and these are the things that were like a boost.

And so there's this practice of stopping. Another one can be just like feeling that in your body, taking a deep breath. Feeling completion. I know other people who write lists as completion of like things that they'll do tomorrow. That's kind of a combination of tool four and tool two. You might have another completion ritual of going for a walk or, um, I think like pouring a drink after a long day.

That was we the intention of a completion ritual. I'm not recommending that you do alcohol, but like maybe it is having like, I don't know, a soda water or some type of like nice sensory experience where you're like, okay. Complete. Build more of those in to your day. Don't wait until the end of the day. Do them after each task.

It can be lighting, some incense, lighting a candle, checking your notifications on your phone because you didn't do it because you were focused and you weren't. Task switching. Could be any of those things. And I will reiterate, this is not about control. This is about you developing a relationship and learning more and more.

Thanks for listening all the way through. I really hope that you like that. Let me know that you got all the way down to the bottom because what a testament that says to you and your, your concentration and your celebration. I feel like it's hard lately. The world is so obsessed with having things happen quickly and like, I, I fall, pray to this and, oh, it's hard with AI and people on the internet and like our, our attention spans and.

Yeah, it's, it's a, it's a testament to get all the way to the end of something, so you should be really proud of yourself. Um, I would love to know who you are. If you wanna reach out and send me a message and say, I got the way, all the way through via Instagram or, or LinkedIn, or just via email. You'll find those links down below.

And as I said earlier, this came from a recent teaching session that many of my clients received. If you would also like to receive this type of support covering the topics of work money, the nervous system, and burnout, please connect with me by booking a consultation called or a curiosity called down below.

We have different types of support, mostly just one-on-one coaching and up, up and coming, we will have a course on how to make work, not cost all your energy, especially if you are. Many, you're here so you're resonating with it. So I'm not gonna complete like finish the spiel of all that stuff of a d, ADHD and all that.

Anyway, for you my love. I will speak with you soon and hope you have a wonderful day.