Learn to Think in Color

Why does work feel heavier even when hours don’t increase? How invisible load, context-switching, and emotion quietly add “phantom hours”   Big Picture Frame When work feels heavier even when hours don’t increase, it’s usually because the  shape  of your work has changed, not the clock. More decisions, interruptions, and emotional friction can make an eight-hour day feel like twelve. In this post, we’ll unpack why work feels heavier without more hours, how cognitive load and context-switching drain you, and what subtle signals to watch for before burnout sneaks in. You’ll walk away with a simple lens to diagnose “phantom workload” in yourself and your team and language to talk about it without sounding like you’re just complaining. Why work feels heavier without more hours The short answer: “hours worked” is a terrible proxy for “energy spent.” Two people can both work 8 hours. One finishes energized, the other feels flattened. What changed? Usually it’s a mix of: Cogniti...

How do you decide what not to work on when planning your year? <  1x The underrated skill of strategic quitting and intentional neglect. Big-picture framing Deciding what not to work on when planning your year is often more powerful than adding another ambitious goal. By cutting projects and habits that don’t support your direction, you free up bandwidth for work that actually moves the needle. This question isn’t just about productivity; it’s about what you want this year to mean—and which commitments quietly get in the way of that. When you learn to consciously decide what not to work on, your calendar starts to reflect your real priorities, not just your loudest obligations. Why deciding what not to work on matters Most annual plans obsess over new goals—launch the product, get promoted, start the podcast. But the quieter, sharper move is to ask,  “What will I  not  do this year?”  When you decide what not to work on up front, you’re really choosing how yo...

How Does the Mind See Games and Work Differently? Why your brain loves “play” and resists “work” — even when the task is the same Big picture framing Does the mind see games and work differently, or does it just react to how each is designed and framed? The same activity can feel like a grind in a task tracker and energizing in a game, even if the mental effort is identical. The difference often lies in meaning, autonomy, feedback, and stakes—not in the label “work” or “play.” Understanding how your brain responds to “game mode” versus “work mode” can help you redesign tasks and environments so effort feels more like play, without ignoring real constraints like deadlines, pay, and culture. The brain’s two stories: “I have to” vs “I get to” Your mind doesn’t file activities under “games” and “work.” It files them under stories: Am I choosing this or being forced? Does this matter to me? How risky is it to fail? Do I see progress when I try? Games usually hit the sweet spot: Voluntary: y...

What Did 2025 Quietly Change About How We Think and Work? The year our tools, time, and relationships got quietly rewired. Big picture snapshot 2025 didn’t feel like a revolution, but it quietly rewrote the defaults for how people think, work, and relate. The real story of how 2025 changed how we work isn’t about flashy headlines—it’s about subtle shifts: AI becoming a normal coworker, hybrid becoming the unspoken norm, and people retreating from loud public feeds into smaller, safer circles. Underneath it all sits a growing preoccupation with mental energy rather than just time and output. This piece explores those shifts so you can name what you’ve been feeling all year—and use it more deliberately in 2026. 1. AI Moved From “Future Thing” to Everyday Coworker If 2023–2024 were about  talking  about AI, 2025 was the year people just started using it and stopped making a big deal out of it. Surveys now show almost half of workers say they use AI at least a few times a year at ...