Your Brain on Quarantine (and why you’re not getting anything done)

Ok, listen up with all that "I'm not getting enough done. I'm not writing that novel. I haven't worked out at home 8 days a week. I'm FAILING QUARANTINE" NONSENSE.

The state of your brain determines what you are capable of accomplishing on a basic, biological level. And right now there are several things happening on a BIOLOGICAL LEVEL that are fucking your brain up.

FIRST: Your brain is living in threat state. 

When your brain is under immense stress (because, for example, there is a global pandemic, rampant racism, etc), that activates your limbic system - the fight or flight/emotional seat/2nd LEAST evolved part of your brain. 

Your limbic system shares the same gas tank as your Pre-Frontal Cortex (PFC), the MOST evolved part of your brain, which is responsible for thinking, planning, *impulse control*, *executive function*, accomplishing, solving, predicting, etc. 

When your limbic system is over-activated because it is in threat state, it HOGS ALL THE GAS. 

This *literally* (biologically) makes you stupider. It makes you less able to use the evolved part of your brain that helps you not only get things done but figure out why you're not getting things done. 

SECOND: Quarantine has turned your brain from "autopilot" to "manual," limiting the space you have available for new thoughts.

One of the main ways that your brain creates the necessary space to problem solve, get work done, project manage, and all the other "new thinking" functions we use to accomplish stuff is by putting a huge amount of your life on autopilot. 

-You don't think about how to get to work.
-You don't think about how much toilet paper to use.
-You don't think about grabbing a cuppa at Starbucks.
-You don't think about bumping into a stranger.

Your brain just automatically knows what to do in this situations, because it's done them a million times.

Well now everything is different. We're working from home. We're homeschooling our kids. We can't touch or stand within 6 feet of people who are outside our quaran-team. Toilet paper is really hard to find.

So all the "available space" you usually employ to get shit done is currently taken up making CHOICES about hundreds of small, daily decisions we normally do without thinking. 

THIS INFORMATION ISN'T AN "EXCUSE" - it's a real, neuroscience-based, factual explanation for why you have limited capacity right now. 

Can you still get stuff done? Absolutely, and brain-based coaching can show you how. Just ask my clients! 

But should you adjust your expectations based on the current limitations of your biological machine?

YES. You have to. There is no reason to compromise your identity and sense of self-worth on the basis of something that is impossible (i.e. doing more with significantly less).

You wouldn't expect someone with a broken leg to run a marathon. Stop expecting yourself to write the novel of a lifetime. Start understanding what's really happening, and giving yourself some GRACE!