3 Tricks Your Brain Plays on You and How to Master Them

Written by Noreen Chadha, Leadership & Conscious Parenting Coach

Noreen Chadha is a transformational coach in the field of leadership and conscious parenting. Drawing from her knowledge of mindfulness techniques and fundamental neuroscience, she supports clients all over the world in their quest to move towards a more self aware, present and connected way of living, leading and parenting.

We all know that life is very different today than it was thousands of years ago in the hunter-gatherer days. Yet, even though our brains have evolved since then and our frontal lobe has grown significantly, some aspects of our brain can be quite unhelpful at times. I’ve put together a few simple but powerful hacks we can use in our day-to-day lives to bypass some of these tendencies.

1. Interrupt auto pilot in your brain

Since our brains have limited storage capacity, we’ve developed many heuristics (shortcuts in our brains) to save time and energy throughout the day. For example, when we look at a table, we don’t go through a process of assessing what it might be; we simply know that it’s a table. Our habits are stored within the neural pathways in our brains, allowing us to operate on a kind of “autopilot.” Consider tasks like tying your shoes, locking your front door, or driving a car. When we are in this autopilot mode, our brain isn’t recording new information. It doesn’t need to, as we already know what we are doing in that particular moment.

As energy-efficient as that might be, it does mean that time goes by faster. This is because when we are not recording new information, our perception of time shifts. (This is why an actual 20 minutes of scrolling through Instagram might feel like a mere five minutes.) The opposite is also true. When we do something for the first time or in a new way, our brain goes into “record” mode instead of autopilot, making time seem to go by slower. (This is why reading a very complex news article for five minutes might feel like it took 20.)

So, what’s the takeaway here? According to evolutionary biologist Rebecca Heiss, if you want to learn more, enjoy more, and gain time, force your brain to hit “record.” Here are a few things you could try:

• Cook using your left hand (if you’re right-handed) or vice versa.

• Listen to music you’ve never heard before while driving, running, or walking.

• Try a new machine at the gym.

• Choose a new space to work from.

• Take a different route to a familiar destination.

2. Move your timeline to the present

Just like when you see a large truck in the distance, it looks like a simple dark shape, and only when it comes closer do you see the driver, wheels, signage, and windscreen wipers. Our brains struggle with details when events are far into the distance. According to social psychologist Daniel Gilbert, if I ask you about your life in 10 years, you will be more likely to think about the big picture and the choices that align with your values today, the "why" behind your decisions. You will be less likely to think about the small details surrounding those choices, specifically the "how" of executing them.

For example, you might agree that in 10 years, you will have bought a new house because it makes sense to invest in real estate, and you will want more space and a big garden for your family. However, you might not be considering the details of your mortgage, how you will manage the commute to work, or where you will buy the kitchen cabinets. In many ways, this is something the brain does to preserve space and energy, but it can make long-term planning difficult. When discussing a far-off project at work, the "why" phase might feel extremely exciting, but once you transition to the "how" phase, it may seem less feasible, more challenging, or even less appealing.

• Trick your brain by bringing the future into the present. How would you solve something if the due date was tomorrow? Not only will this activate a more practical style of thinking, but it will also trigger a nice dose of epinephrine (similar to adrenaline), helping you stay alert and focused.

• Be aware of your own projection bias, the tendency to overestimate how much your future beliefs, values, and behaviors will align with those of the present. Essentially, your "why" will change, even if it doesn’t seem like it now. How can you leave room for flexibility when making decisions that affect the future?

3. Facilitate more belonging

Because we used to live in tribes, our brain perceives being “tribe-less” as dangerous. “Lifestyle architect” and author Eric Barker explains that loneliness makes our brains perceive threats three times as fast. By loneliness, he doesn’t mean physically being alone; he means not having a feeling of connection to other people. A lack of social connections causes your brain to be on much higher alert, contributing to increased stress in your body. (Did you know that people with busier social lives get fewer colds and that the biggest contributor to recovery from heart surgery is your social support system?)

Social connections lower the main stress hormone, cortisol, because when we feel part of a tribe, we feel safe. The concept of a tribe has, of course, changed over the years, but our brain, and therefore our health, still suffers when we are too isolated. In fact, new studies on burnout suggest that a lack of social connection could be partly to blame.

How often do you feel part of a “tribe”? How many groups or communities do you belong to? Could there be space for more?

• How can you increase a sense of belonging in your organization or team? (What common interests exist, sports, film, music, food, charity?)

• How can you facilitate more social connections in your neighborhood?

Today’s hyper-stimulating world has changed much faster than our brains have been able to keep up with. Regularly reminding ourselves of our brain’s default modes can be extremely helpful in staying compassionate with ourselves.

Stay tuned for more content about the brain!

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Noreen Chadha, Leadership & Conscious Parenting Coach

With almost 20 years of professional experience, Noreen Chadha supports both leaders and parents on their journey to be more conscious, and therefore more at peace and authentic in their day to day life. She believes that being truly present is one of the biggest challenges of our time, and also one of the biggest gifts we can give ourselves, our teams and most importantly our children.