Toggle Your Work Brain

Last summer, I attended a Jersey Shore Tech & Design meetup in Asbury Park, where the event was hosted at a wonderful little coffee shop within the iconic Convention Hall. This historic convention center is nearing its centennial birthday, and, situated right on the sand with the boardwalk running through its Grand Arcade, it’s about as Jersey Shore as it gets. And much like any iconic Jersey Shore spot should be doing on such a beautiful summer morning, it was packed with tons of people!

After an hour or so of chit-chatting with friends, both old and new, covering topics such as AI, engineering, design, business opportunities, and more, the event began to wind down. Nearing the top of the hour, out on the sand in the distance, an unrelated group of people were beginning to set up for some beach yoga. This prompted a nearby conversation to shift from tech to yoga, where I overheard a fellow entrepreneur mention that they do yoga on the beach almost every morning, too.

At that moment, my ears perked up and something shifted in my mind. Not because I’m looking to get into beach yoga, no. Instead, it was this realization that I had known starting my own business would allow a similar type of independence, but that something was blocking me from it. I kept thinking about this moment throughout the rest of the day until it finally clicked: the way I was working was holding me back.

You Don’t Work in an Office Anymore

In the beginning, you might be compelled to use some sort of project management tools even though it’s just yourself. You might spend time thinking about procedures and documents, scheduling time blocks for specific modes of work, adhering to a strict routine, always being present at your desk during the typical 9 to 5 workday, the list goes on and on. And I say all of this because I know I was doing these exact things. In fact, I was approaching my work the same way I would’ve approached it at my previous job.

It wasn’t until I had that moment of clarity at the beach last summer that I had begun to rethink exactly how a micro-entrepreneur ought to approach their work. I realized that if you keep your work brain in “corporate mode” on this journey, it’ll slow you down. That’s because this mode is conducive to performative busy work, like the stuff mentioned above, but also to favoring and thriving in reactive problem-solving as opposed to proactive problem-solving.

And because “corporate mode” enjoys reactive problem-solving so very much, it then normalizes the idea that you’re always supposed to be available to react to issues and requests as they occur. That means, when you’re always available to react to these sorts of interruptions, you’re probably not doing late morning yoga on the beach. And if you’re a micro-entrepreneur forcing yourself to be at your desk because you left your work brain in “corporate mode”, ready to react to interruptions and to blindly fill your day with busy work, you’re also probably not starting out on the right foot, either.

Disconnect, Then Think Creatively

I spent a significant amount of time leaving my work brain in “corporate mode”. Fifteen years to be exact. It took me a while to figure out how to toggle that switch over to “micro-entrepreneur mode”, which is a mode that favors approaching things from a proactive, creative, purposeful, and strategic perceptive without feeling the constant need to always be “on” or forcing performative busy work upon yourself.

So, before you set out to create yet another spreadsheet to track ways in which to do this or a calendar invite to yourself to schedule time to think about this very thing, I propose a radically different approach to force the process: disconnect. Put the phone down, keep your laptop at home, leave the house, and stay away from screens for a good hour or two and just let the ideas flow. Don’t try and fit other tasks into this time, either. Instead, let this moment resemble a form of meditation where you’re thinking ahead and working through problems before they arise. This is your time to exercise your proactive problem-solving abilities.

A few months after the beach yoga moment, I started disconnecting like this most mornings in the form of long walks at a nearby park. Initially, I treated the experience like a quick exercise routine with my headphones on, where I got in and got out. Then, one day, I forgot my headphones at home and was forced to take my walk without them. To my surprise, the experience was significantly more enjoyable. The sounds of nature and the ability to think more clearly without some sort of tech-driven distraction vying for my attention was truly eye-opening. I started leaving my headphones home ever since. Eventually, I took it a step further and ditched my phone, too. It allowed for even more creative thinking and clarity.

At first, I felt some guilt. Taking these lengthy walks without my phone. What if someone needed to call me? What if I got an email or a text? What if I needed to call someone? Then I realized that all of this always-available-anxiety wasn’t a product of my own doing, but a manifestation of “corporate mode”. Just like the performative-work-mentality mentioned earlier, this thought process of always being available during business hours was another bad habit slowing me down.

It’ll Take Time for You to Toggle the Switch

Not until I was about six months into my journey did I find that my work brain was finally toggled over from “corporate mode” to “micro-entrepreneur mode”. This was something that I simply wasn’t prepared for when I had first started planning on my decision to start up my own business. I knew that the work would be different and would require a different approach, but I didn’t take into consideration just how habit-forming “corporate mode” could be.

So when you’re starting up your own business as a micro-entrepreneur, just know that whatever performative-work-mentality and always-available-anxiety that permeated your work brain will take some time to unlearn. These bad habits could have the potential to bog you down in the beginning, too. And it’s perfectly okay if you hit these speed bumps and allow the time needed for things to fall into place. If you give your mind the permission to disconnect, reject the busy work, and exercise your proactive problem-solving brain, you’ll be toggled over to “micro-entrepreneur mode” in no time at all.