Rethinking Mental Performance: It Starts With Energy Access

Based on some interesting scientific findings, I believe there may be a simple way to improve mental output. This strategy does not cost any money and easy to test for yourself.

When we think about optimizing mental performance, a few ideas generally come to mind. We could find a quite place to limit distractions, clearly define success before we start, make sure we are not hungry, sleepy, or any other unhelpful state.

But how often do we consider the body’s natural ability to limit energy consumption?

What the Science Says About Energy Use

I got this idea from research conducted by Dr. Herman Pontzer.

Dr. Herman Pontzer is an evolutionary anthropologist and professor known for his research on human metabolism and energetics. His “Constrained Energy Expenditure Hypotheses” has changed the way we think about energy metabolism in humans. Through researching active hunter gather societies (The Hodza in Tanzania) and sedentary westerner societies, Dr. Pontzer uncovered that both groups had similar levels of total daily calorie expenditure despite the Hodza being radically more active. Though health outcomes differed by group (the Hodza were healthier), the amount of calories the two groups burned through a day were similar.

This idea at first was hard to wrap my head around, I had always viewed total daily energy expenditure as the sum of basal metabolic rate (calories burned to sustain life) and activity (movement-based energy use). But this doesn’t seem to be the case.

Instead, according to Dr. Pontzers hypotheses, the body is incredibly adaptive to physical stress and is great at keeping total daily expenditure relativity consistent. It does this through improving efficiency of movement and down regulating expenditure of non-exercise activity.

Essentially if your energy expenditure is very high, you will want to move less in the non-exercise windows of your day. Anyone who has engaged in very demanding exercise knows this exact situation. After an hour of grueling physical training, three things come to mind, a meal, a shower, and vegging out on the couch.

But, what if down regulation impacts mental systems as well (not just physical)?

Why Your Best Ideas Need Fuel

It is not controversial to say that a physically exhausted person tends to be less motivated to move. This is in part due to the fact that their body is down regulating movement to try and conserve energy. Running systems like the brain, heart, lungs, and immune system are kind of a big deal.

However, even these systems don’t run full tilt all the time. If you are sleep deprived or overworked, its not uncommon to catch a cold, feel a bit out of shape, and be grasping for words mid-conversation.

The body is a system and can only do so much.

Mental energy may draw from the same “pool” as physical energy. If we want access to the most unrestricted energy our body will give us. We need to design our days with this constraint in mind.

If we understand the body has a rough limit on energy expenditure (as demonstrated but the similar expenditure levels between different groups), then we need to plan to that constraint. If we can front load our most important task(s) in a day, there is a chance we will be running on all cylinders. In contrast, if we backload our priority project later in the day, we are starting from a depleted energy pool and our body may try to down-regulate.

This theory does assume a “throttling” effect that happens as the day progresses.

This is one reason why prioritization is so important. It’s not just that we have finite time, but we also have finite access to our sharpest faculties. We need to be mentally active when you have a reservoir of energy. Then the trick is understanding when these moments will be available to us.

Designing Your Day Around Energy Availability

Personally, I find my best work is available to me around 7:30 am to 10:30 am. In that window I have more clarity, focus, and mental energy. Knowing that, I put my deep, creative work in the first block of the day. I protect that time the best I can.

I do not limit “creative work” to just writing though. I consider the act of creating something of value the core focus. Some days I build digital tools, analyze data, or build new processes. Some weeks I'm focused on facilitating the challenging part of a project during that block of time. The point is to leverage that part of the day where your body has the most resources available.

I hope you find this idea useful in your creative endeavors. Dr. Pontzers work offers a new lens in which to view performance. If we can understand the body’s natural systems, we can better understand how to better work with those systems.

If the goal is to create better, then we must maximize the raw goods of creation available to us.

Thank you for reading!

- MB