The green brain
You have a superpower:
it is called the green brain.
As a psychologist, my area of expertise is the brain. The brain is an extremely complex organ and science has only been able to unravel a small part of how it works. You don’t need to know all that science has discovered about the brain, but having a basic understanding of how your brain works can be helpful.
Not so long ago, most people’s productivity consisted of physical labour — working on the land, working in a factory and doing manual housework. But today, our lives and goals have changed drastically and rely less on physical strength and more and more on mental resources and productivity. Yet the productivity models (and myths) and work systems we use and believe in are mostly rooted in the old productivity model that was based on achieving optimum productivity in physical labour. Those models, for the most part at least, don’t apply to the brain and, as a result, we are seeing more and more people who burn out, are unhappy, and feel anxious and depressed. Stress has become a normal part of life even though it doesn’t have to be. I believe that if we could only understand our biggest resource, the brain, we would approach productivity very differently.
It is rare to find an individual who knows even a little about how the brain works. This knowledge isn’t taught in schools, it isn’t part of the dialogue in the media and often parents are not teaching their children how the brain works because they themselves don’t know. Yet more and more demands are being made on the brain and our mental resources, so a good place to start when it comes to rethinking your approach to productivity is to learn about the basics of the brain.
When it comes to the brain there are three ‘settings’: the red brain, the orange brain and the green brain.
Instead of explaining the facts of what happens when you are in a red brain state, I suggest we do a little experiment so you can experience the red brain first-hand. Imagine a child running onto a road and there is a car coming at high speed. Close your eyes and imagine this, just for a moment. Watch this image of the child, the road and the car coming at the child at high speed.
Did you feel your heart beating faster, your breathing becoming shallow and the tension in your muscles tightening, especially around your neck and shoulders? Can you still feel the knot in your stomach? Was there pressure on your chest and the urge to act, to react and to reach out? This is stress. To be more precise, this is your system being flushed with the stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol to make you react effectively in emergency situations — the fight-or-flight response. This response is your body pumping blood faster to transport increased amounts of oxygen to your muscles to turn you into a faster runner and a better fighter.
In order to pull off this emergency response, which uses up so much of the body’s available energy, all else needs to be put on hold. This means all natural bodily functions such as the need for sleep, your digestive system, your immune system, even your sex drive, are suppressed.
Now imagine that same scene of the child running onto the road and the car coming at high speed. However, this time, there is a person standing between you and the child. Just close your eyes for a moment and picture that scenario and pay attention to how you feel about this person and how you would react.
Did you feel the urge to push them aside, yell at them to get out of the way, without even considering their feelings? Notice that in that situation you are unable to put yourself in their shoes, and kindness, empathy and connection simply aren’t available. Again, this is stress.
Stress gives you tunnel vision. All you care about is the threat that you see; there is simply no brain space available to think about or consider anything else. This is important because it makes you more effective when you are running from a bear or a fire. The stress system is highly effective when there is an actual emergency.
But … when the emergency is a deadline, a difficult colleague, three whining children while you are trying to cook dinner (sometimes just one can do the trick), or a partner who ignores your patient, repeated requests, then the emergency brain does not help but instead makes you less able to handle the situation well. In the red brain you are a faster runner and become physically stronger, so what this state is essentially telling you is to ‘go harder’ and it provides the energy and strength to do so. But to cope with the modern-day challenges we face on a daily basis, sheer physical strength and extra speed usually don’t help. To deal with these challenges effectively, we need creativity, insight and flexibility. We need the ability to assess constantly changing situations, recognize when things are not working, and change our approach to make them work better rather than simply fall into the trap of ‘go harder’.
We don’t really solve a problem by going harder and longer. Instead of mindfully evaluating and changing our approach according to what we see isn’t working, we keep doing the same thing with more intensity, expecting a different outcome. We fall into the myth of believing that if we work hard and are exhausted at the end, we will achieve the desired result as a natural consequence. Physical labour goals might follow this logic but mental productivity requires the opposite approach.
The red brain is the state of stress, or the emergency brain. While it works great in short-term emergencies, in long-term challenging and stressful situations, it can compromise our health, our happiness and our most important relationships.
In a red-brain state we lack control over what we think, feel and do and we are mostly driven by what our instincts tell us to do. Our stress-induced tunnel vision blocks us from seeing the bigger picture, and small insignificant problems can seem like the end of the world. Our red brain keeps us from thinking rationally, from creatively problem-solving and from learning. If the red brain is on for too long, it can impair our daily functioning.
The green brain
The green brain is the opposite of the red brain. Let me show you what happens in the green brain. Close your eyes and imagine yourself doing something that you absolutely love; something that makes you feel completely alive.
Did you notice your heart rate slowing down, your neck and shoulder muscles relaxing and your breathing becoming slower and deeper? Did you notice a sense of calmness and openness? This is the green brain or, more precisely, this is the stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol lowering and the happiness hormones oxytocin and serotonin increasing.
In the green-brain state your body works at an optimal level. You sleep well and your digestive system, immune system and sex drive all work as they should. Your emotions are balanced and you are more likely to feel happy and content, enjoying the process of things, not just the outcome. In the green brain you are at your most productive. It boosts creativity, innovation, problem-solving skills and learning. The green brain makes you caring, creates empathy and makes you feel connected to others.
The green brain is best used for everyday life when you are working, relaxing, spending time with your loved ones or even when you are doing everyday things like grocery shopping, buying a coffee or walking down the street. The green-brain state makes you notice and enjoy the little things, boosting both happiness and gratitude. For example, in the green brain I appreciate the house we live in, I am so grateful for the amazing coffee my husband makes me and I soak up all the love in the hugs my children give me. I notice the little bird by the window, I see the drive to work as a precious moment of me-time listening to my favourite music; the list could go on and on. In the green-brain state the little things stand out and make you feel grateful and happy with the life you have.
The green-brain state also makes you feel more open and connected to the people around you, which increases feelings of love and builds relationships. For example, when I’m in a green-brain state, my mornings at home are fun, even though we still have to hurry to be at school on time. All throughout the morning we are connected and the simplest activities can become moments of love. Chasing my son to put on his socks, changing my little girl’s nappy as she stares at me with the biggest smile; all these small, seemingly insignificant things can be precious moments of connection, but I only notice them and engage with them when I’m in the green brain.
But when things go wrong, whether it is children who are not cooperating or a business opportunity that is about to fall through, in the green brain you can problem-solve so much better and more effectively. Instead of having tunnel vision and just continuing with your approach that isn’t working, the green brain sees the bigger picture, is flexible and makes changes when things don’t work.
Truly creative problem-solving only happens in the green brain. Think back to a moment when you had a great idea or came up with the perfect solution to a problem. It is not likely that this happened while you were stressing out. It is likely that you were in the green brain when the solution came to you. Or think of a big mistake you made either at work or in your personal life, something that you look back on and wish you could change. I bet you were in a red-brain state when you made that decision.
The red brain works hard,
the green brain works smart.
The green brain is the best state for everyday living and productivity. The green brain makes you flexible and creative, keeps an eye on the big picture and makes good decisions. The green brain makes everything work better (except emergencies). It brings out the most productive and happiest version of you.
The orange brain
On the spectrum that has the red brain at one end and the green brain at the other end, in the middle we find the orange brain. This is the brain state where we are focused on achieving. You can think of it as the ‘to-do list’ brain or the ‘go, go, go brain’. In the orange brain we are focused on the end goal. This gives us a mild form of tunnel vision and leads us to focus only on reaching the end goal and not on the process of getting there. To put it simply, the orange brain is hiking purely to get to the top of the mountain, while the green brain is hiking for the enjoyment of the exercise and the scenery, with the end result being reaching the top of the mountain. There is nothing wrong with the orange-brain state. It doesn’t have the downsides of the red brain, but it also doesn’t have the benefits of the green brain. It is the neutral state — the middle ground.
Where you are on the spectrum doesn’t depend on your situation but on your thoughts. The only exception to this rule is an emergency. For example, some people think the green brain is just for relaxation and fun, but you can be in a green-brain state while working on a challenging project either at home or at work under time pressure. This means being fully involved and focused, on top of things, innovative and smart. Can you remember a time when you were doing something challenging, something that you wouldn’t consider fun, but you were fully engaged, focused and present with it? This is being productive in the green brain. These are often the times we exceed our own expectations when it comes to the quality of the work we do.
At the same time, moments we think should be green are often not green at all. You can be lying on a beach in Fiji in the red brain feeling frustrated about the hotel, the heat, the waiter, and becoming angry because the children are being too loud. In the orange brain you can be busy planning the day ahead and thinking about all the sights you want to see and all the activities you want to do and trying to make the whole family hurry up … and not really enjoying any of it. Your brain state doesn’t depend on your situation or circumstances; it depends on your thoughts. This is where mindfulness comes in.
INSIGHT QUESTIONS: BRAIN STATES
1. In which state do you spend most of your time? Are you mostly in red, green or orange?
2. Imagine what your life could be like if you lived most of it in the green brain and reserved red for emergencies only.
3. What triggers can you identify that send you straight into red brain? For example, getting stuck in traffic, IT problems or a bad cup of coffee.
4. What practical changes can you make to avoid these triggers?
5. When do most of your red-brain moments occur? What factors make you more vulnerable to ending up in red brain in those moments? For example, being tired or hungry or being under time pressure.
6. What practical changes can you make to avoid or minimize these factors?
But I’m very productive in a red-brain state!
For many people it makes sense, in theory, that in the green brain everything works better, but in practice they actually get a lot more done in the red brain and the red brain helps them achieve their goals. Most people I work with have the following pattern in how they move between the brain states:
Most people have orange as their home base, and as long as everything is going according to plan and they have everything under control, they can stay in orange. However, as soon as something goes wrong or if unexpected circumstances arise or when time pressure builds, they quickly find themselves in the red brain. In the red brain they use tunnel vision and work hard to make it to their goal so they can feel satisfied and have a brief moment of happiness.
What many people don’t realize is that, while in the orange brain, they are actually spending a lot of time procrastinating and wasting time. Then, when they move into the red brain, they have a period of high stress and high productivity where they fully focus on the work they want to get done using all their energy produced by cortisol and adrenaline to finish a project, presentation or to clean the house. But because they are working from the least ideal state for productivity, it is very likely that the following will occur:
Poor time management: When you rely on stress to spark your productivity you will start the process by wasting a lot of time procrastinating. This will continue until the time pressure builds to the point that your goals are threatened. This perceived threat will induce the cortisol and adrenaline wave you need to become productive and finally focus on the goal or task at hand and then you will get to work in a panic.
Reduced enjoyment: In the orange–red productivity loop you won’t be fully present nor will you really enjoy the procrastinating phase because it isn’t in line with your goal. The work you have to get done will be in the back of your mind reminding you that you are not doing what needs to be done. When you reach the productivity stage the time-pressure-induced red brain will also block enjoyment of the process and your sole focus will be to reach the end result.
Tunnel vision: One of the main characteristics of the red brain is a narrow focus (keep-your-eye-on-the-bear mechanism), so tunnel vision kicks in and you only have eyes for the problem or the end goal, which makes you lose sight of the big picture and increases the potential for lesser quality outcomes. This is helpful in emergencies, but when it comes to productivity, seeing the big picture and considering all options and variables is directly linked to higher quality outcomes.
Shortcuts: In the red brain there is no ‘time to think’ due to time pressure so your brain takes shortcuts. When under pressure your brain reverts back to old habits and familiar ways of doing things. So shortcuts make you take the same approach you’ve always taken. This is not a problem if the old and familiar approach works well but, because of the complexity of the things we are dealing with in our everyday life, shortcuts may offer the fastest solution but not necessarily the best solution.
Less flexibility: The red brain isn’t flexible because changing your approach takes up too much time. So when the chosen approach doesn’t deliver the desired results, the red brain just keeps going and tries even harder, expecting a different outcome. This is why you could also call it the stupid brain. The smartest way to address lack of achievement is to realize your current approach isn’t working — to pause, analyze and re-evaluate your approach to reaching your goals or to re-evaluate the goals themselves. But since all these steps take time and the red brain is all about speed, it blocks the awareness and change process, which gets you stuck in approaches that are not effective or ideal.
Poor decision-making: In the red brain state we have less brain capacity available and as a result our decision-making process suffers. Instead of carefully considering the different options and making decisions based on reason and long-term benefit, we are impulsive and make decisions based on feelings and short-term solutions. We are more inclined to go for quick fixes and are more likely to take risks and find it harder to consider long-term implications.
Energy depletion: Working from the red brain is possible but it is hard work and taxing on your brain and the rest of your body (especially your heart and adrenal glands). It depletes your system of energy rather than maintaining a healthy balance of vitality and stamina. Instead of a steady flow of energy that is sustainable and recharges itself, red-brain productivity follows a pattern of energy conservation by procrastinating followed by intense, energy-draining productivity, followed by putting the system on stand-by so the energy resources can be restored. In short, red-brain productivity goes from procrastinating to frantic productivity to collapsing in front of the TV. There is no energy left for a good conversation, a walk on the beach or a game of chess. Your brain (and the rest of your body) needs to recover its energy supply and it will put you on ‘an energy conserving mode’ until the energy resources are replenished.
The orange–red brain productivity loop
Orange–red brain productivity consists of a pattern that perpetuates itself. It starts with the orange brain procrastinating (conserving energy), followed by the red brain sprinting (burning all energy), followed by achieving our goal (dopamine-induced happiness), followed by the orange brain procrastinating (recovering energy), before it starts sprinting again. We don’t have an unlimited reservoir of energy and when you have a habit of orange–red brain productivity, your red brain can get things done but it does so by working hard and depleting your energy resources. Your brain will balance this out with periods of conserving energy. In this pattern, your happiness is strictly linked to achieving the goal. Most of us don’t really enjoy procrastinating or working intensely hard under time pressure; we do, however, enjoy the dopamine rush that comes with achieving our goal. The dopamine rush functions as a powerful reward that leads to feeling happy and satisfied — this reward system keeps this habit firmly in place, even if it isn’t helpful. We got the job done so we assume our approach is working.
There is nothing wrong with this way of working but it isn’t the smart, the healthy or the fun way. Basically, this approach isn’t in line with how your brain was designed. The brain isn’t built for going from procrastinating to sprinting to a brief moment of happiness conditional to achieving your goal back to procrastinating. It isn’t in line with how people have been living for hundreds of thousands of years. It is a symptom of the times we live in and comes at a price. Long term, this way of working can lead to burnout, anxiety, insomnia, heart failure, high blood pressure and adrenal fatigue. There has to be a better way to productivity with more consistent energy and enjoyment.
The alternative to the orange–red-brain productivity pattern of procrastination → sprinting → outcome-based reward is the green-brain productivity loop. By switching on your green brain before you get to work, you will be able to avoid this unhelpful and unsustainable way of working and tap into a new way of being productive that reduces procrastination and gives you enjoyment of the process and the outcome. You won’t feel drained or exhausted at the end and you will still get the job done. Most likely you will deliver better quality work. The green-brain productivity pattern entails relaxing → focused and productive work → better quality outcomes. The following tables highlight the differences between the two approaches.
Orange–red brain productivity loop
Green brain productivity loop
As this model shows, when applied consistently, green-brain productivity can eliminate unhelpful and unhealthy stress and create more consistent energy, happiness and wellbeing.
The first step to applying the green brain to your everyday life to boost your productivity is to identify what naturally puts you in the green zone. A lot of things naturally activate the green brain but what works for some people might not for others. Interestingly enough, our green-brain triggers are often the things that we loved doing as children. The key is to identify what your green-brain triggers are and then make sure you spend enough time each week doing them. One of the wonderful things about the green brain is that we feel great when we are in this state. Using this knowledge you can find what puts you into the green brain by asking yourself the question, ‘What makes me feel alive?’ In other words, what makes you feel energized, fully engaged or what is it you love to do?
Here are some of the answers people have given me when I asked them this question: painting, surfing, exercising, cooking, gardening, being around children, playing golf, sitting in a café all by myself, playing the guitar, running, working on my car, playing cards, interior design, walking the dog, hosting dinner parties, travelling, spending time with close friends, bringing dying orchids back to life, meditation, growing vegetables, doing jigsaw puzzles, reading.
We all have activities or interests that naturally put us into a green-brain state and, when you think about it, there are probably several things that do it for you. No one I know has ever answered this question with watching TV, surfing the Internet or shopping. We intuitively know the difference between the activities that give us a fleeting dopamine high or make us ‘zone out’ and the things that make us feel alive — things we truly love and are energized by at a deeper level.
Now you might be thinking, ‘How will this make me more productive?’ and that is a good question. Often it isn’t during the actual green-brain activity itself that productivity increases. The activity is just a trigger to put you in the right brain state for optimal productivity for anything that follows.
The first step to having more green-brain activity in your life is to identify what activities trigger your green brain and then to make a conscious effort to get a healthy dose of those activities every week, ideally every single day. You could call it the supplements you take to keep your brain healthy. The good news is that most of the activities people come up with are completely free. The bad news is that making sure you get a healthy dose of them weekly or daily often requires setting different priorities, reorganizing your life or creative problem-solving. It’s not always easy, but it is worth it.
My natural green-brain activators are being active in nature, doing things like hiking, gardening and running. Listening to music and dancing also never fails to put me in the green brain. Hugging my children is another powerful green-brain trigger and so are learning new things, writing and painting. It surprised me when I realized that as a child I already loved all of these things. As a child I was passionate about horse riding. Even though hiking, running and gardening are not the same as horse riding, they all put me in the same brain state. As a young girl I listened to music a lot and performed countless shows in front of my mirror, singing and dancing. And I loved school, learning about new things, reading, researching and then putting it on paper in my own words. This made me feel great. As a ten-year-old girl during summer break, I even wrote an essay on the galaxy just for fun. I should have realized sooner that there was a writer in me.
As an adult, these activities became completely snowed under by the business of everyday life until I finally realized there was a link between my really good productive days and the amount of time I spent doing the things I actually love. These activities used to feel like treats, things that I could do when I had spare time, when everything else was finished (it never is though!). I now see these activities as my brain vitamins. I know I need to get a healthy dose of these things daily or weekly to make sure my brain works at an optimal level. This isn’t always easy but, if you make them a priority and if you go about it creatively, it can be done.
Now we start every day with the children climbing into our bed and we have morning cuddles. Then I’m off for a quick run as my husband prepares breakfast. Then, after breakfast, I turn on a song for our morning dance after which we get the children ready for school. By 8 a.m. I have already had three doses of green-brain starters: cuddles, running and dancing.
Starting your day with activities that switch on your green brain isn’t just a nice way to begin the day; it is essential for productivity and success.
My way of ensuring that I start each day with my green brain ‘switched on’ is to combine my natural green-brain triggers with mindfulness practice. The natural green-brain activators — my brain vitamins — will automatically put me in the green zone, but mindfulness is a skill that helps me switch on my green brain anytime, anywhere.
Maximizing green-brain activity and minimizing red-brain activity involves training your brain to be in the green zone through mindfulness practice. Mindfulness practice is learning a new way of thinking that activates the green-brain state, which is the first essential element for consistent productivity. Research shows that mindfulness rewires the brain and makes you better able to regulate and manage stress. In other words, mindfulness makes you better at switching on the green brain and staying out of the red brain. Mindfulness techniques use certain ways of paying attention, reshaping thoughts, breathing and posture to activate the green brain. Mindfulness stops the red brain from being triggered in situations that are not emergencies, and when you find yourself stressed, mindfulness helps you to recognize this and make your way back to the green zone.
When you successfully turn mindfulness into a habit, your brain will rewire itself and the green-brain pathways will become stronger and stronger. This makes it increasingly easier to be highly productive, not just when ‘the stars are aligned’ but every single day. (For an in-depth program of how to incorporate mindfulness into your life, please refer to my book Mindfulness on the Run and the download of my guided mindfulness techniques that can be found on my website: www.renewyourmind.co.nz.)
My daily morning mindfulness rituals are a run and a coffee. The first five minutes of my run I spend practising mindfulness. This means nothing more than giving my full attention to my senses without allowing my mind to wander off to things that are not happening in that moment. It feels a little bit like arriving for the day, just like when you arrive at a party and you look around, scan the environment and the people there and, in a way, ‘find your position’. During my mindful morning run I ‘find my position’ in the world around me. Every time I run I am reminded by the sound of the sea or the huge trees around me that I am so very small and dependent on nature and God. It reminds me that the cup of tea that will be spilled on the floor in ten minutes’ time isn’t a big deal and that the ultimate goal isn’t to arrive at school exactly on time but to have a good morning together. My morning mindfulness habits help me to keep seeing the bigger picture and not get caught up in the little insignificant things.
Every morning I make sure I have a nice cup of coffee and I have at least five full minutes to drink and enjoy it. During those five minutes the cup of coffee has my full attention, the phone and laptop are out of sight and I don’t allow my thoughts to wander off to everything on my to-do list. I drink my coffee mindfully and it activates and strengthens my green brain, setting me up for a good start to the day.
On a normal day, before 9.30 a.m., I have had three of my brain vitamins (morning cuddles, morning run and morning dance) and two mindfulness rituals (morning run mindfulness and mindful morning coffee). It might sound like they take up a lot of time but the truth is they take up very little time because I would be doing most of these things anyway. I am using things that are part of my usual morning ritual and have turned them into green-brain activators by bringing my awareness to them and turning them into mindful habits.
It might also sound indulgent, but I am painfully aware of the fact that without these brain vitamins and my mindfulness practice, I cannot rely on myself to be patient, kind, efficient and productive. This is what my brain needs so that I can be in control of my reactions and can create fun and loving mornings that still allow my family to be at school and at work on time. Whenever I find myself slacking off on my green-brain starters, I remind myself that this is not just for fun; it is to stop me from wasting time and to keep my productivity high. It is not just for me; it is for the health and happiness of my family as well. I want them to remember our mornings as warm, fun and without rushing and yelling, and to accomplish that I need to take responsibility for where my brain is.
It is pretty easy to do these things when I’m in a good mood and have had a good night’s sleep. The challenge is to do them when I am in a bad mood and the last thing I feel like doing is dancing and singing. But the truth is that those are the days I need these rituals the most. Ideally, you take your brain vitamins every day but especially on the days when your brain needs a boost of health and happiness.
INSIGHT QUESTIONS: MINDFUL ACTIVITY
1. What did you love to do as a child?
2. What activities put you into the green brain now?
(Do you see the link?)
3. How much time do you spend every day, every week or every month doing these activities?
4. Could you create a daily or weekly dose of these activities?
5. Can you incorporate some of these into your morning rituals?
6. What are the obstacles?
7. How can you overcome the obstacles and make it happen?