{
  "id": 10396379,
  "title": "Can you hack your brain to be ultra-productive?",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/28/can-you-hack-your-brain-to-be-ultra-productive",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-09-28T08:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "New Scientist",
    "slug": "new-scientist",
    "url": "https://www.newscientist.com/article/2590997-can-you-hack-your-brain-to-be-ultra-productive/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "This month has been incredibly busy for the author, who juggles multiple projects, a book, a podcast, editing duties, freelance assignments, and this very column. Overwhelmed by the workload, they sought a productivity boost. Instead of diving straight into work, they delved into researching methods to enhance productivity, such as optimizing attention, aligning work with their body clock, or inducing an ultra-productive state. The author discovered a mix of myths, intriguing science, and counterintuitive results.\n\nChristian Poensgen, a scientist-turned-entrepreneur and co-author of \"Ultraproductive,\" emphasizes that there's a \"productivity crisis.\" He criticizes the \"relentless hustle,\" claiming that treating ourselves like machines, constantly multitasking, and never unplugging is backfiring. This constant urgency makes us less effective and more exhausted.\n\nOur attention at work is indeed fragmented. In 2004, Gloria Mark and her colleagues from the University of California, Irvine, found that people spent just over 2 minutes on screen-based or paper tasks before switching to a different activity. By 2016-2020, this time had shrunk to around 47 seconds. Notifications from WhatsApp messages and emails are the author's personal triggers for distraction. Interestingly, turning off notifications might not necessarily increase productivity. In a 2008 experiment, Mark's team asked 48 people to complete an HR email task three times—one without interruptions, and twice with interruptions every few minutes. Despite being interrupted, participants finished the task faster but experienced increased stress, frustration, and perceived effort. Interruptions may trigger a short-term speed-up, but come at a psychological cost.\n\nMultitasking is another productivity method that the author considers useful. However, Poensgen clarifies that multitasking is a myth. Instead, it's just rapidly switching tasks, leaving the first one unfinished and creating \"attention residue.\" This residue can impair performance on subsequent tasks. The author notes that it takes around 25 minutes and 26 seconds to regain focus after switching tasks, though this duration might be misinterpreted.\n\nWhile 23 minutes and 15 seconds is often cited as the time needed to regain focus after switching tasks, this figure might be inaccurate. Mark's original study revealed that workers took 25 minutes and 26 seconds to return to their initial task after being interrupted. Moreover, these distractions were often related or helpful to the initial task. Nested interruptions, where one distraction leads to another, further extend the time it takes to return to the original task.\n\nTo combat distractions, the author disables notifications and avoids multitasking. They also prioritize getting a good night's sleep, which is crucial for productivity. A review of 61 studies found that even brief sleep deprivation impairs attention and decreases executive function, hindering our ability to plan, hold information in mind, and resist distractions. Poensgen advocates for \"ultra-focus,\" a 60- to 90-minute period of deep concentration each day. During this time, the brain enters a \"flow state,\" where time and space seem to vanish, and effort feels minimal. Although entering a flow state may require a few minutes to filter out distractions, the author believes that the benefits are well worth the initial discomfort.",
  "summary": "An endless stream of distractions, from email notifications to overlapping deadlines, can make focus slip away. Columnist Helen Thomson went hunting for neuroscience-backed ways to boost your productivity",
  "key_points": [
    "Author seeks productivity boost amid busy schedule",
    "Ultra-productive state involves 60-90 minute deep focus periods",
    "Sleep deprivation impairs attention and executive function"
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}