Do you lie awake at 3am wondering if you're focusing on the right things?

Your calendar is packed back-to-back, you're working longer hours than ever, but there's this nagging feeling that despite all the activity, you're not sure the most important work is actually getting done. Even with metrics and systems in place, you can't shake the uncertainty about whether your decisions are moving the organization forward or just keeping the wheels spinning.

Here's what's really happening: You don't have a time management problem. You have a brain state problem.

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The Hidden Cost of Your Brain Operating System

Your brain operates in two distinct modes, and one of them is literally costing you hours every day. Most technically-minded leaders spend 70-80% of their time in the mode that creates time scarcity, scattered thinking, and reactive decision-making.

The problem isn't that you don't have enough time. The problem is that you're spending most of your day in the brain state that makes time feel scarce and priorities feel unclear.

Mode 1: "Everything-is-urgent" (Reactive State)

• Time feels scarce despite working more hours
• Hard to distinguish what truly matters from what just feels urgent
• Scattered attention across multiple "priorities" that don't compound
• Decisions driven by pressure rather than strategic thinking
• Mental energy gets fragmented across firefighting

Mode 2: "Mentally clear and centered" (Responsive State)

• Time feels expansive for strategic work
• You can see what truly drives results vs. what's just noise
• Priorities naturally align with value creation
• Solutions emerge that serve long-term goals
• Mental energy stays focused on what actually matters

Both modes serve important functions. Reactive mode gives you laser focus for handling genuine urgencies. Responsive mode gives you the strategic clarity to see what deserves your time in the first place.

The problem isn't having reactive mode—it's getting stuck there when you need strategic thinking. Those sleepless nights are a consequence of this stuckness. 

Why This Happens to Technical Leaders

If you have an engineering, legal, or other technical background, you've been trained to solve problems through analysis and logical thinking. This is incredibly valuable, but it can also trap you in reactive mode because you're constantly trying to think your way through every challenge.

When everything feels like a problem to be solved immediately, your brain defaults to emergency mode. You lose access to the broader perspective that shows you which problems are actually worth solving.

You end up being a human fire extinguisher—rushing from crisis to crisis—instead of the strategic leader you became an executive to be.

The Time Paradox Most Leaders Miss

When you're mentally clear and centered, time actually expands. When you're scattered and reactive, time contracts.

This isn't just a feeling—it's how your brain literally processes information. In reactive mode, your focus narrows to handle immediate threats. You can only see the crisis in front of you. In responsive mode, your perspective widens and you can see connections, patterns, and possibilities that pressure-mode thinking completely misses.

Have you ever had those moments of clarity where the right solution just appeared, and you wondered why you'd been struggling with something for so long? (I sometimes call these “shower thoughts” because that’s when this kind of insight most often occurs.) That's your responsive brain state in action.

Most executives spend their days feeling uncertain about whether they're focusing on the work that truly creates value, even when they're checking all the boxes and hitting their metrics. That nagging 3am anxiety about whether you're doing the right things? That's your brain trying to tell you something important. The solution isn't better time management—it's developing the ability to access the brain state that gives you confidence you're focusing on what truly matters.

How Applied Mindfulness Changes Everything

This is where applied mindfulness becomes a game-changer for technical leaders. Applied mindfulness means strategically focusing the spotlight of your mindful attention to help your brain learn and adapt in ways that help you function better, feel better, and create better working relationships.

It's not about sitting in a lotus position or achieving perfect calm. It's about training your attention so you can access your full intelligence—mental, emotional, physical, and even spiritual wisdom—rather than just grinding through problems with analytical thinking alone.

Mindfulness is simply moment-to-moment non-judgmental awareness. You're already doing this when you're debugging code or analyzing a complex legal case. We're just applying that same quality of attention to your internal states.

When you combine this awareness with meditation—a practice of guiding your attention and awareness so you can experience moments of mental clarity and emotional calm—you develop the ability to shift between responsive and reactive brain states intentionally. And even access them both at the same time!

A Simple Practice to Start Reclaiming Your Time

Here's a practice you can try right now to experience the difference between these two brain states:

First, notice your current state:

• How does your breathing feel? Shallow and quick, or deep and steady?
• Where do you feel tension in your body? Shoulders, jaw, hands?
• What's the quality of your thinking? Scattered across multiple concerns, or focused?

Reactive mode shows up as shallow breathing and physical tension. Responsive mode shows up as deep breathing and bodily relaxation. 

Now, try this box breathing technique:

• Inhale for 4 counts
• Hold for 4 counts
• Exhale for 4 counts
• Hold empty for 4 counts
• Repeat 3-4 cycles

Don't worry if this feels awkward at first - most technical minds need a few tries to settle into this

After completing the breathing cycles, notice what’s happening with your breath and body. Give yourself a moment to really feel what’s going on. 

Then, if you’re feeling more responsive, ask yourself: "What truly deserves my attention right now?"

If you’re feeling reactive, take a walk outside, preferably in nature where there are a lot of plants!

Notice what shifts. As you can shift into a more responsive state (100% is not required), you might find that some of those pressing items suddenly feel less critical. You might see a clearer path forward on something you've been struggling with. Or you might simply feel more grounded and capable of handling whatever's in front of you.

This isn't magic—it's neuroscience. You're literally shifting your brain from reactive mode to responsive mode, which gives you access to information and options that stress-mode thinking can't see.

The Strategic Advantage

When you can move fluidly between these brain states, everything changes:

• You eventually stop second-guessing whether you're focusing on the right work
• You can see more opportunities and solutions that stress-mode thinking misses
• Your team starts operating more strategically because you're modeling strategic thinking
• You sleep better because your stress lowers and you're more confident about your priorities
• You can reclaim hours each week that were previously lost to reactive decision-making

This is what it means to stop being a human fire extinguisher and start being the strategic leader you stepped into your role to become.

Your Next Step

The practice I shared above is just the beginning. If you want to develop this capacity systematically, I'm currently developing a comprehensive resource that takes you much deeper into this work.

The Scaling Executive's Mindfulness Kit will be a 5-day email course with 30 days of ongoing support that trains your brain to access responsive, strategic thinking even under pressure. You'll learn specific practices designed for technically-minded leaders who want to stop lying awake wondering if they're doing the right things and start leading with more confidence.

This resource will be available in mid-August. If you'd like to be notified when it launches, you can join our newsletter for updates.

Because after all, you got into leadership to lead, not to be a human fire extinguisher.