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Why Your Brain Thinks Work Is Dangerous?
And how to trick it into doing the hard stuff anyway
Hey friend,
You might be thinking — why haven’t I shared any tools yet?
Nope, I’m not sharing any tools in this issue either!
Because tools change.
But the way we think?
That’s what really makes the difference.
Today’s story starts with one weird question that messed with my head...
I was at my desk, trying to do an important office task.
But it was a complex one.
Instead of working, I picked up my phone and started scrolling.
I didn’t feel like working. (I bet you’ve felt this way too 🤞)
After a while, I asked myself:
Why am I procrastinating?
Because the task is hard.
But I know I can do it if I focus.
Still, it felt like danger. Like I had to run. 😂
That’s when I asked:
Why does my brain treat hard work like danger?
So I did what I always do — asked ChatGPT. 😛
We talked for a long time.
And out of that conversation, I got one insight that totally blew my mind. 🤯
Our Brain Is Still in the Jungle
Let’s zoom out for a second.
🧬 Humans have been around for about 300,000 years.
For most of that time, we lived in the wild. Hunting. Gathering. Staying alive.
No jobs.
No deadlines.
Just survive the day.
Farming started just 10,000 years ago.
Cities came a few thousand years later.
Factories? Only 250 years ago.
Modern tech life? Just 50 years ago.
Now think about this:
If you shrink human history into a 24-hour day, here’s how it looks:
Event | Years Ago | 24-Hour Equivalent |
---|---|---|
🦴 Hunter-Gatherer Life | ~290,000 years | ~23 hours (entire day) |
🏡 Farming & Villages | ~10,000 years | ~48 minutes ago |
🏙️ First Cities | ~6000 years | ~29 minutes ago |
🏢 Industrial Revolution | ~250 years | ~72 seconds ago |
💻 Modern Digital Life | ~50 years | ~14 seconds ago |
Think about that for a second.
Everything we call “normal life”: emails, to-do lists, Jira…
only started 14 seconds ago.
And for the rest of the 23 hours?
We were literally in survival mode. 🤷♂️
So when I avoid a hard task?
It's not because I'm lazy.
It's because my brain thinks it's protecting me.
It still believes I’m in the jungle.
But I’m not. There’s noooo tiger…!
Just Slack and VS Code. 🫠
So, what lesson I took?
Honestly? I stopped feeling broken.
Everyone (ADHD or not) has this outdated brain mechanism.
So do I.
So do YOU.
Let’s be real: the only way to survive modern life is by tricking your ancient brain.
So, I started doing small things to trick my brain.
Little hacks. Nothing fancy.
Here’s one:
👉 I start a 10 or 20-minute timer when a task feels hard.
It’s like saying, “Don’t worry, brain — we’ll just face the tiger for 20 minutes. I got you.” 😂
It works surprisingly well.
And now I know why timers work.
It’s not just about focus —
It’s about calming a brain that’s still stuck in survival mode.
Every productivity guru tells you to start a timer before work, but no one says why. Today I explained to you WHY. Huh! 😜
How This Can Help You?
👉 Build your own system around how your brain actually works —
not how some productivity book says it should.
If you work better standing? Stand.
If you need a break every 30 minutes? Take it.
You're not broken. You're just wired for a different world.
👉 And most importantly — be kind to yourself.
You’re not lazy. You’re not weak.
Your brain is just doing what it was designed to do: protect you.
It just doesn’t know the “threat” is a deadline, not a dinosaur.
See you next Friday.
Our brain is running on Windows 95 — and that’s okay.
We just need a few upgrades and clever workarounds. 😎
Hit reply — I read every message.
👉 Ask me anything.
👉 Suggest a topic I should write next.
👉 Or just say hi — even that helps me keep going!
Until next time,
— Ali
(BTW: Did you know? The meaning of “Ali” is actually Tiger. Cool, right?) 🐅