Renewal is. ot some mystical practice requiring crystals and chanting. It’s practical neuroscience in action.
Your brain operates on oscillations – that’s a fact. It’s designed to pulse between focus and diffuse modes—not run in a constant state of high alert.
And when you ignore this biological reality, you’re fighting against your own hardware.
Here’s what’s happening when you skip renewal: Your prefrontal cortex—the part handling decision-making and impulse control—gets depleted. Your amygdala—the threat-detection system—gets hypersensitive. The result? You make worse decisions and see threats everywhere.
Even brief renewal activities trigger a shift from sympathetic (fight-or-flight) to parasympathetic (rest-and-digest) nervous system activation. This isn’t just “feeling better”—it’s a complete physiological state change that affects everything from your immune function to your cognitive performance.
“Change your state, change your life”
Tony Robbins coined that I think, but everything we do has to do with what kind of states we’re in. Here’s some resets you can try.
- Work in 90-minute cycles, not 8-hour marathons. Your brain naturally follows ultradian rhythms—90 minutes of optimal focus followed by 20 minutes where you need renewal. Fighting this pattern is like trying to breathe only on inhales. Even better? Do 25 minutes of focused work followed by a 5 minute reset.
- Take your renewal when your body signals for it, not when it’s convenient. Those signals—restlessness, distractibility, irritability—are your brain’s check engine light, not character flaws. Break and come back.
- Drop the guilt about “time off.” Sleep, downtime, and even boredom are when your brain processes information and makes novel connections. They’re literally when your brain builds new neural pathways, so really, we aren’t “doing nothing” but being the most productive in those moments of downtime. It’s taking a step back to take two steps forward.
- Use physical movement as your renewal emergency brake. When you’re stuck in mental loops, physiological change—even just walking around the block—shifts your entire system faster than trying to “think differently.”
- Recognize that the “high” from constant urgency is literally addictive. Your brain gets hooked on the stress chemicals. Breaking this addiction feels uncomfortable at first—just like any withdrawal.
The most effective people aren’t the ones with superhuman willpower. They’re the ones who’ve accepted their biological limitations and designed their lives accordingly.
It’s not about powering through— it’s about powering down, strategically.
So next time someone side-eyes your renewal practice, remember: You’re not slacking. You’re being smart.
And don’t cover up scrolling through social media as a renewal practice because that’s the furthest thing from it.
Joe DiAndrea 