You Don’t Need More Time — You Need Fewer Re-entries

You didn’t lose your day because you were lazy.
You lost it because you switched tabs 37 times.
Checked 5 apps. Answered 2 messages.
And tried to go “back” to your task like it was waiting politely in your brain.

But every time you leave deep work,
Your brain burns calories just to re-enter.
And if you switch enough times…
You never fully re-enter again.

Re-entry Is The Hidden Tax On Focus

Most people don’t realize this:
Your brain isn’t a browser tab. It doesn’t save state that easily.
When you “check Twitter real quick” during writing or work,
You’re not just distracted —
You’re paying an invisible cost called context-switch recovery time.

Studies show it can take 7–23 minutes to fully re-enter the task.
Do that 5x/day, and you’ve lost 2 hours of cognitive clarity.
Not just time.
Quality. Flow. Precision. Gone.

The Solution Isn’t a To-Do List. It’s a Gate.

Instead of trying to work more hours,
Start building a re-entry-free environment.

• Kill all tabs except the one.

• Phone on airplane or off.

• Put your task on a physical card in front of you (visual cue = mental lock)

• Commit to a single 45–90 minute block.

• No “checking,” no “just for a sec.”

You’re not “trying to be productive.”
You’re protecting cognitive momentum.

This is how focus actually feels good again.
Not because you did more.
But because you went deeper with less cost.

Newsletter Submission 2 — Sleep

Subject Line: Why You Wake Up at 3:00 AM (And How to Stop It)

You fall asleep fine.
But at 2:47 AM… your body flips.
Heart’s pounding.
Mind’s racing.
And you're wide awake — while the world sleeps.

It feels random, but it’s not.
There’s a pattern.
There’s a fix.

Your Body’s Not Restless — It’s Panicking

The 3 AM spike is often your nervous system responding to a stress signal:

• A cortisol release triggered by low blood sugar

• A temperature rise from a bad sleep environment

• An emotional tension you never discharged

• Or a nervous system that never fully downshifted

You’re not broken.
You just woke up in the middle of a false alarm.

How To Stop It

You need a system for re-entry, not panic.

• Don’t touch your phone (tells your brain “day has started”)

• Do 4:8 breath (inhale 4s, exhale 8s, hum on exhale)

• Scan your body from toes to head (nervous system grounding)

• If still awake after 20 min:

  • Sit under red light or candle, no screens

  • Reset your breath, reset your posture

  • Re-enter the bed only after your pulse slows

You don’t have to sleep perfectly to wake up calm.
You just need to teach your body you’re not under attack.

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