Outsmart Mental Fatigue

The Science-Backed Leadership Edge That Takes 10 Minutes a Day

May 27, 2025

∙ Paid

🕒 Reading time: 9 minutes

Executive Summary

Mental fatigue literally rewires your brain to avoid high-impact decisions, even when you're fully capable of making them
Johns Hopkins research reveals specific brain regions that shift when you're cognitively drained—and how to work with them, not against them
Seven evidence-based strategies help senior leaders maintain peak decision-making capacity in under 10 minutes daily

This post is based on the latest episode of The 10% Edge Podcast, inspired by groundbreaking research from Grace Steward and Vikram Chib at Johns Hopkins University on cognitive fatigue and decision-making.

🎧 [Listen to the full podcast episode

Picture this: It's 3:30 PM. You've crushed your morning priorities, navigated back-to-back stakeholder meetings, and your strategic initiatives are progressing. Then it hits—that invisible wall where your next critical decision feels insurmountable. You're not physically exhausted, but mentally, you're running on fumes.

If this scenario feels familiar, you're not alone. Every senior leader I've worked with knows this pattern intimately. What you might not realise is that in these moments, your brain fundamentally changes how it evaluates effort and reward, making you more likely to settle for the easy option—even when the high-impact choice is right in front of you.

This isn't a character flaw. It's pure neuroscience. And today, you'll discover exactly how to outsmart it.

🧠 The Science Simplified: What Happens When Your Brain Gets Tired

The Research Breakthrough

Johns Hopkins researchers discovered something remarkable: when you're mentally fatigued, your brain doesn't just feel tired—it literally recalibrates how it values effort versus reward. Using brain imaging technology, they tracked participants through mentally demanding tasks and observed real-time changes in decision-making patterns.

The key finding? Fatigued brains consistently avoided high-effort, high-reward opportunities, even when participants were fully capable of completing them successfully.

Your Brain's Fatigue Network: The Three Key Players

Think of your brain as having three critical systems that shift when you're mentally drained:

🎯 The Focus Centre (Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex)
Your brain's command centre for attention and working memory. When overworked, it struggles to maintain the cognitive control you need for complex decisions.

⚖️ The Effort Calculator (Right Anterior Insula)
This region constantly assesses how much mental energy tasks will require. When you're fatigued, it becomes hypersensitive, making challenging work seem more daunting than it actually is.

💰 The Values Region (Anterior Cingulate Cortex, Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex, Nucleus Accumbens)
These areas work together to weigh costs against benefits. Under fatigue, they shift toward "not worth it" mode, undervaluing potential rewards.

Why This Matters for You

When these systems are out of sync due to fatigue, you'll unconsciously steer toward lower-impact activities. That strategic planning session gets postponed. The difficult conversation with your underperforming team member gets delayed. The innovative project proposal sits in your drafts folder.

The cost? Missed opportunities, delayed progress, and the frustration of knowing you're capable of more.

💼 The Toolkit: Seven Science-Backed Strategies

1. 🕒 Recognise Mental Fatigue Early (Time Investment: 30 seconds every 90 minutes)

The Strategy:
Set calendar reminders to check in with yourself every 90 minutes. Ask: "How's my mental clarity right now? Am I still sharp, or starting to drag?"