In An Always-On World, This Is How You Recharge
In An Always-On World, This Is How You Recharge
PLUS: A Harvard psychiatrist explains the unhealthiest habit you can have
May 31, 2026
“Unremitting effort leads to a kind of mental dullness and lethargy.”
\- Seneca
I spent nearly an hour last week trying to install a software update on my IPhone.
Something so simple that should have taken a few seconds instead consumed my time and my energy.
Why? Because my storage was full. Too many apps, too many downloads, all quietly accumulating. You know the score.
So I burnt through the best part of an hour sifting through that ‘hidden’ load. Deleting, clearing, and accepting that my Audible addiction has to be reined in :)
And of course once I had, the update ran, the bugs cleared, and the system upgraded. Hardware and software, back in sync.
I suspect that’s a metaphor for your world right now.
Because I see what is happening with leaders in today’s ‘always on’ world. Not a lack of capability. Not a lack of effort either - if anything, it’s too much effort in too many directions, with no space for the system to operate effectively.
Unlike my phone, most of you haven't had a notification. Nobody flags it and you’re too busy running on auto-pilot to interpret your own data. Your performance just quietly degrades until one day the gap between what you're capable of and what you're actually producing becomes impossible to ignore.
At Prime Performance Labs, we call this the Simmering Six - your 6/10 zone, where you constantly feel tired but wired. Trying your best, but nowhere near your best. It's the silent killer of performance precisely because it doesn't feel like a crisis, it’s that gradual creep that just drags you down.
And here's what obsesses me about it: in almost every other high-performance arena, this wouldn't be allowed to persist. An athlete has a pre-season and an off-season. A Special Forces operator has a defined end to the mission. The recovery is structural - built into the system as a non-negotiable because it’s understood that for the elite performer to show up as a 10, there are times where they need to be a 4.
Business doesn't work like that. There is no final whistle. No stand-down order. The work is never done. The rest never comes. You’re stuck in an infinite loop.
So as much as I believe we can learn a lot from elite performers in other arenas, this week’s theme is all about how you need to manage your capacity and leave room for upgrades.
THE SCIENCE
"The brain is the CEO of the body."
Samira Cutts, our Head of Brain Health and Performance, and a leading cognitive neuroscientist puts it simply: "The brain is the CEO of the body." And like any CEO, it needs the right conditions to perform.
That starts with sleep. I always used to think of sleep purely in the context of physical rest, but working with Samira and reading books like “Why We Sleep” by Matthew Walker, has deepened my understanding. In particular, recognising that sleep is the single most effective thing you can do to reset your brain's cognitive capacity.
During sleep, your prefrontal cortex (the part of the brain responsible for decision-making, judgement, and strategic thinking) consolidates what it has learned and clears the metabolic waste that accumulates during waking hours. Compromise that process and it’s like not plugging your phone in overnight - you can still function, but you’re way below your optimal level.
But even with good sleep, just like a phone battery, your cognitive capacity depletes across the day. Dr Stephen Kaplan at the University of Michigan spent decades studying what he calls directed attention, the controlled, focused thinking you rely on for your most important work.
His research shows that when those stores run low, the consequences are specific: less creative, reduced ability to plan, worse decision-making, and a shorter fuse with the people around you.
This is the Simmering Six at a neurological level. And I’m betting that you know exactly how this feels.
The question is how you break the cycle.
THE PROOF
"It allows me to step back, so that I can create what wants to be, not what was."
Marc Benioff is one of the most successful tech founders of his generation. Salesforce, the company he built from scratch in 1999, is one of the largest enterprise software companies in the world. But before any of that existed, Benioff burnt out.
After 13 years rising through the ranks at Oracle, he was running on fumes. There are a lot of myths about burnout and one is that it can happen suddenly. That's not how it works. He would have been living in the Simmering Six for a long time before he hit the wall. Spending months constantly tired but wired until eventually his system shut down.
In this case Benioff took time off. Hawaii first, then India. And it was there, with genuine space to think for the first time in years, that he discovered meditation. He has credited it ever since as one of the most important decisions of his professional life. "It makes me a different person," he has said. "It allows me to step back, so that I can create what wants to be, not what was."
It was during that period of deliberate recovery that the idea for Salesforce took shape. He returned with a clarity he hadn't had in years, and built one of the most valuable companies in the world from it.
Fast forward to now and he still starts every day with a meditation practice. When asked recently on Fortune's Leadership Next podcast what advice he'd give fellow CEOs, his answer was immediate: "Every day, are you starting with some practice? Mine is, I have a meditation practice."
His point isn't meditation specifically, it's the commitment to starting each day with something that creates white space and stillness before the noise arrives. "You've got a lot coming at you all the time," he told Fortune. "Text messages, emails, one-on-ones, operational reviews, investors… there's a lot going on in the CEO's life." The practice is what allows him to meet all of it with what he calls a ‘beginner's mind’, where you’re present and clear.
THE APPLICATION
“Don’t wait until you’re on 1%.”
Benioff's story is a powerful one, but I’m also conscious it’s an extreme one, as it took burnout to force the change. At PPL, we exist to help individual leaders and leadership teams show up at your best when it matters most, or to help you if you’re stuck in the ‘Simmering Six’.
Either way, it’s not about sabbaticals in Hawaii to find the reset. You need micro-rituals - brief, deliberate practices that protect your cognitive capacity and energy on a daily basis. The research behind them is solid. But there is no universal prescription. The best micro-ritual is the one that fits your reality and the only thing that matters is that they are sustainable - consistency compounds.
What follows are four examples with the evidence behind them:
If you're stuck on a problem or struggling to think creatively… go for a walk.
Preferably outside, preferably somewhere green, but honestly the movement itself is the core ingredient. Stanford researchers Marily Oppezzo and Daniel Schwartz tested 176 participants on creative thinking tasks while sitting and while walking. Walking increased creative output by an average of 60%, with 81% of participants showing measurable improvement. The mechanism is straightforward: walking triggers divergent thinking (the brain's ability to generate multiple ideas and explore different possibilities) in a way that sitting simply doesn't. Think of it as moving meditation. (PS. leave your phone on your desk.)
If you're feeling tired but wired… try NSDR.
Non-Sleep Deep Rest is a guided relaxation practice popularised by podcast host and neuroscientist Dr Andrew Huberman. It’s a combination of breathwork and body scans that allows your brain and nervous system to reach a state of deep relaxation without falling asleep. A micro-ritual that reduces stress, improves focus and restores energy. Think of it as plugging your phone in rather than waiting until the battery dies. Huberman has a great resources page on NSDR and other meditation and breathwork protocols that you can find here.
If you're about to go into a high-pressure conversation or difficult meeting… use box breathing.
I first came across this while listening to an interview with former SEALs Commander and founder of Unbeatable Mind Mark Divine. I love its simplicity: five counts in through the nose. Hold for five. Out for five. Hold for five. Repeat. One cycle takes 20 seconds.
The mechanism is the same as any controlled breathing practice: slow, deliberate breathing activates your parasympathetic nervous system, reducing cortisol, lowering heart rate, and shifting you out of fight-or-flight. What makes box breathing specifically useful before a high-stakes moment is what Divine describes as its neutral energetic effect - it won't make you drowsy or wind you up. It leaves you alert, grounded, and ready.
Divine is also a big proponent of yoga and meditation as micro rituals. You can get more of his insights here.
If you need to recover but also reconnect… have a proper conversation.
Research from Harvard Business Review found that 50% of CEOs report significant loneliness in their role, with 61% saying it directly impairs their performance. Leadership can be isolating by design. And with so much going on professionally, your identity outside the role can power down.
This matters beyond performance. In 2023, US Surgeon General Dr Vivek Murthy published a landmark advisory on the health consequences of social disconnection. His finding: the risk of premature death from chronic loneliness is equivalent to smoking 15 cigarettes a day. Meaningful social connection, by contrast, is one of the most powerful predictors of healthspan and longevity we have. The benefits aren’t just psychological, they are physiological, reducing cortisol, protecting cognitive function, and measurably extending life.
The key word is meaningful. What the research supports is genuine, reciprocal human connection - the kind where you're not performing a role, where the conversation goes somewhere real, and where you leave feeling less alone in the thing you're carrying.
That means being deliberate about who you spend your recovery time with. The right company replenishes. The wrong company - those conversations that make you feel like you’re wearing a mask - drains your battery further.
What doesn’t work… doomscrolling.
Going on your phone can feel like you’re taking time out to relax, but research confirms that it actively depletes your cognitive resources by creating continuous information processing demands on your brain - in simple terms, it’s the illusion of rest with none of the recovery. If you're going to pick something up, grab a book instead. Even a few pages of genuine reading rests the same system that a working day hammers hardest.
Making them stick… environmental design and repetition.
Knowing about these practices and actually doing them consistently are two very different things. The research on habit formation is clear: the practices most likely to stick are the ones you've deliberately built the conditions for. Environmental design beats willpower.
That means deciding in advance when you'll do them and linking them to existing anchors in your day, such as after your morning coffee, before a demanding meeting or immediately after you’ve finished work to create a sense of closure.
It also means giving them enough repetitions to become automatic. Neuroscience shows us that repeated behaviours gradually require less conscious effort as the brain lays down stronger neural pathways. The first week will feel deliberate and will require intention. After a month, it will start to feel like the day is wrong without them.
Final thoughts
Protect yourself \- none of this works if you can't give yourself permission to recharge. Remember that rest isn’t a reward for productivity, it’s the most productive thing you can do.
Do what works for you - Adopt an experimental mindset. Adapt, iterate and tune out from the performative nonsense uttered by the grifters on social media. This framework from neuroscientist Anne-Laure Le Cunff may help you.
Self-care is not selfish \- every leader I’ve worked with is carrying that hidden load of looking after others, whether that’s in the workplace or at home. Accept that investing in yourself will ultimately allow you to show up better for them.
You don’t have to do it alone - for too long, the world of business hasn’t mirrored elite performers in other arenas. You’re focused on your team, but you deserve a team focused on you. At PPL, we exist to be that team.
If you or one of your team are stuck in the Simmering Six, or you simply want to perform at your best when it matters most, book a call with me here. Let's talk about what that looks like for you. I guarantee you that progress is always possible.
Don’t wait until you’re on 1%.
🔥 LIVE BETTER, LEAD BETTER
The best content I researched this week:
1. “If all of your hours are for sale, there will always be buyers,” says serial entrepreneur and author Robert Glazer. His three-minute read about building ‘Protected Time’ ties in perfectly with my point around the importance of creating boundaries, as no one else will do it for you.
2. In just under 2 minutes, Dr. Alok Kanojia, a Harvard-trained psychiatrist, explains the unhealthiest habit you can have (and what you do about it). Spoiler alert: it ties in perfectly with this week’s theme.
3. Entrepreneur and former leading tech executive Sandeep Swadia, AKA The MIT Monk, shares the one thing that you should do if you want deep focus.
4. This 35-minute TED podcast is packed with practical rituals to help you separate work from the rest of your life and prevent burnout.
5. Finally, neuroscientist, philosopher and author Dr Sam Harris talks with performance expert Dr Andy Galpin about how attention, mindfulness, and clear thinking shape how you lead. Confession: this is a deep dive that I haven’t finished listening to yet, but the section on which tech tools enhance cognition and which compete with it is essential listening.
Share this with a fellow leader - we’re stronger together.
If this was forwarded to you, join hundreds of other top-level executives and entrepreneurs by subscribing here.
The Prime Performance Program
