I recently bought a copy of the New Scientist after the tagline on the front cover caught my eye; “Your brain’s master switch: the long-overlooked cells that control everything from creativity to stress.” The headline piqued my interest both as a coach, but also as a person with a brain that I’m not always able to control when it comes to my own stress or creativity!

This blog will distill the main points of the article, written by David Robson discussing the research outlined in neuroscientist Mithu Storoni’s new book Hyperefficient : Optimise your brain to transform the way you work. The article outlines the latest neuroscience about how the brain regulates its focus, which feels particularly relevant when thinking about ADHD and neurodiversity. I will share the key points from Robson’s article, along with my reflections, to demonstrate how coaching can support neurodivergent brains to better manage their stress, creativity and productivity.

The master switch the headline speaks of is known as the Locus Coeruleus, which Robson describes as behaving like the brain’s gear box. The Locus Coeruleus is the brain’s primary producer of a neurotransmitter called Noradrenaline. Noradrenaline is one of the key factors in creating alertness in the brain. Noradrenaline makes it easier for messages to pass between cells, increasing communication across the different regions of the brain. Meaning that when your brain is in the right gear, we feel engaged in the task at hand. However, it can get stuck in the wrong gear ‘leading either to dreamy procrastination or frenzied frustration.’

The article outlines the 4 gears that the Locus Coeruleus moves between, each with distinct effects on our thinking and behaviour. The four gears are:

Gear 0 occurs when you are asleep. There is no activity in gear 0, aside from occasional bursts of activity related to the storage of memories.
We transition into Gear 1 when we wake up. We are conscious, but alertness and concentration is low, sharp focus is lacking, and we may be prone to mind wandering.
Gear 2 is where optimum cognitive performance takes place, levels of noradrenaline are increased and the brain is able to process new information more efficiently. Gear 2 is reflective of “flow state”. “Flow” is the feeling of being so totally engaged in a task that you forget the passing of time. Experiments have shown that activity in the locus coeruleus when in gear 2, corresponded with research participants identifying they were “in the zone”. However, the brain can only spend so much time in gear 2 before it starts fatiguing.
When levels of noradrenaline increase further as we move into Gear 3. High levels of noradrenaline lead to the fight/flight/freeze response. When we are in Gear 3, we can feel overwhelmed and anxious. We may be able to respond quickly in an emergency, but our ability to think analytically or creatively are reduced. If we are constantly pushing ourselves to achieve more and more, we might find ourselves stuck here.

Robson concludes; ‘with the right techniques you can change gears, influencing your mental state, from how well you focus and the levels of stress you feel, to your ability to make creative leaps and think on your feet.’ Some of the strategies that Robson suggests for exerting some control over your gear box are:

Because Flow occurs when you engage in an activity that is just challenging enough for you, choosing the right task difficulty may be one way to change mental gears and harness the power of the locus coeruleus.
The solution to managing boring or monotonous tasks that shift us down to gear 1 (where we find ourselves losing focus or daydreaming) involves increasing mental load – by doing something in tandem or multitasking e.g listening to music or an audio book whilst undertaking the boring task.
Because the Locus Coeruleus has a direct relationship with the autonomic nervous system, physical movement can influence our ability to move more easily between gears. A brisk walk in the morning can move us from Gear 1 to 2. To wind down from Gear 3 we might engage in yoga, or breathing techniques.
Plan activities around our natural changes in arousal throughout the day. For example, plan tasks that require creativity at the beginning of the day when we are easing into Gear 2. More focused work that needs more intense information processing is better left until later in the morning, or around 3/4pm.
Take regular breaks! The brain can only spend so long in gear 2 before fatiguing, so regular breaks are needed.
Self awareness is key – “noting when your brain is under or over stimulated and adapting your behaviour appropriately.”

But how does this research overlay with the neurodiversity paradigm? As a reminder, neurodiversity is defined as the the range of differences in individual brain function and behavioural traits, regarded as part of normal variation in the human population. This term recognises the diversity within the ways people process information including sensory information, but if each of our brain’s are different – how does this impact the gearing system?

David Robson references neurodiversity in the article when he says, ‘In people with anxiety or post traumatic stress disorder, the locus coeruleus may become too easily locked into Gear 3’ and ‘it’s been suggested in ADHD, moving too quickly between gears makes it hard to remain engaged on a task’.

It’s important to note here are many differences between individuals diagnosed with ADHD and co-occurrence alongside other conditions is common. For example, 45% may also have a specific learning disability, 47 % may experience motor skill challenges, 13% may meet criteria for autism and 1.2% may have Tourette’s. In addition, 40% of autistic people and 50% of those with dyslexia may have ADHD. There is no singular “ADHD brain” and everyone’s experience of ADHD will be unique to them.

One of the key pieces of the article for me was related to noradrenaline’s role in gear switching. Research confirms that people with ADHD frequently show executive function deficits in the brain areas impacted by noradrenaline. Put simply, noradrenaline plays a role in the processes impacted by ADHD (including attention and behavioural control). If those with ADHD don’t have as much noradrenaline – the neurotransmitter that creates alertness and increases communication across the brain - it makes sense it can be hard for those with ADHD to focus and get motivated. It also highlighted to me why much of the anecdotal feedback I get from my ADHD clients, and my own experience, relates to the need for ‘stress’ to create action. For example, leaving things to the last minute to create the motivation to start, needing deadlines to complete things or feeling calm in a crisis.

My interpretation of this is that the move to Gear 3, whilst increasing stress, also increases noradrenaline, which increases alertness, which often results in action. Recent research demonstrates that stress isn’t always bad for those with ADHD, and in fact that some cope best during periods of high stress. It mirrors my anecdotal observations and shares that ‘on a mirco level… deadlines [could feel] helpful, or when things are more urgent, you’re able to be your most productive and hyperfocus’. Like proposed by Robson above, the research shares best way to develop strategies that work for you is to “look within to figure out how best to relax and keep [your] anxiety at a reasonable level where it is useful.”

So how do we ‘look within’ to figure out how to best relax and keep anxiety at a useful level? Just because our gearing system works differently, we can still find ways to make it work for us. Robson highlights that self-awareness is key in noting when your brain is under or overstimulated so that we can work towards adapting our behaviour. Self-awareness is also known as metacognition, which in simple terms means ‘thinking about thinking’. Our metacognition skills develop over time as we mature from childhood to adulthood and even as an adult, our metacognition is not set in stone, and it is a skill we can continually develop and improve. One of the tools that has been proven to improve our metacognition is coaching

Coaching supports us to plan, monitor, evaluate / reflect, key steps involved in the process and development of metacognition. Coaching can be a highly effective tool for building our metacognition as we verbally process our experiences, reflect on them, gain new awareness and insight and develop personalised support strategies based on our new awareness.

Recent strategies my clients have developed through coaching to support them in managing their stress, creativity and productivity include:

A laminated crib sheet to use as a check in to work through during times of stress and overwhelm
Regular body-doubling meetings to keep on top of boring but essential data entry
Email templates to simplify sharing complex client feedback
A video diary project for navigating a stressful period
Electronic reminder on a Friday to reflect on completed tasks and to prepare priorities for returning to work on a Monday
Setting up a regular meeting with another neurodivergent colleague to connect, reflect, share successes and recognise different approaches.
Using coaching sessions to ‘brain dump’ tasks, then prioritise and diarise
A template for breaking larger tasks down into actionable steps
A template to log tasks and note down progress, making it easier to pick tasks back up after getting interrupted or distracted.

None of these strategies are magic spells meaning you will never forget anything or get stressed or frustrated with your progress or productivity ever again. Rather than the strategies themselves, the value (or magic!) lies in the process of creating them within a coaching relationship. This process builds metacognition and self-efficacy. The process of developing and reflecting on their strategies, enables my clients to build a bank of evidence that they can complete a task or achieve a goal that they previously struggled with. This is known as self-efficacy, a person’s belief in their ability to succeed in a particular situation. Higher Self efficacy levels predict good future performance, and although self-efficacy is known to be weaker in neurodivergent people, there is solid research to show that coaching improves self-efficacy.

Finishing where we started, with the New Scientist article, David Robson shares that in the future, new technology could increase our ability to train our locus coeruleus, but until then perhaps coaching might be your best bet to build your metacognition, self-efficacy and to develop personalised strategies for managing your own locus coeruleus. Get in touch if you’d like to find out more about coaching with me.

Note: I am not a neuroscientist or a psychiatrist, just someone who loves to read about these things and attempt to make sense of them so that I can understand my own brain a bit better. Any assumptions I’ve made about the science are mine – I’ve endeavoured to reference every point that I have made with back up research. My role isn’t to diagnose or provide medical advice, but to share information to deepen understanding and empowerment for the individual. Always speak to your own doctor for medical advice.

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