Cognitive Tetris: A Game-Changing Approach to Increase Productivity

And make work more enjoyable.

Image created with OpenAI’s DALL-E.

You might not realize it, but much of your time, energy, and potential are being wasted due to a mismatch between your cognitive state — and the tasks you schedule for yourself. This mismatch can occur in two ways.

#1: Energy Mismatch

This is a mismatch between your energy levels and the energy demands of the task. This itself has two types.

Mismatch #1.1: Overwhelming Mismatch

Say you schedule a high-energy task when you’re low on energy. For example: Deciding to write an article post-lunch when you feel sleepy.

All visuals created by the Author on Figma

In such a case, your mind intuitively calculates and realizes you’re short on energy compared to the demands. Consequently, you feel “overwhelmed” which leads to procrastination.

1. You might think, “I can’t do it properly, so I’ll do it later and watch Netflix instead.” OR
2. You may push yourself and work, but end up doing a suboptimal job that takes longer than it should have.