Picture this: You’re on a call at the grocery store, walking through aisles of fruits and vegetables, trying to keep a mental note of what you need to buy. Meanwhile, on the phone, your friend is excitedly telling you about a business deal they’re about to close. Do you focus on the steps of the new business deal or is your brain more attuned to grocery shopping? (And let’s be honest, sometimes that overlap can lead to mix-ups, like congratulating your friend on burrata cheese while discussing a business deal with the cashier.)
The truth is, our brain functions in chapters, like a true novelist. As research shows, to deal with the innumerable events in your life, the brain organises your day into neat little chapters, just like a novel. There’s a ‘plot twist’, every time you switch tasks or change locations. This isn’t just an unusual habit in the mind: These mental ‘chapters’ are key to staying sharp, focused, and productive. By understanding how these transitions work, you can unlock better memory retention, improve focus, and breeze through tasks with newfound clarity.
New research at the US-based Columbia University backs this, too. These mental boundaries aren’t prompted just by changes in surroundings, but also by your internal goals and priorities. According to the experiments that used audio narratives, participant’s brains organised events different depending on whether they focused on specific details. The study attempted to show that how we experience and remember events, is influenced by both context and what matters most to us at the time. In other words, our brain forms new ‘chapters’ based on attention, personal goals and not just the environment. In fact, the brain scans of the people showed that people segmented stories, differently, depending on their focus.
So, what are these chapters?
What triggers the brain to create boundaries between events, forming a new ‘chapter’ in the day? Katelyn Rowison, a Dubai-based neurologist, posits a few theories: One theory is that significant environmental changes, like stepping from outdoors into a restaurant, prompt these shifts. “However, another possibility is that internal mental scripts, shaped by past experiences, dictate when these transitions happen. In this case, even noticeable external changes might be ignored if they don't align with a person’s current goals or priorities. Essentially, the brain may prioritise shifts based on what it deems most important now,” she says.
Essentially, the brain divides up an experience into individual events depends on what a person currently cares about and is paying attention to. She explains with an example from Neuroscience News: “For instance, when listening to a story about a marriage proposal at a restaurant, the brain — particularly the prefrontal cortex — organises the narrative around key moments related to the proposal. The listener's attention naturally gravitates toward the events leading up to the climactic ‘yes’, forming a cohesive mental sequence. This shows how the brain prioritises relevant information based on emotional or situational significance, filtering out less relevant details.”
Moreover, there is strong engagement in the brain, adds Rowison, citing the Columbia-based research that had also disproved the idea that the brain isn’t ‘really doing anything’ when it is organising life experiences into chunks. “In fact, the brain is organising our life experiences into chunks that are actually meaningful to us.” This ‘chunking’ involves several crucial regions in the brain.
Behind the scenes
As she elaborates, the prefrontal cortex has the main role, owing to its responsibility for goal-directed behaviours, attention, and decision-making. When we undergo an experience, the prefrontal cortex collaborates with the hippocampus, which is critical for memory formation, and the parietal lobe, which integrates sensory information. Together, these regions process incoming stimuli, identifying important details based on our current goals or emotions, and segment them into “events”. This allows the brain to prioritise and structure experiences, making them easier to recall and understand.
The neurons in these regions fire in specific patterns, reinforcing significant moments, while less important stimuli are deprioritised. “This system is highly adaptive, allowing for flexibility in how we perceive the flow of events based on our focus and emotional state. This ability to chunk experiences is crucial for memory consolidation and decision-making, as it lets us create coherent mental narratives that align with our immediate priorities,” she says.
The cognitive benefits of these chapters
Sometimes, you take a pause before you turn the page to a new chapter. It’s a little break, as you dwell on what you just read. Similarly, as Alexander Maxmillian, a Dubai-based neuropsychologist explains, the brain’s shift from one mental chapter to another, helps in compartmentalising information, making it easier to store and retrieve memories. There’s a pause between tasks, which prevents mental fatigue. So, due to these mental shifts, we can refresh our focus, he says. “It consolidates learning and fuels creativity. Think of it like how each chapter provides a clean slate for fresh thinking, contributing to heightened problem-solving abilities,” he says.
As a result, the transitions also allow for clearer emotional boundaries. For example, switching from work mode to leisure mode enables the brain to disengage from stressors, promoting mental relaxation. This compartmentalisation protects long-term mental health by preventing emotional carryover from one task to the next.
How chronic stress fractures the brain’s storytelling
However, when you’re overworked, stressed, and fatigued, you would know that you might not be able to remember exact details of an event. You can’t seem to be creative either, your mind is darting back and forth just like a ball at a tennis game. That’s what happens when stress clouds your mental shifts and brain function. The chapters might suddenly seem like the first draft of a novel.
The mental shifts manifest as decreased focus, impaired creativity, and overall cognitive decline, explains Maxmillian. When someone is anxious, the brain activates the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, leading to the release of stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline. In other words, you find yourself trapped in the fight-or-flight mode. When it turns chronic, the prefrontal cortex is compromised, and there’s also a reduction of hippocampal volume. As the hippocampus plays a crucial role in memory formation and retrieval, and its impairment can lead to difficulties in learning and recalling information. Maxmillian adds, “This atrophy can further exacerbate feelings of anxiety, creating a vicious cycle where stress impairs memory, and poor memory contributes to increased anxiety.”
Finally, the amygdala, a brain region that’s involved in processing emotions, especially fear, becomes overactive. You start exaggerating the perception of threats. Anxiety is fuelled, and you start focusing on potential dangers, rather than trying to think your way out of a problem. And soon, you become trapped in a reactive mode, rather than a proactive one.
As Maxmillian concludes, “Such detrimental mental shifts, often induced by stress and anxiety, can disrupt the chapters of our cognitive and emotional narratives. Each chapter, represented by specific brain functions, plays a critical role in shaping our thoughts, feelings, and behaviours. When you understand how these shifts connect to functioning in the brain, people can identify and address the underlying issues that contribute to stress, which promotes more coherent and positive mental narratives.”
So, how do you maximise mental chapters for productivity?
As the specialists explain, here are a few strategies to furnish your focus and productivity, and prevent a natural overwhelm:
Structure your day around natural breaks: Instead of forcing yourself to push through tasks, use natural transitions like breaks, meals, or changes in location to signal the end of one chapter and the start of another. This can prevent burnout and sustain attention levels.
Use physical cues to reinforce chapters: Changing environments, such as moving from your desk to a new workspace, can trigger the brain’s chapter switch. Even subtle changes like lighting or background music can help mentally mark the transition between different tasks.
Take advantage of the peak-start rule: Begin new chapters with high-priority tasks when focus is sharp. Use the fresh momentum from a new chapter to dive into complex projects or decision-making tasks, allowing for deeper cognitive engagement.
Summarise to boost memory: Reflection during transitions can reinforce learning. When ending one task, mentally summarise what you've accomplished. This active recall aids memory retention and creates a clear mental conclusion for the chapter.
Pair tasks with similar emotional loads: Scheduling similar types of tasks, like creative work or administrative duties into the same ‘chapter’ of your day can streamline emotional energy. By grouping activities with similar emotional and cognitive demands, transitions are smoother, reducing stress and preserving mental resources.
