When Extra Effort Makes You Worse at Your Job by Mouna El Mansouri, Karoline Strauss and Doris Fay - HBR

Imagine this: You’re a young entrepreneur or an ambitious student juggling multiple projects. You’re always looking for ways to improve—your pitch deck, your client onboarding process, how you manage your time. One morning, you realize that potential clients always ask the same questions after your meetings, slowing down deals. So you take initiative—you spend a few hours creating a detailed FAQ sheet to save everyone time and energy.

But later that day, you’re in an important call or class, and your brain feels… foggy. You’re struggling to focus, zoning out mid-conversation, and your once sharp answers now sound like a jumbled mess. You ask yourself, “Why am I mentally crashing today?”

This is what researchers call the cognitive cost of being proactive. And yes, it’s real.

The Study That Started the Conversation

Researchers in France and the UK recently studied hundreds of workers across industries to understand what happens mentally when people take initiative to improve how they do their jobs. While being proactive has always been praised for boosting productivity and engagement, this new research reveals something surprising: when you go above and beyond to improve a process, your brain pays a price.

They found that workers who spent their day coming up with better ways to do their tasks—what researchers call “task proactivity”—experienced lower cognitive performance by the end of the day. In short: they were more mentally exhausted, had trouble focusing, and weren’t as sharp on complex tasks.

If you’re an entrepreneur who constantly wants to optimize everything, this might sound discouraging. But don’t worry—this research doesn’t say “stop being proactive.” It’s actually a roadmap to working smarter, not harder.

Why Routines Matter More Than You Think

Let’s back up a second and talk about routines. Routines aren’t boring—they’re brain fuel. Just like riding a bike becomes easier over time, repetitive work tasks become automatic. Once your brain has “coded” a certain workflow as routine, you use less mental energy doing it. This frees up brainpower for other creative or high-stakes tasks.

Now, when you go into problem-solving mode—say you decide to totally redesign your scheduling process or rethink how you interact with customers—you’re breaking that routine. And that disruption, while valuable, consumes a ton of mental energy. That’s why proactivity, even though it feels good and productive, can leave you drained.

Think of your mental energy like your phone battery. Routines help you stay on low power mode. Proactivity is like opening five apps and recording a 4K video—you’re doing great things, but your battery won’t last as long.

Inside the Research: What They Did and What They Found

The researchers conducted two major studies to understand this effect.

In the first study, 163 French professionals from various industries answered daily surveys after work. They reported how proactive they were that day, how well they completed their usual tasks, and then took a cognitive test (a kind of memory game). On days when people were more proactive, their test scores dropped. They weren’t imagining the brain fog—it was measurable.

But what if those workers just had a bad night’s sleep or were stressed for unrelated reasons? The researchers accounted for this in a second study with 93 workers. This time, participants were tested in both the morning and evening. This gave researchers a true “before and after” of their brain function. Even after controlling for workload, sleep, multitasking, and conflicts with coworkers, the pattern held: the more proactive the worker, the worse their evening cognitive performance.

They also asked 637 UK-based workers to describe a routine task and a task they thought could be improved. Participants rated how mentally exhausting each one was. Guess what? The proactive task always demanded more mental effort.

So yes—being the person who wants to make things better actually takes more brainpower than just sticking to the script.

But Wait—Should You Stop Being Proactive?

Absolutely not. Being proactive is a superpower for any entrepreneur, student, or young professional. It helps you innovate, connect deeper with your work, and create lasting value.

But this research shows that it comes with a price: mental fatigue. If you’re not careful, it can hurt your performance later in the day, especially when you need to be sharp for meetings, classes, or decision-making.

So instead of dialing down your ambition, use these three science-backed strategies to protect your brain while still improving your work:

1. Take Real Breaks (Yes, Real Ones)

We get it—you’re busy, and breaks feel like a luxury. But they’re not. They’re essential.

Short, regular breaks help your brain recover from the cognitive load of being proactive. And we’re not talking about doomscrolling on your phone for five minutes. Instead, try these:

• Go for a short walk.

• Meditate or do breathing exercises.

• Listen to music without lyrics.

• Stretch or do a few yoga poses.

• Step outside and get sunlight.

These mini-resets refresh your focus and can recharge your mental battery enough to handle the rest of your day. Make breaks part of your productivity strategy, not a reward.

2. Be Smart About When You’re Proactive

Timing is everything. If you know that proactive work burns mental energy, do it when your brain is freshest—usually in the morning. Then, shift your more routine, less demanding tasks to later in the day.

Here’s a sample strategy:

• Morning: Brainstorm new solutions, draft process improvements, test out new ideas.

• Afternoon: Answer emails, organize files, handle admin or client follow-up.

• Evening: Reflect and plan tomorrow—no major decisions or problem-solving.

This isn’t just about personal workflow. If you manage a team, make sure you’re not scheduling mentally demanding tasks right after you’ve asked them to reinvent the wheel. Flexibility in scheduling can boost both creativity and performance.

3. Normalize Trial-and-Error and Safe Experimenting

A major reason proactive work feels so tiring is the pressure to “get it right.” That pressure adds emotional and cognitive weight. If you’re worried about failing while trying something new, your brain is already stressed.

So what can you do? Normalize experimentation.

If you’re a founder or team lead:

• Create a culture where mistakes are okay.

• Encourage MVPs (minimum viable processes) instead of perfect launches.

• Celebrate small experiments, even if they don’t pan out.

If you’re solo:

• Give yourself permission to test things.

• Don’t expect every idea to be a win.

• Learn in public—share your process and what you’re learning with peers.

Creating a “safe space” to try things without fear reduces mental strain and makes proactivity more sustainable.

What About Long-Term Effects?

One interesting question the researchers are still exploring is: Does proactivity get easier over time?

In other words, if you regularly stretch your brain to improve how you work, does it eventually become less draining? Possibly. Just like going to the gym builds physical strength, maybe frequent proactivity builds cognitive strength.

But there’s a catch. Just like overtraining your body without recovery leads to burnout, constantly disrupting routines without rest could lead to long-term mental exhaustion.

That’s why future research will likely focus on recovery cycles—how long it takes to “bounce back” after a mentally demanding day, and how much proactivity you can handle before it becomes harmful.

Takeaway for Entrepreneurs: Build a Proactive Routine, Not a Burnout Cycle

You don’t have to choose between being a go-getter and protecting your mental clarity. In fact, the most successful entrepreneurs balance both.

Here’s how to apply what you’ve learned:

1. Plan your most creative, proactive work early in the day when your brain is fresh.

2. Schedule true breaks to reset your energy levels—don’t skip them.

3. Build flexibility into your schedule or your team’s. Don’t overload a single day with both innovation and execution.

4. Design a system that allows for trial-and-error, instead of chasing perfection.

5. Be aware of your limits. Don’t confuse constant hustle with smart growth.

Remember: Proactivity is powerful—but it’s not infinite. The key is to work smarter, not just harder.

Your Brain is Your Business Partner

As an entrepreneur or rising professional, your brain is your most valuable asset. Use it wisely. This research doesn’t tell you to stop being innovative—it tells you to build systems that make innovation sustainable.

So go ahead—design the better process, test the wild idea, rethink the old way of doing things. Just make sure you’re also giving your brain the fuel, flexibility, and rest it needs to keep showing up at its best.

That’s how you grow without burning out.

Click on Read More to read the full article

Read More