Work Less Wednesday: June 25

👋 Hey Reader!

This is issue #161 of Work Less Wednesday, where I share with you 5 things you should know about, in 5 minutes or less. That leaves you with 10,075 other minutes this week.

🛠️ 1. What I’m Experimenting With Right Now - A “Deep Work” Web Browser

Recently I’ve been experimenting with building myself a “Deep Work” web browser.

What is it?

A web browser dedicated to one thing: focused, distraction-free work.

Here’s how to set it up:

1. Download a fresh, blank browser (don’t use the same browser that you use for your regular work).
2. Set up a distraction blocking plugin to be on all the time (I’m using the free StayFocusd Chrome plugin and blocking my main distractions: news, social media, email, etc.)
3. Only log in to the essentials. (Notion, Figma, Lex, etc.)
4. Set up a daily “deep work” schedule - for me it’s usually the first 2-4 hours of the day.
5. Close all other browsers and apps.
6. Throw your phone across the room.
7. Start working.

Right now I’m using The Browser Company’s Dia (which I talked about last week in WLW).

Give it a shot and let me know what you think!

🤖2. Is AI Is Making (Some Of Us) Stupid? - Your Brain On ChatGPT​

Rohan Paul @rohanpaul_ai It’s a hefty 206-page research paper, and the findings are concerning. "LLM users consistently underperformed at neural, linguistic, and behavioral levels" This study finds LLM dependence weakens the writer’s own neural and linguistic fingerprints. 🤔🤔 Relying only on EEG, 8:28 PM • Jun 16, 2025 2558 Retweets 11954 Likes Read 330 replies

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Here’s some pretty interesting data from the study: (Note: this is a preprint study and small sample size)

1. 83.3% of ChatGPT users couldn’t quote from essays they wrote minutes earlier.
2. Brain scans revealed damage: Neural connections collapsed from 79 to just 42. That’s a 47% reduction in brain connectivity.
3. When researchers forced ChatGPT users to write without AI, they performed worse than people who never used AI at all.

So, do I think ChatGPT is making us dumber?

Not exactly.

The invention of the calculator certainly made us worse at doing math in our heads - but it will still overall a huge advancement for humanity.

But here’s what I’m seeing:

I believe the benefits (and costs) of new AI technology are going to roll out asymmetrically.

It’s not going to make everyone equally more productive.

The top users will see 1,000X benefits and the bottom users will likely be worse off.

I believe the dividing line will be this:

• Are you using AI to help you think?
• Or are you becoming dependent on AI to think?

I think Rick Rubin put it well:

“So many people I know who use AI ask it questions and think that the results that they get back is the answer. It seems like people are more interested in getting an answer that can allow them to stop thinking about the question than really finding out what the real answer is.”

You can read the full preprint study here: https://www.brainonllm.com/​

❤️ 3. Simple Hack To Improve Heart Rate Variability & Stress - From Huberman Lab​

This is the EASIEST hack to improve HRV (Heart Rate Variability) - a major indicator of stress resilience and a healthy balance between sympathetic (”fight or flight”) and parasympathetic (”rest and digest”) nervous systems.

This is extremely for entrepreneurs, because it helps you:

• Manage stress
• Regulate emotions
• Focus more
• Sleep better

Here’s what you do:

Deliberately lengthen your exhale (to lungs empty) 8-10 times a day.

Just a few long exhales here and there make a difference - no need for long sessions.

Huberman explains how this taps into the vagus nerve and helps your body handle stress better on his latest podcast here:

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🧪 4. The Lab Is Evolving. So Is the Price. Mentorship Rate Increases July 1st.

I’m increasing the price of my mentorship program by $6,000 on July 1st.

No big launch. Just a quiet, intentional shift.

Why?

1. I haven’t raised the price since February 2024.
2. The value (and depth of support) has grown significantly.
3. I’m rolling out The Lab 2.0, a full curriculum, systems, events, and new onboarding starting next month.

If you’ve been thinking about joining, now’s your window.

This is the last week to get in at the current rate before it goes up.

By the time next week's WLW comes out, this will no longer be available.

If you’re interested, click here to learn more about working with me.

🖐 5. More Things I'm Into This Week...

🐦 Entrepreneurship Is A Path To Self Discovery - Tweet From @CEOLandshark ⬇️

💻 Notion Just Dropped A New UI Update (Including Feed View) - Video From The Organized Notebook​

👕 Super Cool Brand I’m Into - Now-Time​

📘Book I’m Reading - Finding Radical Wholeness by Ken Wilber​

💬 Quote I’m Pondering…