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November 13th, 2025
​A newsletter by Anne-Laure Le Cunff​

🚧 The Cost of Change

We’ve been told that adaptability is a superpower – stay nimble, embrace change, pivot quickly – but the challenge is that your brain treats every adjustment like a puzzle that needs solving.

Each time your team gets reorganized or your favorite coffee shop closes, your brain has to build new neural pathways and update its predictions about how the world works, and this process draws from the same cognitive resources you use for decision-making and focus.

Normally, this isn’t a problem. Over time, we develop habits and routines that become automatic and require minimal mental effort.

But sometimes we go through extended periods where everything keeps changing – new job, new city, new relationship, new technology... During these periods, your brain never gets the chance to settle into efficient patterns.

Researchers have documented this phenomenon, when people experience too many changes in a short period and develop what’s known as change fatigue.

When we’re in this state, our instincts often tellus to push through, work harder, or wait for things to stabilize.

But pushing through when you’re already cognitively depleted usually backfires, working harder depletes your resources further, and waiting for stability that may never come leaves you stuck.

Here’s what can actually help when you’re dealing with too much change:

1. Stop trying to bounce back. The phrase itself creates the wrong expectation. Instead of trying to get back to how things used to be, focus on adapting to where you are now. I want to clarify this isn’t about fake positivity! It’s about not wasting energy trying to recreate circumstances that no longer exist and freeing up mental resources to deal with what’s actually in front of you.

2. Take inventory of what you’ve learned. What works, what doesn’t, what might you want to tweak? Spend a few minutes exploring what you’ve learned through change, such as which relationships give you energy, which routines feel sustainable, which projects spark curiosity. This kind of metacognitive practice helps your brain recognize patterns in the chaos.

3. Design a tiny experiment. Instead of waiting for life to calm down, turn it into a laboratory. Maybe you experiment with a brief daily walk before work or declining one commitment every week. The point is to actively engage with uncertainty and turn the anxiety into curiosity.

Change will keep happening whether you want it or not. But you can influence how much it costs you.

When you accept that adaptation takes energy, when you notice what you’ve learned, and when you experiment rather than waiting for perfect conditions, you help your brain navigate change without depleting all your resources.

🔬 Tiny Experiment of the Week

Put these ideas into practice by try this week’s tiny experiment designed to help you associate change with possibility:

You might surprise yourself! Want to dig deeper into designing your own tiny experiments? Get your copy of the book​.

🛠️ Brain Picks

• Join the Internet Serendipity World Tour. Meet fellow creatives in your city, talk about your latest creative projects, and get energized to keep going on your creative path. Curious if your city is included? Find all events and RSVP here.
​• Your inbox wasn’t built for reading. Move to Meco to wake up to a personalized news briefing crafted from your newsletters and use smart filters to ensure you always surface the most relevant content at the right time. Liberate your inbox.
​• Start your own community. Circle is your home to host events, courses and connect deeper with your audience by bringing together engaging discussions, live streams, chat, and memberships. Join the all-in-one community platform.

Many thanks to our sponsors, cross-promo and affiliate partners for supporting the Ness Labs newsletter! Want to share your product with 120,000 readers? Please email support@nesslabs.com.

🗓️ Brain Trust

If you enjoy the newsletter, you’ll love our community of curious minds conducting tiny experiments within a safe space and learning together. Here is an overview of upcoming events (full calendar):

• Unlock the secret power of groups. In this session, Colin Fisher will distill decades of research into practical strategies to help groups function at their highest levels, including the six most potent factors that shape collective success.
​• Improve your PKM system. Process your notes and chat about knowledge management during the Processing Power Hour with Remy Rohan and members of the PKM Collective.
​• Make progress on your projects. Our Pomodoro-based coworking sessions are hosted twice a week by Kathryn Ruge and Joshwin Greene, covering all timezones. Then, join Benjamin Covington for a weekly review on Sunday.
​• Learn the science of leading projects and people. Available as an add-on, The Experimental Leader is an evidence-based 6-part course where you will learn the tools to apply the principles of Tiny Experiments in your work.
​• Host your own workshop. Do you have an idea for a short presentation and Q&A or a workshop you’d like to trial? Test your first iteration in the Ness Labs community and get feedback. We promote all sessions here in the newsletter.

All of these and future events are included in the price of the membership (only $49 for one year), as well as access to our courses, workshop library, and a dedicated space to track your tiny experiments.

Until next week, take care!
Anne-Laure.