Mark: A ten-year McKinsey study found top executives are five times more productive when they're in a state of 'flow.' But what if the secret to unlocking that state isn't a complex productivity hack, but something you're already doing 20,000 times a day, mostly incorrectly? Michelle: Whoa, okay. Five times more productive is a wild claim. And you’re telling me it comes down to something I don’t even think about? That feels both insulting and incredibly hopeful. What is this magical, everyday thing? Mark: It’s breathing. And that's the radical idea at the heart of Do Breathe: Calm your mind. Find focus. Get stuff done by Michael Townsend Williams. Michelle: Williams is a fascinating guy for this topic, right? He wasn't some lifelong guru who grew up meditating on a mountaintop. Mark: Exactly. He was a high-flying advertising executive, deep in the world of 'doing,' of deadlines and pressure. He hit a wall, as so many do, and his journey led him to become a yoga and mindfulness coach. He literally lived the tension between 'doing' and 'being,' which is what makes his perspective so grounded. Michelle: I like that. He’s not telling us to quit our jobs and find inner peace. He’s trying to figure out how to have both. Mark: He calls it 'welldoing.' And his whole philosophy starts with the most fundamental, most overlooked tool we have.

Mark: Williams argues that the breath is unique. It’s the only system in your body that operates both unconsciously, keeping you alive without you thinking about it, and consciously. You can decide to hold your breath, speed it up, or slow it down. It’s a bridge. Michelle: A bridge to what, exactly? I mean, I get that taking a deep breath can feel good, but is there more to it than just a momentary pause? Mark: Much more. It's a direct control panel for your nervous system. The book talks about a metric called Heart Rate Variability, or HRV. Michelle: Okay, HRV sounds a bit technical. It sounds like something my fitness tracker yells at me about. How does that actually connect to me feeling stressed or focused? Mark: Let me put it this way. When the Russian Space Agency needed to monitor Yuri Gagarin’s stress levels as he became the first human in space, what do you think they measured? Michelle: His heart rate? Blood pressure? Mark: They measured his HRV. Heart Rate Variability isn't just the speed of your heartbeat; it's the tiny variations in time between each beat. High variability is a sign of a resilient, adaptable, and relaxed nervous system. Low variability means you're stressed, rigid, in fight-or-flight mode. They used it to see if he was coping in the most extreme environment imaginable. Michelle: Wow, okay. So it's not just a feeling, it's hard data. My stress has a measurable fingerprint. So how do we... what? Control our HRV? That seems impossible. Mark: You can’t control it directly, but you can influence it powerfully through your breath. Your body has two main operating modes: the sympathetic nervous system, which is your 'fight or flight' gas pedal, and the parasympathetic nervous system, which is your 'rest and digest' brake. Most of us, with our deadlines and notifications, have our foot slammed on the gas all day. Michelle: Tell me about it. My gas pedal is worn down to the metal. Mark: Well, the book points out a simple biological hack. A short inhalation stimulates the gas pedal, and a long, slow exhalation stimulates the brake. Williams talks about learning to 'breathe like a baby'—they naturally breathe deep into their bellies. We, as stressed-out adults, often become shallow chest-breathers. Michelle: Huh. So by just making my out-breath a little longer than my in-breath, I'm sending a direct signal to my body that says, 'We're not being chased by a tiger, you can calm down now.' It's like a biological off-switch. Mark: It’s a biological off-switch. You’re using the conscious system of breath to tell the unconscious nervous system that everything is okay. It’s the foundation for everything else.

Michelle: That makes sense. But it’s one thing to use that off-switch when you’re sitting quietly. It’s another when the modern-day tiger is, in fact, your email inbox. Mark: Williams has a fantastic term for that. He talks about 'email apnoea' or 'screen apnoea.' It's the phenomenon where we unconsciously hold our breath or breathe very shallowly when we're concentrating on a screen, processing information, or dealing with our inbox. Michelle: I feel so seen right now. I absolutely do that. I'll look up from my computer after an hour and realize I'm tense everywhere and feel like I haven't taken a full breath the entire time. Mark: You're triggering your own fight-or-flight response, dozens of times a day. The book has this powerful quote: "Anxiety is caused by a lack of control, organisation, preparation, and action." The breathlessness is a symptom of feeling overwhelmed. Michelle: Okay, so what's the fix? Just remember to breathe more while I answer emails? That seems like one more thing to add to the to-do list. Mark: The breathing is part one, it gives you the calm to engage with part two: organization. Williams introduces a simple but brilliant framework he calls 'CARE.' It’s an acronym for Collect, Arrange, Reflect, and Execute. Michelle: CARE. Okay, break that down for me. Mark: It’s about getting things out of your head and into a trusted system. He tells this great little story, the 'Birthday Card Dilemma.' You write on your to-do list, 'Post birthday card to Dylan.' And it just sits there for days, radiating low-grade anxiety. Why? Michelle: Because it’s not one thing! I don't have a card. I don't have a stamp. And wait, did Dylan move? I don't even have his new address. Mark: Exactly. 'Post card' isn't an action; it's a project in disguise. The CARE model forces you to break it down. Collect the task. Arrange it into real, concrete next actions: 1. Email Dylan for his address. 2. Buy a card. 3. Buy a stamp. 4. Write the card. 5. Post it. Suddenly, it's not this vague cloud of dread. It's a series of simple, manageable steps. Michelle: That makes so much sense. It's not the task itself, it's the unprocessed nature of the task that's stressful. It's like having a dozen open tabs in your brain, all draining your mental RAM. The CARE framework is about systematically closing them, or at least organizing them into neat folders. Mark: And that’s where the book’s chapter on 'Courage' comes in. He argues it takes real courage to sit down and do that mental decluttering. To face the reality of your commitments, to look at the messy pile on your desk or the 1,000 emails in your inbox, and decide to impose order. It's an act of bravery. Michelle: Bravery in the face of stationery. I like it. It reframes tidying up from a chore into an act of self-respect.

Mark: It is. So you use the breath to calm your body, and you use organization to calm your mind. But as you hinted at earlier, what's the point of all this? Are we just trying to become perfectly calm, productive robots? Michelle: Exactly. That doesn't sound very human or fulfilling. It sounds like we’ve optimized the joy right out of life. Where’s the passion? The spontaneity? Mark: That is the million-dollar question, and it's where Williams introduces his most powerful and, I think, most important idea: 'welldoing.' Michelle: Welldoing. Not well-being? Mark: No, welldoing. He argues that for too long, we've seen 'doing'—our work, our ambition, our productivity—as being in conflict with 'being'—our health, our presence, our mindfulness. We're told to find a 'work-life balance' as if they are two opposing forces on a scale. Michelle: Which they often feel like! Mark: Right. But Williams, thanks to his own life journey, proposes a third way. Remember, he was the ad exec, the ultimate 'doer.' Then he became the yoga teacher, the ultimate 'be-er.' He felt that conflict intensely. 'Welldoing' is his resolution. It’s not about finding a static balance point; it's about a dynamic integration of the two. Michelle: I love that. It's not 'work-life balance,' which implies they're two separate things fighting each other. It's more like 'work-life integration.' It’s the difference between trying to stay perfectly still on a see-saw versus learning how to surf. One is about static, fragile balance. The other is about skillfully and joyfully riding the waves. Mark: That is a perfect analogy. And that's where the McKinsey study we started with comes full circle. That state of 'flow,' where you're five times more productive, isn't just about efficiency. Csíkszentmihályi, who coined the term, described it as an 'optimal experience.' It's a state where you are so absorbed, so focused, that your sense of self melts away. You are performing at your peak, but you are also experiencing peak presence. Michelle: So flow is a state of welldoing. It’s where high performance and deep fulfillment become the same thing. Mark: Precisely. It’s not about choosing between hustle and stillness. It’s about creating the conditions, through breath and focus, where they merge into one powerful, joyful current.

Mark: So when you put it all together, the book presents this really elegant, bottom-up system for a better life. It starts with the most basic physical act—regulating your nervous system through your breath. Michelle: Which then gives you the mental space and the courage to get organized, to move from a state of overwhelming chaos to one of clarity and control. Mark: And that foundation of calm and clarity is what allows you to truly engage with your work and life, not as a series of stressful tasks, but as an opportunity for 'welldoing'—that state of flow where you're not just getting stuff done, you're doing it with a sense of purpose and joy. Michelle: The big takeaway for me is that we've been sold a false choice between success and sanity. This book argues they're built on the exact same foundation: awareness. Awareness of your breath, awareness of your clutter, awareness of what you truly care about. Mark: It’s deceptively simple, but profoundly transformative. Michelle: Absolutely. So, here's a challenge for everyone listening. Forget the big frameworks for a moment. For just the next hour, try to do one thing: notice your breath. Don't change it, just notice it. When do you hold it? When does it get shallow? When you're scrolling your phone, when you're reading a difficult email, when you're talking to your boss. Just see what you learn. Mark: A perfect first step. It's the beginning of a conversation with your own body. We'd love to hear what you discover. Find us on our socials and share your 'email apnoea' moments or any other surprising insights. Let's build a community of 'welldoers.' Michelle: This is Aibrary, signing off.