AI was making me anxious. This simple framework helped me regain control of my attention.

This weekend, I realized something uncomfortable:

The way I had been using AI was making me feel anxious on a continuous basis.

Not because there’s anything wrong with AI itself. I love AI. I use it every day.

But I’ve started to notice something happening in my own mind lately.

The mere fact that I have my phone next to me—with ChatGPT or any other AI tool available instantly—has been changing the way I think.

Or more accurately:

The way I don’t think.

The moment a question, idea, or challenge appears in my mind, I feel an urge to reach for my phone and explore it immediately with AI, whereas before, I would probably let it simmer in my mind for a while or sketch it out on paper.

And at first, this felt super exciting.

Every time I had an idea, I would think:

“Is there an AI tool that can help me do this?”

Or:

“Let me elaborate on this idea quickly by asking my dream team in ChatGPT.”

At first, it felt amazing. It blew my mind and opened me up to possibilities I would not even have considered before because, subconsciously, I knew I didn’t have the skills, resources, or money.

But that was no longer a limitation.

So each time I followed my curiosity, a new idea would pop up, and my sense of what was possible would expand.

Not a bad thing. In fact, it’s a great thing.

But with this new power comes a new responsibility and a skill you need to strengthen:

Restraint and intentionality.

Because I noticed something else was happening.

I would be overwhelmed by 10:30 a.m.

My nervous system seemed to struggle with the speed and amount of cognitive activity happening in my mind.

So many ideas.

So many possibilities.

So many connections.

AI felt like pouring gasoline on an already overactive mind.

And it felt like crack for my ADHD mind.

Amazingly good.

But at the same time, potentially addictive.

In fact, I could clearly see how this could become addictive very quickly.

A kind of fast-food consumption of the mind.

A question appears in your mind.

Within seconds, you have an answer.

You get an instant boost of dopamine because you have the sense you discovered or achieved something.

And you see more opportunities.

You ask another question..

Then another.

Then another.

You start to see more possibilities.

Your idea starts expanding in your mind.

Every possibility branches into countless new possibilities.

Before you know it, you’ve spent an hour jumping from one exciting thought to the next.

Your mind feels stimulated, hyped, and high on dopamine.

But stimulation isn’t the same as progress.

Just because your mind is active and it feels good doesn’t mean you’re moving forward.

In many ways, I was consuming ideas faster than I could implement them.

And I was training my mind to crave more of this fast-reward stimulation.

As a result, my ability to focus and think deeply was fragmenting.

But you can see why this can become addictive.

Instant, fast, and often rewards.

This process ties into something I have always had and a lot of neurodivergent thinkers share:

• A never-ending appetite for growth and learning

• Natural curiousity

• System thinking and pattern recognition.

And working with AI satisfies these needs in an unprecedented way.

instantly.

whenever and wherever you are.

But unchecked, this can turn into a real problem.

Daily, I felt like I was going into mental overdrive.

My brain was working too fast for my conscious mind to process it. And my body, my nervous system, started to physically protest.

Tension in my body.

Difficulty thinking clearly.

A physical resistance to being on my phone or computer.

The need to shut off my senses to just give my brain the space to process.

I felt it clearly.

Warning signs that I was overloading my brain.

That’s when I realized that the honeymoon phase of this new technology had ended for me.

That I needed to develop rules and boundaries around how I use it.

Or it would use me.

I call this Mindful AI Use, and it’s essentially an extension of what I’ve been teaching for years about focus, energy, and time management.

Before, I taught people to be intentional with how they spend their time, energy, and focus.

Now, that extends to how you use AI.

Here’s how it works in a nutshell.

First, become aware of what you do and why you do it.

This sounds basic, but it’s something many people lack.

They grab their phone without thinking, scroll for 90 minutes, put it back in their pocket, and never once become aware of why they were doing what they were doing.

So first, you need to cultivate awareness.

Because without awareness, there is no way to become intentional about how you use AI.

Next, develop a mental triage system.

Every time you have an idea or thought and feel the urge to follow the thread and pull out your phone immediately, ask yourself:

• Is this idea a Needle Mover, a Nice-to-Have, or simply Curiosity?

In other words, does it have the potential to solve a real problem or make your life easier, better, or more meaningful in any way?

Or is it just something fun you want to explore?

• Is now the right time?

Do you have enough time to give this idea the attention it needs, and are you in the right state and energy to pursue and explore it?

• Is this really important?

This comes back to the first question but is a good extra check to ask yourself. Sometimes, what you feel is important and is a needle mover is in fact a “nice to have.”

You probably have your phone with you at all times.

Which means you can act on every urge at all times.

But not all moments are equally suited for working on your ideas.

For example, maybe you have a great idea for a new business while you’re waiting in line for coffee.

You can pull out your phone and quickly ask ChatGPT.

You’ll probably get a nice little dopamine hit.

But could you really work through that idea productively in the five minutes you’re standing in line?

Probably not.

So the triage might look like this:

Is this idea worth exploring?

Yes, because you are actively working on a business idea.

Is it worth exploring right now?

No, because you are not in the right setting and don’t have the time and space to reallty work in this with your full attention.

So what do you do?

Capture it.

Schedule time to work on it at a later time, when you are in the right setting and able to bring the right level of focus to the task.

By going through this mental triage process, you consciously decide what to do.

That’s why awareness is so crucial.

You need enough awareness to:

• Notice an idea has appeared.

• Triage whether it’s worth pursuing.

• Decide what to do next.

Awareness.

And this is a muscle you need to develop.

Because if you don’t, your brain will start acting like mine did.

It will begin nudging you toward more and more of those quick dopamine hits that come from pursuing every idea immediately.

And with that comes the anxious feeling of an addict constantly seeking the next fix.

Now, what do you do with all those other ideas and curiosities?

Do you need to become rigid and discard them all?

No.

What I do instead is create deliberate space to explore them.

For example, I might spend time after dinner exploring ideas instead of watching Netflix.

It’s relatively low-value time, so I can “waste” it experimenting, playing with ideas, and exploring the possibilities of AI.

Create moments where you give yourself permission to play.

This is important.

Because while the sheer possibilities of AI can easily overwhelm you, being too restrictive in your exploration of this technology can also hamper your development and limit your creativity.

In other words:

Explore.

Play around.

Learn how to use AI in your business and life.

But make sure it enhances your quality of life rather than diminishes it.

And make sure you stay in control of how and when you use it.

AI is one of the most powerful tools humanity has ever created.

It can expand your thinking, accelerate your learning, and unlock possibilities that were previously out of reach.

But a meaningful life isn’t built by pursuing every possibility.

It’s built by design, with intention.

In the age of AI, that might become one of the most important skills we can develop.

Restraint and intentionality.

How do you manage this tension between restraint and possibility?

I am Shorombo, a Life and Business Coach for entrepreneurs and high performers. I help people redesign their lifestyle so they can win in business and feel genuinely fulfilled in life.

My approach is called High Performance Lifestyle Design. Not theory. Built from 10+ years of studying, practicing, and living the principles that move the needle on performance, health, and happiness.

If you’re building something great but feel like your personal life isn’t keeping up, you’ll find me here.