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Have you ever encountered a coworker who drains your energy, pushes your buttons, or just rubs you the wrong way? You don’t have to like everyone you work with, but you do need strategies to protect your focus, energy, and professionalism.

In this episode of The Brain Coach podcast, executive function coach Mary Turos breaks down how to work with people you don’t like without being fake, self-sacrificing, or emotionally exhaust yourself.

Drawing on principles from neuroscience, psychology, and coaching, Mary reframes these potentially awkward interoffice situations as skill-building opportunities rather than personal failures. Learn how to identify a long-term goal (effective collaboration vs. low-stress coexistence), shift interactions from personal to task-oriented, set clear boundaries without drama, and conserve your mental energy.

The episode offers three realistic workplace scenarios—talkative coworkers, passive-aggressive comments, and personality clashes—and offers calm, practical responses for each.

Office relationships are not about forced friendliness, instead the focus should be on emotional regulation and protecting your executive functions so you can do your best work.

For more information, visit www.braincogcoach.com

We’ve all done it—laughed at jokes we don’t understand, forced eye contact when it feels uncomfortable, or said we’re “fine” while feeling completely overwhelmed.

Maybe you even feel like you have a “work self,” a “family self,” and a “real self.” These patterns might be signs of masking.

In this week’s episode of The Brain Coach podcast, brain coach Mary Turos explores how and why we mask in social situations, and why it’s especially common for people who are neurodivergent (autism, ADHD, etc.) or who have a history of trauma.

Mary breaks down:

• Social, emotional, and sensory masking
• The impact: exhaustion, burnout, anxiety, and feeling fake or misunderstood
• Trauma-based masking and people-pleasing
• Realistic, gentle ways to start unmasking and setting healthier boundaries while still feeling safe

If you’ve ever wondered why you feel drained after social interactions or why different people seem to know different “versions” of you, this episode will help you understand what’s going on beneath the surface, and what you can do about it.

For more information, visit www.braincogcoach.com

In today's episode of The Brain Coach, Mary explores melancholy: what it is, why some of us feel it more deeply, and how it differs from depression.

Mary explains the biological, psychological, and existential roots of melancholy's quiet, lingering sadness; from brain chemistry and temperament to our sensitivity to time, beauty, and meaning. She also shares practical strategies to work with melancholy instead of against it.

If you’ve ever felt a sweet, reflective sadness that you can’t quite name, today's episode will help you understand more.

Tune in to today's episode with Brain Coach Mary Turos and explore how you process information and identify your unique thinking style.

Learn the differences between bottom-up and top-down thinking, discover your personal style, and get practical tips for boosting your own productivity and decision-making by blending both approaches.

In today's episode, Brain Coach Mary Turos explores the essential skill of emotional regulation and explains what it really means to manage, understand, and respond to your emotions in a healthy and flexible way.

Learn why emotional regulation is not about suppressing your feelings, but about building awareness, understanding your triggers, and reflecting on your experiences.

Mary shares practical, science-backed strategies, from deep breathing and journaling to reframing thoughts and expressing emotions safely. You'll learn the crucial roles of mindfulness, self-compassion, and biological factors in emotional regulation, and how your early experiences and current stressors shape our ability to self-regulate.

Tune in if you’re facing daily stress, self-control issues, or simply want to improve your emotional resilience. You'll find Mary's encouragement, insight, and tools will help you begin mastering your emotions.

For more information, visit BrainCogCoach.com

We're excited to kick off Season 4 of The Brain Coach Podcast! Executive Function expert and 'Brain Coach,' Mary Turos tackles topics that help support a healthy brain. You'll learn simple strategies based in neuroscience to help you overcome obstacles and achieve personal progress.

In today's episode, Mary examines the topic of anger. She discusses why it feels like the world is on edge and why we are so easily triggered these days. She breaks down the psychological, social, and biological reasons behind rising anger, and why it’s not “in your head.”

Learn how collective stress, nervous system overload, and digital amplification create a perfect storm for irritability and reactivity. More importantly, you'll learn a practical roadmap to understand, regulate, and transform anger into clarity and power.

Anger isn’t something to fear, it’s information. And with awareness, it becomes a tool for creating better boundaries, healthier relationships, and more emotional resilience.

For more information, visit: BrainCogCoach.com

In this episode of The Brain Coach, we revisit a topic that is one of the biggest barriers to productivity — the belief that your value comes from being constantly available.

You’ll learn how to shift from 'hero' mode to ownership culture, where you stop being the bottleneck and start empowering others to take the lead. We discuss practical ways to build systems that work; tools like simple documentation, effective communication, and intentional delegation that help free your time.

This episode will help you:

• Promote real ownership and accountability on your team
• Replace handholding with smart systems and resources
• Redefine your worth beyond constant responsiveness
• Create more mental space, trust, and creativity at work

If you’ve been feeling stretched thin or afraid to step back, this conversation is your permission slip to stop doing it all — and start leading in a way that lasts.