The Mental Cost of "Not Enough" Scarcity isn't just about a thin wallet or a packed calendar. It’s a cognitive tax that changes how our brains function. When we lack something essential, it captures our "bandwidth," leaving less room for everything else. 🧠 The Bandwidth Tax We focus intensely on the immediate lack. Reduced IQ: Scarcity can drop effective IQ by 13 points.

📍 We don’t make bad decisions because we are incapable; we make them because scarcity consumes the mental resources we need to succeed.

Whether it’s deadlines or dollars, the mechanism is the same: