Focus Toolkit: Tools to Improve Your Focus & Concentration

Focus Toolkit: Tools to Improve Your Focus & Concentration

Huberman Lab · 2022-09-05

In this episode, I provide a list of behavioral, nutritional, and supplement-based tools you can use to improve your ability to get into a focused state to do mental or physical work. I explain science-supported strategies for transitioning into focus, maintaining focus during the work bout, and exiting the focus session, which is also critical, including decompression/defocusing tools. I explain when and how to use: binaural beats, caffeine, deliberate cold exposure, the pros and cons of working in fasted vs. fed states, and supplements and foods that enhance dopamine, epinephrine (i.e., adrenaline) and acetylcholine to promote optimal focus. Also, I explain how short behavioral practices, such as meditation and visual gaze training, will benefit your ability to focus over the long term. As deep focus is crucial to significantly improve cognitive or physical performance in any realm, this episode should be useful to anyone. By the end, you’ll have an essential toolkit of science-supported, low- to zero-cost focus and concentration strategies to select from that can be tailored to your physical and mental performance needs.For the full show notes, visit hubermanlab.com.Thank you to our sponsorsAG1: https://athleticgreens.com/hubermanLMNT: https://drinklmnt.com/hubermanlabWaking Up: https://wakingup.com/hubermanMomentous: https://livemomentous.com/hubermanTimestamps(00:00:00) Focus Toolkit (00:04:42) Sponsors: AG1, LMNT(00:09:37) The “Arrow Model” of Focus: Epinephrine, Acetylcholine & Dopamine(00:15:15) Modulation vs. Mediation, Importance of Sleep(00:18:11) Tool: Binaural Beats to Improve Concentration (00:20:54) Tool: White, Brown & Pink Noise, Transition to Focused State(00:22:55) Warm-Up for Cognitive Work, Refocusing Attention & Neuroplasticity (00:26:14) Tool: Ultradian Cycles: Warm-Up, Maintaining Focus & Deliberate Defocusing (00:31:22) How Many Daily Ultradian Cycles Can One Perform? (00:32:28) Sponsor: AG1(00:35:35) Virtusan: Mental & Physical Health Journeys (00:36:52) Tool: Fasted vs. Fed States & Focus, Prevent an Afternoon Crash, Ketosis(00:45:52) Tool: Foods to Improve Focus & Regulating Food Volume(00:47:53) Tool: Caffeine & Focused Work, Dopamine Efficacy, Alertness(00:52:55) Tool: Stress & Improved Concentration (00:55:46) Tool: Deliberate Cold Exposure & Focus, Dopamine & Epinephrine (01:00:39) Layer Focusing Tools & Design Your Own Protocols (01:01:19) Tool: Short Meditation & Improved Ability to Refocus (01:07:40) Tool: Yoga Nidra, Non-Sleep Deep Rest (NSDR) & Defocus Periods(01:12:13) Tool: Hypnosis & Focus/Deep Relaxation States(01:16:07) Optimal Time of Day to Use Specific Tools(01:16:46) Tool: Overt Visual Focus & Deliberate Gaze (01:20:42) Covert Visual Focus; Deliberate Gaze Warm-Up & Focused Work (01:24:43) Tool: Omega-3 Essential Fatty Acids (01:27:28) Tool: Creatine Monohydrate (01:29:10) Tool: Alpha-GPC & Acetylcholine, Increased Risk of Stroke? & Garlic (01:33:52) Tool: L-Tyrosine Supplements & Food(01:34:47) Combining & Choosing Focus Tools, Variability (01:36:50) ADHD Prescriptions, Training Neural Circuits, Maintenance & Reduced Dosage(01:39:19) Tool: Optimal Order Approaching Focus Tools, Prescriptions & Dependency (01:42:56) Tool: Phenylethylamine & Dopamine(01:44:50) Tool: Other Supplements to Enhance Dopamine, Epinephrine & Acetylcholine (01:46:46) Behavioral, Nutrition & Supplement Tools for Focus(01:49:12) Zero-Cost Support, YouTube Feedback, Spotify & Apple Reviews, Momentous Supplements, AG1 (Athletic Greens), Instagram, Twitter, Neural Network NewsletterDisclaimerLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Huberman Lab

The Huberman Lab podcast is hosted by Andrew Huberman, Ph.D., a neuroscientist and tenured professor in the department of neurobiology, and by courtesy, psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford School of Medicine. The podcast discusses neuroscience and science-based tools, including how our brain and its connections with the organs of our body control our perceptions, our behaviors, and our health, as well as existing and emerging tools for measuring and changing how our nervous system works.
Huberman has made numerous significant contributions to the fields of brain development, brain function, and neural plasticity, which is the ability of our nervous system to rewire and learn new behaviors, skills, and cognitive functioning. He is a McKnight Foundation and Pew Foundation Fellow and was awarded the Cogan Award, given to the scientist making the most significant discoveries in the study of vision, in 2017.
Work from the Huberman Laboratory at Stanford School of Medicine has been published in top journals, including Nature, Science, and Cell, and has been featured in TIME, BBC, Scientific American, Discover, and other top media outlets.
In 2021, Dr. Huberman launched the Huberman Lab podcast. The podcast is frequently ranked in the top 10 of all podcasts globally and is often ranked #1 in the categories of Science, Education, and Health & Fitness.

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