0:01 tools that will allow you to
0:03 significantly increase your focus and
0:05 concentration abilities those tools will
0:07 include behavioral tools nutrition-based
0:10 tools supplement based tools and brain
0:13 machine interface based
0:15 tools let's jump into the tools for
0:18 concentration and focus sleep one of the
0:21 most important things is to optimize
0:24 your sleeping behavior that is to get
0:27 enough quality sleep I would say 80% of
0:28 the nights of your life so you have to
0:31 get great sleep there is simply no tool
0:33 that's going to allow you to overcome
0:35 chronic sleep deprivation and allow you
0:38 to remain focused no pill no device no
0:41 supplement no protocol whatsoever 40
0:43 Hertz binaural beats have been shown in
0:45 a number of peer-reviewed studies to
0:48 increase focus and concentration it's
0:49 been shown in multiple quality
0:51 peer-reviewed studies that playing a
0:53 pattern of sound waves to one ear and
0:55 the other ear which is slightly offset
0:56 in frequency meaning not quite the same
0:59 frequency so more like d that that
1:01 combination of frequencies played to the
1:03 different ears actually get integrated
1:05 within deep brain centers and can
1:08 increase focus and concentration in part
1:10 by increasing levels of the
1:12 neurochemical dopamine and acetylcholine
1:13 here is my recommendation in the way
1:15 that I use it what I tend to do is use
1:18 it for about five minutes prior to that
1:20 work and then turn it off and then do
1:21 the work whether not it's reading or
1:23 math or even just emailing or something
1:25 where I require a bunch of focus for a
1:27 while however there are times in which
1:30 I'm in an area or I'm in a state of of
1:31 Mind where I'm feeling very distractable
1:33 and then I'll keep the 40 HZ binural
1:35 beads on the entire time I'm doing that
1:38 bout of cognitive work White Noise pink
1:41 noise Brown noise there is indeed some
1:42 data to support the fact that white
1:44 noise and to some extent pink noise and
1:46 brown noise can support the release of
1:48 particular neurochemicals but more data
1:50 showing that they can amplify the
1:52 activity of neurons in the so-called
1:54 prefrontal cortex this front area sort
1:57 of the bumper behind your forehead that
1:59 is directly related to your ability to
2:01 direct your own focus and remain focused
2:04 on certain things white noise or pink
2:06 noise have been shown to improve
2:08 people's ability to transition into
2:10 concentrated States this is a really key
2:12 point A lot of people are challenged
2:15 with getting into a mode of focus how
2:17 long should I try to focus the ideal
2:19 duration is about 90 minutes not exactly
2:22 90 minutes but we can reliably say 90
2:25 minutes or less visual based tools
2:28 pervert visual Focus your visual Focus
2:31 drives your cognitive Focus so what is a
2:34 practice visually focus on one location
2:37 anywhere from 30 seconds to 3 minutes
2:38 now I'm looking at the tip of my pen
2:40 that's overt Focus I'm focusing on it
2:42 with my eyes and of course the rest of
2:44 my brain then will follow and start to
2:46 analyze the details of what I'm seeing
2:49 the Contours of the pen Etc by focusing
2:50 on that particular location and by
2:52 forcing yourself to refocus on that
2:55 location anytime you're gaze your vision
2:57 drifts from that location you are
3:00 encouraging the circuits for focus to
3:01 get better at focusing for longer and
3:03 longer and at refocusing when your focus
3:06 drifts off of that location fasted full
3:08 and blood glucose there's a beautiful
3:10 study that was published in neuron not
3:11 long ago that showed that when we are
3:13 fasted or when our blood glucose is very
3:16 low we aren't able to perceive and think
3:18 about things as clearly now there's a
3:20 Twist to this however so what I'd like
3:23 you to imagine is if you had a measure
3:24 of focus from 0 to 10 these are
3:26 arbitrary units 10 being maximally
3:28 focused and zero being not focused at
3:32 all imagine a u shaped function right
3:34 where if you're very fasted you're going
3:36 to have high degree of focus and
3:38 concentration but then if you ingest
3:39 some food and your belly is full your
3:42 focus and concentration is reduced but
3:45 having enough blood glucose and maybe
3:46 even elevated blood glucose will
3:48 increase cognitive function so there are
3:49 two ends of the spectrum on one end of
3:51 the spectrum blood glucose is relatively
3:54 low and you're fasted and you can think
3:57 and behave in a very concentrated way
3:58 and on the other end of the spectrum you
4:00 have sufficient blood glucose and that
4:03 allows your neurons to encode and
4:05 perceive and basically allow you to
4:06 think really clearly so you sort of have
4:09 to pick your condition what do you want
4:10 for your bouts of focus and
4:12 concentration foods which foods can
4:15 improve concentration and focus well
4:17 foods that for instance include a lot of
4:19 tyrosine which is a precursor to
4:21 dopamine so things like parmesan cheese
4:23 certain Meats certain nuts you can look
4:25 up which foods uh contain high amounts
4:26 of tyrosine there are also some fruits
4:28 and vegetables that include high amounts
4:31 of tyrosine caffeine whether or not
4:33 caffeine can improve focus and
4:36 concentration and indeed it can most
4:38 people do quite well to ingest 100 to
4:40 200 milligrams of caffeine prior to
4:42 doing some focused work and again I
4:44 recommend delaying your caffeine intake
4:47 to 90 to0 minutes after waking unless
4:49 you are using that caffeine to really
4:52 jolt your system uh before a workout my
4:54 particular favorite way to ingest
4:57 caffeine is yerbamate um it is important
4:59 and I should note that you should
5:01 actively avoid the smoked versions of
5:03 yamon as they contain a lot of
5:05 carcinogenic cancer promoting compounds
5:07 there's one particular brand that I like
5:08 but I've been using it for years it's
5:11 Anna Park it's an organic brand that is
5:13 sold I buy mine on Amazon but you can
5:14 find it elsewhere on the internet as
5:16 well just very costeffective very clean
5:18 it doesn't have the smoked flavor at
5:19 least the one that I buy is not the
5:20 smoked variety so none of the
5:22 carcinogenic compounds are in there at
5:25 least that I'm aware of and I like the
5:26 way it tastes and it provides a very
5:30 even lift and and stimulant uh that I
5:31 think certainly works for me and that a
5:33 number of people I know that have
5:35 suggested to also enjoy stress there's
5:38 an excellent study that was carried out
5:40 not that long ago on how stress itself
5:43 can increase our ability to focus and
5:45 concentrate when we are stressed it
5:47 involves the deployment the release of
5:49 adrenaline epinephrine and that
5:52 adrenaline both changes our visual field
5:54 in other words it Narrows our vision to
5:56 a more tunnel-like Focus that is it
5:59 makes the arrow in our metaphor of the
6:03 arrow more sharp and it improves our
6:04 concentration there are other ways to
6:06 increase stress levels and to do that in
6:09 healthy ways to improve concentration
6:10 and performance and one of the best ways
6:14 to do that is deliberate cold exposure
6:15 deliberate cold exposure can be achieved
6:17 by getting into a cold shower for one to
6:19 five minutes if you're not used to it
6:20 you probably want to start with one
6:23 minute or you can get into an ice bath
6:24 and nowadays there are a number of
6:25 different commercial sources of
6:27 circulating cold water or if you have
6:29 access to a body of cold water like a
6:31 lake or a pool or an ocean there's a
6:33 beautiful study that was published in
6:35 the European Journal of physiology that
6:36 showed that the increases in dopamine
6:39 are massive you know near doubling or
6:41 more of dopamine levels that are very
6:43 long lasting for hours and indeed
6:46 cortisol levels are also increased and
6:49 in ways that support not just immune
6:51 system function because they do that but
6:53 and mood because it does that but that
6:55 can really improve concentration and
6:58 focus 13-minute meditation the study
7:00 from Dr Wendy's Suzuki's lab where they
7:03 explored a 13-minute meditation done
7:06 every day for a period of 8 weeks that
7:08 meditation led to significant
7:10 improvements in focus and concentration
7:12 ability as well as other aspects of
7:14 cognitive performance it also improved
7:17 mood and reduced stress the meditation
7:18 is very simple so if you're somebody
7:20 who's going to do a practice of
7:23 13-minute meditation practice every day
7:24 you'd want to sit or lie down close your
7:26 eyes start to concentrate on your breath
7:28 Focus your attention on a location about
7:31 an inch behind your forehead and then
7:33 fully expect that at some point you'll
7:35 be thinking about something else and
7:38 that's a cue to focus back to that
7:39 location just about an inch behind your
7:41 forehead and back to your breath
7:43 supplements the omega-3 essential fatty
7:46 acids It generally supports mood
7:48 concentration and focus and brain
7:50 function in general and it's really
7:52 clear that getting somewhere between 1
7:55 and three grams of EPA essential fatty
7:59 acid per day can improve outcomes that
8:01 is improve mood and can improve
8:03 cognitive function the other thing that
8:06 can positively modulate brain function
8:08 and that actually works as a fuel for
8:10 neurons to function and can improve
8:12 cognitive performance in particular
8:14 within the brain circuits such as the
8:15 prefrontal cortex that are involved in
8:18 concentration and focus is creatine
8:20 creatine monohydrate 5 grams a day seems
8:23 to generally support brain function
8:25 which will generally support
8:27 concentration and focus Alpha GPC there
8:29 supplements that can further and more
8:31 acutely increase acetylcholine and
8:33 indeed I use these myself the most
8:36 effective one I've found is Alpha GPC
8:40 Alpha GPC consumed at dosages of 300
8:43 milligram to 600 milligram prior to a
8:45 workout or prior to a workout greatly
8:47 increase one's ability to focus and
8:49 concentrate at least that's been my experience
