Focus Toolkit: Tools to Improve Your Focus & Concentration

Alpha GPC consumed at dosages of 300mg-600mg prior to a work bout or prior to a workout greatly increases one's ability to focus and concentrate. At least, that's been my experience.

40-Hz binaural beats have been shown in a number of peer-reviewed studies to increase focus and concentration.

Any time you're going to sit down and try and focus... how long should it be? And the ideal duration is about 90 minutes. Not exactly 90 minutes, but we can reliably say 90 minutes or less.

Being fasted is great for focus and concentration provided you're not thinking about food the entire time. And being fed is terrific for focus and concentration—it can actually improve neuronal function provided that you didn't eat too much food.

The caffeine in yerba mate and coffee and other sources of caffeine are known to increase the density and efficacy, that is the number and the function, of dopamine receptors ... By ingesting caffeine pretty regularly, you're actually increasing the ability of dopamine to have this effect of increasing motivation and drive.

It's really clear that getting somewhere between 1 and 3 grams of EPA, that is 1-3 grams of EPA essential fatty acid, per day can improve outcomes—that is, it can improve mood and can improve cognitive function.

One of the most important things to build and maintain your focus and concentration is to optimize your sleeping behavior—that is to get enough quality sleep, I would say, 80% of the nights of your life.

White noise and pink noise have been shown to not improve concentration per se but to improve people's ability to transition into concentrated states.

Foods that, for instance, include a lot of tyrosine... are certainly going to increase concentration and focus. So, things like parmesan cheese, certain meats, certain nuts ... There are also some fruits and vegetables that include higher amounts of tyrosine.

A 13-minute daily meditation performed for a period of about 8 weeks significantly increased people's focus and concentration abilities.

Contrary to popular belief, it is not, I repeat: it is not a good idea to do a focused-based meditation within the 4 hours before bedtime.

There is simply no tool that's going to allow you to overcome chronic sleep deprivation and allow you to remain focused—no pill, no device, no supplement, no protocol whatsoever.

I would not use 40-Hz binaural beats every time I'm doing a bout of work. What I tend to do is use it for about 5 minutes prior to that work, and then turn it off, and then do the work...

It's very important that after a bout of focus that you take at least 10 minutes and ideally as long as 30 minutes and go through what I call deliberate defocus. You really want to focus on somewhat menial tasks or things that really don't require a ton of your concentration.

The precision with which neurons in the brain represent things in our environment is actually much greater when there is sufficient glucose in the brain. Translated into English, this means that when we are fasted or when our blood glucose is very low, we aren't able to perceive and think about things as clearly.

One practice that is very effective at allowing you to focus better than you would otherwise under conditions of sleep deprivation is so-called non-sleep deep rest, or NSDR. This is also referred to, sometimes, as Yoga Nidra.

When I haven't slept well, what I'll try and do is find a quiet place where I can do NSDR for 30, or ideally, 60 minutes. Sometimes, I will fall back asleep during that NSDR; that's fine ... And then I'll emerge from that and go about my day.