Life Hacks: The beginning of my experiment on productivity and focus.

Like most, I have spent a fair while procrastinating over many a thing of late from daily tasks to those "I'd love to do that but just don't have the time" such as a PhD and learning some other skills in related fields such as electronics. The PhD in particular is one I could think of many excuses why I couldn't find the time to do it. After reading around differing study theories and especially seeing Scott Young's MIT challenge I figure that now is as good as a time as any to make a start.

My daily routine at the moment involves getting up around 6am, make breakfast, walk and train dogs at half seven and sit down to read any tech papers at 8:30. Or more than likely sit and read through Facebook and any videos I missed the day previously. Then work from 9am to 5pm, procrastinating as I go with many distractions provided by the internet. More training and walking with the dogs 5 - 6pm, home for tea around 7 and then spend the next couple of hours reading around subjects such as (at the moment) On and Off-Grid solar systems.

I soon realised that i'm stuck in a rut and I feel the need to do something with all this information and at the same time learn more. So I probably have one to two hours per day for this, of which I really need to maximise the time and effort, not procrastinate and most importantly, retain the information.

There are lots of hints and tips out there that you can use, such as turning the phone onto silent when studying etc but I am more interested in the science of brainwaves and optimising the conditions that I work and study in to be as efficient as possible. So in the following weeks I shall post some updates on the experiment where I will be monitoring the effect on my cognitive ability using some controlled tests and monitors such as an EEG headset.

What is the overall hypothesis?

This study is designed to test the hypothesis that it is possible to rapidly change brain patterns to sustain an optimum mental state for study and processing of data using a combination of factors.

What are some of the measurable targets?

Well, there's the PhD for a start but that's a bit far in the future and I'd like to apply the knowledge from this to the research in the PhD so I have some courses to act as a gauge of success along the way.

• Certified Ethical Hacker Exam
• BSc (Hons) Computing and Applied Mathematics
• Private Pilots License paper based exams
• My own productivity at work

Am I academic?

Not in the slightest! I came out of school with 3 GCSE's and after a motorbike accident at 25 I went back to college to study for various computing certificates, CCNA, CISCO A+, HNC, HND with an average assignment mark of merit across the board.

What factors am I testing?

• Binaural beats link
• Research Techniques i.e. feynman technique
• Chemical Stimuli
• Food
• Exercise
• Sleep
• Emotion

There is a vast amount of research proving that our brains resonate at certain frequencies when we are in a particular state. For example the Alpha brainwave pattern is indicative of a state of concentration and focus. It is my intent to find the best way of inducing those certain states and IF it is at all possible using the factors above. Answering questions such as "How quick does my brain change to an Alpha state when listening to a pure Alpha binaural beat?"

So rather than scribble notes down into a diary for my own use I figured I would post onto here for all to see.

Granted the effects here are my experiences only and I do not suggest anyone follows any examples especially when I get down to the one on Chemical Stimuli !

9 ways to stay focused.... one you probably never knew existed.

I guess we all suffer from lack of focus, enthusiasm which spawns the evil that is... procrastination. So let's have a brief look at what you can do to stay focused and the holy grail of the focused mind... the smart tablet. Yes it does exist, keep reading.

There are a lot of things to help you with this from meditation, correct diet, plenty of sleep, even down to breaking work down into manageable chunks. Here's a few things I am mindful of on a daily basis.

1. Drink plenty of water, your mind needs hydration to function. Personally I keep a litre bottle of water by my side all day and drink from that at work.
2. Personally I avoid caffeine because it raises my blood pressure and i feel faint.
3. Eat the right foods, don't eat stodgy foods that you know will make you feel meh. Long lasting protein like porridge in a morning is a good start to the day.
4. Music to help you focus. I use Alpha Binaural* beats to give me the edge when I need it but in the main I avoid music with speech** in as that only distracts me or creates too many images and I end up distracted.
5. Meditation, aye it's not everyone's cup of tea but I do find that a certain meditation technique does actually clear my mind a great deal and promotes some inner calm.
6. Exercise... Yes I still get some exercise, I have two slightly insane springer spaniels which need walking and training every day so I do get out. Although if it's a really insane shift and they are being looked after then I do a half arsed attempt at the 7 min workout*** a few times during a session.
7. Remove distractions, this isn't always easy. I work for myself and I have software that clients use to report issues to and post messages on which allows me to switch emails and phones off for long periods. There's nothing wrong sticking a note on your office door telling people you are busy creating some epic code. 
8. Sleep, we need it to operate effectively. Catching up on it isn't a bad thing either, sunny lunchtime breaks for me are a chance to get the beanbags out in the garden and snooze for a while after a big session. 
9. Smart pills.....

But what happens when you do all that but you still feel you need some real laser focus? I had a friend that asked me how I manage to work for 36 hours straight with the only breaks being to walk the dogs every 8 hours. They had to write a business plan on the weekend and a large one at that, with a big family weekend ahead all they had was the evenings, and after a day of playing with the kids, walking the dog and the pressure of the impending deadline they were reaching out for some pointers. So I went about explaining my epic find a few years ago.

To cut a long story short, they took my advice and at 3am in the morning I got a text telling me how focused they were. They had nearly written the entire business plan in one evening and was now wide awake. They carried on texting but fortunately I slept through the entire thing to wake up and find that they had finished everything that evening and felt fresh as a daisy the following day, happy in the knowledge that they had hit deadlines.

So what is it? .... Modafinil. It is used around the world in certain organisations such as the US military where they are used to keep troops alert and by-eck it works. It's not classed as a controlled substance here in the UK and therefore legal to use. It works by stimulating your central nervous system (brain and spine) to give you a wakeful alert state. You will have heard of other stimulants used in the 1940's called amphetamines which are now illegal and addictive. Modafinil works in a different way to these and has no addictive qualities. Personally and with the other three people that I know who have taken it there are no side effects as yet and I have taken it for a few years now when I need it, although interestingly enough there are reports that it stifles creativity, such as graphic designers would be adversely affected. Not something that ever affects me as I spend all my time with my head inside windows full of code and chatting on IRC, I haven't a graphically creative bone in my body, my previous attempts at anything graphical in the past remind me of what I think a dancing colourblind meerkat on a merry-go-round would paint.

My experience with it is that it provides me with a laser focus and vision into what I am doing that does not drop off. The feeling of needing to do something else for a break is gone and all that remains is clear thought and a wakeful state. It does allow you to work for longer periods of time than normal, but let's not forget that lack of sleep is cumulative and all those hours do add up. I tried 36 hours on, 8 hours sleep, 36 hours on, 8 hours sleep, 36 hours on and then slept for 12 hours. The following day (Saturday) I was a little hazy and pretty tired. The rest of the weekend was spent walking the dogs and vegging out on the sofa watching TV and cat napping, but... I had just worked over 100 hours in a week.

There's my thoughts on it all, you need to make sure you keep your engine fulled and in top condition before you start to build on that foundation.

Eat well, sleep well and be productive people.
Peace.

Here's some links to ponder over
*Binaural beats
What are they
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binaural_beats
My Favourite
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rm-lubtdhw&list=PLVEuMHxpbIAv64R7OYKKwS3LVeEzVj7dD

**Speechless Music
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16kRVoSyO_w&list=TLNul3eIarTFReVmjm4ibDEqy7_V99l908
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvXL-YLRq60

***7 min Scientific workout
With a good diet and only these to keep me company i've managed to loose 4 stone this year which is a whole other story.
http://journals.lww.com/acsm-healthfitness/Fulltext/2013/05000/HIGH_INTENSITY_CIRCUIT_TRAINING_USING_BODY_WEIGHT_.5.aspx