Written by Meghan walsh
illustrations by alex wells
Upon waking in the morning (and making a pit stop at the loo, of course), I head straight for the kitchen to chug a glass of water mixed with green superfood powder, along with a daily synbiotic. From the kitchen, it’s a direct line to the backyard, where I meditate among madrones and succulents for 40 minutes using brainwave entrainment technology, do a series of yogic postures, and then scribble three stream-of-consciousness pages by longhand (a practice many creatives swear by). All the while, the unfiltered sunlight exposure is setting my circadian clock, so that I’ll be more alert throughout the day and able to sleep easy come night.
The day starts early, always early.
Next is a cup of coffee—the ultimate nootropic—mixed with a blend of functional mushrooms and adaptogens. On weekdays, that’s lion’s mane for focus. If an immunity boost is needed, then Chaga. Weekends, before long runs, Cordyceps is called for. Midmorning is when I’m naturally most focused, so that’s the time I hunker down for the day’s most cognitively grueling tasks, eliminating distractions and never working in chunks longer than around an hour. I frequently walk away from the computer screen to gaze at the horizon (an autonomic-nervous-system regulator) or to move my body (the home office and gym share a space, so I can easily flow from prose to pull-ups). I don’t eat processed sugar or flour and I don’t drink alcohol. Roughly every two months, I take a clinical (as determined by the Johns Hopkins psilocybin studies), ego-dissolving dose of psychedelic mushrooms. Eight to nine hours of sleep every night is nonnegotiable, and my bedroom mimics a cave—dark, cool, quiet. Did I mention I also sleep on a tatami mat to replicate circumstances closer to how humans slumbered for hundreds of thousands of years? Or that I’ve undergone EMDR and hypnotherapy, and most weeks, even in January, I dunk in the northern Pacific Ocean for some cold-AF therapy?
I was born in the mid ’80s, at the height of virtuous selfishness; raised in the ’90s, when self-esteem reigned precious; and came of age in the new millennium as social media made external validation the only kind that matters. I launched my career amid the Great Recession and chased after adulthood from the periphery of Silicon Valley, the birthplace of the gig economy. I am the disillusioned yet still-overstriving by-product of the self-optimization era—and while unrelenting pressure to do and be more has, like a leech, sucked the life from many and caused them to seethe at the term “optimization,” in these practices, or “hacks” as they may be dismissed, I have found liberation.
hover to explore
The Problem
The Problem
Burnout. Workers are doing too much and not enough, and everyone is paying the price.
WHY IT MATTERS
WHY IT MATTERS
This may be the path to purpose, which elevates both the individual and the collective.
THE SOLUTION
THE SOLUTION
Learn to harness the latest science to optimize the mind
and body in service to the important stuff.
1. Shake That Moneymaker...
There is so much to dive into when it comes to fitness and nutrition. Regarding strength training versus cardio, both are important. It’s clear that resistance work is vital to systemic health. But because most studies are done using rodents, there is far more evidence linking endurance training to cognitive benefit (it’s easier to get a mouse to run on a treadmill than curl dumbbells). The research literature shows that physical endurance carries over to mental endurance, meaning the longer the legs can turn, the longer the mind can grind. Conversely, when we tap out during a grueling training session, it’s almost always neural fatigue rather than muscular. And that’s related to fuel utilization. Endurance work—whether sustained, steady efforts or high-intensity interval training (ideally both)—optimizes the body’s ability to convert oxygen, glucose, and electrolytes (and in some cases ketones) to fuel. A few best practices for training the body for peak physical—and mental—performance:
Fitness
Today, this razor-sharp double edge has moved to the forefront for workers, leaders, and companies. At the same time that neuroscience is making personal transformation more attainable than ever, burnout is reaching epic proportions. Executives face one obstacle after another, from labor shortages to new COVID variants to climate change. But whether the promise of being smarter, faster, bolder makes us better equipped to face these challenges hinges on one central question: What’s it all for?
The size of the drive-hard-and-drive-even-harder movement is enormous, with the self-help industry raking in $10 billion a year by some estimates. We are bombarded with messages selling perfection, whether it’s a book, a gadget, or a guru. Ultimate life hacker Tim Ferriss has 80 million podcast subscribers, with his books The 4-Hour Workweek, The 4-Hour Chef, and The 4-Hour Body all best sellers. The world can’t get enough of Dave Asprey and his line of Bulletproof products. Like the interminable technology upgrades, there is always a better version of ourselves to be had. And if we can only actualize that better version, then we will be successful, then we will be happy. It’s a doctrine dating back thousands of years.
Body temperature has a surprisingly dramatic influence on physical capability. The ideal window for hitting the gym is three hours after waking, when the body temperature rises, or 11 hours after waking, when temperature peaks. Though, for those who struggle to get going in the mornings, working out half an hour after waking will prime the brain to be more alert and boost motivation.
Just as with mentally draining efforts, be sure to give the body time to recover—ideally one to two full days a week. And wrap each workout with at least five minutes of deep breathing, which will downregulate that most pivotal lever: the nervous system (see “Neuroplasticity”).
To maintain or increase musculature, perform at least five sets per muscle per week.
2. It’s All About the Shut-Eye...
Sleep
The science is unequivocal: the human body has evolved over millions of years to require seven to nine hours of sleep. Less than that, and experts can track measurable impairments in brain and body function. “When you fight biology, you normally lose,” says renowned UC Berkeley sleep expert Matthew Walker. Walker’s research shows that getting four hours of shut-eye for even a single night decreases immunity by up to 70 percent. Then, of course, during sleep is when the brain hits save on all the data it has downloaded during wakefulness and primes the brain to absorb new information the next day. Every 90 minutes or so, sleep cycles from non-REM to REM (rapid eye movement). Early in the night, the majority of those bouts consist of deep sleep and little REM. But that shifts the longer you’re out. So getting six hours of sleep isn’t just a matter of losing 25 percent of total sleep but up to 80 percent of REM, which is the period that takes disparate sensory input and weaves it into a coherent narrative. The secret to a good night’s rest:
hover to explore
Create a
routine
Get
outside
Keep it
cool
watch
consumption
watch
consumption
Restrict caffeine to earlier in the day, limit alcohol, and snack only lightly right before bed.
keep it
cool
Body temperature also regulates sleep schedules, dropping about 2 to 3 degrees Fahrenheit when it’s time to turn in (getting out of a warm bath can help precipitate this drop).
Get outside
The latest research shows that getting at least a few minutes of direct sunlight within 30 minutes after waking triggers a biological timer that controls the release of hormones cortisol and melatonin, which wake you up and then make you tired later. Likewise, avoid bright or overhead lights before bed, as well as blue light (aka screens).
Create a routine
The body has an internal clock. Going to bed at different times throws off the circadian rhythm. But there’s more to it.
Neuroscientists like Dr. Philipp Heiler, CEO of Brainboost, envision a day when corporations have their own brain centers with trained professionals. It’s a vision the pandemic brought into focus as exasperated executives went looking for answers to their own struggles. The Peloton, then, of these brain gyms would be neurofeedback.
Also called neurotherapy, it’s been used for some time to treat conditions like attention-deficit disorder, bipolar disorder, and autism. Then it moved into the realm of peak performance, with musicians, poker champions, and athletes leaning on it to sharpen their edge. NASA astronauts and Navy SEALs use neurofeedback. And now it’s making its way to the workplace, with CEOs looking to mitigate implicit bias, surgeons to improve concentration, pilots to boost decision-making, and firefighters to manage stress. “We have some early adopters, but it’s just starting,” Heiler says. “Usually once clients personally experience it, they want to bring it to the company."
Essentially, neurofeedback optimizes the brain’s ability to integrate auditory, visual, and other incoming sensory information so that it doesn’t become overaroused in stressful moments, learns faster from errors, focuses with fewer distractions, and can analyze complex information to make better decisions.
The process starts with an assessment, which comes in the form of a qEEG, or brain map, that records data like reaction times, impulsivity, and memory capacity. Two people may be struggling with focus but for different reasons. Based on the brain map, a treatment plan is developed, usually involving one to four half-hour sessions a week for three to six months. These sessions can be done from anywhere, with the person placing electrodes on the head then completing a series of digital, gamelike exercises. Dr. Sotirios D. Douklias, director at Noesis Brain and Consumer Neuroscience, says most executives come to him because they’re burned out—and better sleep is one of the first benefits they experience. “I’d say 99 percent of problems are connected to attention, and stress is the biggest factor that makes attention worse,” he says.
Despite these alluring advances, the brain is still largely a mystery. It doesn’t help that many of the products being marketed—such as wearables that don’t rely on clinical qEEGs—have flimsy scientific support. And widespread adoption likely won’t happen until prices and time commitments come down. In which case, it starts with education. “My hope is within the next five years more people will understand that mental health isn’t separated from physical exercise and nutrition, and that this is something that can be trained,” Heiler says.
Experts forecast that it won’t be long before neurofeedback becomes a commonplace employee perk.
The Future of Corporate Wellness
“Like the interminable technology upgrades, there is always a better version of ourselves to be had.”
Focus
find your
rhythm
Eliminate
distractions
rest
rest
Huberman stresses over and over, “The dirty secret of neural plasticity is that no neuro-change happens during the event. All of it occurs in sleep or non-sleep deep rest.”
Eliminate distractions
During that period, turn off all alerts and get rid of the phone. Switching between tasks disrupts that deep flow state.
Find your rhythm
The brain can’t keep the spotlight on indefinitely. Just like sleep occurs in 90-minute cycles, so does wakefulness, and most people have one or two 90-minute periods a day when they can get that meaningful cognitive output (most people hit peak alertness in midmorning, whereas late afternoon is better for creative work).
focus
The key is to bring laser-like attention to the task at hand (one way to do that is to narrow the visual field, since mental focus follows visual focus).
Neuroplasticity is the transformation of the deliberate to the reflexive. Until age 25, humans learn passively. Adults, though, have to work to rewire their circuitry. And it starts with identifying: 1) What do I want to change? 2) How am I going to do that? 3) Why am I doing this? The last part’s important, because plasticity begins with agitation. That feeling of friction is what signals to the brain, “Hey, this is important,” Huberman explains. From there, follow these steps:
3. Mind over matter...
Neuro-
plasticity
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hover over the icons to reveal...
click the bubbles to reveal...
click the boxes to reveal...
4. hands on the wheel...
Nervous
system
“When we talk about how to change the self, we have to talk about the nervous system,” says Huberman on his hit podcast The Huberman Lab, which distills complex concepts for the everyday person. Most know the autonomic nervous system as the network of pathways and organs that controls fight-or-flight as well as rest-and-digest, either revving the body up or slowing it down. Try one of these techniques for manually regulating the nervous system:
Start with
breathwork
Try manipulating
the field of vision
cold therapy
hover to reveal...
cold therapy
Studies show this has the added benefit of potentially improving immune function and reducing inflammation. Try exposing the body to cold water several times a week, using the breath to train the nervous system not to click into fight-or-flight mode when exposed to unpleasant stimuli.
Try manipulating
the field of vision
Most don’t realize that the eyes are actually part of the brain. Therefore, narrowing the visual aperture to focus on a particular object signals the mind and body to become more alert. On the other hand, gazing wide at the horizon tells the system to chill. Speaking of chill...
A general rule of thumb: extending the exhalation relaxes, while prolonging the inhalation arouses. An instant calming tool called a physiological sigh is to inhale fully through the nose and before releasing take a second brief inhalation, then exhale completely, allowing the body to let go fully.
Start with
breathwork
In his books The Joy of Missing Out: The Art of Self-Restraint in an Age of Excess and Stand Firm: Resisting the Self-Improvement Craze, Danish psychology professor Svend Brinkmann argues that self-actualization often comes at the cost of caring about the collective. What’s missing from these movements is fundamental human values, like integrity and duty. “I’m not against self-improvement,” Brinkmann tells Briefings. “These are universal human cravings.…What I have against it is the ethical emptiness and the instrumentalization of people’s development. We haven’t found the balance yet.” That will be the struggle for business leaders. If peak performance remains in service only to bottom-line results, most experts agree it will only continue to grind workers into a mush of mental and physical afflictions; but if they can use it in service of purpose, it has the potential to elevate the person and the endeavor.
Fasting
Nootropics
1,3,7-trimeth-ylxanthine
1,3,7 trimeth-ylxanthine
The most reliable nootropic, many experts say: caffeine. Just wait two hours after waking to drink that coffee, so it doesn’t disrupt the circadian clock and cause a midday crash.
Nootropics
Many people turn to supplements marketed to improve cognitive function, known as nootropics. Studies suggest over-the-counter supplements containing nutrients found in brain-boosting foods don’t appear to have the same benefits as whole foods. Meanwhile, synthetic and prescription nootropics, which include Adderall and a drug gaining notoriety in the US and the UK called modafinil, have been shown to enhance focus, but they can be addictive, and the side effects are not well understood.
fasting
Eating signals to the brain to rest and digest, which has a calming effect. That’s why many cognitive performers are taking up intermittent fasting. Recent research shows that delaying breakfast increases alertness and motivation during that crucial morning productivity session.
Science continues to reinforce what Hippocrates surmised 2,000 years ago: nutrition can cure and it can kill. Most know that omega-3s—found in nuts and seeds—and flavonoids—abundant in berries, soybeans, tea, and leafy vegetables —boost brain health. On the other hand, new studies show the standard US diet of processed sugars and flours actually reduces neural plasticity, impairing learning and memory. But it’s not just what we eat; it’s also when and how.
5. Food be thy medicine...
Nutrition
hover over the icons to reveal...
Read the full Magazine
Read the full Magazine
Read the full Magazine
In Selfie: How We Became So Self-Obsessed and What It’s Doing to Us, journalist Will Storr traces its origins back to the ancient Greeks, who idolized the talents of remarkable individuals. People don’t compete in the Olympics for monetary reward or to better civilization, but for the fame and glory of being the best. The problem with striving for perfection for perfection’s sake, though, is that very few ever reach the podium, leaving the masses feeling like failures. Considering that measuring ourselves against others has become a 24-7 event, it’s unsurprising that there have been tragic upticks in eating disorders, insomnia, anxiety, use of performance-enhancing drugs (including cognitive enhancers), and suicide. But while the Greeks believed that humans are inherently heroic and that the individual is at fault if they fail to live up to that standard, modern medical understanding suggests people are largely governed by genetics, fixed personality traits, and environmental circumstances. What’s groundbreaking about today’s science is that it’s uncovering ways to reprogram the physiological responses that dictate how we show up. It offers a biological basis for change.
Many business leaders are incorporating neurological science in the same ways that athletes train for peak performance, as well as using it to help employees both execute better and manage emotions. “Neuroscience has the potential to change the way we operate in critical ways,” says Amelia Haynes, a neuroscientist at the Korn Ferry Institute. “The primary function is to arm people with knowledge about why they are the way they are, so change and optimization is more within our control.” An exciting trail of crumbs suggests that neuro-optimization may soon be right there alongside nutrition and fitness (of course, they all correlate): the Wharton School recently established the Wharton Neuroscience Initiative, claiming this area of research will be “key to [business] practice in the next decade.” Corporations are partnering with academic institutions. And executives are undergoing neurofeedback therapy.
What these already high performers are discovering is that peak performance is determined by wellness. When CEOs go in for neurofeedback to improve their focus, they often find that the deficiency has to do with poor sleep or stress. “Our main goal is that they stop using words like ‘concentration’ and say ‘I have too much frontal activation,’” says Dr. Philipp Heiler, CEO of Brainboost, which offers neurofeedback to corporate clients. If doctors like Heiler are successful, it may not be long before that is the reality, with companies merging their fitness centers with neuro gyms that provide clinical EEGs, teach breathing and optical techniques to regulate the autonomic nervous system, and counsel on nutrition that feeds the brain.
So, do my obnoxious morning and bedtime routines lead to better performance? Without a doubt I am more creative, prolific, and organized. As an endurance athlete, I can run farther and faster than ever. I am present with my family and community and have nurtured pursuits that I find meaningful.
One class of the criticisms of self-optimization is leveled at the narcissistic element. But the changes I’ve made in my life have allowed me to show up for myself and others in ways I was never able to before. For the first time, I’m able to live in alignment with my intentions (which, note to boss, include producing diligent, skilled work), without constantly being hijacked by emotion and impulse. And that gets to another criticism—that all this optimization is an outgrowth of an unrealistic economy, a pace of life that has accelerated to a cadence that requires superhuman speed to keep up, and a dearth of meaning powering this never-ending chase.
1. Shake That Moneymaker...
Fitness
There is so much to dive into when it comes to fitness and nutrition. Regarding strength training versus cardio, both are important. It’s clear that resistance work is vital to systemic health. But because most studies are done using rodents, there is far more evidence linking endurance training to cognitive benefit (it’s easier to get a mouse to run on a treadmill than curl dumbbells). The research literature shows that physical endurance carries over to mental endurance, meaning the longer the legs can turn, the longer the mind can grind. Conversely, when we tap out during a grueling training session, it’s almost always neural fatigue rather than muscular. And that’s related to fuel utilization. Endurance work—whether sustained, steady efforts or high-intensity interval training (ideally both)—optimizes the body’s ability to convert oxygen, glucose, and electrolytes (and in some cases ketones) to fuel. A few best practices for training the body for peak physical—and mental—performance:
hover over the icons to reveal...
timing
consistency
recovery
Recovery
Just as with mentally draining efforts, be sure to give the body time to recover—ideally one to two full days a week. And wrap each workout with at least five minutes of deep breathing, which will downregulate that most pivotal lever: the nervous system (see “Neuroplasticity”).
consistency
To maintain or increase musculature, perform at least five sets per muscle per week.
Timing
Body temperature has a surprisingly dramatic influence on physical capability. The ideal window for hitting the gym is three hours after waking, when the body temperature rises, or 11 hours after waking, when temperature peaks. Though, for those who struggle to get going in the mornings, working out half an hour after waking will prime the brain to be more alert and boost motivation.
2. It’s All About the Shut-Eye...
sleep
Create a
routine
Get
outside
Keep it
cool
watch
consumption
The science is unequivocal: the human body has evolved over millions of years to require seven to nine hours of sleep. Less than that, and experts can track measurable impairments in brain and body function. “When you fight biology, you normally lose,” says renowned UC Berkeley sleep expert Matthew Walker. Walker’s research shows that getting four hours of shut-eye for even a single night decreases immunity by up to 70 percent. Then, of course, during sleep is when the brain hits save on all the data it has downloaded during wakefulness and primes the brain to absorb new information the next day. Every 90 minutes or so, sleep cycles from non-REM to REM (rapid eye movement). Early in the night, the majority of those bouts consist of deep sleep and little REM. But that shifts the longer you’re out. So getting six hours of sleep isn’t just a matter of losing 25 percent of total sleep but up to 80 percent of REM, which is the period that takes disparate sensory input and weaves it into a coherent narrative. The secret to a good night’s rest:
watch
consumption
Restrict caffeine to earlier in the day, limit alcohol, and snack only lightly right before bed.
keep it
cool
Body temperature also regulates sleep schedules, dropping about 2 to 3 degrees Fahrenheit when it’s time to turn in (getting out of a warm bath can help precipitate this drop).
Get outside
The latest research shows that getting at least a few minutes of direct sunlight within 30 minutes after waking triggers a biological timer that controls the release of hormones cortisol and melatonin, which wake you up and then make you tired later. Likewise, avoid bright or overhead lights before bed, as well as blue light (aka screens).
Create a routine
The body has an internal clock. Going to bed at different times throws off the circadian rhythm. But there’s more to it.
3. Mind over matter...
Neuro-
plasticity
Focus
find your
rhythm
Eliminate
distractions
rest
Neuroplasticity is the transformation of the deliberate to the reflexive. Until age 25, humans learn passively. Adults, though, have to work to rewire their circuitry. And it starts with identifying: 1) What do I want to change? 2) How am I going to do that? 3) Why am I doing this? The last part’s important, because plasticity begins with agitation. That feeling of friction is what signals to the brain, “Hey, this is important,” Huberman explains. From there, follow these steps:
rest
Huberman stresses over and over, “The dirty secret of neural plasticity is that no neuro-change happens during the event. All of it occurs in sleep or non-sleep deep rest.”
Eliminate distractions
During that period, turn off all alerts and get rid of the phone. Switching between tasks disrupts that deep flow state.
Find your rhythm
The brain can’t keep the spotlight on indefinitely. Just like sleep occurs in 90-minute cycles, so does wakefulness, and most people have one or two 90-minute periods a day when they can get that meaningful cognitive output (most people hit peak alertness in midmorning, whereas late afternoon is better for creative work).
focus
The key is to bring laser-like attention to the task at hand (one way to do that is to narrow the visual field, since mental focus follows visual focus).
4. Hands on the wheel...
Nervous system
Try manipulating the field of vision
Start with breathwork
Cold
therapy
Cold therapy
Studies show this has the added benefit of potentially improving immune function and reducing inflammation. Try exposing the body to cold water several times a week, using the breath to train the nervous system not to click into fight-or-flight mode when exposed to unpleasant stimuli.
Try manipulating the field of vision
Most don’t realize that the eyes are actually part of the brain. Therefore, narrowing the visual aperture to focus on a particular object signals the mind and body to become more alert. On the other hand, gazing wide at the horizon tells the system to chill. Speaking of chill...
Start with breathwork
A general rule of thumb: extending the exhalation relaxes, while prolonging the inhalation arouses. An instant calming tool called a physiological sigh is to inhale fully through the nose and before releasing take a second brief inhalation, then exhale completely, allowing the body to let go fully.
“When we talk about how to change the self, we have to talk about the nervous system,” says Huberman on his hit podcast The Huberman Lab, which distills complex concepts for the everyday person. Most know the autonomic nervous system as the network of pathways and organs that controls fight-or-flight as well as rest-and-digest, either revving the body up or slowing it down. Try one of these techniques for manually regulating the nervous system:
5. Food be thy medicine...
Nutrition
Fasting
Nootropics
1,3,7-trimeth-ylxanthine
Science continues to reinforce what Hippocrates surmised 2,000 years ago: nutrition can cure and it can kill. Most know that omega-3s—found in nuts and seeds—and flavonoids—abundant in berries, soybeans, tea, and leafy vegetables—boost brain health. On the other hand, new studies show the standard US diet of processed sugars and flours actually reduces neural plasticity, impairing learning and memory. But it’s not just what we eat; it’s also when and how.
1,3,7 trimeth-ylxanthine
The most reliable nootropic, many experts say: caffeine. Just wait two hours after waking to drink that coffee, so it doesn’t disrupt the circadian clock and cause a midday crash.
Nootropics
Many people turn to supplements marketed to improve cognitive function, known as nootropics. Studies suggest over-the-counter supplements containing nutrients found in brain-boosting foods don’t appear to have the same benefits as whole foods. Meanwhile, synthetic and prescription nootropics, which include Adderall and a drug gaining notoriety in the US and the UK called modafinil, have been shown to enhance focus, but they can be addictive, and the side effects are not well understood.
fasting
Eating signals to the brain to rest and digest, which has a calming effect. That’s why many cognitive performers are taking up intermittent fasting. Recent research shows that delaying breakfast increases alertness and motivation during that crucial morning productivity session.
More than anything, the so-called optimization practices I’ve come to rely on have created space to figure out what matters, the trust that I can pursue what matters with these tools, and, especially, a dose of levity. I’m not as terrified of inadequacy as I used to be. And because of that I can shrug off the ridiculousness of the superhero expectation and still suit up to take care of business.