Want to stop procrastinating and get shit done?
Most people assume the key to stop procrastinating is pure willpower. Willpower plays a role, but there's ways you can increase your will power, decrease how much you use.
When I was in high school I always waited until the last minute to do everything. Late nights of cramming for tests I barely passed and writing papers that should have taken weeks of work in a few hours, hoping the teacher didn't notice.
When I began my first business I really wanted to quit my job and do it full time, but I was still suffering from the habits I had developed in high school. Knowing my business would never grow with out a dedicated effort and a proactive founder, I committed to change.
Below is the first guide on Nootropics and willpower hacking. I wrote this guide as refference for myself and to share with a few friends who were facing similar issues.
DISCLAIMER: protecting my ass
This guide is a work of fiction and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or cure any disease or syndrome. It may help with laziness. If you wake up in the matrix, discontinue use immediately and don't take the red pill. Also tell Neo he still owes me $10, or he can just upvote my steemit posts.
From my own experience, when creating a new business it feels like you jumped off a cliff and you are attempting to build an airplane on the way down, with half of the wrong pieces. It's super freaking stressful and when we have "off days" it costs a lot of progress. You'll learn about the drugs, herbs and supplements that high achievers are taking to get an edge on the competition.
Mental House Keeping
I want to get to first things first. If you think taking a pill will let you ignore the rest of your health, think again. DRUGS DON'T FIX BAD HEALTH! So let's first talk about some "house cleaning" before you drug yourself up and become the most focused procrastinator on the planet.
#1 - the stay hydrated
Recent studies have found that up to 50% of dementia patients are actually just chronically dehydrated. Drink 8+ cups of water a day. It's not difficult and does a lot for you.
#2 - get a full night's sleep
Do whatever it takes to get a full night of sleep. Hypnosis, melatonin, reduced light exposure after dark. Working on little sleep is like working drunk, you don't get a lot of useful stuff done.
#3 - eat decently and in moderation
A good diet goes a long way in terms of getting a psychological edge. Your body needs high performance fuel, not tons of crude oil. Give it what it needs.
#4 - be active for 30 minutes a day
This also goes a long way for health, both psychological and physical. Get up and walk around for 5 minutes several times a day. Also, extended moderate to high intensity cardio, like jogging, swimming or riding a bike are good for both your brain and waistline.
General performance enhancement
For general performance enhancement, I like to focus vitamins and minerals, taking higher levels and versions that are more easily used by the brain.
Suggestions
Protein: protein, specifically easily absorbed protein like Whey and eggs, have been shown in lots of studies to enhance mental performance. Bonus: helps with workout recovery.
Result: increased levels of energy, focus and memory.
Dose: 30g with in 30 minutes of waking up. High protein breakfast helps too.
L-Theanine: another amino acid that isn't one of the "essentials" but we do need it to thrive.
Results: reduced anxiety, increased focus, elimination of caffeine "jitters"
Dose: 200mg, bonus: have 1 cup of coffee with it.
Sulbutiamine: a non-polar version of vitamin B1 that easily crosses the blood brain barrier.
Results: enhanced focus, reduced anxiety and fear based resistance (for me this is a procrastination killer)
Dose: 500mg in the morning and at lunch.
Methyl-B12: a nonpolar version of Vitamin B12 that easily crosses the blood brain.
Result: increased energy, focus and motivation.
Dose: 500mg a day, taken sublingually; 10,000mg once a week, taken sublingually.
Creatine: probably one of the most well known amino acids, it's less known for it's role aiding depression, ADHD and Alzheimer's. It also plays a role in glucose regulation.
Result: improved concentration, speed of thought, and memory
Dose: 5g, also steak.
Lion's mane mushroom: a little tricky to get ahold of sometimes, but this mushroom has been shown to increase neurogenesis. Aka, makes your brain bigger over time by increasing the number of neurons in your brain.
Result: enhancement of all cognitive factors after 6 months is use
Dose: 500mg in the morning and evening.
Vitamin D: this is great for your brain. Vitamin D is one of the building blocks of your energy and focus. If you don't get enough sun exposure, or just want to make sure you get enough, take a supplrment.
Results: improved memory and focus.
Dose: 5000UI
Magnesium: This really helps with stress, especially if you are deficient.
Results: decreased anxiety and stress
Dose: 100-1000mg
For getting shit done
Let's be clear. If you know what you need to do, and it doesn't require much creativity, but you just need to sit down to work, these are some good stacks.
Armodafinil + L-theanine + piracetam : generally rated as the most life changing of all smart drugs, this narcolepsy prescription makes you too focused to sleep. L-theanine and Piracetam will help with the anxiety and short term memory issues that sometimes comes with taking modafinil. Ever worked for 15 hours straight with it losing focus? Get ready to.
Dose: 150mg is generally the suggested max for armodafinil, and you need to take it shortly after getting out of bed if you want to sleep that night.
Warnings: if you have any skin issues after taking modafinil, stop immediately. While allergies to it are rare, they can be serious.
200mg of L-theanine
600mg of piracetam with 1200mg of choline
Source: One can obtain Armodafinil in a number of ways, both legally and illegally. If you'd like to learn more, I'd suggest a visit to reddit's r/afinil community.
Artichoke extract and forskollin: the combination of these two extracts enhances focus and energy, just make sure you got a cold office. They are thermogenics(increase your body temp), so you'll probably sweat at normal temperatures for the first few hours. Advantage over armodafinil is no need for a prescription or to buy on the black market.
Methyl-B12 is also a good idea to throw into your get shit done days.
For creativity and planning
Goal for creativity and planning is to get enough focus with a reduction of fear and enhancement of mood. Getting excuses and doubt it off the way to lay the foundation for great work in the "get shit done" phase of productivity.
Caffeine, L-theanine, aniracetam, piracetam, and 5 HTP
Caffeine for focus, L-theanine and aniracetam for anxiety and doubt, piracetam and aniracetam for memory. 5 HTP for mood enhancement.
100mg caffeine, 200mg L-theanine, 1600mg aniracetam, 800mg piracetam, 200m of 5 HTP.
Bonus: leveraging habit force
Recent discoveries in neuropsychology have shown that changing the structure of our brains are more important than changing their chemical make up. Here are some habits that allow you to train your brain to work more effectively.
The Body Prayer
Religions use prayer to help you to run into certain feelings throughout the day, week and year. The Body Prayer let's you use your physiology to train your body to eliminate chemicals that stress you out and produce chemicals that make you confident, no imaginary friend required!
To make a habit, you need triggers, a process, and a reward. Triggers for this can be anything, but I suggest right after you wake up, before you eat, and at bedtime, just like you would do with a prayer, or brushing your teeth.
First step is to make your body big. Puff up your chest and breathe deeply, spread out your arms and legs, then force a smile big. Focus on your breath
BONUS: think about what and who you are grateful for. Hold this big and happy pose for 2 minutes.
Reward here is intrinsic. Your cortisol(stress) levels will drop thru the floor while your serotonin(happy) and testosterone(confidence) levels will head thru the roof. The bonus helps produce dopamine(love).
Pomodoro Method
You got about 30 minutes of focus before you are out of willpower and your brain feta bored. Solution? Work in 30 minute intervals. Focus for 25 minutes, then play Candy Crush for 5 minutes.
BONUS: 5 minutes of the 'body prayer' or a breathing meditation instead of candy crush.
Snack time!
Eat ~100 calories an hour while working. Low blood sugar levels still kill productivity, focus, memory, and creativity.
BONUS: use low glycemic carbs, like trail mix(with dark chocolate) and tie the habit of eating to your Pomodoro breaks.
Flow Anchors
An anchor is a trigger, but instead of a process, you get a feeling. In this case the focus is on flow, that magical state of no perfect focus and creativity.
First step is to mindfully think of the smallest next step you can take, while focusing on a party of your body. This act becomes your trigger. For the flow of writing I focus on my fingertips, and for the flow of walking I focus on the stones of my feet, for push-ups I focus on my palms. Each area is a different anchor.
What is the smallest next step? Let's say you are at a cafe and need to begin writing. Your laptop is in your bag and off. The small steps would look something like this.
Open your bag, grip your laptop, take it out, or it on the table, open it, hit the power button, focus on your breath while it starts up, log in, open the document, write the first word, second, third, finish the sentence. The second sentence, third, fourth...
And the goal is to maintain focus on a specific area of your body and what the immediate next step is until you go into the trance like state of flow. Each time you do this, you will reach into flow faster and more easily than before.
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