Hey, guys, and welcome back to another episode of your Brain's Coach podcast. My name is Angela Shurina, I'm your host, I'm your Brain's Coach, and it is my job here to bring to you all the best cutting-edge, well-researched and useful and applicable brain-body tools so you can take better control of your thoughts, of your emotions and, most importantly, impactful actions, so you could create life experience that is closer and closer to your potential and your dearest, brightest, most extraordinary vision for your life and yourself. Today, guys, we are talking about all these cutting-edge tools straight out of research labs or as close to that as possible, because did you know that before each book hits an online store or a bookstore, an online store or a bookstore actually passes about a year before the author submits a draft, and then the book is out and ready to buy, except for the moments when you have a relationship with the author and they send you the book advance, year in advance, before submitting final draft. So I guess, if you want to learn everything early, it's really worth to build a great network of researchers and scientists, which I'm busy doing, so you get always the latest and you get it the fastest and you can start putting it into use right away can start putting it into use right away. Speaking of putting into use right away, today we are doing a deeper dive into this new book, hyper-efficient I think it was out to the bookstores, maybe like a couple of weeks ago.
Speaker 1Hyper-efficient simple methods to optimize your brain and transform the way you work. It is written by Dr Misu Staroni and she is a neuroscientist and a lot of other things besides that. Scientists usually tend to be multi-talented guys, always researching and learning and studying. Anyhow, today we will start the deep dive and you will learn very applicable tools or strategies to optimize your work performance by optimizing your brain's performance, how you focus, how creative you are, how well you make decisions and how productive you are. You see, the science is out there and it's getting more and more precise telling us like this is the way your brain works. And if you want to get maximum leverage and get the most out of your brain, listen to these tips. Listen to your brain, respect your biology and you'll be surprised how much more you'll be able to accomplish.
Speaker 1Now, every brain is different. We are wired very uniquely, but despite all that, we have also a lot that is in common. It's like with DNA. Yes, we are unique, but when it comes to DNA code, what is different is only like 1% of 1%. 99.9% of it is all the same for all human beings. That's how we end up being the same species, so the same goes to your brain.
Speaker 1What I'm about to share with you is true for your brain, with slight variations here and there, but you are still a creature who is supposed to function well during the day. So if you decide to do some all-night work, then you're not going to be performing at your best, no matter how much caffeine you put into your system. The brain is just not wired. The human brain is just not wired to function well. And also there are times when your brain is wired to do its best work. And also your brain works in cycles. And also your brain is better wired for creative work, or for focused work, or for learning, or for naps and just wandering around, allowing your brain to do some work at the background, connecting the dots, so later it can give you an aha moment.
Speaker 1Without further ado, let's dive into this book. Guys, your brain has gears, kind of like a car has gears, and each gear is better optimized for functioning at a specific speed when it comes to a car any car and when it comes to different activities, your brain needs different gears or ways your neurons fire to give you the best outcome for that specific task. What I'm talking about is creativity and deep focus. So figuring out or coming up with as many ideas as possible, connecting the dots to create a solution that you've never thought of before, maybe no one thought of before. Trying to bring together all of your experience, all of your knowledge, to create a very unique solution. Or doing writing work and data analysis, creating presentation all of these modes of work. They're slightly different and believe it or not, but your brain functions or is wired differently. For each of those tasks, your brain chemistry changes, and that's what the book is all about. There is a part, a very precisely located part of your brain that is called locus coeruleus and it is in charge of releasing adrenaline in your brain, and what that adrenaline does is very interesting, is very important. It slows down or speeds up the speed of communication between your neurons and it also affects a lot of other functions. But the final outcome is that when adrenaline is released from locus coeruleus this blue dot, as it's called by neuroscientists part of your brain.
Speaker 1Your brain is better suited for either focus or creative thinking, or napping and chilling. There are two things you want to remember from this podcast. One is you are biologically wired to be primed or be better suited for one type of activity creativity or deep focus, more suited for things like data analysis or precise calibration of I don't know presentation or thinking about all the points you can do in a sale or negotiation. So your brain is biologically time, timely, primed for different activities, and you're going to learn about, like when is my brain is at its best doing particular tasks. So your brain is biologically wired and that depends on our sleep-wake cycle, which is also known as circadian rhythm. So your brain is wired by time, by the cycle of the sun, to be better suited for one type of activity or the other, and the precise timing is going to shift based on how genetically you're wired to be more of an early bird like myself, or more of a night bird, and based on that, your brain's timing is going to shift slightly, but it's going to follow a similar pattern.
Speaker 1So circadian rhythm defines how well your brain is suited for doing a specific task at a specific time, and what that also means to you is you're going to be more efficient with specific tasks at different times of the day. Doing focused data analysis at certain time when your brain is primed for that is going to be a lot more efficient. Two, three, sometimes four times more efficient, sometimes even more. Sometimes you're not even going to be able to do the same work at different times. So your brain is biologically wired and suited for different activities better at different times of the day. And then also that wiring or suitability for different tasks, like focus or creativity, it depends on different stimuli, either internal how excited or calm but still alert or not alert you feel. And then external what environment is around you and how it makes your brain perform at different speeds or switch gears. And two things, two key points here biological wiring and how you function in different parts of the day. Not up to you to decide. And how you function in different parts of the day not up to you to decide.
Speaker 1It's hard coded and as long as you have a human brain, you are much better off following the cycles than trying to fight them. You'll never win this battle. Your biology dictates a lot of things and if you work with it you're going to be more optimal. And if you try to work against it, work with it, you're going to be more optimal, and if you try to work against it, bad luck. You're going to lose every time. So that's key point number one know it and try to follow it to the best of your ability. And then, key point number two, you can gear up or gear down to certain extent by using different physiological protocols or changing your environment, or even by changing your inner dialogue, how you talk to yourself or how you think about any situation, whether it's a threat or a challenge that you can go through and win, speaking about biological wiring.
Speaker 1So when is the best time, for example, to do creative work or to do really focused work? For me, the difference is between creative work and focused work is when I want to do something creative. It means I want to come up with something I don't know of yet. I don't know how it's going to connect in my brain, like, for example, thinking, brainstorming, different ideas for a talk or a presentation that I have never done before, and all I have is a topic and maybe a feeling and result that I want to create, but I don't know how it's all going to connect in my brain and so I need all these creative ideas. Or I'm not sure how to get around a specific issue in business and I need as many solutions, ideas, as possible. Or the obvious one, for me at least, is writing. Sometimes I sit down and I don't know what I'm going to write about and then I trust that it's going to appear.
Speaker 1Or creating this podcast Also creative work, also content creation. So that's what I mean by creativity. It's kind of like having a lot of these different blocks and colors and putting some sort of picture, coherent, finished result together. So that's what creative work is all about. And then very focused work, it's putting the final touches on it, because when you have all this data now, all these ideas, I need to bring them all together into a more coherent narrative or a product. Or you need to look at all of this data and see the patterns. It's not about creativity so much, but analysis and putting it all together and perhaps figuring out where the mistakes are or something that is overseen. It's all of the things coming together and you are super focused out in. Maybe you are coding this piece of software and you need to get into flow. So that is more coherent with this focused work Also, slightly, you can see how many things can be related or sort of similar.
Speaker 1But for me again, creative work is something when I'm creating it's never been done before by no one and I want to put it out in some final product. But before I put it out there, I need to have a first draft. So that's what creativity or creative time, for me, is all about. And then focused work is about. Okay, this is the data. I need to analyze it, I need to see patterns, I need to put the final touches on it and ship it. So that's, for me, what focused work is all about. And, as it turns out, creativity or creative work is done better at two times during your day.
Speaker 1Creative block number one is somewhere for majority of people 80%, probably 60% of people they say the 20% are early birds, 20% are late birds and then 60%, I guess, is in between. So if you are an early bird, then you want to switch this timing that I'm about to tell you. If you're an early bird a couple of hours earlier, if you are a late night person, a couple of hours later. But this cycle or how these phases come into existence, they are the same. So if I say creative blog is usually the first one that's going to come easier to you. That means that whether you are an early bird or a night owl, that's going to be the case. It's just the exact timing going to shift depending on where you are with your circadian wiring. So I'm an early bird. They call me extreme larks.
Speaker 1I sleep the most naturally well between the hours of 8 pm and 4 am. I've been like this since I was a kid, never changed. So for me, creative work is done best when it's done super early, when it's done between like five and seven or five and eight. That's where I'm bombarded with all these different ideas and my mind is super open. And that's what newer scientists, so Mithos Theroni, calls the first gear, and that's when, a little bit on a geeky side, your adrenaline is not released all that much and that's why the firing of communication between neurons is a little bit on a slower side. So it's literally a lower gear of your brain where you tend to be more creative. And so that happens after you wake up in the next three to four, three to two hours, and then also it happens the second time later, the last thing before going to bed, because that's when your brain also naturally slows down. So the last two, three hours before going to bed also going to be your brain is going to be in this creative gear. Gear one, when your brain is literally a little bit slower but that somehow creates optimal condition for creative thinking.
Speaker 1Then the most focused work, the work that requires a lot of analysis, precision, you cannot make mistakes, you need to ship it, you need to put things together. You need your best thinking, most focused, because you know creative is also best thinking. But if you talk about creating more ideas, coming up with more ideas, that what you need. Lower gear, which happens earlier in the day or the latest in the day, the second bout. And then, when you need a focused work gear too, when your brain is sped up and a little bit faster and it can analyze data and put things together and be more of a critic to everything that you do. That's what you get geared to. That's where you're probably going to be editing your first drafts, first drafts of presentations or writing or whatever content you create, or putting final touches on your speech, like really dialed in.
Speaker 1That's the focused work bout, as Mithos Taroni calls it in the book. But if we're talking about the zone flow state being really dialed in, that's your bout and it usually happens in about three hours after your waking time. So for me that would be around eight, sometimes even seven, but usually starts with eight and somewhere till 11 or 12. That's my zone. That's when I do my best to work really fast, when I need that focus. And the second time the same thing happens is after midday slump or this slowdown. That, from my experience, is good for napping, taking breaks, taking meetings where you don't need all the capacities of your brain, and plus, if you do meetings at that time, that social stimulation brings you up to speed a little bit. So you can still be pretty awesome at that meeting, but not necessarily in the best condition for the best focused work, which starts again a second bout after this afternoon slump, somewhere around 4 pm For me that usually means 2, 3 pm, because I'm an extreme lark and early bird and then the second creative bout. So that continues till about for another 3 to 4 hours, which means for most people 4 to 7 pm. For me it usually means 4, 5 pm and then I'm done.
Speaker 1I need to be creative, or usually that second last bout of my waking time I actually spend studying and sometimes reflecting. And, yes, sometimes I also have my social life and I go out, but that last bit of my day is never spent on doing anything intensely and cognitively demanding. And what neuroscience tells us now is that time is perfect for this, like creative work or, um, and easier work, just easier work in general, reading, studying also, which does not require some complex thinking. If you're studying some higher mathematics, probably not the best time for that either, but reading might be a really good time for that Journaling also. So what can you learn from this piece of podcast?
Speaker 1If you want to do something creative, the best times for that are your first two, three hours after waking and your last two, three hours before sleeping. Your most focused, dialed in in the zone focused state is going to happen about three, four hours after your waking time and going to continue until about 1 pm in the afternoon. And the second time it's going to happen is around 4 pm till 7, sometimes 8 pm, depending on how intense your day before was. So take that into account as well. And that followed by another creative block which you can also dedicate to studying. Reading. Probably, again, not the time for complex mathematics, especially at the end of the day and if your day was intense. And then the time between 1 to 4 pm. Again, if you're an early bird, that's probably earlier. For me it's between 11 and 1 pm where it starts. If you are a late night owl, then it's going to start later and here it's the perfect time to take a break, to go for a walk, to schedule a meeting or two.
Speaker 1I personally, in that period, like to do yoga nidra. I found, since I started it when I heard about it from Andrew Huberman and I think he super popularized it and you can find so many videos on YouTube right now, from 10 to 20 to 30 minutes to an hour what it seems to be doing based on research and studies. It allows your nervous system to recover well and fast and then your brain is capable of producing the same brain chemistry that is needed for focused work, creativity and to just continue to work hard with your brain. So I do yoga nidra, usually for 20 minutes. This day I usually have some sort of snack, but not a lot, because if all of my brain power or all of my blood flow going to go to my stomach, I'm not going to be able to do anything later in the afternoon. So I usually take an hour break or so for some food and yoga, nidra and to allow my brain to recuperate, and then I'm ready for the next bout of work.
Speaker 1Your nervous system, guys, your brain, is kind of like a muscle. It cannot work continuously without stop, without break, and the more you try to push it to work without a break, the more fatigue you're going to feel. And Mithos Taroni, the author of the book, says that if you push your brain too much, you create so much fatigue that you won't even be able to recover after overnight sleep. So it's much better to take breaks here and there. The more intense your cognitive work is, the more breaks you need to take, and if you do, you actually can function well into the late hours, and then the next day you can repeat it again and again, and again, which, over long term, will end up giving you a much higher productivity and results and sustainability of your effort, versus if you just don't take any breaks and decide to just work for eight hours straight, caffeinated, because your brain will not be able to do it on your own, or going through the cycles of social media and distractions, because you're trying to push your brain to the point which it is not capable of. So what happens is you accumulate that fatigue that doesn't resolve overnight, and you accumulate, accumulate, accumulate that and by the end of the week you're so totally exhausted that you can't fathom any more reading, studying or anything because you pushed yourself so hard. Just like an athlete running a marathon needs to pace themselves, you need to pace your brain throughout the day so it can perform at the highest level, day after day after day after day after day after day after day after day after day. And when you learn how to do that, respecting your biology, then you'll feel like a superman in the world of people who are barely coping. And that's where you're going to start seeing more and more results which are higher than of an average human being. It's not that most human beings are less capable, it's just most human beings don't pay enough attention and think they can just swing it and carelessly do their best work, which is not the case. What we are learning from research and real life examples. Now a quote from Miso Staroni our brain is built to oscillate between states one for imagination, creative work, one for intense focus. Knowing when and how to activate these states can dramatically change how we solve problems and achieve our goals. Final thought and final toolkit Guys, you can switch your gears up and down and your environment actually will do that for you.
Speaker 1Like, if you are in a super noisy place, your brain will, your nervous system will gear up, which might not be optimal for the work you're trying to do. If you're trying to put together a lot of complex data, then being hyper alert and focused and sprinkling with all the different ideas and thoughts, over-caffeinated, that is actually not the best state and you probably already know this like being all over the place and anxious and worried and just all over the place. It is not the best state for any productive work. And you can actually downregulate or gear down your nervous system with things like breathwork, which is the most effective, fastest way to change the state of your nervous system. Think about that again as changing gears in your car. Breathwork switches you into a lower gear, which means a calmer, more focused brain, without over-coffeinated effect, with your brain just scattered and jumping all over the place. Breathwork can help you to gear down, which you need sometimes to be into optimal state for work.
Speaker 1So, gearing down, breath work, different mindfulness practices, like a little bit of yoga, a little bit of meditation, or just grounding yourself into your physical sensations Like what am I hearing? What am I feeling inside of my body? Sensations like what am I hearing? What am I feeling inside of my body? Where am I tense? Like this mindfulness practices, bringing yourself to the present moment, will gear down your nervous system. Yoga helps a lot with that too. And breath work, breath work, breathe in and breathe out twice as long or longer. Do this about five, six times and you're going to lower your gears and you're going to calm your brain and not going to be just as scared.
Speaker 1Gearing up and sometimes you need to get focused and you're just kind of sleepy and your brain is wandering all over the place and you can't really bring it all together. Wandering all over the place and you can't really bring it all together. It'd be like this soft blanket spread it all over, or this cloud, right, and you need to bring it together and create more of a laser focus effect so that when you need to gear up and to gear up, you stimulate your nervous system with things like exercise. Do 10 jump squats, literally squat and jump 10 times, 10, 20 times. That's going to gear your nervous system up really fast. You can listen to loud music. That will gear up your brain.
Speaker 1You can use stimulants, coffee or other. Bring me up stimulants that you probably already know of already. All kinds of energy drinks will work here. The reason why I personally don't like using caffeine or energy drinks for that? Because usually after too much stimulation done with consumption of chemicals like caffeine, especially in the wrong time of the day, they're going to have a down effect which is going to put you into a state where you are not capable of doing anything and you're going to be rising this up and down cycle with chemicals all the time and then your sleep is going to be compromised and you're going to be on the verge of burnout because you're not going to be really feeling your natural brain cycles. So that creates more often than it doesn't, unless you really dial in the amount of and the timing of stimulant, so that for most people will end up screwing up their sleep, their recovery and putting them closer towards burnout state. That's why I personally do not like using chemistry or external chemistry for gearing up, but instead going for exercise, music or even breath work, hyperventilation will gear you up.
Speaker 1So, if we're talking about breathing, if you slow down your breathing, breathing out specifically, you're going to gear down and going to get calmer. If you want to dial it up and get focused and dialed in when you're a little bit more relaxed, that's where you want to do hyperventilation. Imagine yourself running and breathing really heavily. That's what hyperventilation is all about and that gears up your nervous system by releasing more adrenaline and in this beautiful part of your brain that is called the blue dot or locus coeruleus, which, yes, releases adrenaline, gears you up when it works faster and gears you down when it works slower. And that's about it, guys.
Speaker 1Switching gears is about honoring your brain's natural energy cycles and maximizing each moment of your brain's work. It's not just about what you do, but when and how you do it. You can be sitting and struggling on one task and if you just shift the time, you'll be a genius at it. And that's where you get unfair advantage, because you'll be able to accomplish a lot more than, for a lot of people, will seem like out of this world improbability. Very often, genius is just really good understanding and strategy, not some internal talent or genetic, or a tweak in a genetic code. So back to the quote. Our brain is built to oscillate between states one for imagination, one for intense focus. Knowing when and how to activate these states can dramatically change how we solve problems and achieve our goals.
Speaker 1You can find the graphic for this podcast episode in the show notes, as well as presentation that I created with AI that has all the key points of today's podcast for more visual learners. So check it out. I love working with AI and it makes some of my work a lot more consumable for all kinds of brains, from audio to reading to visual learners. So check out a couple of things Again the graphic when your brain is best fitted for creativity, focus and taking breaks, creativity focus and taking breaks. And then the second link is to the presentation done with beautiful AI, where you can see the key points in a more visual format. That's it. Besides that, guys, please do enjoy, use it for an unfair advantage in life and business, and don't forget to share this podcast episode with one person who you really care about. Like I, want this person to succeed. Share this with them so they have a better chance of succeeding and changing the world. Thank you for your attention, thank you for listening and until next time, be awesome and learn how to use your brain's gears.