The Ultimate Guide to Brainmaxxing
Brainmaxxing is going to be the next movement
that takes over the internet.
Just like with physical improvement, if you don’t get ahead,
you will be left behind.
Most people currently live a life of high stimulation
and easy accessibility, leading to poor focus and cognitive decline.
Here is a comprehensive method to optimize your brain.
The Absolute Basics
Before trying any cognitive enhancers,
you must commit to the fundamentals:
eight hours of sleep, cardio exercise, and a good diet.
Sleep is when the brain gets cleared out, memory gets restored,
and BDNF (Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor) gets produced.
Exercise allows your brain to function properly,
and your diet provides the necessary fuel.
Do not try to skip these foundational steps.
Adding Friction to Tasks
The fix for a broken brain is not more stimulation;
it is adding friction into tasks.
Practice boredom and train yourself to do things for longer periods
of time than you are used to.
- Play chess or read daily to boost your brain.
- Learn a new game or hobby to grow new neural pathways.
Just like training a physical muscle,
your brain will get stronger and sharper the more you train it.
Essential Supplementation
While supplements will not do the work for you,
they can help you in the process of building your brain up
once your foundation is set.
- Creatine: Take three to five grams a day to increase memory and recover from poor sleep.
- Lion’s Mane: Shown to have a calming focus effect.
- Fish Oil (Omega-3s): Helps the brain build new neural pathways.
- Magnesium Glycinate: Helps you get good sleep and a calm mind.
The Danger of Stimulants
Stimulants work exactly as intended,
but they come with side effects.
Caffeine, for example, blocks adenosine receptors so you do
not feel tired, and ADHD medications chemically trick
your brain into focusing.
Ultimately, these substances spike your cortisol,
destroy your baseline stimulation, and create a cycle of dependency.
If you use them, you must do careful research
and consult a doctor to avoid frying your brain.
Active Recall Over Passive Reading
Reading is a popular habit, but it is a waste of time if you just
consume information without practicing active recall.
Every time you go to study or work,
write down everything you know about the topic beforehand,
and then fill in the gaps during your research session.
This trains your brain to retrieve old information
while effectively learning new material.
Optimizing Light Exposure
Your circadian rhythm controls your alertness, melatonin,
dopamine baseline, and cortisol.
This master switch is set by your eyes.
- Get 30 to 60 minutes of sunlight immediately upon waking. This spikes your cortisol early, so it slowly drops throughout the day, keeping you focused and helping you sleep better later.
- Avoid bright overhead lights and screens right before bed. Use red LED lights to protect your sleep and overall brain function.
Psychological Distance for Problem Solving
When solving problems, put yourself in the third person.
Imagine you are playing a video game and ask,
“What would my character do?”
or “What would I tell a friend to do in this situation?”
Doing this accesses different cognitive pathways,
measurably improves abstract reasoning,
and helps you make decisions under pressure.
Memory Encoding Through Emotional Tagging
The amygdala and hippocampus are functionally linked.
When there is emotional arousal at the moment of learning,
they work together much more efficiently.
You can rewire your brain to tag information emotionally
to make it easier to recall.
Attach a story to the facts you are learning,
or chew a specific flavor of gum while studying, and then chew
the same flavor during the test to bridge the connection.
