What are your cognitive enhancers?

Just curious what you guys are using to keep focused and alert.

I am drinking massive amounts of iced black coffee and green tea simultaneously as a way to keep wired.

I also have a Ritalin prescription

and, interestingly, have found BHP to be very useful for a non-caffeinated energy burst.

energy drink just don’t do it because of the sugar content and the post-caffeine drowsiness.

I am quite interested in what Nootropics have found to be useful

I had tried modafinil but didn’t be particularly useful

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I think that's BHB which was causing the confusion.

Interesting to know it has those effects, I'll have to give it a try.  Any recs on brand?  I assume you're talking about the hard stuff (like the ester that tastes like jet fuel I've heard) as opposed to those ketone salts that are cheaper and weaker. Thanks.

 

earthwalker7

BHP is exogenous ketones that are synthetically derived. Basically it gives you a shot of energy without carbs. Used generally as a workout supplement, but I've found it excellent to increase energy and cognitive function when you need a quick boost.  Trouble is it's expensive and hard to come by.  It's a supplement not a medication.

This stuff? I’ve been wanting to try it.

-

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

Maybe a stupid answer but I usually eat a piece of fruit at ~4PM and the sugars in those things normally hit me hard enough to last until dinner

 

Only need caffeine once per day. Should time it with the adenosine system (90-120 mins after waking up). Combined with at least 7hours of sleep and exercise 4x per week, you will be more cognitively enhanced than any drug can provide.

That being said, I take Creatine daily which is great for exercise and the brain, and NAC on the weekends if I ever need a focus session

Ultimately you should be able to focus without all the enhancers. Work on the underlying issues

 

It reminds me of an old Chris Rock bit about how his family uses Robitussin for everything.  "You bruise your knee, you rub some 'Tussin on it."

I know a couple friends who swear by NAC as a hangover avoidance thing.  I know others who took it during Covid because they said it will prevent cytokine storm which is apparently a key step in turning a milder case into an ICU case.  And now I see it's a cognitive enhancer too.  Robitussin for yuppies.

 

Fear, Time and Imagination 

A little bit of fear that I can be replaced (or will fail or not complete and thus get fired) mixed in with an exuberance of confidence in my abilities to complete the task in my field.
 

Then, extra time to finish the really hard or creative stuff, which I earned because I finished the easier, mundane things faster than anyone in know.

With the icing, figuring out what the end user has never seen before and bringing to their consciousness.  Such as a mash up of presentation styles (inter department like asset management and acquisitions; and inter industry).

I don’t drink caffeine.  I hate the thought of being dependent on a chemical to function.  
 

Helps a lot if you like what you do and have the personality to match your role.

Have compassion as well as ambition and you’ll go far in life. I am interested in digital immortality. Check out my blog at digitalimmortality.com
 

Panax Ginseng 

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

Might be a depletion of choline. In my personal experience, eggs in the morning(for the choline) paired with armodafinil(get from a reliable website as half of them are duds) mixed with some caffeine does the trick good. Another nootropic stack which was good for me was Phenylperacitam paired with Alpha GPC, but again I think eggs because of the choline is essential. Ritalin is pretty shit I think, but armoda which is a better variant of normal moda does the trick every time. Baccopa Monnieri is also very good and is actually a herb that is quite popular in ancient india for people to memorise long amounts of text that also isn't synthetic, so you avoid the shitty websites that give you duds or barely concentrated nootropics. Oxiracetam is very good for logical analysis as well and can even be stacked with piracetam. Most important thing is to not abuse your usage as you will build a tolerance to it. 

 

Water

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

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