Optimize Your Learning & Creativity With Science-Based Tools

About this video

Huberman explains how to optimize learning and creativity by walking through his own day. He describes fasting as increasing alertness while cautioning that if hunger or preoccupation with food dominates, fasting will not be good for learning, only for agitation. Huberman describes eating a low-carbohydrate lunch of meat or salad with nuts and fats for focus, avoiding hot food at lunch because, he says, it makes him sleepy, while adding starches after very hard early exercise. He describes an early-afternoon dip around 2:00 or 3:00 PM when he shifts from linear, high-focus work to mundane tasks requiring less cognitive load. Around 4:00 PM, Huberman says, he hydrates, tries to refrain from afternoon coffee, and always does a non-sleep deep rest protocol in the afternoon, sometimes a 10-minute or 30-minute yoga nidra type protocol, or a hypnosis protocol from Reveri Health, his colleague David Spiegel’s site, setting an alarm so he does not sleep longer than 90 minutes.

Key takeaways

• Huberman explains that fasting aids focus only if hunger does not dominate attention.
• Huberman describes shifting to lower-load tasks during an early-afternoon energy dip.
• Huberman recommends a non-sleep deep rest protocol in the afternoon to restore capacity.
• Huberman describes yoga nidra and hypnosis scripts as his NSDR tools.
• Huberman advises hydrating and limiting afternoon coffee in his own routine.

Episode details: published February 22, 2021 · 568.9K views · 1:30:35 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. The science and protocols described are Andrew Huberman’s, presented for education — not medical advice. Consult a qualified professional before changing your own health practices.

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