Andrew Huberman – Optimizing Workspace for Productivity, Focus, & Creativity

Set up your workspace to optimize productivity, focus and creativity. Adjust light, physically arrange your work environment, and leverage body posture to enhance productivity. Shift your work environment for particular types of tasks.

The light and the noise

• To be alert and maintain an optimal level of alertness, keep the screen or book at nose level or slightly higher up – ideally while standing or seated
• For every 45 minutes you are focused on something, take a walk or relax your eyes and dilate your gaze for 5 minutes to avoid fatigue
• Depending on the day, background noise can be a stimulant or hindrance to focus – but generally, the incessant humming of air conditioners or heaters can increase mental fatigue and decrease cognitive performance

Your auditory environment

• Listening to particular sounds and in particular, conditions can improve cognition
• Sometimes we want more background noise, sometimes we want less: our auditory tolerance can change from one day to the next and even fluctuate within the same day
• Background noise to avoid: the incessant humming of air conditioners or heaters can increase mental fatigue and decrease cognitive performance
• Even if we’re not registering background noise, our auditory system is processing

Attention and posture

• Tip to manage office interruptions: if someone enters your office or workspace, acknowledge their presence but don’t shift your body or reorient yourself
• We weren’t designed to sit all day, but we shouldn’t stand all day either – a combination of about 50/50 is best
• Active workstations (e.g., cycle or treadmill) can improve attention and cognition for some tasks.

Workspace light: the fundamental variable of workspace optimization

• Vision and light are important components to set the brain in a high state of alertness
• Being in a brightly lit environment can lend itself to increased productivity throughout the day, not just in the morning
• Work in a space with as much overhead light as is safely possible

Lighting tip: During the first 0-9 hours of your day, work in a space with as much overhead light as possible to facilitate the release of dopamine, norepinephrine, epinephrine, and optimal amounts of cortisol

The phases of the day: phase 1

To build new habits & behaviours, leverage your body’s natural brain and body rhythms.

Phases of the day will invoke a shift in mood and mindset that are more conducive to building and keeping habits

Phase 1: 0-8 hours after waking up

• This phase comes with a more alert state which can be heightened by sunlight viewing, caffeine delaying, fasting, etc.
• Norepinephrine, epinephrine, and dopamine are elevated during this phase
• Healthy cortisol is also elevated in the brain and bloodstream
• This is when you want to take on new habits and behaviours that are challenging for you.

Visual focus

• Where you physically place a screen or book in your workspace plays an important role in alertness
• When looking down toward the ground, neurons related to calm and sleepiness are activated
• Ideally, work while standing or seated, not laying in bed or on the couch
• Standing and sitting up straight while looking at a screen or book that is elevated will generate maximal levels of alertness

Interruptions & distractions in workspace

Distractions and things that take away from tasks aren’t just bad in the moment, it takes time to get brain waves back into attention and focus

Tip: if someone enters your office or workspace, acknowledge their presence but don’t shift your body or reorient yourself

Managing phone distractions: turn off the phone, put the phone on airplane mode, put the phone in a drawer or away from eyesight

The phases of the day: phase 2

Phase 2: 9-15 hours after waking up

• Levels of dopamine, epinephrine, and cortisol start to come down
• Serotonin starts to rise and lends itself to a relaxed state of being – can be enhanced with a warm bath, yoga nidra, ashwagandha
• Taper the amount of bright light (unless it’s sunlight) & start dimming house lights a bit
• This is when you want to taper stress level and take on habits and things you are already doing that don’t require a lot of override of limbic friction – e.g., journaling, music

The phases of the day: phase 3

Phase 3: 16-24 hours after waking up

• Keep the environment very dark or dim & room temperature low
• The body needs to drop in temperature to fall asleep & stay asleep
• If you wake up in the middle of the night, use as little light as possible
• Deep sleep is critical to wiring neural circuits required for building habits

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