Mind Boosters

[khofo]

Hey guys,
I have a tough year of school to come and we are on the first week and I am tired.

I had heard about recipes, techniques and pills some of you guys take to optimize the productivity.
I tried today the coffe 20-30 min before studying and it worked great. I did about 20 complex equations without a single mistake a history and economics assignments and  feeling good.

So I thought about a thread where everyone can share his work boosting, brain hacking, focus optimization, efficiency boosters what ever you can call it, to work better.
I think this can benefit to all from the High-School students like me to PHD and work passing through college. Mainly everyone who has a lot of work to do.

[shadowwolf]

Adderal and any type of caffeine works great because it gets the Adderal to work faster and you have the added benefit of the caffeine

[Spectrum_963]

Don't fall for the neurofeedback crap that's been going around these days - those brain programs for ADD and ADHD kids. Helps, but not by much. And it takes a long-ass time for you to see the effects

Retalin, but some people have some seriously bad side effects, so watch out. I've heard amphetamine helps, but no first hand experience with that.

And don't do pills with coffee, especially if you have ADHD or ADD. That's just....no. You build up a tolerance to the drugs faster than caffeine, and as soon as that catches up to you, the pill has no effect, minus the shitty side effects. But at first it's pretty damn nice.

[khofo]

Meth not even once

I've heard amphetamine helps, but no first hand experience with that.

[shadowwolf]

Don't fall for the neurofeedback crap that's been going around these days - those brain programs for ADD and ADHD kids. Helps, but not by much. And it takes a long-ass time for you to see the effects

Retalin, but some people have some seriously bad side effects, so watch out. I've heard amphetamine helps, but no first hand experience with that.

And don't do pills with coffee, especially if you have ADHD or ADD. That's just....no. You build up a tolerance to the drugs faster than caffeine, and as soon as that catches up to you, the pill has no effect, minus the shitty side effects. But at first it's pretty damn nice.

Yeah I only take it with caffeine if I have to do a big project or write an essay all in one night. Right now I take amphetamine salts. I have the pill form and some of the tablets left over from my last prescription. The tabs are stronger but wear off fast while the pills are mild but last all day.

[khofo]

Yeah I only take it with caffeine if I have to do a big project or write an essay all in one night. Right now I take amphetamine salts. I have the pill form and some of the tablets left over from my last prescription. The tabs are stronger but wear off fast while the pills are mild but last all day.

I am not here to judge anyone or tell you what is wrong or good. Buy Amphetamines are a serious matter you can't not take it seriously even if it's ocasionally it's still dangerous and 0 risk doesn't exist

[Spectrum_963]

Yeah I only take it with caffeine if I have to do a big project or write an essay all in one night. Right now I take amphetamine salts. I have the pill form and some of the tablets left over from my last prescription. The tabs are stronger but wear off fast while the pills are mild but last all day.

I'm just going to be bitching here, but the shitty thing about tabs is that after the whole epic effect wears off, you can't concenstrate for the rest of the day. It's like, three hours in - you're great and then your brain just friggin' dies.

The pills are OKAY, I mean, they boost your general concentration, but it's nothing you can't get without two days rest or something. And they keep you up at nights, if I remember correctly (been a long time).

I am not here to judge anyone or tell you what is wrong or good. Buy Amphetamines are a serious matter you can't not take it seriously even if it's ocasionally it's still dangerous and 0 risk doesn't exist

Look, I haven't heard of a single pill for ADHD kids that isn't dangerous. I understand where you're coming from, but it's really a risk some of us have to take if we wanna focus on anything.

[shadowwolf]

I am not here to judge anyone or tell you what is wrong or good. Buy Amphetamines are a serious matter you can't not take it seriously even if it's ocasionally it's still dangerous and 0 risk doesn't exist

Amphetamine salts are just one ingredient in Adderal. Adderal is a mix of a few different amphetamines. While they do have dangerous side effects I take an extremely low dose so the chance that I have side effects is pretty much 0%. (I take 10mg once a day)

[khofo]

Amphetamine salts are just one ingredient in Adderal. Adderal is a mix of a few different amphetamines. While they do have dangerous side effects I take an extremely low dose so the chance that I have side effects is pretty much 0%. (I take 10mg once a day)

Thanks for the clarifications,

[Stackprotector]

I have been addicted to caffeine substances for years (energy drinks, coffee). And i quit drinking any thing like coffee or stronger for the last half year or so and i love it! It's great to learn to work without any external help. And the first thing you should do is have a good meal to concentrate

[proxx]

Whilst caffeine has many positive effects on the brain it can also cripple attention span.
As a heavy caffeine user I can confirm this.
One problem with caffeine is that your body get used to it real quick, what happens is that you use it because you need it (feel sloppy not doing so) but dont feel much better actually using it , in effect it zeros out after an x dosis.
Typical addiction.

There are many brain stimulants one famous substance would be nicotine which actually increases IQ by some points.
During war substances like amphetamine where very popular , it was actually designed for this purpose, whilst keeping you awake and on edge it also has side effects on the brain such as reducing learning ability. Apart from being really addictive.

[Code.Illusionist]

Whilst caffeine has many positive effects on the brain it can also cripple attention span.
As a heavy caffeine user I can confirm this.
One problem with caffeine is that your body get used to it real quick, what happens is that you use it because you need it (feel sloppy not doing so) but dont feel much better actually using it , in effect it zeros out after an x dosis.
Typical addiction.

There are many brain stimulants one famous substance would be nicotine which actually increases IQ by some points.
During war substances like amphetamine where very popular , it was actually designed for this purpose, whilst keeping you awake and on edge it also has side effects on the brain such as reducing learning ability. Apart from being really addictive.

You are right. in ww2 german tank soldiers were taking amphetamins, and also pilots so they can be awake for 3 days. I think there was.a.nickname for such amphetamine they used in germany. These medics were mass produced and sent out on front for german soldiers.
Anyway, if you lack concentration don't get addicted to some substance just because you find it useful. the first thing to think of is how much rest do you have? If you don't sleep well you will end with very bad concentration. Also, if you are quite addicted to websites reading, games or anything on internet you might have as well concentration problem because of that. Why? Because everything is avaliable on internet, and it's avaliable fast your brain get used to recieving fast information. So, in long terms , when you try to read a book that require time, you will have lack of concetration. Try to balance your life as much as you can.

[P0LYmath]

I had heard about recipes, techniques and pills some of you guys take to optimize the productivity.

There are alot of things you can do to optimize focus, memory, etc.
1. Exercise - Not only a proven mood booster (Tied to the release of Endorphins - the bodies natural pain/stress killers) but it's also been shown to have other positive effects related to concentration. Exercise will also increase testosterone which makes one feel more confident and ambitious.
Again I recommend doing some of your own research, but here's a quick overview:
http://www.boston.com/dailydose/2013/03/07/ways-exercise-can-boost-your-mental-performance/nI4DA55GaKDZbdrAk9EmiO/story.html

2. Proper Diet
Diets have been used for helping people with ADD/ADHD for years as an alternative to drugs, which indicates that it can also help the general population achieve the same thing.
http://www.webmd.com/add-adhd/slideshow-brain-foods-that-help-you-concentrate

3. Sleep
This is critical, most people entirely underestimate the importance of getting enough sleep. The difference is night and day when properly rested. Sleep is the time our bodies use to recover and regenerate, It's also the time when we produce the most growth hormone, it's theorized that we actually solve problems in our sleep by running simulations of problems on a subconscious level.

4. Supplementation
As I mentioned before, there are the general amphetamine salts and it is primarily a mix of various amphetamine - with other inactive ingrediants used for absorption/holding the pill together:
http://www.rxlist.com/adderall-drug.htm
This is an incredible drug, without a doubt. It's a stimulant class nootropic:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nootropic
Nootropics are the new genre of drug growing in pharma companies used to boost brain function.
Adderall specifically is a very powerful stimulant that is theorized to act on the amygdala's fight or flight response, this has the effect of increasing alertness and suppressing appetite. From what I've written so far this should bring up two thoughts in the users mind: I won't be as hungry so I may miss important food I need in my diet for concentration, and if it's interupting my sleep I won't be getting that benefit, and beyond that your body will also build up a tolerance to the drug (which leads to an inevitable crash). So to optimize it's use, I highly suggest you don't get on an extended release that needs to be taken daily, instead if you can achieve it, get on an instant release and use it only for specific projects, this does a few things:
1. It prevents your body from building a tolerance
2. It's less likely to hinder sleep
3. It's less likely to make you turn into an anorexic stick.
4. It maximizes it's potency.

Warning: this is a dangerous drug, and you CAN overdose on it, and you can become addicted to it quite easily.

Also with supplementation, caffiene, I suggest taking either 5-hour energy shots or anhydrous caffiene pills 200-300mg 20-30 mins before studying, These seem to work best for me, with the added benefits of:
1. Almost zero calories
2. No crash
3. No jitters
4. Great concentration
5. wears off within ~4 hours (usually depending on what else you've consumed that day).
          This is important because it allows me to time the effect of the pill, if I need to sleep I need to know the pill will wear off in time.
6. can also sub as a great pre-workout
Lifehacker has a bunch of great tutorials on how to time your caffeine consumption also:

Warning: Just as with amphetamines, you can consume a toxic level of caffeine'
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002579.htm
You can also create a tolerance, so use it only when you REALLY need it to increase its potency and effect. Proxx listed above examples of what happens when idiots use caffeine incorrectly.


Lastly some resources:
Lifehacker is a great site for productivity in general, but for brainhacks - As always, Use google:
https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&rlz=1C1CHFX_enUS533US533&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=site%3Alifehacker.com%20brain%20hacking
http://lifehacker.com/tag/caffeine
http://io9.com/how-caffeine-can-boost-your-memory-1500213465/+whitsongordon

[Pak_Track]

I drink redbull while studying. Everything gets clearer and writing speed increases. I also listen to high bass rap songs, especially during mathematics.

[HTH]

Oddly enough I found one or two drinks (of alcohol) actually helps me study, calms you down, increases creative thinking (to a point, then you get all drowsy... then ya get REAL creative hahaha) and the best part is, after your done. You can drink more and you already have a start