Emonthebrain - Why You Can’t Focus (And How to Fix It)

Episode Date: December 15, 2025

In this episode of Planet Em, Emily breaks down why so many people struggle with focus, attention, and concentration — and why it’s not a willpower problem. She explains how focus is actually a nervous system state, and why chronic stress, overstimulation, anxiety, and constant dopamine hits make deep focus nearly impossible. Emily walks through how your brain prioritizes safety over productivity, why a dysregulated nervous system keeps you scanning for threats instead of locking in, and how modern environments train your brain to stay distracted. She also explains the role of dopamine, attention switching, and why multitasking fragments your ability to concentrate. The episode closes with practical ways to rebuild focus by regulating your nervous system, reducing stimulation, and creating internal safety so your brain can sustain attention again. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/planetempodcast?igsh=NDYwZmtrZzRveHQz TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@planetempod Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1KV6h0wWN1Jh9t6qUPYIuQ Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/planet-em/id1852168666

Hello everyone and welcome back to Planet M. I am very excited for this episode because we are diving into all things, focus, learning and memory. I'm going to share with you my story and how I taught my brain to focus because a little spoiler, but I used to depend on ADHD medication just to function. I was dependent on it. I was probably addicted to it. If you would have told me four years ago that I would be able to go to a library and sit and read for seven hours straight or do work or write my book for seven hours straight, I would have laughed in your face and told you that's impossible, but today that is my reality. So I am here today on this episode to share with you all of the things, kind of all the tips and tricks, different mindset hacks, but also real life

tools that you can use to retrain your brain for focus, because focus is a skill that you can train your brain to improve. And I wish that somebody would have told me that back in the day whenever I was diagnosed with ADHD and I just kind of thought, this is the way my brain is. This is the way that I'm going to be forever. And I didn't think there was any other option, but there is. And so I'm here to give you the tips and tricks. I'm going to try to condense this down and give it to you the most potent way possible because I have a lot, a lot, a lot to share. And I will say whether you have been diagnosed with ADHD or you struggle to focus or you feel like you procrastinate or you get distracted a lot. This episode will be very, very helpful for you. I always say, how can you expect to focus

on creating the life that you want if you can't focus your brain to finish a task? Creating the life that you want and manifestation in general requires focus. It requires a focused mind. You need to be able to lock in. You need to be able to focus and also have control over your mind, right? And have power over your mind and be able to be able to lock in. You need to be able to lock in. You need to be able to focus and also have control. able to think through situations and be logical as well as feel your emotions, but be able to observe them as well. And all of that comes through training the parts of your brain that are responsible for focus, which is what I'm going to share with you today. At the end of this episode, I'm going to share with you a practice that you can use in the next 24 hours to retrain your brain

for focus and to start literally today. Because I want to give you a real life, real routine that you can do and start tomorrow. But before we dive in, I got to start with my announcements and just to let you know that if you are loving my content, if you're loving my podcast and you want to learn more from me, you want to be able to ask me questions in real time or you want to get on a live class that is free, by the way, and learn from me. I currently am hosting masterclasses. The masterclass that I am hosting next is on the 10-step process that I personally used

to rewire my brain, find myself, find my purpose. rewire my brain for focus, relieve anxiety and stress and regulate my nervous system, find the new identity that I want to step into, all the different things. The 10th step process that I used to completely change my life, that is what my current masterclass is on. That is the topic. And I am hosting those every, usually once or twice a month. And it depends on whenever you are listening to this episode, but go ahead and go to

the Minecraft at Minecraft. and there's information there that you will find to sign up for these classes. Also, my link in bio on my Instagram, you can sign up to. And this class is 100% free. At least it is right now. I can't, if you're listening to this a year from now, I don't know. But at least for right now, the way that it works is that it's free. So definitely come through, definitely stop by.

The classes are awesome. They're super high energy. Everybody is so amazing in these classes. And then at the end of the class, I always answer people's questions. And I go on tangent rant. about whatever topic people are asking me about at the end of the class. So if you want to hear me go on a tangent or hype you up or talk about whatever it is you want me to talk about, that is the place to do it. Also, if you have ever been interested in coaching with me and learning from me

directly, I have a coaching program called MindCraft. It is a process that I've used to craft my mind so that I was able to use my mind to craft my life. It's absolutely incredible. It has changed the lives of so, so, so many people. It's been incredible to watch and witness and I'm really, really proud of just all the transformations that have happened in this community. It's been amazing. And if you've ever been interested in that, my masterclasses at the very end are where I share more information on how to become a part of the community. So if you're ever interested in coaching with me or joining my personal community, that is where you can learn more. We only open the doors currently at the end of these classes because I want people to go through this 10-step process, really

resonate with it and know, does this really align with what I even want? And also, there's just, we like to welcome people in groups because we have a whole process whenever you join. And I want to give people the best, we do. We get people the best experience possible. And so the only time that you can join is at the end of these classes currently. But without further ado, let's dive into how to train your brain for focus. Let's talk a little bit about my story. I think it's really important that we start there so that you know where I'm coming from, how far that I've personally come, and what is possible for you? Because I just hope that you know that you really do have the power and the ability to rewire your brain and completely change the way that you think and process

information. I remember I had this full circle moment about two years ago where I was standing in my closet and I was like, I lost my car keys and I didn't know where they were. And I just just paused for a second. And I was like, where are they? And I was able to, in the quiet of my mind, just ask the question and allow it to come and remember where my keys were. And I knew exactly where they were. And two years before that, I was losing things all the time, couldn't find them, didn't know where they were. I was the prototypical person diagnosed with ADHD. Like when you think of an ADHD person, I was that. And I get a lot of comments about the speed at which I talk. I know that I talk quickly. Personally, I like when people talk fast, like when I'm listening or watching content,

I always speed it up. Luckily, we live in a day and age where you can slow it down. If I talk too fast for you, you can put it down to 0.7 or whatever. The case may be, but I was the prototypical ADHD person. I was super impulsive, super impulsive, lost things all the time, late to everything, struggled in relationships. And I think that's something that doesn't get talked about enough. The fact that ADHD and neurodivergence, that Vru does also impact your ability to be in relationships and people understanding you. Because being impulsive doesn't just mean that you're impulsive that you're going to go buy something on a whim, but also that you are impulsive with your emotions and you're impulsive with your decisions and that impacts your relationships as well. And I just remember when I

was younger, one of my parents, just thinking I was so annoying that I needed to go to the doctor and beyond medication. I remember that happening. And so I was the prototypical ADHD person. I really struggled with focus. I could not sit still for prolonged periods of time, but it didn't matter because when I was in high school, school was always extremely easy for me. I didn't have to pay attention. I didn't need to study because it just was easy. And so it didn't really impact me until I got to college and I actually needed to pay attention and study and try. And then it started to impact me. And that's when I started with ADHD medication. And very quickly, I felt the negative off target effects. I learned that term whenever I was in the PhD and I, you know, I was studying

drug addiction when I was getting my PhD in neuroscience. And because I was studying drug addiction, I minored in medical pharmacology and just learning about how these drugs work and how they impact your nervous system, how they impact your biology, and learning that these side effects aren't necessarily side effects, that they are off-target effects. They are very much effects of this drug. They're not necessarily what you're taking the drug for, but because a drug isn't, you know, endogenous or coming from your body naturally, it's going to have other effects that you can or cannot plan for you may not know of. Usually they do know of them, right? That's why you see those commercials. It's just like a never-ending list of all the terrible things that could happen to you. But off-target

effects are a real thing. And with ADHD stimulants, that often looks like overactive, sympathetic branch of the nervous system. And heart racing, sweating. I had, I dealt with skin issues. My skin would break out. Also just rashes, trouble sleeping. Being triggered very easily, I was was very irritable and all of those things are just natural off target effects of over activating your sympathetic branch of your nervous system. The sympathetic branch is the fight or flight branch of your nervous system. Those are kind of some of the things that I learned. And I made the personal decision to transition off of the stimulants when I was in the PhD, very beginning of my PhD journey. And that is because of what I learned and also what I was personally experiencing in

my life. Everybody has their own personal experience. I'm not here to tell anybody what to do or what not to do, but that was a personal decision that I made. From that point forward, it was game on. How do I rewire my brain? So, or yeah, and at that point, right, I knew that I could rewire my brain because I had already done all of the beliefs and the mindset work to get into the PhD program of my dreams and to start manifesting things. I was manifesting things all the time at that point. So I was like, all right, let's see what I can do here. And there were a number of things that I did. And so we are going to go through the rest of this episode, just going by category. And the category that I want to begin with is mindset and identity. I used to identify as an ADHD person. I used to say,

oh, I'm ADHD, right? I can't focus. I have ADHD. I struggle with this. I have ADHD. I used it as a crutch. I used it as a crutch to make excuses. To make excuses. That's really what it is. And I would say, oh, I can't focus. And I bring this up because I see it everywhere. I see it in my comments. And a lot of people, this is a highly requested episode about ADHD and focus.

I see it in my comments all the time. And it's totally not, you know, people aren't doing this out of, you know, malintent or trying to be negative or hurt themselves, but I see it all the time, oh, I can't focus. How do I X, Y, Z? Stop saying you cannot focus. That is an instruction to your brain. Stop saying, oh, I get so easily distracted. That is an instruction to your brain.

Remember, your identity is your destiny in this life. And as long as you identify with the things that are holding you back currently, that you don't want to be holding you back, your brain will continue to predict your future based on the labels that you choose to bring upon yourself. Personally, and people have asked like, oh, but you say you've been diagnosed with ADHD, yes. I think there's a difference, right?

Like, I can say I've been diagnosed with ADHD, but I don't identify as that, right? And so I don't use it as a label. I used to. I very much used to. I don't need more. I don't like the words I can't, especially when it comes to focus, focus is not a personality trait. It is a skill you build.

Yes, some people are just born, better able to focus for long periods of time than others, but it is a trainable skill. And so I just want you, I guess, first step, and this is really the easiest step to start with, is to notice where you are instructing yourself against what you want. Where are you identifying with these labels that are things that you don't want to identify with anymore. I mean, and anxiety is, is such a great example. Like, oh, I'm anxious. I wouldn't describe myself as that. It's okay to experience anxiety. It is okay to feel anxious, of course, like feel your feelings. But I personally wouldn't describe myself and walk around being like, oh, yeah, I am, I am anxious. The words I am are extremely powerful words. They instruct your brain

on who you are, as does your behavior. Your behavior also instructs your brain on who you are. But the words I am are instructions to your brain for who you are to build your self-concept. And remember your self-concept and who you are and your sense of identity is a self-fulfilling prophecy because your brain is going to work 100% of the time to keep you in alignment with who you believe that you are. So just be observant. And next time you're thinking to yourself, you know, oh, I can't focus. Catch yourself. I'm like, yes, I can.

So let's hit a lighter note now. And let's talk about attention training. Where would I be? Where would I be without meditation? Not here. I would not be here without meditation. I would not be here without mindfulness. Meditation. Okay. Meditation gives you superpowers. I've said this time and time again. Meditation gives you superpowers. And I mean that wholeheartedly. I mean that in the realest sense. Take it and round with it. I mean superpowers. That's what I mean. I mean tapping into a different level of intelligence. And I also mean gaining a super powerful level of focus that you've never had before.

All right, you could tap into the Godmind, you can tap into the divine and download all sorts of stuff when you are really in deep meditation. It's absolutely incredible. It gives you superpowers. And it also allows you to train your brain for an insane level of focus. I actually started mindfulness meditation in the very beginning of my journey before I even went to the PhD. It was kind of in my last year of undergrad where I was starting the journey of rewiring my brain when I was starting to rewire my beliefs. It was one of the very first things I ever did when I was beginning my journey of transforming my brain to transform my life. And I think it is so necessary. And if you say you can't meditate, ding, ding, ding, stop saying you can't. Meditation is also a trainable skill.

I get so many questions like how to meditate and maybe we can do a whole podcast episode on that. But meditation is a practice. You wouldn't expect to go be amazing at basketball if you never practice basketball. So why are you expecting yourself to sit down? and close your eyes for 10 minutes and not have thoughts racing through your mind when you don't practice. Makes no sense. Meditation for me is a requirement. It is a non-negotiable. I think if you're not meditating, then why are you expecting yourself to be able to focus your mind? Meditation is a, is the practice of focusing your mind. And I think everyone needs a practice for focusing their mind, especially in today's world. Today's world is full of distractions. Now there are so many different

ways to meditate. There are so many different ways to meditate and that is not within the scope of this episode, but mindfulness meditation really is one of the major things that helped me train my brain for focus and attention. This is attention training at its finest mindfulness, meditation. You sit there and I personally started out with guided meditations because when you're a beginner, it is way easier to do a guided meditation. So I personally recommend starting there. If you are a beginner, it's just easier. But I personally at this point, I like to listen to frequencies or just a little chill track. I actually have public playlists on Spotify that you can go and listen to specifically for to meditate to. But I also just like silence and I will just sit there.

And I always begin with a few physiological size. This is really helpful for any time we're trying to lock in in focus, honestly. Also, I love to meditate after I've worked out. Exercise was another thing that we were going to get to, but I'll just talk about it right now. Exercise is extremely important. Exercise is also a non-negotiable if you're trying to focus. Exercise first thing in the morning is a game changer for anyone who struggles if you've been diagnosed with ADHD and you struggle with it. Exercising first thing in the morning and moving your body in the morning before you try to go and do your work will change the game for you. Boost dopamine. So, that you have a better, more motivation to actually go and do the work, but also it boosts

endorphins so that you feel better and it gets your blood flowing. It wakes you up, wakes up your brain. It's so good. It's so, so, so good. And of course, when you boost this dopamine and that dopamine drives learning, it drives neuroplasticity, so you're actually way better equipped to go and focus and actually learn new things and actually remember the things that you are learning. So it's incredible. It's something that I have done since college, even before knowing, about the neuroscience behind it, I always found that it was so much easier to lock in and focus for hours at the library if I had worked out before. So make sure that you are exercising. It is so, so, so important to move your body, especially if you struggle with feeling motivated

or feeling energized. This is the key. This is the key. And I personally like to meditate after I've moved my body. It's no secret that since ancient times and yoga, you do the meditation at the end. You do it at the end, right? You lay and meditate at the end of yoga after you've moved your body. Now, I personally, this is a personal preference. I find it so much easier. And whenever I have people that I personally coach in Minecraft and they're like, M, I really struggle with meditation.

I am really struggling with my mind wandering and so many thoughts. Or I struggle to do it when I first wake up in the morning because I feel so sleepy and I just want to fall back asleep when I try to meditate. But if you are one of those people that feel super sleepy first thing in the morning, and it's hard for you to meditate, or when you do try to meditate, your mind is wandering. Try meditation after you work out. This will also help with nervous system regulation because when you work out and exercise, you're hyping your body up, putting it into fight or flight on purpose.

And it's really good to take yourself back out of that and put yourself back into that parasympathetic mode and chill out on purpose. So it's really just a bunch of birds with one stone. I highly recommend it. You will notice a huge difference in your meditations if you just. try doing it after you work out. It's a game changer. But of course, meditation strengthens your prefrontal cortex just to give you guys a little more neuroscience behind why it's so important. It strengthens your prefrontal cortex. So, and your prefrontal cortex is that boss, the CEO of your brain. And it

strengthens that part. So it strengthens your ability to focus. And of course, also you are practicing the art of focus while you're meditating. It's so great. Highly recommend everybody do it. Another way to practice focus. There are so many ways to practice. attention training, right? Like reading, you could read for 10 minutes a day, or you can practice sort of 10 minute focus reps where you purposefully remove all distractions and you can set a timer and focus on one task. Maybe it is writing or crossword, I don't know, but anything that requires you to focus, you put aside all distractions, set a timer for 10 minutes and every single day, practice the art of undistracted focus. That is going to help you train your brain

to lock in. Another little cheat code that I like to use every once in a while. I don't use this I don't use this too often, but a cheat code for focus that I don't really hear too many people talk about is visualizing a focused flow state before you get into it. I've had times where I have a ton of work to do. I go to a co-working space and I have so much to get done. And I will take the five minutes, seven minutes, to sit and close my eyes and visualize myself, getting everything done with joy, in flow, feeling good. I see myself locked in, undistracted, focused. That changes the game. You prime your brain to get into that state, right? You're activating, you're visualizing yourself, you're feeling it. It's incredible. And it really helps.

and I mean meditation before a focused, you know, long days work helps too. I get it. A lot of the time you want to be like, I have so much to get done. I don't have that five to seven minutes to waste in the beginning. I just got to get straight into it. The five to seven minutes in the beginning will save you so many more minutes to hours in distraction and you not feeling good. You will be just so much more productive.

You'll feel better. and when you feel better, you do so much better, you work quicker, you get it done way faster. It's really a game changer. So give yourself, allow yourself the ability to spend that five to 10 minutes before you dive in. And one other tool that I really like to use before I dive in while we're on that note is a brain dump. I love a brain dump. If you are one of my people that will get into it and all of a sudden you have these thoughts popping into your head, oh, I got to do this later.

I got to do this later. I got to walk the dog. I have to do my laundry. Oh, oh, wait. Yeah, I need to do this too. Oh, I got to get this paper from the store. I also need more deodorant. If you're that person, now while you're getting stuff done,

all of a sudden, all these things start popping into your head. Highly recommend doing a brain dump before you get into your focused work state. I promise you it would change a game for you. You can do it in the notes app on your computer. or on your phone. You can have a journal. I personally have a journal that I really like to use. I just sit down. There's really no time limit to this, but sit down and write everything that is on your mind out into your notes or onto a piece of paper. When you do this, you empty your mind, you empty your mind, you empty it, you get it all out of your head and somewhere else. Because

your brain has this thing where it likes to find resolutions. And so if you don't write the thing down and you'll just continue to loop it. Your brain wants to save the idea or the thing you need to get done or the thing you need from the grocery store. It's going to continue to loop that in your mind because it wants to, it doesn't want you to let you forget it. It's going to continue to loop in your working memory. When you write it down and you dump it out of your brain and you put it somewhere else, it gives your brain that resolution and now you can be like, okay, I don't need to remember it anymore. I don't need to keep thinking about it because it's somewhere else. Right? And then you can, it'll be incredible. Just, you'll feel so different working. And then as you're working,

if a thought does pop into your head, you just go and you add it to the notes. You go and you add it to the piece of paper or add it to the brain dump. Add it to the brain dump. Oh, I need to do it or write that down. And then you can go back to work. And you don't feel like you need to keep thinking about it because you've already written it down somewhere else and you can go back and reference it later. Trying to juggle too many thoughts at once, trying to multitask and have too many things in your working memory at once is just the killer of productivity and also getting into that focus flow state. So try out a brain dump. It is extremely helpful, especially if you have a lot going on and you're really busy. It will really help you feel more organized as well. And organization is key

for productivity. And that actually brings me to my next category of things that I wanted to talk about, which is environment, your environment and cultivating the perfect environment. for focus. And I was just talking about how organization is key for productivity. Organization in your physical environment is really important as is in your virtual environment. So if you have tabs everywhere, and actually it's really funny because I was just talking to my brother on the phone. And I was telling him about writing my book and how I have just like an infinite number of windows open. And he was like, oh, no, I'm getting secondhand like my anxiety, just you talking about how many tabs do you have open stresses me out. He has so many monitors.

he's got the whole thing. Long story, sure, I realized maybe I need an extra screen so that I don't have to click back and forth and toggle between 10 different windows on my little laptop screen. Just little things like that makes such a huge difference. Having too many tabs open on your laptop, just that in itself can cut down your productivity and sort of lead to that sense of overwhelm and sense of stress that we can get from having too many things going on at once. And of course, your physical environment is the same way. And this doesn't have to mean that your environment is empty if you're the type of person that likes to have a lot of trinkets

and stuff going on everywhere. Totally cool. But make sure that your environment is cultivated and set up for you to have that best feeling so that you can get into the work that you want to get into. I was actually talking about this a little bit on my Minecraft call this past week about cultivating the perfect set and setting for whatever it is that you're trying to do. And for me personally, I like to be really. extra about this. Writing my book, I've actually been setting up right in front of this fireplace,

facing the fireplace, and writing my book. And it's just been such a cozy author vibe. Or going to the library. I was on the phone with my friend. And I was like, I'm going to go to the library to write my book. That way I can become a book at the library. And so I can really embody that author feeling, right? And write my book. Even on nights where I like to, I like to have little rituals, like ceremonies with myself. I don't really know what I call it. But I like to let. I like to, out on the floor of my room and set up some incense or a candle and my journal or a book, place some frequencies if I'm not watching something. And then I have this little light that projects an aura up onto the wall.

So cool. I love it. It was really cheap. And it just really brings the vibe together. And then I will journal or be creative, whatever it is that I'm doing, right? whatever I choose to do with myself. But it's all about curating the vibe in your environment. And so when it comes to focus, what type of environment can you get into that flow

and knowing yourself? Like, where do you need to go? Is it at home? Is it in a certain room? I like to be mobile. I have a little mobile desk on wheels that I bring around. I bring it outside in my backyard. I bring it into my office.

I bring it into the living room wherever I want to go and work. Because as somebody who knows that I need novelty, if you are, are, have you been diagnosed with ADHD or not? Novelty boosts dopamine. Dopamine boosts your ability to be motivated and productive and focus. And so we need to also be boosting dopamine in whatever way that we can. And novelty is one of the ways that we can do this. And so I like to switch up my environments.

I like to go somewhere else, go to the coffee shop, go to the library, or sit in my living room in front of the fireplace, or go into my office. I like to switch it up. I like to be mobile with it, go outside to the backyard. Why? Because novelty boosts dopamine. And I know that if I can boost dopamine, then I can get, it's easier to get into that focused state. I want to talk to you guys a little bit about the doorway effect because this is something that helped me so much whenever I was in the PhD. When I was kind of trying to figure out how am I going to train my brain to focus? How am I going to lock in? I've never been able to do this before. I utilized the doorway effect. And the fact that, as you switch locations, your brain shifts modes. And so as I would walk through the doorway to my classes, I remember of a vivid memory of walking through the doorway

to neural systems two or something in the PhD and saying to myself in my mind, I am going to focus and I'm going to remember and learn what the professor is saying today. And it would help so much just to set that intention as I went to a new environment. utilize the doorway effect. Utilize the power that you have over your brain. Every time you shift locations, your brain shifts modes. I've been at home before trying to do work, realizing I can't

get into flow. I'm not feeling motivated or creative here. What do I need to do? Go somewhere else. Get in the car and go to a coffee shop. As soon as I would even get in the car and hit the road, two seconds later, all of a sudden all these ideas are flowing to me. I don't even have to try. It's so easy. So utilize the doorway effect. Utilize the doorway effect. Utilize the power that you have over your brain here, shift locations. If you're struggling to focus, go somewhere new and then set the intention as you're going somewhere new. Okay, my brain is shifting into a focus state. And you can even set that intention as you sit down to do work wherever you're doing it. Intention setting is so powerful. It is an instruction to your brain again on how to act,

how to feel, how to be. So set those intentions as well. And I think that's also why having that morning routine, moving your body, going into meditation, and then after you meditate, what are your intentions? What do you want to feel, do and be today? And even before you do things, before I would go into class, before I would go into lab, or before I now go on to calls or coaching calls or meetings, masterclasses, whatever it is that I'm doing, I have very specific intentions for how I want to be, how I want to show up, what I want to do, how I want to feel when I am doing whatever I'm doing. A few other things just on the environment note that could be very very very helpful that are maybe more obvious is of course, do not disturb. Also putting your phone

away, just having your phone in your field of view actually has been shown to reduce cognitive capacity and your ability to focus. So don't have your phone within view. I always put it out of you when I'm doing work. Always. Do not let it even be in your field of vision. It will make you more distractible, especially if you have your notifications on, which I personally have zero notifications, not for social media, not for anything, except for write text and calls. But if I'm on do not disturb, I'm not getting it for anything. But I don't get notifications for any apps besides texting and calling. So DND is, of course, great tool because I also, my laptops get notifications too, so I go on D&D. That's a more obvious one that obviously I recommend. And another tool that you can

use is to set a timer. Having a specific amount of time makes it a lot easier and gives you, and gives you a clear end goal. I recommend this over, oh, I'm going to sit down and just using me as a personal example, I'm going to sit down and write the entire chapter today. That is, it's just not a super clear end goal and your brain likes very clear goals. Your brain likes a very clear instruction. And so give your brain that say, I am going to work for the next hour without distraction. It can be a timed goal or it can also be like for me, my personal life. of writing my book. I think this is the most locked in I've been in a long time for long periods of time. And I will say, I'm going to get this done, this section, this chunk done before I pick up my phone.

And obviously, honestly, I have been so locked in the past few weeks that I think this is just perfect and divine timing to be filming this episode because I have been so focused on a level that I have never been in my life without any real hardcore supplement. or caffeine or any of that. And it's been a real full circle moment for me because like I said, I used to depend on stimulants just to function. On days when I wouldn't take them,

I would feel depressed. I utilize a number of things to transition from that to where I am today. On the environment piece, I kind of have one more tip for you guys on kind of cultivating a really good environment for focus. And it is using music.

You can also use smell, actually smell is the only sense that we have that goes straight to the brain without being filtered. It doesn't get filtered by the thalamus. And so it actually can boost a lot of neuroplasticity. And so if you are feeling so inclined to choose a certain scent that you want to pair with being in a focus state, the brain is an association machine. The brain is always creating associations or connections between things. Choosing a scent, let's say peppermint. You're going to choose peppermint and peppermint is going to be my focus scent. Now, every time I go to the coffee shop or I go to the library or I sit down at my desk, I'm going to put some peppermint essential oils on my wrist or on

something next to me, whatever the case may be. Your brain will learn over time that that scent means lock in. And over time, you're going to start putting that scent on you and immediately be like, where's the work? Where's the work? I got to get it done. And I say that because that's how I am. am with this playlist that I have. So scent is one example, but so is music. I have a playlist of music. And if this is public on Spotify, by the way, people ask me for it all the time. It's called super focused mode, I believe is what I called it. But this is a playlist that I have been adding to since I was, I want to say a freshman or sophomore in undergrad. So I was maybe 18 or 19 years old. It was a while ago, I've been, I guess it's been like seven years, eight years that I've been listening to this

playlist now, maybe eight years. I've been listening to this playlist for that many years, but I only ever listened to this playlist while I studied. So the reason when I started this playlist, it was like one of my chemistry TAs in undergrad had all these focused songs and I really liked the few of them. So I started my own playlist and I would add them to this playlist. And over time, it grew. I only ever listened it to it when I would go to the PCL, the library on campus. and I would listen to it while I would lock in and study to like 4 a.m. That is when I would listen to this playlist. And I've been growing it over the years.

I'm always adding new songs to it. It's very long at this point. But my point is that I only ever listen to this playlist whenever I am doing focused work. It got to this point where as soon as I turn this playlist on, I am, my brain is on go. My brain is like, where is the work? Lock in. My brain has learned. And of course, music boost neuroplasticity as well and activates the brain. And so my brain has learned

and created an association, right? My brain associates this playlist with focus. My brain has learned to associate this playlist with locking in. And this is really the power that we have, right? Like we can teach our brains, you know, what certain things mean. Nothing has meaning except for the meaning that we give it. You want to create a playlist and make it your super happy, super vibe. playlist and every time, okay, well then start, create that playlist and then whenever you are feeling super happy, super vibe, play it. And over time, your brain's going to learn to associate that feeling with that playlist. And now even when you're sad, if you play it, you'll feel happy. Pretty cool how the brain works. This is just, you know, where do we get this from? Like a Pavlov's dogs. If you've

never heard of Pavlov's dogs before, it is a real clean example of classical conditioning and associative learning. And so what they would do is they would give the dogs food and they would notice that the dog salivates when you give the dog food. And so they would give the dog food and ring a bell. And over time, right, doing that over and over again, the dog learned that the sound of the bell meant food. The dog's brain unconsciously learned to associate the sound of the bell with food. Now, what came about was that they wouldn't even have to give the dog the food. They would just ring the bell and the dog would salivate because the dog learned to associate the bell with food. So what you're doing with this playlist or with this scent is that you are teaching your brain to associate this scent or this playlist with focus.

Now, of course, there are also frequencies for focus like 40 hertz binaural beats has been shown. It's been published in nature that it has has the ability to. improve learning outcomes speed up learning so use that I actually have a playlist on YouTube as well it's completely free in public it's a it's called frequencies for focus and you can go and listen to that playlist there are multiple videos on there of different frequencies that you can listen to for focus that have actually been shown to entrain your brain and boost your ability to focus so if that's something that you're interested in you can also check that out as well all right

just a couple more things that I want to share with you before we head on into just a few of my personal favorites for, you know, little adaptogens and supplements and things like that. I want to share just a little kind of mindset tip or kind of work tip for jumping into work. A lot of times we procrastinate getting it done or starting because we are looking at this mountain of work as this mountain of work. When I look at writing my book as writing my entire book, do you think that I am going to be motivated to go and write my book? Absolutely not.

Feels like a giant impossible goal. This is where my saying that I always say comes in. Start small and send it. I personally cannot allow myself to think about all of the different things that I have going on and all the different things that I got to do because that tends to overwhelm my brain. I don't like to do it. And it's cool because you don't have to do it. I do it when I'm brain dumping and I'll write down all the different things I have going on.

I'll put it in my calendar or schedule it, write it in my notes, right? But then when I'm actually moving throughout my day, I do not think about everything that I have going on. I only pay attention to the present moment and the next step, starting small and sending it. What is the next step? What is the smallest thing that I can do? If I'm trying to write my book and I think about, oh, I need to write an entire, chapter today or I need to, you know, whatever it is, I like to think, okay, what is, what is the

tiniest little thing that I can do first? Maybe it's, let me just write a few of the main points that I want to get across for the chapter. Something so small that it would take you five to 10 minutes to complete. Take whatever it is that you got to do and make it so small that it feels dumb to not go and do it right now. Maybe for you, it's working out and you're not feeling super motivated to get in the and do a workout. Rather than going to the gym and thinking, oh, I got to go hit leg day and do all these different moves, think I'm going to go in there and I'm going to start with five minutes on the stairmaster. I'm going into the gym to do five minutes on the stairmaster. This is starting small and sending it. This is the saying in motion. Start small five minutes on the treadmill or on the stairmaster.

What's going to happen? You're going to get dopamine from completing that. You're going to feel really good and that dopamine is going to motivate you to do the next step. And now you've got momentum. Stop thinking about the entire task you've got to do and make it as small as you possibly can. It will help you so much. It will help you to actually start because that's a lot of times the hardest part. A lot of times the hardest part is the starting. So start small and send it. Next topic, dopamine hygiene. Make sure that you are getting up in the morning and getting your morning sunlight, go outside and moving your body. Do that every morning. You will feel so much more motivated. so much more productive, you will feel way better about yourself. You'll feel so good, it'll be incredible.

If you're not doing that, then stop beating yourself up for not being able to focus, because you're not setting yourself up for success. That morning light boost dopamine, which of course will motivate you, make you feel more productive, actually make you be more productive, and of course, movement does that. We already talked about that. So make sure you're doing that. it also gives you a little helps with that circadian rhythm regulation. It will help you with that. And that's really important because you want to have a little boost of cortisol in the morning. This actually is great. It helps you to wake up. And it helps to regulate your circadian rhythm. So make sure you are doing that. That is actually a really good thing. I've talked about this before on social media,

actually, about how helpful it is to boost your cortisol in the morning or just put yourself in an alert state in the morning. Now, obviously, if you are not a regulated person in general, that you're in a different boat and you should focus on nervous system regulation first before you focus on putting your body into an acutely stressed state first thing in the morning. But that is going to be, you know, a personal preference or difference depending on who you are and individual difference. But make sure that you're getting up in the morning, getting your morning sunlight and moving your body in some way, shape, or form. If you don't have a ton of time, it doesn't need to take you a ton of time. I used to have to get into the lab at 6 a.m. for certain experiments that I would have to do. And I would get up and I would take a step outside and I would do, I would do three sun salutations, which are yoga flows that take 30 seconds. I would do that a few times, get my blood flowing,

feeling really good, take a few deep breaths, set my intentions and go. That is all that needs to be done. It doesn't have to take too long. There really are no excuses. And if you're complaining about not feeling good, if you're complaining about, you know, feeling down about yourself or not feeling focused or not feeling on top of your life, do you have that morning routine in place? And if you don't, then that's why. A morning routine will change your life. And I know it's like so simple and it's so dumb and you just don't want to hear it, but it's really true. One more thing here on the dopamine hygiene point. Remove dopamine leaks. Your dopamine system resets as you sleep at night and restores. and so binging Netflix, scrolling social media, doom scrolling, late at night,

it's just going to kill your ability to get up and get motivated in the morning. You start your day the night before. So remove the dopamine leaks. Remove the, you know, scrolling and binging and all that. And obviously you're going to have your time. You're going to have your time when your season and your show is released and you want to get into it. Okay.

You do you. All right. Everything in moderation. But if you're trying to get up and be super, super productive tomorrow, just know that staying up late and binge watching your show, it does not set you up for success. Just know that scrolling on your phone the night before will not set you up for success. Try journaling, try reading, meditating, dancing, singing. I personally like to do that. My nighttime rituals sometimes look like singing in the shower and dancing around and,

you know, getting ready for bed and just be in show. But again, that's up to you. But doing things that don't just burn out and fill yourself with cheap dopamine. Remove the dopamine leaks from your life. Remove the distractions from your life. Again, I turn all the notifications off my social media. At this point, these days, if you don't have your notifications off for social media, why don't you? I think that, I mean, everybody's different, but I think at this point, it's really, it's so important. Like, we're going on it enough. You don't need a notification to trigger you to go on there. But remove the dopamine leaks from your life. Remove the distractions. move anything from your environment that you feel is leaking or draining you.

And without further ado, let's talk a little bit about how I began my transition from being on stimulants and, you know, ADHD medication and, you know, what I did supplements I personally took. Obviously, I'm not going to recommend anybody take anything. I'm going to talk about what I personally like, what it's personally helped me and the science behind them, why I like it, what it does to your brain, and then you can go and take that information and do whatever with whatever you will do with it. I want to talk about two categories here. And we're going to keep this super simple. I don't want to just overrun or inundate you with a bunch of information. I'm not, I genuinely am not the type of person that's super supplement mode. I'm not that person

anymore. I used to be more into that world and now I'm not as much. But there are some things that I really do live and die by. Caffeine and Lthianine combination is one of those, is one of those things that I will live and die by. I will be buried with caffeine, Lelthianine combo. I will marry it. If it was a person, I'm just kidding. But caffeine, Lthianine, and combination will change your life for my people that are listening. And people always miss hearing. It's a weird word. So it's L-thianine, T-H-E-A-N-I-N-E-thian-L-thian-N-E and caffeine. It's actually been shown in multiple studies in people diagnosed with ADHD that it supports sustained focus and attention, prolonged focus and attention in people with ADHD.

It helps you focus and pay attention longer. Caffeine, obviously, we know the drill. It boosts dopamine, boosts alertness, it wakes you up. It can also kind of put you into a state of fight or flight because it does also boost cortisol. And it can be a little stressful on the body. Personally, you will never catch me drinking a cup of coffee. Back in the day, I would have drank five shots of espresso in a day. But now I am very minimal with the caffeine intake that I intake.

But caffeine, L-thian in combination is my go-to. I get it naturally from matcha. It is found naturally in macha. I don't want to say like I coined this, but I made a video about this a couple years ago and it went extremely viral. And then people everywhere were like DMing me that it helped them so much.

If you are somebody who does like a little more caffeine, put a shot of espresso in a macho latte and just watch yourself be the most focused that you've ever been in your entire life. I was on a Minecraft coaching call. And one of my students in Minecraft was like, I was out with my friend at a coffee shop and she ordered a macho with espresso. And she was like, yeah, I saw this girl on Instagram. she said to do it.

And my student was like, no way, that's my coach. Em, on the brain. It's a funny story. But so many people. I actually have a friend who creates ADHD content. He DM me and was like, and this is a game changer. It is a game changer.

Put a shot of espresso in your matcha and just watch your life change. And I don't do this all the time, but if I am feeling a little more tired or I want to get extra locked in, I will put a shot of espresso in my matcha latte and watch my life transform. Elthianine actually helps to boost alpha waves in the brink. brain and it also boosts gabaergic activity. And alpha waves are associated with the kind of a calm

sense of flow. It's just really helpful for balancing out the effects of the caffeine. And so if you ever feel jittery from caffeine, L-thenene helps to mitigate those effects and balance that out. You can get the alertness and the dopamine boost from the caffeine while also feeling calm and in flow from the L-theonine. It is a slick combo and I highly recommend it. Now, I want to talk about a couple other things that I really like, and they are adaptogens and herbs. So I love Rodeola Rosea. I love it. It is stimulating. And so if you're somebody who is sensitive to stimulation, just or more like, you know, stimulants, like caffeine or whatever, definitely look into that and do your own research. Always do your own research on everything you ever hear,

honestly, even from me. And because everybody's different and individuals do exist. And in every single research study, there is an outlier. Okay. And That could be you. So always listen to yourself first. But rodeola rosacea, it boosts dopamine, it boost serotonin, it boosts neuropinephrine. It's kind of just powerhouse little herb. And it's an adaptogen as well. And it is amazing. I have a liquid tincture that I put dropper in my matcha or whatever I'm drinking. And I love it. It's really good. I definitely feel the effects of it in immediately, like as soon as I intake it within 30 minutes or an hour or whatever. So that one is one of those things where you do feel the effects sort of right away, and it's super helpful. Lions mane is another adaptogen that I love,

as well as cordyceps. Lions mane's awesome. It has been shown to boost BDNF in the brain, brain-derived neurotropic factor, which is sort of like fertilizer in the brain. It has been shown to induce neural sprouting. Now they've seen this in animal models. It's hard to do this sort of work in human brains. For obvious reasons, we can't just slice human brains open and look at them after they've taken Lions mane and image them. But what they have shown is that it actually does improve reaction times and mental clarity. So Lionsmane's awesome. But Corticeps is too and cordyceps has been well studying in humans, especially for athletic performance. And so I love cordisept. It's more associated with kind of boosting energy. But Lionsmane and Corticeps, I think those are more things that I, I mean, Lionsman has

been shown to help in real time immediately, but also, of course, if you're doing it for the BDNF, fertilizer, neural sprouting, neuroplasticity boosting effects because BDNF and that brain fertilizer, it's really good because it can help to induce neural sprouting, which is basically just boosting neuroplasticity, which is the ability to rewire your brain. And if you're trying to focus and learn and remember things, then you want to be able to boost your ability to rewire your brain. And so Lions main can be really helpful for that. Now, those are more effects that you're going to see long term. I like to take it every day. Lions main, cordyceps, I'm an everyday girl. Now, of course, when it comes to

like rhodiola rosea or, you know, extra caffeine or any of that, that's as needed whenever I'm feeling it. Now, there are other supplements that I will take, like supplements that boost dopamine activity, cholinergic activity, acetylcholine, that can be really helpful. Those are, I use more intermittently and I sort of kind of just pick and choose whatever kind of supplement of the day that I'm taking. I personally get sent a ton of different supplements from companies just because of the type of content I create, of course, and I love trying them all out and seeing what works and seeing which ingredients I like and don't like. And so I have a long-ass list of different kind of supplements and ingredients that I do like that I found that really helped me.

That's beyond the scope of what we're going to talk about today. But what I just shared with you are really kind of the ones that I really love and live and die by. At this point, for me, just the caffeine, Lthian combo does an amazing job. I went to. I went to you. I went to the library the other day and I was chewing my caffeine, Lthianine gum, and I was just on go mode. So that in itself is extremely helpful. Now, I told you guys that we would do a 24-hour experiment. I would give you a practice that you can try in the next 24 hours to see yourself change and just watch your brain change and watch yourself grow in real time. And so I want to help you do that. In the next 24 hours, I want you to do this, and I want you to let me know

how it went for you. I do see a lot of my DMs, by the way. I try to respond to DMs. People be like, whoa, you responded. I try. I get so many, obviously, so I cannot respond to all of them, but my comments, I do respond to most of my comments. So if you comment on one of my reels or especially on the Planet M reels, like, we'll get, we'll get to you. But I want to see, I want to see. I would say, like, probably my reels are probably the best to comment on because I personally look at those, but let me know how this experiment works for you. That's my point. All right. So let's begin. The first step is the identity lock. Choose who you are and choose who you want to be. Remember, the labels that you choose to identify what yourself with are really important. So decide.

Whatever task you're trying to do, you can identify. Like, for example, for me, if I'm trying to sit down and write my book, I am an author. I am a super focused author. Or you can just say, like, I am extremely focused. I'm a badass. I get stuff done so quick. Choose who you want to be and who you want to identify as. That's the first step. Second step is to choose one activity or something that you can do, an attention rep. We're calling this an attention rep.

That's second step. Choose something that you can do in 10 minutes. Whether it is meditation or a task, maybe you have a bigger task to do, but you want to work on it for 10 minutes without being distracted at all. Choose one thing that you're going to do without distraction for 10 minutes.

And remember, you want to set a clear your goal. I even do this with meditation. I've found that setting a timer is really helpful for reminding yourself, hey, no, actually, we're present. We're here right now. And so set a timer or something like that for the 10 minutes. And if you feel the urge in those 10 minutes to check your phone or get up or move or distract yourself, just bring yourself back to the present and say, hey, no, now's not the time. We're focused right now. And just do this for 10 minutes. We're focused now. Now's not the time. I am here now. And this is something that really, helps with meditation. Every time I catch myself in thoughts, I'm like, oh, wait, no, no, no,

we don't need to be anywhere else than right here. And you can be nowhere else but right here for 10 minutes. I promise it'll be okay. So do that for 10 minutes. Step three is to evidence tag. After you've completed the 10 minutes, now it's time to make sure that your brain uses this exercise, this attention rep as evidence toward your new identity. It's so important. This is why in Minecraft, we celebrate our wins. Because it's like, no, yes, please share your wins. Tell me what you did amazing. Tell me what great thing happened this past week. Tell me what you did. Tell me what you accomplished. Why? Because you're providing evidence to your brain of how amazing you are. So important. Celebrating the small wins. So important. Write down every single night what you accomplished. What were your

wins of the day? They can be so small. Wins of the day are so powerful. I'm like, maybe I need to do an episode on my morning and night routine. But a win of the day is a great practice. So write down, like, what did you do? Also, a win of the week. But anyway, that's not relevant right now. What's relevant right now is that you make sure that when the timer ends, you say, like, out loud or in your journal, this is proof that I can focus. This is proof that I am focused. Make sure that whatever it is that you just accomplished in that 10 minutes is flagged as evidence by your brain that you can, focus. And actually, guys, I kind of messed up right now. That was step four, the evidence part. Before you do your task, and this is just a little insertion, a little carrot, before you do the

task, do a couple physiological size. I actually do this at the beginning of every single meditation. A few, like three physiological size, whenever I'm hosting guided visualizations as well in Minecraft, because I love doing that for my people. I always have everybody do three physiological size because it really helps you to drop in to your body and really out of your mind and into the present moment. So highly recommend doing those at the beginning of your visualizations or meditations, but also at the beginning of this 10 minute attention rep that you're doing. It'll be very helpful. And then do your task and then make sure that you are telling your brain, hey, this is proof, this is evidence. I did a great job. I'm amazing. I can do this. Let's go. I just, you can also. You can

be like that brain updated, my brain is rewired for more focus. Whoa, I just, I just gained focus points in my character in this video game of life. I just gained focus points. Look at me now. Leveling up. Like, do that. You have to provide your brain evidence. So make sure to do that. And then, of course, let me know how it works for you, how you're feeling and how it's going. Do that in the next 24 hours. And then do it, do it, do it more. Do it more often. Do it every day. watch your brain transform. Just to close out this episode here, I want to let you guys know that there is no such thing as peaking in this life. You can continue to strengthen your ability to focus for a long time. You can get better and better and better. I remember a few years ago, maybe like three years ago,

I had to write a speech for this event in New York City. And it took me like a week to write it. And I practiced it a bunch of times and went up there. And last year, I went back to the same event. So there was, I guess it was two years ago and then last year, I went back to the same event. And I wrote the entire speech in one day and memorized it and a few reads. And I realized in just that span of a year how much my brain has strengthened and my ability to focus and remember things has grown so much just in the year. So I just want you to know that start now, start today. You'll see some results quickly.

and then you'll continue to see results for as long as you practice the art of focus. You can do it. I believe in you. Go get focused. Go do your 24-hour experiment and let me know how it goes for you. I will see you in the next episode. I'm sending you so much love. Until next time.