Then the answer surely is to find ways to become more productive and focused, to drive distracting thoughts out of your head and to fixate on what you’re doing. But perhaps this isn’t the most effective strategy. Perhaps in fact, this is counterproductive.

Instead, what if you chose to let your mental state dictate your activities… so that when you felt focused you worked on tasks that required focus? And when you felt relaxed, you instead spent time being creative.

Ebbs and Flows

You can use nootropics, CBT and other techniques to try and hijack your natural state and to force yourself to become more alert, more focused or more awake. But did you know that you actually already alternate between states of high focus and relaxation?

In fact, you can fairly accurately describe your mental state at any point as being somewhere on a single spectrum. At one end of the spectrum is the highly alert aroused state of acute stress (fight or flight) and at the other end of the spectrum is the far more relaxed and calm state of relaxation (rest and digest). We spend most of the time somewhere in-between (a state called homeostasis) but throughout the day we will shift slightly toward each extreme.

When you wake up in the morning for instance, you are in a fight or flight state. A state of arousal that is caused by low blood sugar – the result of effectively fasting through the night by not eating. This low blood sugar puts the body in a mild state of stress and encourages food-seeking behavior. This is further enhanced by morning light, which encourages the production of cortisol, to further increase arousal.

When you later eat, this causes a surge of sugar to enter the blood. The body absorbs this sugar and leaves behind a substance called tryptophan. Tryptophan is a building block of the ‘feel good hormone’ serotonin. And serotonin, in turn, gets broken down to create melatonin – the sleep hormone. That’s why we feel tired and less effective after eating.

What’s also interesting is that these states of mental arousal and relative relaxation also correlate with the physical, hormonal states of ‘catabolism’ and ‘anabolism’. When we are excited, our body burns energy stored as fat to use as energy. But when we are relaxed, it takes the opportunity to rebuild tissue and heal wounds.

Exercise increases arousal but triggers a subsequent anabolic (rest and digest) state. Of course, fear puts us into an extreme state of fight or flight/arousal. Adenosine builds up throughout the day, slowing down our thoughts and edging us toward neural inhibition and the release of GABA (another inhibitory neurotransmitter).

What to do With This Information – So why is this relevant? The answer is simple: if you want to get the best form your brain, you can do so by working out your natural ebbs and flows and the times you work best. Instead of trying to force your brain into arousal, why not identify when you are alert and then get to work?

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You can use nootropics, brain training, visualization and more to achieve this, or you can rely on your natural cycles and simply choose the right time to work. Our body goes through natural cycles based on what we eat, what the weather is like and even our breathing.

But alternatively, you could also consider actively influencing these physiological factors in order to trigger the most desirable mental state for the given activity.

The Role of Physiology

You can also manipulate your physiology in order to alter your mental state and to change the way you feel and perform at any given time.

For example, if you wanted to be more alert and focused, then you should avoid a heavy lunch. A heavy lunch requires energy simply to digest and as it triggers the release of feel-good endorphins, which also happen to be inhibitory neurotransmitters, it actually makes your brain more sluggish.

This is one reason that many people claim they feel more alert and focused when they are in a fasted state (it possibly also has to do with the release of ketones, which are preferential for certain specific mental activities).

Conversely, if you find yourself becoming anxious and grumpy, then consider seeking out more food in order to fix that chemical balance.

Likewise, if you turn the temperature down slightly, then you will also increase your arousal. The colder you are, the faster you breathe and the faster the blood flows through your veins. You also produce significantly more norepinephrine and testosterone. This is why it can be such an effective tool to take a cold shower, to jump in a plunge pool, or even just to splash cold water on your face.

Another good way to fight the fight or flight response though and to restore your homeostasis/calm is to practice correct breathing. Correct breathing technique is often referred to as ‘belly breathing’ and it involves first relaxing the diaphragm and then allowing the stomach to expand as the lower portion of the lungs drop into it, before feeling up the top of the lungs and expanding the chest.

This slower, fuller breathing can modulate the response of your parasympathetic nervous system in order to restore a sense of calm – especially if you make each breath longer and count for 4-5 seconds on every exhale and inhale. Next time you’re about to give a speech or do an interview, try this technique to calm your nerves.

Master Your Emotion

Many of us make the mistake of believing that our emotions arise from our thoughts, but more often it is our thoughts that arise from our emotions. And what do our emotions arise from? Our feelings. These have an evolutionary purpose remember, so they are all about driving us toward survival – finding food, resting when we can and avoiding danger.

If you’re having a bad day and you think the world kind of sucks, then before you do anything rash, ask if you might be over tired (which makes us groggy but eventually results in a fight or flight response), overly hungry or even ill which can create brain fog by causing inflammation via the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines.

Either way, look after your body if you want to have the best chance of controlling your mind and consider the context for how you’re feeling at any given time. The reason you can’t focus might even be because your belt is digging in…

Related Info Products:

Brighter Brain – Self Improvement Ebook and Video Package

MindZoom – Positive Affirmations Software