Standing and sitting up straight while looking at a screen or book that is elevated to slightly above eye level will generate maximal levels of alertness. This might seem wild, but it makes sense based on the neural circuits that control looking up or down. When looking down toward the ground, neurons related to calm and sleepiness are activated. There’s a relationship between where we look and our level of alertness. Place Your Screen (and Vision) in the Right Location During this phase, do no hard thinking or work unless, of course, you must (cramming for an exam or deadline comes to mind), keep your environment dark or very dim and the room temperature low (your body needs to drop in temperature to fall asleep and stay asleep). “ Phase 3”: ~17-24 hours after waking up is when you should be asleep or try to sleep. ![]() At this time, serotonin levels are relatively elevated, which lends itself to a somewhat more relaxed state of being-optimal for brainstorming and creative work. It isn’t just about getting the most important stuff out of the way it is about leveraging your natural biology toward the best type of work for the biological state you are in. Phase 1 is ideal for analytic “hard” thinking and any work that you find particularly challenging. Alertness can be further heightened by sunlight viewing, caffeine and fasting. I call the first part of your day (~0-8 hours after waking up) “ Phase 1.” During this phase, the chemicals norepinephrine, cortisol, and dopamine are elevated in your brain and body. We are not the same person across the different hours of the day, at least not neurochemically. ![]() ![]() However, verbal memory scores were worse in people using active workstations. Improvements in attention and cognition can be observed in people using active workstations versus seated workstations. There is evidence that such a sit-stand approach can reduce neck and shoulder and back pain and even help augment some of the positive effects of exercise-which we should all be doing too, of course.Ī note about treadmill and cycling desks:Īctive workstations are better for some tasks but worse for others. I use a shallow angle drafting table and then move to a regular desk and back again approximately every 30 minutes. A very accomplished academic (MD, PhD, member of the National Academy of Sciences) colleague has maintained tremendous productivity for decades by simply placing a box and a few books on their desk to create a simple, effective sit-stand desk. You do not need to purchase a standing desk. ![]() Research also shows that it’s a good idea to take a 5-15 minute stroll after every 45 minutes of work. The data on this (yes, there are quality peer-reviewed studies on the matter we disc u ss those and link to them in the Huberman Lab Podcast episode on optimizing your workspace) indicate that the best approach is: both! It is best to arrange your desk and workspace so that you can work sitting for some period of time-10-30 minutes or so for most people, and then shift to work standing for 10-30 minutes, and then go back to sitting. Tap into specific states of mind (creativity, logic, etc.) for the sake of work.Improve posture and reduce pain (neck, back, pelvic floor, etc).Below is a short list of the most effective things-none of which require purchasing any products or equipment. Regardless of where we work-at home, in an office, in cafes, or elsewhere-we can all do a few simple things to our work environment to optimize our productivity. It relates to a recent episode of the Huberman Lab Podcast, “ Optimizing Workspace for Productivity, Focus, & Creativity.” This newsletter aims to provide you with some actionable information in a condensed form. Thank you for joining the Huberman Lab Podcast Neural Network-a once-a-month newsletter with science and science-related tools for everyday life.
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