AMA #1: Leveraging Ultradian Cycles, How to Protect Your Brain, Seed Oils Examined and More
Main Takeaways
The body's rhythms follow 90-minute cycles throughout the day, which govern focus and brain cycles.
During sleep, for every 90-minute cycle, REM takes up more time, and the more sleep you get, the more REM you have.
Pay attention to the time when you have the greatest state of mental alertness in the morning, usually around 9:30 am, to block off focused time.
By waking up early and using caffeine or high-intensity exercise, you can trigger cortisol release and capture an additional morning work block between 6-7 am.
To take advantage of natural biological rhythms, use ultradian cycles (90-minute bouts) for intensely focused sessions.
Assume it will take about 5-10 minutes to ease in and then ramp up, and when finished, spend 10-30 minutes to deliberately defocus.
The style of blocking off time to take advantage of natural biological rhythms is called "iterative mental plasticity."
During the day, block off 1-3 very focused bouts, but most people have two solid blocks.
Don't take breaks from ultradian time blocking; the more you force yourself to focus, the easier focusing gets.
You should perform your heaviest mental and physical tasks during this part of the day, not just work.
