I write about staying sharp. Fasting protocols, cognitive enhancers, what actually moves the needle on focus and mood.
More coffee won't fix this
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Hi, Most high-performers are running the same playbook: Wake up. Coffee. Meetings. More coffee. Push through. Repeat. And for a while, it works. Until it doesn't. Here's what nobody talks about: The focus problem you're experiencing isn't about not enough stimulation. It's about being chronically dysregulated. Your nervous system has been running hot all day—cortisol spiking, dopamine firing, stress stacking on stress. Adding more caffeine to that system is like revving an engine that's already overheating. It might give you a temporary bump. But it's not solving the actual problem. The difference between stimulation and regulation Most people think focus is about turning things up. More caffeine. More urgency. More push. But elite performers know something different: Focus isn't just about turning ON. It's about knowing when to turn OFF. Your nervous system has two modes:
You can't stay in sympathetic mode all day and expect clarity. Eventually, the system breaks down. You get:
This isn't weakness. It's regulation failure. What regulation actually looks like Regulation isn't about doing less or "relaxing." It's about actively managing your nervous system so you can perform when it matters. That means:
The best performers don't just optimize for intensity. They optimize for sustainability. Bottom line: If you're relying on stimulation to get through the day, you're borrowing energy you can't afford to pay back. Start thinking about regulation. Your focus—and your nervous system—will thank you. — York |
FastingLoop
I write about staying sharp. Fasting protocols, cognitive enhancers, what actually moves the needle on focus and mood.
Hi, Have you ever noticed you think more clearly when you haven't eaten in a while? Not starving—just that window where everything feels a bit sharper. I kept hearing people talk about this, so I went digging. Here's what's actually going on. Your body runs on two fuels: sugar from food you recently ate, and fat you've stored. The catch—it always picks sugar first. Won't touch fat stores until the sugar runs out. When you eat, blood sugar rises. Body releases insulin to handle it. Insulin...
Hey, Quick question: have you ever done a long fast and felt absolutely wired—like your brain was running at 2x speed—only to have someone else tell you fasting made them completely useless? I kept running into this. My brother swears 48-hour fasts make him sharper. My friend Sarah tried it once and said she couldn't even finish an email. So I went looking for answers. Spent way too much time reading studies at 1am. Here's what I figured out. The cognitive boost from fasting is real—but it's...