Purpose Speedrun

Concepts

1. Know What You Want / Have a Vision
2. Believe In Yourself
3. Overcome Your Fear
4. Be Persistent
5. Focus
6. Take Responsibility / Control
7. Follow Your Own Way
8. Failure or Problems as Opportunities for Growth
9. Life is About Growth and Progress
10. You Have Potential / Greatness in You
11. Work Hard / Create Habits
12. Ignore Those Who Sabotage You
13. Set High Expectations / Shoot High
14. Care about Results, Not Excuses or Reasons.
15. Do Whatever it Takes
16. Be Obsessed

Narrative Frame

1. Victim Narrative or Agency Narrative?
   1. Corresponds to Sphere of Control / Responsibility
2. Chosen One Narrative or not?
   1. Corresponds to Independence
   2. Corresponds to Conviction / Self Belief
   3. Corresponds to Expectations
   4. Corresponds to Sphere of Control / Responsibility

Meaningful Work

To evaluate how you’re coping at work, ask yourself these questions:

• Has your work made you cynical or critical?
• Do you find you have to drag yourself to work and it’s hard to get the day started?
• Do your work colleagues, customers, or employers annoy you?
• Has your patience worn thin?
• Do you suffer from low energy levels at work?
• Do you find your work disappointing?
• Do you use food, drugs or alcohol to feel better or to numb the unpleasant feelings?
• Have you noticed changes in your appetite or sleeping patterns?
• Do you suffer from “unexplained” headaches, backaches, or other physiological ailments?

Biohacker’s Manifesto:

1. Your work should be genuinely enjoyable and meaningful to you.

2. Aim for self-directed freedom at work, for example regarding work hours.

3. Seek a positive and supportive atmosphere and a pleasant work environment.

4. Don’t live to work, work to enrich your life.

5. Quality over quantity. Impact over efficiency.

6. Allow yourself time to rest and recover.

7. Take regular breaks and use them to get up and move.

8. One half of your working day should be about producing an output while the other half should be spent on input – making connections and trying new things.

9. Research and select the best tools for repetitive tasks.

10. Pay attention to posture, ergonomics and working positions.

Biohacker’s Office:

• Green wall
• Saddle chair
• Phone dock
• Water bottle
• Adjustable hue changing lighting
• Monitors at eye level
• Wrist support
• Adjustable height desk
• Standing mat
• Massage ball
• Ergonomic mouse
• Natural light
• Indoor plants
• Noise canceling headphones
• Vibration plate

Work Ergonomics and Methods for Working Better

Forward head posture may cause disorders of the CNS, cause pressure in the carotid arteries, and thus impair brain circulation. Implement these changes to optimize cell phone ergonomics:

• Use voice control
• Avoid using for a long period of time
• Avoid browsing the internet and reading emails on the phone
• Straighten your neck, twist your thumbs, relax your shoulders, twist thumbs upwards, and breathe deeply
• Pay attention to your posture. Prop your elbows against the your body and lift the phone to eye leve

When we sit we block off a large number of blood vessels and nerves in the thighs, buttocks, pelvis, and genital areas. Men tend to unconsciously tilt their pelvis back while sitting, to avoid squashing genital nerves. The result is a lumbar position that may cause deterioration of the lumbar spine. Women who cross their legs will also cut off blood vessels and nerves, increasing hypertension.

Biohacker’s solution:

• Keep a sitting diary or wear an activity tracker
• Do more work standing up and actively vary your working positions
• Use an app that reminds you to take breaks
• Incorporate active movement in your breaks
• Use a saddle chair
• Move while on the phone and schedule walking meetings

Males should not wear tight pants. It keeps testicles too close to your warm body and decreases total sperm count and quality.

Stand properly by pointing your toes straight, plant the entire foot firmly on the ground, tighten your buttocks slightly, activate your abdominals, and practice often.

Take breaks and eliminate distractions. Try these cognitive ergonomic tools:

• Setting the day’s main goals in the morning (1-3 goals)
• Not-to-do lists
• Splitting a large project into smaller tasks
• Automating and outsourcing repetitive tasks
• Creating a recurring task list (to establish routines and habits)
• Using an interval timer with preset phases for routines (Pomodoro)
• Taking regular breaks and microbreaks
• Tidying the work station before and after working
• Writing down in the evening the tasks that preoccupy the mind

The law of concentration: 1 x 1 = 1 vs. 0.5 x 0.5 = 0.25

• Multitasking may reduce productivity by up to 40%. Typically people can only concentrate on one thing for about 10-25 minutes. While in the flow zone, this may be several minutes.

Follow these steps:

• Plan task completion based on time (scheduling phone calls and emails at a specific time and not throughout the day)
• Plan tasks based on context (at the work station, on the go, on the phone, while commuting, etc.)
• Specify a different function for each device (e.g.. work on the computer, entertainment on the tablet, and social on the phone)
• Schedule tasks that require concentration
• Block the use of distracting applications when you intend to concentrate

To minimize external factors, do the following:

• Disable email and instant messaging
• Block the use of social media applications
• Disconnect the internet when tasks do not require it
• Minimize excess noise, e.g. by using noise canceling headphones
• Optimize air temperature, oxygen level, purity, and humidity
• Use optimal, indirect full-spectrum light that is similar to daylight
• Minimize unnecessary human contact that impairs your ability to work

Optimal air quality:

• CO2 content: < 625ppm
• Humidity: 35-65%
• Temperature: 19C
• Volatile organic compounds content: < 150ppb
• Particle content: < 12.5 microgram/m3

Actions for improving indoor air quality:

• Wipe off dust on a regular basis
• Refrain from smoking indoors
• An induction cooktop is preferable to gas or wood
• Swap detergents for the safest alternatives, such as vinegar
• Favor unscented detergents and personal hygiene products
• If necessary, have the indoor air quality analyzed
• Ventilate your home frequently (20 minutes per day)
• Purchase an air purifier
• Purchase an air freshener that increases air humidity
• Use ozone treatments to remove unpleasant odors
• Purchase an ionizer that spreads ions into the air, trapping negatively charged particles
• Purchase plants that purify indoor air. The following plants are recommended by NASA:
  • Snake plant
  • Barberton daisy
  • Chrysanthemums
  • Peace lily
• Renovate your home to incorporate breathable and natural building materials

Calming the mind:

• Music:
  • Classical
  • Calming ambient sounds
  • Nature sounds
  • Solfeggio frequencies
  • Binaural beats and isochronic tunes
• Scents and aromatherapy:
  • Lavendar, rosemary, lemon, jasmine, cedarwood, peppermint, chamomile
  • Frankincense incense
• Spike mat
  • Boosts oxytocin and endorphins (improves mood)
• Yoga, massage, and stretching
  • Boosts circulation
• Minimize sensory stimuli
  • Isolation tank
  • Silence exercises
  • Deep breathing

Decision making. “If it’s not a hell yes, it’s a no.” – Derek Sivers. Don’t allow analysis paralysis. Eliminate unnecessary options to avoid fatigue.

When you start reading, do the following:

• Set the correct reading position. Book at 45 degree angle on the table.
• Review the table of contents
• Quickly preview and leaf through the book. Images, tables, graphics, and special sections.
• Read efficiently, avoiding unnecessary eye movements (focus eyes at the middle of the line)
• Using a pen or the reader’s highlighting functionality, underline or highlight important content so that you can easily review it
• Take a photo of the underlined sections or cut them on a computer and paste them into a new notes document
• Review the underlined sections several times and reduce the reading speed for each iteration
• In terms of learning, writing notes manually is more effective than typing

Keep the following goals in mind:

• Why am I reading this?
  • Never read anything without a clearly defined goal
  • Most people read everything at the same speed because they lack a clear reason
• What do I want to take away from this?
  • A fast reader adjust his/her reading speed according to the goal and the text at hand
  • Setting a goal only takes a second but may save hours of your time

After reading and studying:

• Visualize what you just learned and connect it to the larger visual whole. You may utilize for example the Memory Palace technique in which you split your body or house into ten points. Visualize connecting the things you have learned to various points in a specific order.
• To help you remember the numbers, create an item for each number in your mind. Learn the numbers by recalling the items in a specific order.
• Take a nap. It increases the likelihood of remembering.
• Review your notes every few weeks. Repetition increases the volume of gray matter in the brain which is associated with information processing.
• Try to teach what you learned to someone else. If you cannot find a suitable subject, write an article or make a video of the subject matter. 50% of the time should be spent consuming (e.g. reading) and the other 50% producing (writing)
  • • • •  

Upgrade your common behavior patterns on a computer:

• Maintain emotions that encourage activity: identify the thoughts that lead you to the state of concentration or the inability to concentrate
• Solve et coagula – focus and divide your energy depending on the situation
• Utilize specialized time tracking programs and identify the behavior patterns that undermine your time management, as well as their root causes. Repetitive routines often create a sense of rush, anxiety, and frustration
• use two separate computer desktops, both equipped with a wallpaper modified especially to improve project management
• Limit your availability. After an interruption, it may take up to 45 minutes to return to a state of concentration. UP to a quarter of the working day may be taken up by such interruptions. If you work in an open plan office, place a clock on your desk to indicate the time at which you may next be disturbed

Flow – Optimal Experience of Work

During a state of flow the neurons in the basal ganglia light up with greater efficiency and the frontal area decreases in activity. Thus the analytical part of the brain is put on hold while the creative sensorimotor part takes the stage. The opposite of flow is psychological entropy. Meaning a disarray of the human consciousness. The information processed by the consciousness conflicts with the intentions.

According to Steven Kotler, the kindlers of flow can be divided up into: psychological factors, environmental factors, social factors, and creative factors.

Psychological triggers:

• Concentrating intensively on one task at a time without interruptions
• A clear goal or objective
• Immediate feedback that facilitates improving performance in real-time
• The optimal ratio between challenge and skills (challenge slightly higher than skills)

Environmental triggers:

• Potential serious consequence of failure (e.g. in a survival situation)
• A rich environment with plenty of new factors, surprises, and uncertainty
• A deep state of embodiment

Social triggers:

• A deeply shared state of concentration, e.g. in team sports
• Clear goals shared by the group
• Effective communication amongst the group
• A shared common factor (such as language)
• A shared skill level and group participation
• A risk associated with the task boosts motivation and creativity
• The feeling of control regarding the task (the combination of autonomy and competence)
• The ability to present and listen
• Being open to new experiences and able to say “yes”

Creative triggers:

• Identifying repeating patterns (such as color, shape, data, movement, sound, concepts, risks, failure, etc.)
• Taking a risk and having the courage to present new ideas

Monitoring and Measuring the Work Environment and Ways of Working

Measurable factors related to wellbeing at work and optimizing work efficiency:

• Sitting. standing, walking, and running time (time and distance)
• Posture (hours per day maintaining good posture)
• Heart rate and blood pressure throughout the day (heart rate, systolic and diastolic pressure)
• Blood sugar (mmol/L and mg/dL)
• Indoor air quality (VOC, fine particles, CO2, humidity)
• Lighting (lumens)
• Noise (decibels)
• Temperature (Celsius or Fahrenheit)
• Mood
• Innervation (e.g. reaction time)
• Tests measuring cognitive performance
• Breaks (amount of rest, exercise)
• Time spent using a computer (efficient working, studying, interaction, wasted time)
• Time spent on the phone (minutes per day)
• Stress and recovery – heart rate variability (HRV)
• Sleep quality (deep sleep, REM sleep, total hours slept, wakeups)

HRV increases when the body is in recovery or the individual is relaxing. Conversely, it decreases when the body is under strain. Factors affecting HRV:

• Breathing
• The reactions and functional state of the autonomic nervous systems
• Stress reaction
• Hormonal reactions
• Relaxation
• Metabolic processes
• Physical activity (exercise and recovery)
• Movements and changes in posture
• Thinking and emotional reactions (general psychological stress)
• Alcohol use and nutrition

Measure your HRV over 3-7 days. Negative emotions reduce HRV and cause irregular variation in heart rate. Conversely, positive emotions increase HRV and regular sine waves (coherence).

Fasting blood sugar (fasting plasma, glucose, FPG)

• Normal: 4-6mmol/L or 72-108 mg/dL
• Optimal: 4.0mmol/L or 72-95mg/dL

Glycated hemoglobin (HbA1C)

• Normal: 20-42mmol/L/4.0%-6.0%
• Optimal: 20-34mmol/L 4.0-5.3%
• Disruptive factors may include anemia (excessively low) or dehydration (excessively high)

Oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT)

• Values taken: fasting blood sugar and blood sugar 1 hour and 2 hours after the glucose challenge (75g)
• Normal value at 1 hour: <10.0mmol/L or 180mg/dL
• Optimal value: <7.8mmol/L or 140mg/dL
• Normal at 2 hours: <8.6mmol/L or 155mg/dL
• Optimal value: <6.7mmol/L or 121mg/dL

Self-monitoring blood sugar levels during a 24-hour period (10% margin of error)

• Fasting blood sugar after fasting for 12 hours
• Blood sugar immediately before lunch
• Blood sugar one hour after lunch (optimal value <7.8mmol/L or 140mg/dL)
• Blood sugar 2 hours after lunch (optimal value <6.7mmol/L or 121mg/dL)
• Blood sugar 3 hours after lunch (optimal <5.3mmol/L or 95mg/dL)