When I first started my log, I believed that I was living with undiagnosed ADHD, so in the last 12 months I've tried several supplements / tools and various more or less illegal substances to try to maximize my focus.
1. Phenibut
Took it mainly for its anti-anxiety effects. Worked wonders for just that: made me calm and collected in meeting scenarios at work where my anxiety would sky-rocket and my mind would wander all over the place.
It was like when the anxiety got really low, it was easier to actually focus on the discussion that were going on etc.
Felt like my brain and body learned that it was nothing to be anxious about, and when I ran out, it didn't matter any more.
2. Brain.fm subscription service
This has been my go-to 'natural' solution for increasing my level of focus whenever I needed to focus deeply on i.e typing out a job application, long and detailed forum posts and the likes.
Basically it's a subscription service for scientifically engineered music / atmospheric audio that "locks" your brain neurons into patterns that are associated with a high degree of focus. Hard to explain, really, but they explain it way more efficiently over at https://www.brain.fm/science
It has worked wonders for me ever since I started using it back in 2020.
My personal downsides with this service:
- A lot of the music on there is flat out annoying to listen to, and I can find myself skipping through tracks for a solid 5 minutes before I find something that fits my taste.
- You need to use a headset for the music to work the way it's intended. And for me, prolonged headset use = more ear wax, which if I don't keep it checked, will clog my ear canals.
- They don't have a huge selection of tracks for the "deep focus" effect, which is the one I've been using the most. Therefore you might get sick of having to listen to the same 2-3 tracks over and over.
3. Ritalin
Basically medical grade amphetamine. Gives me insane laser focus for 4-5 hours. Also kills my appetite for the entirety of the duration, which at best made me look lean as fuck because I didn't eat for 24 hours.. For me it also has a huge potential for abuse, and I can't go near that stuff if I want my sleep and overall mental health to be on point.
2/10 would not recommend
4. L-Theanine and caffeine
Tried this combo for a couple of weeks 6 months or so back. Theanine kills the jitteriness you'd get from the caffeine, but you retain the focus enhancing effects of the caffeine. From the anecdotal reports I've found on reddit, it works for a lot of people, but some doesn't feel like it's doing anything. Worth a try imo as L-Theanine is available in most supplement stores.
5. Kratom
Recently got my hands on 200g of white malay kratom, which from what I've read, is best for increased focus and energy.
I have really taken a liking to this compound. I've had days off from work where I start my morning with two cups of coffee and a decent 5-6g dose of kratom. Gives me a slightly euphoric feeling and makes me want to dive headfirst into focus-demanding tasks like working on music or art.
Closing thoughts:
I've also seen massive improvements to my general level of focus simply by minimizing the amount of notifications on my phone, have less tabs open in my browser, less applications open at the same time etc. Might seem like a no-brainer, but for the longest time I would assume I would get more shit done by trying to do several activities at once.
I also wholeheartedly believe that diet plays a role in this. I.e if I'm drinking an artificially sweetened drink like Pepsi Max or something similar, I'll more often than not feel like I always "need" something more after I'm done with the drink.
Same goes for blood-sugar regulation in general: if your blood sugar is spiked every so often by some high-sugar / high-calorie food or drink, at some point you'll crash and start craving another hit. For my part this will in turn make me want to get up and kill that craving.
Getting enough sleep also helps me tremendously in being able to focus on whatever tasks I'm looking at in any given day.
Hope any of this helps!
Edit:
I also use the pomodoro technique if I have to spend a lot of time writing, working on job applications and so forth.