Are there any side effects of focus-geared nootropic supplements? Though its benefits remain a research area, studies have alluded to mood stabilisation and reduced stress, which could both bolster productivity. Some recent supplements have added CBD to the mix too. Adaptogens (a term often used interchangeably with nootropics) such as mushrooms (reishi, lion’s mane, chaga, shiitake) are used to enhance cognitive performance, while taurine is a common amino acid shown to improve focus and the flowering plant rhodiola rosea improves attention span, mood and work capacity.
Which natural ingredients should you look for in a focus-enhancing nootropic?Īlongside the ingredients that do their bit to keep you pumped throughout the day, others will directly target areas such as memory retention and mental processing. Others opt instead for a cocktail of adaptogens, such as mushrooms, or herbal energy enhancers, such as ginseng, bacopa monnieri and ginkgo biloba. Too much of it can come with side effects such as “the jitters”, so focus-enhancing nootropics balance out ill-effects with calming amino acids such as L-theanine. Caffeine is the best-known and most widely consumed stimulant on earth, scientifically proven to improve concentration, alertness and performance (so your morning addiction is not in vain). Nootropic supplements for focus tend to fall into two camps: the ones that bolster the energising effects of caffeine and the ones that mimic its high. Now, with many returning to the office in some capacity, here's everything you need to know to hit the ground running. Time is money, the saying goes, so why wouldn’t you invest to optimise your own? Derived from the Ancient Greek words nóos, meaning “mind” and tropḗ, meaning “a turning”, these clever little pills harness the power of natural ingredients that boost your brain so you can get things done more efficiently.
Yet even before a global pandemic, productivity cemented its place as one of the wellness industry’s new frontiers (alongside sleep optimisation and anxiety relief) in the form of focus-enhancing nootropic supplements. Mustering up the same work ethic from your sofa as you have when sat behind your desk, surrounded by your colleagues, in your best office finery, is, on a psychological level, difficult.
In a working landscape where your train of thought is so easily derailed by relentless Zoom calls, Slack threads and, let’s be real, TikToks, one of the greatest challenges of the 2021 workplace is productivity.