Sort Your Brain Out: Boost Your Performance, Manage Stress and Achieve More

Cover
Title Page
Copyright Page
Contents
What This Book Is All About
Introduction
	A bit about us
	Where adrian’s coming from
	Where Jack’s coming from
Your Amazing Brain
	When it comes to high performance, what does your brain look like?
Flying Start
	BOP1: Water – Start every day by rehydrating your brain
	BOP2: Exercise – vital for brain health (and for holding onto your marbles)
	BOP3: Stress – Get a grip on cortisol to manage your stress levels
	BOP4: Get out into nature, go soak up some rays
	BOP5: Caffeine – Great for brains (but morning only is best)
Old Dogs, New Tricks
	Rewiring needed
	Bring it on!
	Finding flow
	Chapter takeaways
Cyber Heads
	Brain for sale – no longer needed
	I want it now!
	External brain reliance
	Will technology ruin our brains?
	Staying in to play
	Multitasking?
	The buzz and bleep of modern living
	Brain training ourselves to distraction?
	Chapter takeaways
Gone Fishing (for Great Ideas)
	Dunking
	Why is dunking so effective?
	Perfect timing
	Enhanced creativity
	Where in the brain do creative thoughts actually come from?
	Using novelty to jolt you out of set-piece behaviours
	Switch it up
	Inputting data to feed the Eureka moments
	Night shift
	Rest and play
	Go jump in a few puddles!
	Chapter takeaways
Perception Is Everything
	Now you see it, now you don’t
	Your permanent blind spot
	Wiring up the senses
	Division of labour
	Bottom-up and top-down brain pathways
	Do I know you?
	Mind the gap
	Impacts of context and expectations on perception
	Chapter takeaways
To Do or Not to Do
	Icebergs of hindsight
	Got a hunch?
	Reward line
	What do you fancy for dinner?
	Updating the system
	Emotion-flavoured decisions
	Push and pull
	Danger zone: excessive buy button activity likely
	Losses loom larger than gains
	The price of impatience
	Chapter takeaways
Food for Thought
	Don’t wait for the leptin
	Eating for two (kilos of gut bacteria)
	Fat filled and sugared up
	Sugar-coated vandalism
	No vacancies
	Best brain fuels
	The importance of when, not just what, you eat
	Chapter takeaways
Born To Move: “Sitting Is the New Smoking”
	Do it for your brain’s sake
	Consistent high performance
	Unsung benefits
	Your natural opiates and cannabinoids
	Enter the iceman
	Molecules of movement
	Exploration mode
	Better out than in
	Return of the iceman
	Chapter takeaways
All Aboard the Stress Express!
	Stress is not the enemy
		Stress heads
	Cortisol the motivator
	Postponing battle
	Who’s driving your train?
	“Trying” to get to sleep?
	Sixty crucial minutes
	Bedroom detective
	Chapter takeaways
“Smart” Drugs
	Everyone’s on drugs!
	On top of the world
	Not so smart drugs in schools
	Whistle while you work
	Nootropic drugs: big dilemmas, grave outcomes
	The original smart drug
	Full of beans
	Brewing for survival
	Changing perspectives
	Fixing up the wear and tear
	Chapter takeaways
Get Yourself Connected
	Help, i need somebody!
	Mind readers
	Emotional broadcast
	Facial feedback
	Rapport radar
	Loneliness kills
	Grooming and gossip
	You disgust me!
	Nurture your networks
	Being more social
	Diversity pays dividends
	Two buckets
	Chapter takeaways
Mind over Matter
	A spectacular sham
	Optimism bias
	Placebo power
	Secrets of happiness
	Beware the news
	Mind-wandering: vice or virtue?
	Attention!
	Mind management
	Helicopter ride
	Optimal prime
	Chapter takeaways
Hold onto Your Marbles
	Over the hill
	Putting the brakes on
		1. Reduce free radicals
		2. Keep your blood pipes clear
	Brain attack
	Brain-bolstering activities
	Building cognitive reserve
	Alzheimer’s disease versus alzheimer’s dementia
	What exactly is cognitive reserve?
	Redundancy in the brain
	Chapter takeaways
What’s Next?
	The crystal ball of brain tech
	What could possibly hold anyone back?
	The feedback we received and the impact it had
	Repetition rules
	Photo albums
	Believing is seeing?
Appendix: Brain Tube Maps for Easy Reference
Acknowledgements
About the Authors
About the Illustrator
Index
EULA