Ask HN: Any scientifically proven techniques to boost concentration?

>It’s like climbing a big hill but in my head. Sometimes it’s effortless and sometimes it’s a slog.

Is this something that you need to "fix"? Maybe it's your body telling you that you're dedicating too much time/mental resources to work and not enough time to the other aspects of your life.

You can't "push through" burnout; only recognise the early warning signs and back off.

I've literally improved my concentration at work in the past 2 weeks. Started travelling to a wifi cafe 25mins away by subway. I listen to post-rock music while coming and going on good headphones. The bass and thumping guitar grooves clear my head. The deadline to get out of the house and clear demarcation make it easier to get into the flow zone. I get more work done in 4 hours than I used to get done lounging around my house in 8.

I have 3 tips: exercise, ice baths, sleep.

On Exercise:

I did 'exercise' wrong for years.

Exercise produces 2 types of pain, 'good pain' (panting, muscle fatigue), and 'bad pain' (injury or achy joints). How much 'good pain' you experience is completely up to you, but it is absolutely essential that you minimise 'bad pain'. Simple reason: it is incredibly distracting when you're trying work!

To minimise 'bad pain'; 1. take 3-10 minutes to gently warm up the entire body before working out, 2. take 5-30 minutes to 'warm down' the entire body after working out (this will reduce delayed onset muscle soreness and joint aches). 3. take some protein and water 0-30 minutes after a workout.

TL;DR if you are sore from exercise it will distract you, negating some/all of the cognitive benefits of exercise, so be strict about ensuring that doesn't happen.

On Ice Baths:

One other huge tip, do an ice-bath once per 14 days, at a minimum. You don't have to go super cold: 10, even 15 degrees celsius is fine. How? If you don't have a bath (I don't) search amazon for 'portable bath' (there'll be heaps for under $50), use a $2 kitchen thermometer to take the temperature as you add ice (grocers, bottle shops, any markets will sell large bags of ice - buy 2 or 3). 10 minutes in a cold bath can give you a sense of incredible calm and concentration for the whole day. It also relaxes them muscles.

On Sleep:

I feel like 'everybody's different' is kinda true here, but learn your body and be very objective about how much your cognition drops when you're tired. If you're making mistakes while working tired, you're creating more work that you or someone else will have to fix. So trading off 1 hour of work for 1 more hour sleep is often extremely economical.

Matcha has both of these.

Ritalin, I guess? Not exactly a technique but since you included caffeine.