How to hack your brain for better focus | Sasha Hamdani | TEDxKC 

Let me summarise in my own words: From time to time we get distracted and can't focus on our task anymore. Instead of trying to focus even harder and failing that, we should better take a break from the task. This could look like sitting there and daydreaming, meditating, taking a walk, take a shower,... All these activities require a minimum of focus because they are automatised. So our brain gets a break and our thoughts can play. Here is where new ideas are born thanks our creativity being able to flourish.

Honestly what's really great is that she subtly told us to ditch distracting things and get bored. She appreciated what the distraction gave us, but we don't need to be distracted externally when we work best bring distracted internally

Wow, I’m such a daydreamer and never thought it’s a good idea to let people know that I daydream and now to find out it actually helps my default mode, “my creativity!” Now to tap into it further with word associations to help me be mindlessness which further nurtures my default mode. That’s great! Thank you Dr Hamdani!!! 😊

Yin and yang come up in so many different areas I love seeing opposites juxtaposed in synergistic ways. “Doing nothing is actually doing something.” Exactly psychiatric queen.

This is a groundbreaking Ted Talk! we’ve heard of sleep and exercise having benefits but intentional mind wandering and daydreaming can be the new prescription

Wow, that was a nice TED talk. I am very happy to hear that boredom is okay. Now, I do my work when I am bored. In total relaxation and boredom, I feel happiness.

Thank you for reminding us that boredom is ok! Reset with mindlessness so we can be mindful. Love it!

I've learnt a lot from this video. From what she shared, we don't need to feel guilty when we let our brain in the mindless mode sometimes because that's when we can get access to innovative ideas and explore more interesting aspects about ourselves. Thank you very much for sharing!

Sasha, so profound! My mindless mode set when I start praying. I am on auto mode and my mind wonders. Sometimes I lost track what rakat I am in. Thank you for this wonderful talk. ❤️

Wow! I have been following you for at least a couple of years and I know how terrified you were about this, but you did an amazing job. I learned so much! I have really got to start letting myself be bored instead of chasing the dopamine 24/7. Who knows what I could achieve? I just didn’t realize that instead of trying to make myself come up with ideas, I need to sit and let them come to me.

me watching this while working instead of actually working :")

I have been using this technique over the past few weeks, so surprising to see someone talking about it

I don’t know where to start describing your genius Ted talk but first of all I was giggling because I was watching this with subs😂 I loved your example of that oatmeal brain while nursing, it was so relatable! Thank you for that dr Sasha. And I loved this idea of me giving in to my associative brain. It bloody geniusssssss❤️

You’ve convinced me to watch love island. And schedule in time for “boredom”. Loved it!

I am a daydreamer and play absurd scenarios that bring me joy when day is looking gray. Loved your talk xx

i usually walk around thinking or practice speech while walking before studying. and it really help me to focused and get into studying

Brilliant speaker. Thank you Dr. Hamdani!

"Allowed myself get bored" damn!! I think that's what we are not allowing ourselves these days, with social media, gadgets etc etc at our finger tips, that it has become a job to set us apart.

This is phenomenal. You are phenomenal! So grateful for the tools that I have gathered from you, particularly with help understanding and working with my ADHD. Thank you!🙏🏼

love this one. great ted talk. she had my focus all the time. what a good speaker she is.

Such great points!! Mindfulness 🤝 Mindlessness

wow, it actually worked on the first time i've tried it while I was watching this phenomenal video. Thanks to this trick!

Affirming, helpful, entertaining, brilliant, and applicable. Thank you!

Excited to try, thank you! You’re a great speaker!

Love your content, Dr. Sasha. You're lovely and have helped me a lot. I know how stressed out you were before this Talk, but you nailed it. Even with a blooper. You rolled with it and made it better. You were funny, engaging, but also thought-provoking. It's also nice to know that my brain working like this is natural. Explains a lot. Also explains some of the experiences I've had. I've been struggling for weeks on a project managing information, and last night half tired and in a voice call with a friend, kind of bored and fiddling around, the default mode network just kind of bonked me over the head with "Hey, stop trying to do everything at once. You've got this set, this set, and that set. Compress each set first, then compress and combine." After that it was damn simple. Since then I've gotten that done easily and am much happier with the project. Some of my best ideas come out of daydreaming. I'm a writer, and scenes and snippets will just pop into my head and kick off entire books or movie ideas in my head. And of course, I write them down. This is really helpful and validating. Thank you so much.

You have me excited to explore using mindlessness as an ND person myself and in my practice as a therapist. Thank you for sharing this!

I like how she use her body language in explaining the idea 😂👍🏻

Really loved this! Thank you for sharing Sasha!

This so explains why I do my best thinking while driving or in the shower!

So grateful for all of the support you offer within your platform ❤

Gonna need to watch this again later!

Wow! I already know your insta content, but this is absolutly another level, no dimension! I love this long format deep diving in a topic with your brilliant and beautiful brain. So many insights! So fun to watch and learn. 🙏🤩

it was more about creativity and coming up with ideas than about focus. but the content still had value in it.

Omg I love Dr Hamdani’s posts so much!! I’m so glad she’s getting this representation 👏🩷

Profound! I just love this…Dr Hamdani, you resonate with so many people. Thank you for your work and advocacy!

I absolutely needed to hear this right now. social medis is literally destroying my creativity once I am addicted to the instant dopamine hit!

Amazing insight! Best Ted talk I've seen. Human, real, powerful.

An incredible presentation on how the mind works and credit to wandering away in thoughts.

You did so good!!! 😊😊 Also, I need to show both my kids, this is important. Thank you!!!

This talk highlights how our constant pursuit of instant gratification and dopamine hits undermines our ability to focus by preventing us from experiencing boredom. Boredom allows the brain to reset and engage the default mode network, which is crucial for creativity and problem-solving. Embracing moments of mindlessness can recharge our focus, making us more productive and innovative. To enhance focus, we need to intentionally allow our minds to wander and escape the constant cycle of distractions.

Thank you for everything Dr Hamdani, you’re the best!

When I am too much stressed, I have noticed I won’t space out, because I know I space out very often and that actually relaxes my mind

Aww what a lovely presentation 😊

You are an excellent speaker!

Fantastic! You were amazing and handled the moonwalk with supreme grace. 😊

Oh this is lovely. Thank you!

We need to solve each problem in various fields, but there is a problem now, namely that humans only care about their own interests, especially for several big figures, so what we need is a solution to the problem for the benefit of each individual in various fields and I don't know how.

❤That helped me a lot I’m still processing it.

so basically get more focus to do what you intended by going on an off topic rap and then come back to do what you intended. lol

I got 2 questions: 1.What should we day dream about? 2.For a Maladaptive Daydreamer , is this applicable?

Came for the moonwalk, stayed for the incredible insight 👏🏻😂 Amazing job!!

This is awesome! Thank you for the tips!!

wow! she is effortlessely charming and explained it so simply.

Wow, thanks for this talk ! I work a lot with digital things. So hard to focus until this video.

Grateful for you Sasha!! 🙏🏼❤️

Not me watching this while multitasking🫠 5:17

Thank you for the tips queen 👑

Beautifly Done Dr. Hamdani! Now we need a prescription that actually permits and allows witin our society the time and space to be "bored".

Thanks for the Talk ❤️! I've been thinking about the power of simple habits to try to reduce load on the poor 🧠. I always feel like I'm being lazy (default) if I'm not mentally or physically engaged in something. I won't be watching Love Island because I got hooked on Too Hot to Handle 😅 kudos to the producers for making those series so damn addictive!!!

best line: aim here is to use mindlessness as a way of becoming more mindful. feels so good. yet is it is a question, on.

From trading experience, this "Default Mode Network" is described as Liquidity and it drives the market price to an important level. From that point on we reclaim our consciousness so does the market.

I loved this!! Great job! 🤍🙂

Great info, thanks. It actually a basis of the Freud psychoanalysis, which got new neuroscientific background.

For those who want to exlore more about how mindlessness can help us focus better, I reccommend you to read the book Stolen Focus by the author Johann Hari. I watch the video and then I found some similarities linked to the book. Hope that we all have explored something amazing about BEING FOCUS, and thus be able to focus if needed!

Great Ted Talk! I feel smarter just listening to it.

What a great talk! Thoroughly entertaining. I was able to finish watching it even unmedicated with ADHD!😅 I just got Dr. Sasha Hamdani’s book and I am excited to start and finish it ❤

Your Storytelling is sooooo good! Love it!❤

Very educative and relatable talk. Thank you

Loved this! Thank you!

Such a relatable speaker!

Great job Dr. Hamdani!

Funny and informative talk. Very well done sasha

Great talk, and very interesting insights.

I love this ❤

I never believed mindlessness has any unique benefits. I have always tried to suppress it because I think its an indication of having ADHD. At what point is mindlessness concerning?

Love this talk so much.

Nice video, ma'am. I really enjoyed it. This video clearly explains how we can improve our focus and reset our mindset.

I love this idea!!

I dream so much, that I am tiered to do anything else. Focus and staying on a task in a huge problem for me and daydreaming is not helping.

Excellent! Thank you.

I love this 😭💛

great talk! i really struggle with allowing myself to be bored, and i suppose part of that is because i couldn't see any benefit to it. might have to give it a proper try though!

Fantastic job!

I plan to visit the galleria and distribute flyers announcing that the price is $300, but my special price is $280.

dr sasha thank you for valuable information

Is this why I get all my best ideas when I'm trying to sleep?

Nice it's a very informative video. Thanks for sharing!

Thank you for your beautiful thoughts ❤

15 minutes for a psychiatrist or psychologist who claims to have ADHD to tell people that doing nothing and letting yourself get bored so you can think, daydream, and innovate. 15 minutes to say something that literally took me one sentence.

be purposeful in everything u do

she is amazing

Definitely want to try the mindlessness tip!

This was so good! I get best ideas in the shower or running ❤

"I’ve never heard such a beautiful voice."

Well such a great video for those who have various distractions like me. I agree with the part "quiet down" our brain, anyway, it's difficult to understand her example with phone and cell. What's the benefit of this action ? Can anyone explain for me, plz?

Can anyone write the summary or main point of the video, please?

I didn’t understand what should i do finally

Thank you ❤

This was great! And my baby was born right when lockdown started! So lotsss of oatmeal brain during that time!

It's priceless content.