How to succeed with Modafinil

Disclaimer everything I talk about here is from past experience, I am no doctor, and you should always consult your doctor before taking and especially microdosing modafinil. 
Remember any prescription drug without a prescription is a class B offence in the UK. 

Microdosing Modafinil 

I have tried various types of modafinil and my personal favourite is Wakealert, this is because it can be broken into halves and still have nice initial 6-8 hour period where you are "in the zone" altogether a half lasts around 10 hours of stimulation. 
Modafinil (Provigil) has a unique structure and is not a stimulant like Adderall (because it's not a stimulant it's not addictive in the same way), modafinil comes with the effect of alertness but not happiness and therefore has less addictive effect, but it does have stimulant-like effects and improves alertness, enhances thinking and perception, in addition to helping to keep people awake.

Depending on how busy I would be with my day I would take different levels of modafinil but never more than a half as its just not necessary. Remember modafinil will not make you magically work you have to be self-disciplined and eager to do well in work school and generally life.

How to succeed with modafinil

Modafinil is not some magical brain controlling drug you have to be self-disciplined and organised to effectively take modafinil, modafinil if done correctly can massively increase your productivity but done wrongly, and it can make you develop insomnia and be very unproductive.

The dos and dont's to modafinil, if you follow this list you are well on your way to becoming a productivity machine:

Make to-do list - I have a todo list daily on modafinil and or not, todo lists make you more organized, it stops you getting distracted and gives you the satisfaction of crossing of your tasks for the day. So when you look back on your day, you can feel proud of yourself.

The 12-hour rule- take a modafinil at least 12 hours before you intend to go to bed so if you plan to go to bed at 22:00 take it at 10 in the morning. Personally, I try to aim for 13/14 when I am in my crunch exam revision period I would wake up at 7 go to the gym and take a modafinil when I got back at 9 and id go to bed at around 11 aiming for 8 hour sleep a day because any more than that is not needed. 

Leave you phone in your room -  this is a best case scenario but not always ideal so either leave you phone in your room, give it to a friend, hand it into the library reception or just turn it off. if you can nail this, then you have already won half the battle.

Don't take after 10 - modafinil aims for you to be productive but there is no point in being extra productive one day and then a sloth the next day because you took the modafinil at 3 in the afternoon and then using the 12 hours rule your not going to sleep till 3 in the morning. This has happened to me a few times, and it's not a nice feeling because you are physically tired so you want to go to bed, but your brain is racing due to the increased dopamine and serotonin. 

Drink water - I would aim to drink a minimum of 3 litres of water in my revision session which around a 7 hour period (usually from 11-3 quick dinner then 4-7). We should all try and drink more water anyway your brain and body function better when hydrated, a common side effect of modafinil is dehydration, therefore you can develop a headache, simple stuff really.

Minimise distractions - Modafinil is fantastic, but more than id like to admit what I thought was going to be a quick glance at my phone has turned into an hour long search into the theories of 9/11. Some quick advice I would give here are:
Do any small tasks like cleaning washing emailing at the beginning of your day
listen to long revision music mixes
revise alone or with someone who is focused as you, I often get irritated when people distract me.

Work in the library- go in the quite room for the library is makes concentrating a lot easier here

That is the key point into being successful of modafinil here are a few small extras that allow you to really maximise your time efficiently. 

Bulk cook food- I go to the gym daily so calorie intake is something that I take quite a lot of time doing. Bulk cooking food makes your day easier as my dinner (lunch) meal is already made for me.

Exercise - sitting on your ass all day is depressing make sure you fit some exercise in there, try doing it in the morning because once you have done a task like going to the gym at 7 in the morning, you feel like you can take on the world.

Socialise - again sitting in silence for days on end is depressing to make sure that you spend time with friends or family when you get home or allocate a certain amount of time every other day to doing something social. Mental health is no joke and spending time laughing with friends is a great way to relieve some stress. 

Use the app "sleep cycle" - track your sleep and generally research sleep this is a such as important part of being productive and generally being healthy, people have no idea on how much sleep they should have and need.

In crunch time ( my life becomes very systematic and routine so I'm able to make my time management very efficient) on modafinil i am able to go to the gym twice a day and do around 7 hours of revision a day, socialise with my friends for around an hour and a half and get 8 hours sleep a day. I go to bed at 11 and wake up at around 7 in the morning. I have had no side effects from modafinil however it has made me more organised as a person, this is because my revision techniques like making a list becomes a habit (habits take 29 days to form) so after doing it for a month or two it becomes natural.

Every one of us students drinks coffee daily to keep awake and be more productive so how is modafinil any different? 


Bibliography 

Dave Asprey on CNN Modafinil talks about side effects long term effects how it benefits him

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZaZp6XfqYf8

Wakealert information (personal favourite) 

https://nootriment.com/waklert/


Reddit post on microdosing 

https://www.reddit.com/r/microdosing/comments/6mul9r/microdosing_vs_modafinil/

Very interesting sleep podcast 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwaWilO_Pig