I generally work better combining a comfortable outdoor environment, sunlight (outdoors can help at night, but if it's sunny and not blisteringly hot, that's even better), music (louder seems to increase the happiness response, but I haven't noticed a correlation between music volume and productivity), and for me, a braille display (I can't read and listen to music at the same time otherwise, unless I turn the music volume down to the point of pointlessness). I also find that air quality is important, though that could be more psychological on my part (this could have to do with why it's easier to work outdoors, or in well cleaned/ventelated areas). I went so far as to buy an air filter for this, but seeing as my parents were (and still are -_-) the gatekeepers for me and buying things, I never replaced the filter in it (it's supposed to be replaced every 60 days), so I can't comment on whether or not it was particularly effective. If indoors, I've found that I generally function better with more light and moving air (opening windows tends to be more effective than climate control machinery).

I've used the above to sustain output on multiple occasions, but the trouble is, I can't seem to make it last for more than a couple weeks at a time. I'm wondering if there isn't some obvious reason for this; for instance, the past week has been one in which the weather has been too awful to work outside, and I have more and more often not bothered getting a braille display, but I really have to stop and reflect to notice this; otherwise it just seems like business as usual!

On food: * Simple carbs = bad (most brand name cereals, pop tarts, Little Debbie-type things all kill productivity and mood for hours). * Protein = Good, though more sensitive to balance than most other types. * Salty things seem to be generally helpful to cognitive performance. The risks of too much salt make me a bit worried about this one; am I mistaken about said risk? Or does my relatively low bloodpressure help in that regard? * Apples tend to make me sleepy; bananas tend to be more uplifting, although if I'm particularly inactive or eat them with the wrong things (for instance, too many pringles), pain can result. * In early 2011, I experimented with coffee, having avoided caffeine (other than chocolate) for the overwhelming majority of ten years before that. The results were positive, provided I didn't use coffee more than twice a week. (I have not had access to coffee since then.) * I generally only drink water, though gaterAid / fruit juices weren't uncommon as recently as last year. Fruit juices seem to fit into the general pattern of high-carb things (something of a seditive), while GaterAid seemed to be helpful, at least for the first few months.

A hack I could use is ways to improve people skills while effectively blind and living with my parents in a very pedestrian unfriendly town. From a strictly utilitarian perspective, my lack of the ability to summon minions is a huge impediment to many of my projects. (Being completely and utterly isolated outside of the internet sucks in general, of course, but it's impossible to ignore the huge pile of utility I could amass by having PR superpowers.)