Kratom: The Productivity Booster And Anxiety Killer That You’ve Never Heard Of

What is Kratom?

Kratom, or Mitragyna Speciosa, is a plant found in Southeast Asia that is part of the coffee family. Although not related to morphine or prescription drugs, when taken, Kratom stimulates your opioid receptors.

The effect of Kratom could be described as weed meets coffee. While Kratom gives you the pleasure buzz a bowl of marijuana might, it gives you none of the unpleasant side effects – no spaciness, no paranonia, no munchies, no sloth. Just the sense of well-being and the signature drop in anxiety. It makes you focused and energized, the way you might feel after a cup of green tea.

Plus, it’s not habit forming unless you’re use it several times a day for weeks at a time. I was easily able to drop it cold turkey, for several weeks for some recent training that required me to. Oh, and Kratom is completely legal in all but three states (WI, TN, VT), meaning you can buy it on the internet and have it shipped right to your door. It’s also totally legal in Canada and the UK (but not Australia, however).

I’ve heard little discussion of this plant elsewhere, I suspect because Kratom involves talking about pleasure. Men are eager to talk about productivity drugs like modafinil that are strictly for getting things done, but the moment you stay “I want to get more done, and feel awesome doing it” you sound like some sort of degenerate stoner. Work is supposed to be, well, work. You’re telling me I can get a bunch done, because I feel so good that I don’t even notice time passing? Isn’t that cheating?

Pleasure is a productivity hack in itself. If you feel good doing what you’re doing, you’re more likely to do more of it. Most of what we do as men is for pleasure. If you’re reading about how to attract women, and you’re not planning on using this skill strictly for the purpose of reproduction, you’re already dedicating significant amounts of time for a pleasurable activity that doesn’t help you get anything done.

It’s okay to want to feel as good as you’d feel during a night of partying, when you sit down to crank out some code, or head out the door for work in the morning.

What is Kratom good for?

Kratom transcends many categories.

It’s a naturally growing plant, but it’s considered a legal compound. It’s a nootroopic and productivity hack, but it’s also an anti-depressant, a pain reliever, and great for parties. I’ve used Kratom with most of those intentions at one point or another.

It worked for all of them.

Keep in mind, I’m not a doctor, and I don’t even play one on the internet. This is just me speaking from my personal experience, for entertainment purposes only.

Eliminating social anxiety: I’m a naturally introverted, and some might say “brooding” person. I find a little Kratom makes me feel energetic, positive, and able to easily start conversations. I talk to people I otherwise wouldn’t have the energy to. “What to say” seems to come naturally. That is no exaggeration, I feel noticeably different than as usual.

Productivity/Nootropic: Often the challenge of getting projects done is maintaining focus. In the morning (or anytime), try substituting Kratom for coffee if you’ve got some work you’re dreading, and you might find you’re actually smiling the whole time you’re doing it.

Pre-workout: On intimidating heavy lifting days, Kratom melts through that fear, gives me energy, and makes me feel like I can do anything when I get into the gym. Make sure you use a “fast” Kratom strain however.

Anti-depressant: In periods of depression, I’ve found Kratom to be able to give me the kick I needed to get out of negative thinking. While I’ve never had clinical depression, I have heard of people using Kratom to avoid or replace SSRIs.

Pain-killer: When I got a flu that would normally have required enough Advil to destroy my liver, I tried substituting Kratom. It worked far better, and I was able work right through the sickness. Shortly after I saw this short documentary, interviewing people who managed to substituted Kratom for prescription drugs to handle chronic pain. Vice recently did a piece on it for pain relief among MMA fighters.

I’m not joking about the focus aspect of Kratom.

Historically, Kratom has been used in Indonesia and Thailand by farmers and workers. It’s still used in parts of Southeast Asia in place of coffee by factory workers. Whereas most pleasure compounds would impair your ability to operate heavy machinery, Kratom is used to operate heavy machinery better.

How Should You Use Kratom?

There are multiple strains of the Kratom plant. They each have different uses. Some are more energetic and “caffeinated.” Those are referred to as “fast” strains. Others are more mellow and euphoric. Those are referred to as “slow” strains. Then there’s a whole bunch in the middle.

Which one you choose will depend on your mood and what you need that day and it will take some trial and error.

You’ll also want to measure out the exact amount you’re taking on a scale. If you’re a typical adult male, 3-4 grams is a good starting point. Take Kratom on an empty stomach, and don’t mix it with alcohol. You should feel it around 20-45 minutes after. Mixing Kratom with protein powder, juice, or sweetener works just fine.

Avoid Kratom extracts. Extracts are created when people take the naturally growing plant, extract the active ingredients, and then create an unnaturally strong version of the plant. This will give your system the kind of dose where you could start to build up a tolerance to Kratom, and experience problems. Stick to what nature intended, it’s more than enough. Stay away from these.

Because Kratom comes in multiple strains, if you cycle (or “rotate” as Good Looking Loser describes) them you can avoid building up a tolerance. For example, if you have seven strains, and take a different one each day, you could actually use Kratom every day while putting a week between each individual strains use. While I personally don’t need Kratom everyday, Good Looking Loser has been using this strategy for over five years without issue.

Be sure to get quality Kratom – this is very important. Check reviews before you buy. Because Kratom is largely unregulated, the quality varies considerably from vendor to vendor. There is a lot of dirty and stale Kratom out there that will actually heighten your anxiety. The Kratom at the local headshop in your town is likely going to be awful. Don’t buy it at a smokeshop.

Where To Try Kratom?

Good Looking Loser has a Kratom source that I use and recommend.

Check it out if you’re looking for one. It’s high-quality and better than anything you can find locally. As I said, quality really varies from vendor to vendor.

If you’re already a fan of nootropics, biohacking, or productivity supplements, you’ll definitely want to try Kratom. You will be beyond pleasantly surprised.

Author’s disclaimer: This entire post was written while on Kratom, and it was fun.

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