Pylot is a wearable that measures cognitive performance using EEG and HRV sensors. That sounds pretty fancy, but how does that translate to actually being beneficial and helping you get the most out of your workday?

Getting started with Pylot

To get the most out of Pylot, we recommend wearing the headband as often as you can during your workday. There's no need to sport it during meetings or client visits, but having it on while you're at your computer is ideal. The more data Pylot can gather, the more accurate and personalized its recommendations will be.

When you first start using Pylot, it won't offer immediate insights. It needs to get to know you first. By wearing it daily, it can learn about your unique EEG and HRV profile to understand what is high and what is low, for you.

You might be wondering what the tangible benefits of wearing Pylot are. Well, wearing Pylot regularly helps you:

1. Determine the best times for deep work

2. Understand the ideal length of your deep work sessions

3. Receive live recommendations about when to switch to light tasks or take a break

Capitalize on Your Optimal Time

Pylot helps you plan your workday. It uses your data to tell you the best time of day for your deep work—those tasks that require maximum mental energy. This "optimal time" is when you typically experience prolonged periods of high flow and low fatigue.

For instance, if your optimal time is late morning (say, between 10am and noon), you'll want to reserve these hours for your most important tasks. The ones that demand intense concentration and will define your workday's success. You can then allocate your afternoons for meetings, admin tasks, emails, or lower-priority tasks.

Find Your Optimal Length

Pylot goes a step further by assessing how long your deep work sessions should ideally be. It does this by tracking when your flow tends to dip or fatigue starts to set in during a work block.

For example, if your optimal length is between 1.5 to 2 hours, you might want to schedule two deep work blocks of this duration in the morning, with a break in between. This break could be anything from a quick workout to a simple 20-minute hiatus from the screen.

Live Recommendations

While planning is great, flexibility is essential. Pylot understands this and provides live feedback on your cognitive state and immediate recommendations on whether you should continue with deep work, switch to shallow tasks, or take a break.

Perhaps you didn't sleep well, or you had a tougher day than usual. Pylot will notice these deviations and suggest a break to reduce your mental fatigue, or recommend shallow tasks if your flow is consistently low. Even a quick 15-20 minute break or a short walk can help you recharge and get back to a productive work block.

Experiment with Performance

Pylot also lets you experiment with your routines. Ever wondered if your cognitive performance spikes after your morning coffee? You can tag your work blocks with 'coffee' and, over time, compare your flow during these blocks versus normal blocks. Similarly, you could tag sessions with 'walk', 'meditation', or even 'afternoon nap' if you fancy one! It doesn't long to objectively determine which habits and routines can have a positive impact.