How can i use the looking up method to stay awake

To use the "looking up" method for staying awake, as discussed by Andrew Huberman, you should position your eyes up and your eyelids open. This is because the neurons in your brain that control alertness make it easier to keep your eyes open when you're alert and your eyelids tend to close when you're tired. By looking up and raising your eyelids, you engage the wakefulness systems of the brain, including the locus coeruleus, which releases norepinephrine to stimulate wakefulness 1 2.

Dr. Huberman explains a simple exercise to combat tiredness: look up toward the ceiling, ideally for 10 to 15 seconds, as this upward gaze directly triggers the brain's wakefulness circuits 1. Furthermore, aligning your work environment to support this position may enhance alertness. Positioning your computer screen up at eye level or slightly higher can contribute to sustained wakefulness, leveraging the eyes' connection to the brainstem's alertness systems 3.

It should be noted that this technique might seem remarkably simple, but it is grounded in the hardwired aspects of our neural circuitry aimed at regulating alertness through physical eye position. Therefore, using the "looking up" method can be an effective way to tell your brain to maintain alertness when needed 2.