Unlock Peak Performance: Neuroscience-Backed Space Hacks Every Executive and Entrepreneur Needs in 2025

I didn’t set out to study neuroscience because of my ADHD. My goal was simple: create an event that was the product itself, without upsells. I wanted to design a space where entrepreneurs and small business owners could stay focused, retain information, and put what they learned into action.

From 2017 to 2020, I obsessively adjusted details—lighting, seating, food, agendas, and even swag—to help guests show up fully and stay engaged. In 2021 I realized that many of these choices were made because of my own ADHD and that of my guests, leading me down a fascinating rabbit hole of neuroscience and space design. Then I started applying these insights in my home office, and the results were undeniable. Tweaking your space isn’t just about focus; it’s a tool for transforming productivity and creativity.

As we move into 2025, setting up for success feels more important than ever and this is an incredibly easy way to set yourself up for success every day, whether you think about it again or not. Here are some of the most effective ways to design your space for peak performance—strategies I’ve used to create results-driven experiences for my guests and myself.

If you’ve been pushing for that next level of success, this might be the support you didn’t know you were looking for.

1. Setup: The Science of Physical Space

When it comes to optimizing a space, setup is the foundation. At the Grow Retreat, every chair is positioned with a direct, unobstructed line of sight to the stage (the focus point of the room). Clutter is practically eliminated, and high ceilings give guests an open, creative feeling.

And there’s science behind each of these. The brain consumes a huge number of calories daily. Arranging furniture so that your eye is automatically drawn to what you need to focus on helps limit wasted calories. Eliminating clutter does the same thing. Change-blindness means our brains are registering clutter, whether we realize it or not. That may seem small, but these two ‘small’ things go a long way to help us stay focused.

The ceiling conversation usually sparks a lot of funny looks. Once again, there’s science behind it. A study from 2007 showed that high ceilings encouraged creative thinking, and low ceilings help focus.

In my office, I recreate this setup to give my brain what it needs for different tasks. For example:

• Height: A standing desk lets me control “ceiling height,” helping me get creative or focused based on my needs.
• Clutter Control: A “clutter basket” under my desk keeps my workspace clear, helping eliminate mental fatigue from visual overload.
• Adjustable Focus: On intense focus days, I wear glasses or a ball cap to create an enclosed feeling—almost like blinders on a horse. It might sound odd, but it works. I’ve even been known to build a pillow fort when focus is really elusive!

The Takeaway: The goal is to give your brain the structure it needs to perform without wasting energy on irrelevant stimuli. At the Grow Retreat, we use these concepts to create a space that helps our guests fully absorb and retain information. You can do the same in your workspace with a little advance planning!

2. Lighting: Brighten Your Focus

Lighting does more than illuminate a room; it can dictate your energy and support focus. At Grow Retreat events, I carefully balance natural and synthetic lighting to keep everyone engaged without causing eye strain which, once again, wastes calories that the brain desperately needs.

Here’s how I apply this principle in my workspace:

• Natural Light: At our events, we choose spaces with exterior windows. The room I chose for my office has a big window to maximize daylight, which naturally boosts alertness.
• Flexible Lighting: I avoid pure white lights, and fluorescent lights (which flickers just fast enough to fatigue the eye and brain). Instead, I opt for bulbs that mimic natural light. My office lights have adjustable settings, letting me switch between brighter and warmer tones as well as adjust the intensity as the day progresses.
• Eliminate Shadows: Setting up smaller lights to bounce off walls and diffuse shadows across the room also goes a long way to pull the eye forward automatically. Not only can you dim areas of your office that you don’t want to focus on, but you can eliminate the shadows that are fatiguing your eyes.
• Color-Cued Lighting: I’ve also found that certain colors create different moods. There are a lot of studies about what different colors do in the brain. For example, teal and warm yellow help soothe my mind while still supporting energy. At our events, we adjust color lighting to shift moods, and I use similar hues at home.

The Takeaway: Lighting can guide your brain’s energy levels. Adjust your lighting setup to support whatever your brain needs, from creative bursts to concentrated focus.

3. Scent: Unlocking Focus with Your Sense of Smell

This one might sound strange, but scent is one of the most powerful tools for enhancing memory and focus. When we created a custom scent for Grow Disrupt events, the goal was to anchor attendees’ memories and promote focus. The science behind it? Not only are there specific scents that spark specific neural responses, but scents linked to positive experiences can stimulate dopamine production, which enhances focus and motivation.

In my workspace:

• Focused Scents: I use citrus and herbal scents in my office to stay focused. When I’m working on fiction writing, I switch to woody and floral notes.
• Conditioning for Focus: Just as our event guests have learned to associate certain scents with productivity, I’ve conditioned my brain to respond to specific scents at home. When I start to drift, turning on the diffuser resets my focus.

The Takeaway: Use scent as a trigger to help your brain enter the right state. A diffuser with a specific blend can signal “work mode” and keep your energy up.

Wrap-Up: Set Your Space to Set Your Success

Imagine a workspace that supports your goals without adding mental clutter. Intentional design can help you achieve peak focus and creativity—two essentials for any executive or entrepreneur.

I’ve seen the impact firsthand. The results are powerful enough that our Grow Retreat guests can often recall key insights and experiences simply from catching a whiff of our custom event scent. When you invest in a space that supports your brain’s needs, you’re setting yourself up for sustainable success.

Take it from someone who lives this approach daily—setting up your space for peak performance isn’t just about productivity; it’s about fueling your growth.

Finding your curiosity sparked?

Want to see how I set up a space first-hand?

Ready for an event that gets you?

Consider joining us at The Grow Retreat 2025: www.TheGrowRetreat.com/Info

Stephanie Scheller has an ongoing hyperfixation on psychology. She first applied it for small business growth then discovered that she could use it in event design too. She has now spent a decade obsessed with creating an event that supports focus, as well as information retention and application.

She is a TEDx speaker, a three-time best-selling author, an award-winning entrepreneur and the founder of Grow Disrupt, a company that designs and produces retreats and conferences for ADHD entrepreneurs.

In her downtime, you’ll find Stephanie playing on the violin or scribbling away at her fantasy books.