“How to Get Smart Again” is a 2025 Substack essay by the newsletter postcards by elle that lays out a personal “anti brain-rot” plan focused on fixing attention span and reviving intellectual curiosity rather than promising instant IQ hacks.

What the Substack piece is about

  • The author describes feeling mentally dulled by a routine of meaningless office work, constant social media scrolling, and passive rewatching of familiar shows, leading to weaker memory and focus.
  • In response, she designs a three‑month reset with strict rules aimed at repairing her attention span, engaging more deeply with books, films, and music, and actually remembering her own thoughts about them.

Core ideas from “how to get smart again”

  • The essay frames “getting smart again” as:
    • Rebuilding the ability to focus without distraction
    • Treating culture (books, movies, music) as art , not background consumption
    • Rekindling genuine curiosity rather than chasing quick dopamine from feeds.
  • She calls this her personal “how to get smart again” guide and signals that future posts will expand on the practices, many of which are reserved for paying subscribers.

Concrete habits mentioned

While the full list of rules is paywalled or expanded across posts, the publicly visible parts highlight several habits.

  • Phone boundaries:
    • Setting Do Not Disturb on her phone from roughly 7:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. to protect deep-focus morning time.
* Staying off her phone during that block to break the reflex of constant scrolling.
  • Reading as a structured practice:
    • Creating a personal “reading syllabus” to bring intention and sequence to what she reads instead of random, fragmented content.
* Aiming to remember and reflect on what she reads, not just finish pages.
  • Intentional media consumption (expanded in a YouTube video inspired by the article):
    • Choosing long-form, thoughtful media—essays, in‑depth articles, quality newsletters like Substack pieces, and curated sources such as The New Yorker—rather than endless short-form feeds.
* Pairing this with existing routines (for example, reading essays with morning coffee) so it feels integrated, not like an extra chore.

How this ties into broader “get smarter” advice

The Substack essay’s approach lines up with broader, mainstream advice on becoming “smarter,” which emphasizes training your brain through consistent, effortful thinking rather than quick fixes.

Common overlapping themes include:

  • Read more, especially challenging or non‑fiction material.
  • Learn new things outside your comfort zone to build new neural connections.
  • Protect focus with single‑tasking and timed focus sprints.
  • Reflect on what you consume (notes, summaries, discussions) instead of passively absorbing.

Quick practical takeaways inspired by the piece

If you want a “how to get smart again Substack”-style reset inspired by postcards by elle, you could try:

  1. Morning focus block
    • Pick a 2–3 hour window most days with no phone, notifications, or social apps.
    • Use that time for reading, writing, or learning.
  2. Make a personal reading syllabus
    • Choose 3–5 books or long essays around themes you care about.
    • Read them in order, and write a few sentences after each session about what stood out.
  3. Upgrade your media diet
    • Swap 30–60 minutes of short-form scrolling for long-form essays, high‑quality newsletters, or in‑depth articles.
    • Subscribe to at least one source that makes you think harder than you’re used to.
  4. Capture and review your thoughts
    • Keep a notebook or digital “garden” where you:
      • Log what you read or watch
      • Write your own takeaways or questions
    • Revisit notes weekly to reinforce memory and see your thinking evolve.

SEO-style meta description (requested style)
“How to get smart again Substack” refers to a popular 2025 newsletter essay by postcards by elle that shares a three‑month anti brain‑rot plan to rebuild attention, deepen reading, and revive intellectual curiosity, along with related habits echoing broader “get smarter” research and forum discussions.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.