Is your productivity lacking at work? Are you finding yourself tired and/or distracted throughout the day?
The state of your mind is what determines your performance and output. So, it’s important to take steps to keep your brain in top condition and focused on the tasks at hand.
This is not as difficult as most people tend to think. If you want to maximise your performance at work, this guide is for you. Following, have put together tips on how to keep your brain healthier and sharper throughout your long work days. Try out these hacks and boost your productivity.
Table of Contents
Avoid Heavy Meals
A big meal will make you feel sluggish because blood flows into the small intestines to absorb nutrients. This means less blood is pumped into the brain and you won’t be able to focus as well as usual after eating. You likely have already notices this after eating a large or especially carb-heavy meal. With a light meal or one that is low in carbohydrates, your brain blood circulation is not heavily affected, so your mental sharpness can be more easily maintained. Avoid eating big meals at work to keep your brain in peak condition.
Drink Enough Water
You need a properly hydrated body for your brain to function optimally. Since much of your brain matter is water, if you are dehydrated it won’t work as effectively as it should. Invest in a water filter to ensure the supply of clean and safe drinking water. They produce high-quality drinking water at a cheaper price than bottled water. As a bonus you won’t be creating as much plastic pollution or ingesting the chemicals the leech from plastic into the water. If you can’t afford an expensive reverse osmosis water filters, a carbon filtered water jug may suffice.
Change Your Routine
Don’t do the same thing day-in-day-out, or your mind will get bored, tired, and easily distracted. Changing your routine stimulates different parts of the brain to help keep it active and energetic. You can try to have lunch earlier or later, run different errands on your break, or do some exercise or stretching throughout your day. Such approaches will increase your mental stimulation and expand your creativity. Check out these tips from Desky on setting up your workstation ergonomically if you find yourself sitting too often and aren’t able to break up your routine.
Avoid Junk Snacking
It’s common for most people to bring snacks to their workstation. However, these can often act as a distraction or cause brain fog. Not all snacks are even. High calorie snacks such as candy, potato fries, or sugary chocolate bars are not a good choice for snacking. Instead, you should opt for healthy foods such as fruits and nuts. These will help keep your mind sharper and your output higher.
Vary your Approaches to a Task
One of the reasons your mind can get distracted easily is because it’s difficult to focus on doing the same thing all the time. If you are just using a single approach to work out a task, your brain will get bored. This is when you start procrastinating.
The best way to keep your brain sharp is by using various, non-repetitive approaches to perform a task. This helps to activate different parts of your brain, and will keep your more interested in what you are doing for longer. This is especially important for online work, where tasks can be repetitive and your attention can get diverted very quickly.
Always Take Breaks
Working nonstop is a common problem, especially with people working from home. Working without resting caused brain fatigue, and this affects your performance. Even if you think your output is high due to having worked non-stop for a long period, this is likely not the case. If you take small breaks you will give your brain time to rest and refresh. Have a stretch, got for a walk, or take a quick nap during your work day.
Try some the above tips, and see your performance and productivity skyrocket.
