Usually when you’re looking into increasing your productivity you’re told to change your work habits. Good examples of the advice you’ll get are scheduling your time better by making To-Do lists, making sure you do the most unpleasant thing first and so on.
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These are excellent pieces of advice and you should heed them or at least adapt them in some way or another to your lifestyle if you want to be more productive.
In this article, however, I’m going to have a look at other ways to be more productive that have less to do with planning or the kind of work you should take on and more with how you fuel the machine that is doing all the work, your body. After all, if you were in charge of a factory, you’d make sure all the machines were in excellent working order, too, wouldn’t you?
If a machine breaks down, the factory comes to a standstill and nothing gets done. Your body and your daily tasks are no different. In that spirit, here are a few tips for you to follow. Try to put these into your everyday routine; they’ll fit onto your daily To-Do list as well as anything else.
1. Start The Day With Some Exercise
Every single day should start with a quick warming up at least. Get that blood flowing, wake up your sleepy brain and get to work. The sooner you get started, the sooner you can get stuff done and exercise, of any intensity, will help you get there faster.
2. Eat Regularly
Do not skip meals, ever. Besides the actual work you’re doing, all this self-discipline burns through fuel faster than you’d think and you need to make sure that your body has a full tank of gas. Decide how often and how much you want to eat and make sure you include it on the To-Do list. Taking care of yourself is as important as working hard, so take it as seriously as everything else in your daily routine.
3. Eat Well
By eating well, I mean brain food: whole grains, oily fish, fresh fruit and vegetables, etc. Make sure that your diet includes foods that are rich in nutrients that boost your gray matter as well as give you an energy boost. Go easy on the heavy foods that slow you down, and avoid fast food like the plague; you know it’s bad for you and if you’re too busy to make real food you should cut down on the work before eating garbage.
4. Posture
Last but not least, think of your posture when sitting down, standing up or anything else. Keep your spine straight but relaxed and your limbs loose. The first benefit is that your body will last longer. Our average lifespan has increased by several decades so you need to keep those bones, ligaments and muscles in good shape if you want to live to a comfortable old age.
The second reason is that good posture will ensure decent blood flow throughout the body, oxygenating it thoroughly and keeping you more alert. Just by sitting straight at your desk you can get things done faster and better, so start now and reap the benefits right away.
Put these four tips into practice by putting them on your list and you’ll be getting more done in a shorter time before you know it and feeling all the better for it in the bargain.
