There are days when it’s hard to even get up and make coffee. And if you don’t do it, you are not able to do much more that just stare at the monitor. Has that ever happened to you? Let the PR Daily website give you advice on overcoming or even preventing similar states.
1. Try to eat “super foods” more often
A British study conducted by the International Labour Organization in 2005 discovered that nutritional intake has a direct impact on human productivity. The study even concluded that the entire country’s productivity could grow by 20% if people ate the right foods.
If you want to avoid the post-noon fatigue and increase your productivity, eat especially the following:
- Fish
- Dark chocolate
- Nuts and seeds
- Avocado
- Raw carrots
- Blueberries
2. Take a break
And we don’t mean a break to look at animal photos. Simply get up and do something different for a while.
According to a study from 2011, regular breaks significantly increase productivity, especially for people who work with a computer.
3. Look at pictures of kittens or puppies
Does that feel like a waste of time to you? Wrong. A recent study showed that people were more productive after they looked at pictures of cute animals (compared to adult animals and photos of meals). They were then able to complete their tasks faster.
4. Avoid multitasking
A British study done in 2005 discovered that people interrupted by telephone calls, emails or SMSes have a greater momentary decrease in their IQ’s than a person smoking marijuana. Another study done this year discovered that multitasking worsens short-term memory.
You should therefore first choose the more difficult tasks that need to be done for the next day. Reserve intervals lasting an hour to an hour and a half where you’ll make significant progress with your tasks, maybe even complete them. During this time turn off your email, Skype and anything else that could interrupt you. Deactivate all signals indicating new activity on social networks or incoming emails. Set your alarm and begin. You’ll be surprise at the results.
5. If you’re not a morning person, stop forcing yourself to be one
Everyone must find out for themselves when they are most productive and adapt their work accordingly. So if you do your best thinking between 4 and 7 PM, plan your most important projects for this time.
If you monitor your productivity for some time and find out that you are a night person, perhaps a problem will arise: According to your employment contract, you’re supposed to be at work every day at 8 AM at the latest. In this case meet with your manager and try to make different arrangements, or change your job. If you don’t do it, you’ll have to drink liters of coffee, consume “super foods” and look at tons of pictures of kittens.
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