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How To Increase Focus In Your
Work
The key to being productive at work is to be able to manage your
mental state and know how to
focus even when you don’t feel like it.
Most people are well aware that time management is a
vital part of increasing productivity,
but to have the best chance of managing our time correctly
we need to be able to control our health
and energy levels as well.
Following these eight tips will give you more energy to focus on
managing your time and increasing
your productivity.
1: Get Enough Sleep.Some people write to me and say, “I only
need four hours of sleep” or “in my country
sleeping means laziness.” Well, those people will fail and die
young. – James Altucher Trying to squeeze an extra couple of
hours out of your day by cutting back on your sleep is a
counter-productive way of increasing your output. Whatever you
gain in extra time, you’re going to
lose more of by being slower and more careless when you’re
performing your tasks. Sleep is the
foundation of good health so it’s difficult to build a
productive and happy life if you don’t even
have the basics covered. The difference in productivity between
consistently sleeping 7 hours a day
and sleeping 5 hours a day is enormous.
2: Addicted to Coffee? Gradually Transition to Tea.Tea contains
a chemical called theanine which gives you the same upsides of
caffeine without the
side effects. If you feel that you couldn’t possibly quit coffee
and still function at your job, just
remember that you don’t “need” to drink coffee to be productive.
This feeling of dependency is just ahabit and a false belief that
you’ve ingrained through years of repetition.
3: Drink plenty of water and avoid sugary drinks.Most people
underestimate how much water their bodies need. Far too many people
are functioning
in a state of slight dehydration and seeing their performance
slip as a result. Common symptoms of
not drinking enough water are headaches and fatigue. Sound
familiar?
4: Go for a walk and catch some sunlight.We need at least 15
minutes of sunlight a day to make sure we’re not vitamin b
deficient. At the very
least make sure you sit near a window so that the extra light
can boost your mood and creativity. A
lack of sun deprives us of much needed melatonin and serotonin.
Serotonin increases your energylevels and makes you feel awake.
Look for natural solutions to fatigue instead of getting sucked
into
artificial energy boosters such as energy drinks, caffeine and
sugary snacks.
5: Drinking Alcohol is a Waste of Your Health.Most people have
had to endure work hung-over. Life’s numerous social pressures can
put us in this
awful situation from time to time, especially the morning after
birthday parties or special events like
Christmas or New Year.
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While the negative effects of turning up to work absolutely
smashed are obvious to most people, it’s
less appreciated just how detrimental even a couple of beers can
be to our sleep and overall level of
alertness the next day. Stressed out people incorrectly believe
they are “relaxing” when they have a
few drinks after work, but the harsh reality is that all you’re
doing isplacing your body under
stress and making it work harder to clear the poison out of
your system.
6. ExerciseExercise is incredibly difficult to fit into a busy
work schedule. Most people have no problem doing it
for a few days, or for inconsistent bursts during periods of
time when we’re particularly motivated,
but the reality is that these bursts of motivation fizzle
out as other things become more important to
us at different stages of our lives.
Make sure you set low expectations. Think quantity over quality,
and consistency over
impressiveness. You don’t actually have to do much as long as
you show up and do something. Even
if you just do a light workout that’s ridiculously easy, it’s
better than planning a punishing 2 hours
session that you’re probably not going to show up to. When you
inevitably get through the easy
workout, you feel good about yourself and build positive
associations with exercise. Getting into the
habit of showing up to exercise without succumbing to excuses is
90% of the battle to better health.
7: Avoid StimulantsLong working hours all too often result in a
dependence on stimulants. Most people get fired up
with nothing stronger than a double espresso, but some crave an
even bigger kick to boost their
focus and help them stay alert. Popular alternatives include
Adderall, Modafinal (Provigil), and
various types of Nootropics.
When you’re under extreme pressure with unrealistic deadlines,
it can feel like life is boxing you into
a corner and making you choose between surviving work and
maintaining your health. Quick fix
comfort food seems more and more appealing when faced with 12
hour days, and we feel that we
deserve a reward anyway for sacrificing so much during the
day.
You can get away with this while you’re young, but if you want
to maintain your health and
productivity for the long term it’s a slippery slope. Relying on
stimulants to get through your work
day is a dangerous game to play, and while it can undoubtedly
pay off if you get the balance right,
it’s a fine line that can spiral into dependency.
8: Prevent Insulin SpikesI’ve personally found that that the
best way to get more long term energy and better focus is to
drastically reduce my sugar intake. Sugar triggers an insulin
response, which is bad news because
consistent surges of insulin exhaust your body and result in
grueling energy crashes. In fact, one of
the biggest productivity gains that I’ve ever achieved in my
life is preventing the insulin responses
that were making me tired.
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