Whether you know it or not, health is a major contributor to your level of productivity. Mental and physical capacity can be affected in either a positive or negative way by any number of circumstances. A culmination of unhealthy habits will produce levels of low productivity, while healthy habits will produce results that reflect your true potential. Everyone will suffer from low productivity at times, but here we’ll cover how to increase productivity through better health.
Dietary Health
Diet has a direct correlation to your level of productivity. The type of foods you eat on a regular basis will either increase or decrease your level of productivity. This effect can be felt in both physical and mental capacities as you go about your daily tasks. Food is fuel and by feeding your body a variety of nutritious foods, you’re sure to realize your physical and mental potential.
To explain further, consider productivity levels of the two following scenarios.
- Scenario 1: Someone who eats unhealthy foods, sits on the couch all day, and frequents happy hour.
- Scenario 2: Someone who prepares nutritious meals, exercises, stays hydrated, and gets plenty of rest.
While scenario 1 may happen from time to time, habits such as these will lead to a lack of productivity. You may feel uneasy, foggy, or general malaise when completing tasks and your results will suffer. By practicing dietary discipline with healthy foods, you will feel better, think more clearly, and produce results in congruence with your state of being.
Physical Exercise
Physical exercise is a close second when it comes to optimal health and productivity. Humans were not designed to sit at a desk inside all day. In fact, by sitting for hours on end, your body will start to adjust and form to that position. Over time, this will create muscle imbalances that could lead to chronic pain and discomfort. We were designed to move and by doing so will discover a myriad of health benefits such as the following.
- Improved Mood: Those who exercise regularly should see a decrease in anxiety and a boost in positive feelings by the release of endorphins.
- Weight Management: Exercise helps shed excess weight. Your metabolism is kicked into high gear and you build more muscle, which melts fat away.
- Muscle & Bone Health: Regular exercise promotes healthy muscles and strong bones.
- Increased Energy: Energy levels will improve dramatically when exercising. It may sound counterintuitive, but most people will see an increase in their levels of energy and strength.
- Reduced Risk of Disease: It’s no secret that exercise reduces your risk for a number of chronic diseases. Heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and many others can effectively reduce with a solid exercise regimen.
- Mental Productivity: Exercise promotes blood circulation throughout your entire body, including your brain. The result improves cognitive function and reduction of risk for neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s.
- Sleep Regulation: Regular exercise helps regulate the quality of sleep to feel more energized during the day.
As you can see, regular exercise can be hugely beneficial. When you feel good, your productivity will follow. Personally, I’ve found exercise to lighten my mood, increase my energy levels, and feel confident in taking on the day. If this sounds good to you, I suggest working with a personal trainer to lock in proper form and muscle balance, you can thank me later.
Sleep
This may seem like a no-brainer, but getting enough quality sleep is another important step towards good health. After a long day of work, exercise, and stress, your body needs time to recover. Who hasn’t tried getting through work after little to no sleep the night before? It’s extremely difficult to work in this condition and productivity levels suffer. Sleep deprivation may cause such things as the following.
- Reduced cognitive function
- Reduced attention span
- Weakened immune system
- Irritable mood
- Reduced reaction time
These are just a few of the negative effects of sleep deprivation. There will be times of little sleep, but always do your best to rest in order to be productive towards your goals.
Increase Productivity Through Better Health
Reaching a state of high productivity is not a simple formula, you have to find what works best for you. Some may require a certain diet, more or less exercise, or more hours of sleep. Finding the right balance is the key to achieving your goals on a regular basis.
Personally, I do my best to eat a healthy diet (always room for improvement), exercise on a daily basis for about an hour, and shoot for 8 hours of solid rest each night. Any variation to this does affect my level of productivity. For example, I went to a wedding this last weekend and averaged about 5 hours of sleep for a few days. It was the inspiration for this article as I was experiencing low levels of productivity stemming from sleep deprivation.
Finding your balance of diet, exercise, and sleep will not only make you feel great, but exceed expectations with your high level of productivity. What are your thoughts, have you found what makes you most productive?
