If you’re reading this, it’s a safe bet that you want to be more productive. After all, using apps like RescueTime has a clear benefit on your productivity. However, productivity tools, tricks, and hacks are only a small part of a much bigger story.
Productivity fundamentals like your health, lifestyle, and work environment contribute more to your focus, energy levels, and overall productivity than any tool or hack.
Yet most of us don’t examine these factors with the same detail. That’s because it’s easier to try a new tool or productivity app than change your lifestyle.
But without a solid foundation, you’ll always be searching for the next small hack instead of building your productivity fundamentals and work habits from the ground up.
In this post, we’re going to dig deep into how to optimize the ‘real world’ productivity fundamentals, from what you eat to where you work to the science behind supplements and drugs.
Ready to master the fundamentals?
Jump to a section:
Exercise: Boost your energy and focus in a few minutes a day
Diet: Give your mind the right fuel for all-day productivity
Environment: The invisible hand that guides your productivity
Exercise: Boost your energy and focus in a few minutes a day
We all know the benefits of exercise (losing weight, decreasing the risk of health problems, etc…) And most of us know we could be spending more time in the gym or outside.
Yet according to research from the CDC, only 23% of adults hit the recommended 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week.
Our sedentary lifestyles have led to a health epidemic, with sitting being compared to smoking. However, if that isn’t enough to get you moving, all that sitting isn’t doing your productivity any favors, either. Long sitting time at work was linked to lower productivity and mental well-being.
It’s easy to skip workouts when you’re busy and your to-do list is stacked. (I know I’ve used that excuse many times!) However, exercising doesn’t just help you physically, there’s increasing evidence that it’s also a productivity fundamental that can help increase your mental strength, discipline, and ability to get more done in less time.
How exercising makes you more productive and creative (according to research)
Let’s start with a bit of empirical proof.
Researchers from the University of Georgia found that people engaging in low-intensity and moderate-intensity exercise both enjoyed increased energy levels and less fatigue.
In other studies, exercise has been shown to help decrease the symptoms of clinical anxiety and combat depression—two factors that have an outsized impact on our productivity.
Many of the things that get in the way of your daily productivity—like stress, procrastination, and a lack of motivation—are emotional issues and can’t be solved with tools or technology.
While I’m not recommending replacing prescribed treatments with a gym membership, the research clearly shows that the more active you are, the more focused, energetic, and productive you’ll be.
But that’s not all. Even the most basic exercise—walking—can increase creative output by 60%. And that number only goes up if you’re walking outdoors or in nature.
Exercise even changes how employees experience their work, with gym-going workers reporting more effective time-management, smoother interactions with colleagues, and higher satisfaction levels.
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very imformative articles