Health and Focus
Episode #8 of the course How to stay focused: Ten top hacks for motivation by K.C. Finn
We hear it all the time: the idea of the healthy body producing a healthy mind, but what does it truly mean in relationship to our motivation, concentration, and focus levels in the workplace? Most of us don’t have the time for a full-blown health kick, but there are plenty of small, helpful things you can do to create better habits in your health that will directly translate into workplace productivity. This lesson examines a few essentials.
The Theory
Whilst most of us have heard the various mantras about the healthy lifestyle over and over during our adult lives, not everyone has the convenience of time, wealth, and lifestyle benefits that enable them to follow the optimum program of good physical health. Work stresses, family commitments, and physical and mental disabilities can be just a few barriers to achieving the proposed idea of good health, but this doesn’t mean that we ought to feel pressured or defeated if we can’t reach the ideal. There are lots of lessons that everyone, no matter their current situation, can take away from optimum health tips, and personalize to themselves as small habits which will improve productivity and focus every day.
In Practice
We all know that getting enough sleep and rest is an essential component of having the energy to get through our day in a productive manner, and we also all know that life is far from perfect, and there are tons of things that can get in the way of having a good night’s sleep. The important thing to take away from this health tip is to acknowledge your sleeping pattern on a day to day basis and to adjust your working life accordingly because of it. For example, if you have a day where you’ve slept well and wake up with plenty of energy, it’s important to utilize that energy on difficult tasks that you feel prepared to undertake, whilst saving easier tasks for days when your sleep pattern may not have been so ideal.
Food and drink is another key area where we adults essentially know the right things that we should be doing, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t all enjoy a little junk food and alcohol once in a while. It may seem old fashioned, but remembering to get up and fetch a glass of water regularly is certainly one of the best motivation boosting techniques I know and one that you can start to implement immediately into your working life. There’s plenty of definitive evidence to explain how dehydration affects us in terms of energy and brain function, plus the element of physically getting up to fetch a glass of water will reactivate your circulation (as we discussed in Lesson Six when talking about the movement). There are a lot of conflicting and confusing articles out there about the right types of food to eat in order to boost your brain, but the essential component that you can take away and implement in a small way is to maintain your energy by eating regularly. Going hungry or bingeing too much food can both have a negative impact on energy levels, and therefore affect our focus and motivation during work time.
Reflection
As with Lessons Six and Seven on change, this is an experimental process that will take a little while to get into the swing of. Don’t expect to make loads of healthy changes and choices all at once, as this will soon become overwhelming and may cause you to quit. The most important thing moving forwards is to acknowledge the lifestyle choices that may be affecting your work focus, and start thinking of ways that you can adjust to combat them.
You’ve learned a lot of different techniques, ideas, hacks, and habits for ultimate focus so far! Mastering focus is one thing, but how do we keep up that momentum every single day? Lesson Nine will take a look at some creative approaches to beating boredom and staying distraction-free on a regular basis for continued productivity.
See you then!
K.C.
Recommended reading
Entrepreneur Europe features an excellent article about healthy habits that translate directly into improving your working day.
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