In case you missed it here is Part 1 of this post.
Part 1 was dedicated to structuring your work day and getting more done in less time. This post is going to be a few random things I have found really help my productivity.
WAKE UP!
For as long as I can remember, I have been a terrible morning person. No matter how much sleep I got, or what time I woke up I was always groggy and would have no trouble falling back asleep.
Something that has helped that tremendously is light therapy. The one I use is the Philips golite.
Basically, it simulates early morning light and sits on your desk for 30-60 min first thing in the morning. It took about 2 weeks but I definitely started noticing a difference when waking up in the morning…I can't say I am a super enthusiastic morning person now, but I do feel like I'm actually awake and don't want to go back to sleep more now.
Cut the caffeine
Yes you heard me right. I'm not saying cut it out completely, but consider a trial run of backing off it. Caffeine really seems like it does a good job of perking you up…until you live without it that is. What I've found is that when I can get off caffeine I get some pretty cool benefits;
- More even energy throughout the day, not so many highs and lows
- Clearer thoughts and more creativity
- Less hunger (when I drank coffee I was always thinking about food which didn't really help my productivity much)
- When I actually have a bit of caffeine it works a LOT better
Supplement your brain and clean up your diet
This could be a whole post in itself, but I would urge you to do some research in this area if you feel so inclined. There are some great things you can take to get your brain and body running in top form. A few things I would check out;
- A good multi vitamin with extra vitamin D
- Ginseng, Rhodiola Rosea, and other herbs for endurance
- Specific amino acids such as Tyrosine, DL phenylalanine, Tryptophan, etc. for specific neurotransmitter support.
As far as diet, cutting out sugar and processed carbs can go a long way to making you feel better and more productive.
A pretty good book on diet, supplements, and lifestyle for brain health is The UltraMind Solution
Rock out
A lot of people love to listen to music while working, and this can really help get you focused. I really don't think the type of music matters, only that its something you enjoy listening to.
Of course there are songs to buy, but also some cool stuff to check out at places like:
Some people really like ‘brainwave music', which uses different sounds to stimulate parts of your brain. One popular person in this area is Jeffrey Thompson
If you are going to buy some brainwave music, get the actual CD and not the mp3 version (totally archaic right?!) The reason is that (supposedly) some of the special frequencies used in this music are lost when the compression to mp3 happens.
Hopefully one, or a combination of the stuff above, gives you and extra boost of productivity.
Great ideas, but there’s no way I’m cutting the caffeine.
Haha…it’s not easy for sure!
I always have trouble waking up in the morning as well, but that might be because I go to bed at ungodly hours as my night = you guys’ morning and vice versa.
Ok, so Ryan Eagle never sleeps, I’m pwned.
Jeez i guess i need to stop drinking twelve espressos a day and get up before three hahah.
haha yeah night owl isn’t a bad thing!
maybe just cut it down to 11
I completely changed my diet up two weeks ago, cutting out extra sugar, caffeine and processed crap. It’s made a huge difference. I’m having one of my most productive streaks in years.
Exercising in the morning helps too.
Diet and sleep schedule. The two most important things to having energy and both of mine are complete crap.
One thing that can sometimes do the trick is chugging a nice sized glass of orange juice. Snaps me out of it at times.