Unlocking Productivity: The Body's Role In Work Success
"The first wealth is health."
—Ralph Waldo Emerson
In the relentless pursuit of productivity, we often overlook the significant impact our body's functioning has on our ability to make the most of our workday. Nutrition plays a pivotal role, where the concept of metabolic flexibility takes center stage. Understanding the connection between what we eat and our daily output is crucial. Metabolic flexibility involves the body's ability to switch between using carbs and fat or ketones as energy sources, which, when honed, leads to stable energy levels, an uplifted mood, and enhanced focus. But this is just one critical piece of the puzzle.
I’ve written about how to improve productivity from a technology standpoint as well as how to hack your mind for better outputs during your workday. Today, I’ll how factors like nutrition, breathing, movement, hydration, and even a supplement like creatine can be harnessed to improve your body’s performance to maximize productivity with the research to back it up.
Productivity Hacks Of The Body
1. Be Metabolically Flexible
So often it comes back to nutrition. The food we eat has an impact on so much of our life including our productivity. Our body runs on two energy sources: carbs and fat. If you frequently snack, can’t go 5-6 hours without food, and have fluctuations in energy and mood (hangry?) then you’re metabolically inflexible. Your body is strapped into a roller coaster and just hanging on for dear life as it burns sugar and carbs quickly and screams when the fuel source is low.
Metabolic flexibility, on the other hand, is the ability to burn fat or ketones for fuel when your carb levels are low. Signs that you’re flexible or fat-adapted include stable energy throughout the day, a better mood, and not daydreaming of food a few hours after you eat. This allows better sustained attention and the ability to make better decisions. This is akin to shopping when you're famished; when metabolically flexible, your body efficiently switches to fat or ketones as an energy source instead of experiencing energy crashes and food cravings when carb levels are low.
The Research
A meta-analysis looked at the impact of blood sugar on decision-making and found that low glucose was associated with impatience with making decisions as well as making more intuitive, instead of deliberate, decisions.
Another study had people make decisions when they drank lemonade with sugar compared to lemonade with Splenda and found that those who drank the former ”made more choices that were consistent with using deliberative thinking processes.”
Studies have shown that even judge's decisions on trials can be influenced by a number of factors, including their mood, hunger, and fatigue. In a study examining sequential parole decisions by experienced judges, researchers looked at how the rulings played out relative to their meal breaks. They wrote, “We find that the percentage of favorable rulings drops gradually from ≈65% to nearly zero within each decision session and returns abruptly to ≈65% after a break.”
Do This
Metabolic flexibility doesn’t happen overnight but the healthier you are the easier it is. Take these steps to start getting more metabolically flexible to improve your energy, your productivity, and your health:
Adopt a low-carb diet
Exercise
Get enough sleep
Do intermittent fasting
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2. Breathe Through Your Nose
What the heck does nasal breathing have to do with being productive? The answer lies in the high school favorites of chem and bio.
When you breathe through your nose your inhale uses the diaphragm and the lower chest where the vagus nerve connects (linked to relaxation, less inflammation and even storing memories). Breathing through your mouth only uses the upper chest which is where many of the sympathetic (fight, flight, freeze) nerves live. Breathing through the mouth also uses more breaths per minute and decreases your carbon dioxide whereas breathing through the mouth only fills the upper chest.
Breathing through the mouth uses the upper chest which is where many of the sympathetic (fight, flight, freeze) nerves live. Mouth breathing also offloads more CO2 (resulting in a reduced ability to get oxygen to the muscles) and requires more breaths per minute than nasal breathing. This feedback loop of mouth breathing creates short, shallow breaths of less oxygenated muscles and a highly sympathetic state.
The Research
One study had participants breathe either through their mouth or their nose as they performed a working memory task during an fMRI. Those who breathed through their nose showed greater brain activation and performance on the task.
Another study concluded, “that nose breathing guarantees normal O2 supply to the brain, but mouth breathing interrupts the O2 supply to the brain.” They recommended that “sufficient O2 supply is needed in the workplace for working efficiency.”
Do This
Keep your mouth shut throughout the day. This is tough to do if you talk for a living so just try to keep your mouth closed when you’re not talking. This mouth breathing is the reason you’re more tired after a day of talking even if you physically did less.
Keep your mouth shut at night (and use tape over your mouth if you need assistance like me). And practice breathwork daily.
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3. Move More
Tell me if you’ve heard this one before: sitting is bad. Yeah, you know makes you more prone to aches and pains and it shortens your life but it also has an impact on your productivity. Any long stretches of sitting down-regulates your nervous system, decrease your alertness, and your ability to efficiently work decreases as a result.
The Research
To prove this, researchers tracked web-based participants of a “sit less, move more” campaign to determine if this approach actually worked compared to the control group that did not participate in the approach. Over the 19-week period, they found that both productivity and absenteeism improved. Participants reported that seeing their sitting time and the steps they took was the biggest motivator.
A study also found that standing can improve collaboration and productivity in groups. The study found that standing increases engagement, reduces territorial behavior, and increases information sharing, as compared to groups who sat.
Do This
It’s best to move frequently so time your movement with your Pomodoro breaks.
Take walking meetings, avoid the elevator, and go to the further bathroom.
Incorporate workout snacks into your day by having these easy modalities nearby:
Kettlebell (swings, hip hinges, squats, overhead press, rows)
Resistance bands (rows, shoulder pulls, lat pulldowns)
Track your steps using a pedometer that’s probably already on your phone.
At the very least change your working position frequently. I use a standing desk at work and a desk bike at home when I write
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4. Stay Hydrated
Our brain is 75% water, so it's no surprise that dehydration can significantly impact our brain's function and, consequently, our overall productivity. Insufficient hydration can lead to cognitive impairments, affecting our ability to focus and perform at our best.
The Research
It was previously thought that a 2% drop in hydration was where we started to see cognitive impairments but a study found that even as little as a 15% drop impacts our thinking.
In fact, research has found that a 1% drop in hydration accounts for a 12% drop in productivity, and a 3-4% decrease in hydration could make your productivity go down as much as 50%.
Do This
Stay ahead of your hydration with a stainless steel water bottle kept at your desk. The two times of the year I need to drink the most water are January (when it’s driest) and July (when I sweat the most). Eat whole foods which have a much higher water content than processed foods. And make sure you are getting enough electrolytes to go along with the water.
Related:
How Do Electrolytes Affect Your Health? (& The Best Electrolyte Sources)
What’s In My Water? Health Concerns, Water Tests, & The Best Filter
5. Consider Creatine
Creatine is the most researched supplement on the market with well-backed support for use for improved lean mass, strength, speed, and power. Despite scientists looking into the effects of creatine for a century, the impact of creatine on cognition is just now beginning to emerge.
The Research
One of these studies showed a significant improvement in working memory and intelligence for vegetarians.
Creatine also lessens the impact of fatigue on sleep-deprived participants during cognitively demanding tasks. For example, in sleep-deprived participants, creatine showed positive results on mood and executive functioning skills in one study and sports skills training with elite rugby players in another.
Finally, creatine improves working memory, spatial recall, and long-term memory in the elderly.
The research on creatine and cognition is gradually increasing but still lacking, that is, unless you are elderly, lacking sleep, or a vegetarian (who tends to have lower creatine levels). Fortunately, creatine is cheap, popular, and considered safe lending to plenty of anecdata touting the cognitive improvements; myself included.
Do This
Take 5 grams of creatine monohydrate (the most effective and the cheapest form). I use the micronized version which dissolves better in liquid. I mix 5 grams of creatine with a smoothie or water at least 5 days a week and notice an improvement in my attention and late-day energy compared to stretches when I get less. It’s no coffee but given the improvement in thinking skills shown in the above, depleted-brain state research, and its general safety, it seems like a good insurance measure for the brain.
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Takeaway
Harnessing your body's potential is an essential yet often overlooked aspect of productivity.
Metabolic flexibility, achieved through mindful nutrition, empowers you to maintain steady energy, mood, and focus throughout the day.
Breathing through your nose, a simple habit, can improve brain function and reduce stress.
Regular movement counters the detrimental effects of prolonged sitting, enhancing alertness and engagement.
Staying hydrated ensures optimal cognitive function, while the well-researched supplement creatine offers cognitive benefits with little downside.
Embrace these strategies, and you'll discover a new level of productivity, all while nurturing your overall well-being.
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