1. Drink water
Research has shown that drinking enough water and staying hydrated enhances your mood, prevents headaches, serves as an energy booster and helps to increase concentration.
2. Watch what you snack on…
Avoid sugar. Not only can sweet snacks cause a sugar crash, which will make you feel exhausted, but they will also cause you to gain weight, especially if you sit at your desk for most of the day. Instead, snack on boiled eggs, cheese, nuts or peanut butter when you feel nibbly.
3. …and don’t skip lunch
Skipping lunch will only tempt you to reach for sweets or chips later in the day. Make a healthy lunch a priority by having, for example, a salad with vegetables and chicken or a nutritious chickpea, tomato & avocado sandwich .
4. Walk
Feeling sleepy and unmotivated in the afternoon? Take a lunchtime walk. According to an article in The New York Times, research at the University of Birmingham in the UK has shown that ‘even gentle lunchtime strolls can perceptibly – and immediately – buoy people’s moods and ability to handle stress at work’.
Although the authors of the study did not directly measure workplace productivity in this particular research, ‘there is now quite strong research evidence that feeling more positive and enthusiastic at work is very important to productivity,’ says Dr Thogersen-Ntoumani, lead author. ‘So we would expect that people who walked at lunchtime would be more productive.’
5. Take a nap!
According to Nasa scientists we need to nap for just 26 minutes to be more productive. Perfect! You can sneak in a midday nap during your lunch hour, without getting into trouble. A little bit of rest in the middle of your working day can also improve your mental health, which will, of course, help you to handle the daily stress of a demanding job more resiliently.
Credit: modernghana.com
