How Can We Be More Productive In A Food Coma?
We’re all familiar with the energy drain that sets in slightly after lunch. We start to yawn. We start to stretch. We start to think about that afternoon nap we’d all love to catch. We reluctantly open up our inbox and will ourselves to be productive. Three minutes has passed, and we find ourselves reading the same line over and over again with nothing entering our minds.
Sounds familiar?
Apparently, there is another prominent reason contributing to such a cause, and it has absolutely nothing to do with being in a food coma. When we wake up in the morning, we are driven to tackle some of the most important challenges of the day. Be it destroying that insane workout or closing a particular pitch, we seek to accomplish and achieve a certain goal in mind. When we wire ourselves to behave in such a manner, our brains are structured to focus on rewards.
During this process, the time pattern of reward seeking ebbs and flows as the day unfolds.
When we feel especially lethargic after mealtime, there is a high tendency that it is due to our brains going on hiatus. It does not seek as much reward at this particular time of the day. Odds are we’ve all tried to push past such a phenomenon by convincing ourselves the importance in finishing up the next biggest project. This is the time where we realise when our brains hit an energy-drain threshold, our impulsiveness increases and sound decision-making suffers. Similar to how we feel after a difficult physical workout, our brains can suffer from fatigue and run low on energy as well.
It is easy to see why midday isn’t the optimal time to dive into some of the most challenging tasks of the day.
When such reward seeking volatility is guaranteed and normal, it is typically treated as something that needs to be fixed. However, I believe there is very little need for us to fiddle with. My personal take is to guard our mental energy and defer important decisions for when we have more on tap. Wouldn’t our ladder always be on the wrong wall if we continually make important decisions when our brains are on empty? It can be as simple as doing the most important activity of the day way before lunchtime.
