Has it ever happened to you that you started to feel very tired just a few hours into your work in the morning?
Has it happened that you suddenly started to feel unproductive and sluggish at work?
More often than not, the reason many get drowsy at work after just a few hours of working is because of what they have eaten before coming to work or at work.
There is plenty of work to do, with deadlines knocking on the door, but there is not so much one can do when focus and concentration are lacking.
Table of Contents
6 Tips for productivity at work
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Don’t skip breakfast
Many have wrongly assumed and believed that it is better to skip breakfast to avoid distractions caused by sleepiness at work.
However, when you eat breakfast, what you have eaten starts to gradually make energy for you, an energy that is needed for the rest of the day.
Imagine that there is no food in your stomach to make energy for you; how will you be able to concentrate at work when you have no strength or enough energy for work?
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Eat meals that contain glucose
What is the benefit of glucose in the body? What glucose does is help a person stay productive throughout the day. Some meals for active work that contain glucose in them are bananas, fruits, vegetables, tea, carrots, etc.
Read also: Top 10 Bodybuilding Foods in Nigeria
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Eat small, frequent meals
Rather than starving for a very long time and then eating meals high in sugar all at once to boost your energy, it is better to eat small meals at intervals with low sugar.
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Eat a light breakfast
Imagine someone eating eba or fufu early in the morning before coming to work, with the reasoning that the swallow will help him or her to focus at work and prevent frequenting snack bars and restaurants. The truth is that although the individual will not easily grow hungry, the focus will be greatly affected. Because the meal is heavy, drowsiness is most likely guaranteed. A heavy breakfast is not a meal for active work.
What high-sugar foods do in the body is giving a person a rush of energy at once and for a short period of time. After a while, there is a sudden decline in the individual’s energy, and the person starts to feel tired and very unfocused. Therefore, high-energy foods are not meals for active work. Low-sugar foods, or foods rich in glucose, are the best kind of meals for active work. This is because the energy produced by these kinds of meals is maintained for a long time.
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Avoid eating too much at a time
Another step that can lead to unproductivity caused by drowsiness is eating too much at a time for lunch at work.
The body usually needs the energy to digest and process food, so when a meal is too much at a time, the body spends a considerable amount of time and energy digesting the food, which can lead to a lack of concentration because the body is busy doing work.
Read also: How to Improve Your Eating Habits – Dos and Don’ts
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Eat fibre rich foods
Why? Meals with fibre in them are slow in the digestion of sugar, so there is no energy rush in a person that eats food with fibre. They are the kind of needed meals for active work because there is the energy to do work throughout the day.
What kind of meals are needed to focus at work?
What kind of meals provides the most energy and fill the body for a long time?
What specific kinds of foods are meals for active work and sustainable energy?
8 Best Meals for Focus and Sustainable Energy
There are two categories of energy-giving foods. Some foods give energy, but they do so only for a short period of time. During this period, a person feels a rush of energy, but this energy runs down quickly. Other kinds of food give energy for a long period of time, but a person does not feel high on the energy. The energy is slow and steady, but the person is able to actively do work for a long time. These are the best meals for active work. What are some of these meals for energy and focus at work?
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Water (Focus)
Filling up a glass with clean drinking water from kitchen faucet
The brain is made up of 80% water. This means that the brain will not be able to concentrate without enough water. Just as a car needs fuel to run, the brain cannot do good work and focus without its fuel, water. Without water, a person’s ability to carry out his or her tasks will be greatly reduced.
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Tea (Energy)
Rather than take soda or high-sugar energy drinks, tea has low sugar that is gradually processed to give us energy.
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Eggs (Focus and Energy)
Group of brown raw chicken eggs, one is broken, yolk egg visible
A person is running late for work and cannot prepare meals that will take long?
Eggs are the best option. It is easy to make; it is proteinous and provides energy that can be maintained, not one that will suddenly decline. Aside from giving adequate energy, eggs are the best meals for active work because they improve memory.
Read also: The Relevance of Nutrition to Mental Health
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Bananas (Focus and Energy)
bunch of bananas
Focus and concentration are always guaranteed with bananas. They also contain carbohydrates.
What does this indicate? They are an energy-giving food. They are your go-to meal for active work.
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Chickens (Energy)
chicken
Looking for something to eat for lunch to provide energy till dinner?
A chicken is a right meal. Chickens build the body and fill a person up for a considerable amount of time, giving the needed energy up until dinner.
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Coffee (Focus)
What better meal encourages focus than coffee?
After a few hours of eating lunch, coffee is the go-to meal for a person that starts to feel drowsy.
However, moderation is required so that sleep does not become adversely affected. Also, mornings are the wrong time to take coffee because a person is already alert and ready to work in the morning.
In a nutshell, coffee should only be taken when there is an obvious lack of focus and concentration already.
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Beans (Energy)
Baked Beans in a Cast Iron Bean Pot
Little wonder that some university students like to cook and eat beans. The body and brain need all the energy they can get, and beans help make this energy.
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Popcorns (Energy)
Closeup Popcorn in a glass cup on a wooden table and blurry background.
Did you know that popcorns are a meal for active work because it contains fibres that help to slow the digestion of food and allow for the provision of sustainable energy?
Meals to Avoid For Active Work
While the meals above give energy and are the best kind of meals for active work, there are other kinds of foods that individuals that want to remain active at work should avoid or reduce their intake of. Some of these are
- Fruit juices
- Salty foods
- Foods high in sugar
- Fried foods
- Energy drinks
Conclusion
Every day, there are new tasks to complete and new deadlines to meet in our hustles and bustles. However, if we do not eat the right kind of meals, meals that boost concentration, alertness, and focus, we will only just get irritated and angry and do no work or very little work.
Hence, it is important that we make efforts to eat the best kinds of meals for productivity and meals for active work.
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About Author
- Stella Agboola is a content creator who specializes in the field of health and disease. She also has a personal blog where she discusses social-related content. In addition, she is an avid reader of domestic thrillers and African novels. At her leisure, she reads books and listen to podcasts for information and entertainment.
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