When I need to stroke a horse to raise my productivity

By Thursday this week my productivity and clarity – those beautiful and powerful executive brain functions – were dwindling.  I was set on the goal of launching this website by Friday 7th March and that was tomorrow.  I had been working non-stop and with focus at my work station for 10 days.  I was thoroughly enjoying myself but I could feel a “brain drain” beginning.  I could have pushed on through or did I need to do what I knew I needed to do?   Yes – I tore myself away from my laptop.  It was time to sing, go and ride my horse and dance with careless abandon and the curtains closed!

What can you do when you feel your brain grinding to a productivity standstill?

What are your signs that your brain is shutting down?

Mine feels heavy about an inch inside my head beneath my hairline.  I also find myself staring at the screen or looking around my laptop wondering what to do next. I find it hard to priorotise what to do next and I feel stuck.  How about you?

What are your signs?  What can you do to move about and get your brain back into gear?

I remember several years ago when I was crunching data for a research project.  On mornings when I ran (Yes I am one of those people who loves running!) for a few miles before starting my day my ability to memorise strings of more than 6 numbers between my note pad and my keyboard and database was noticably different.  It was easy after a run to memorise the string of numbers then turn to my screen (I can’t touch type) and easily input the entire string.  However on mornings when I’d not been for a run beforehand I’d have to look back at my notepad twice or three times to refresh my memory to get the full string of numbers input correctly.  It amazed me then how much of a difference I had in my mental clarity just by having exercised before my day began.

This is one of the John Medina’s Brain Rule’s.  Your brain works best with exercise, be it walking, moving, bouncing, dancing, playing.

How can you walk, move, bounce, dance and play more in your work place today?

In conclusion;  yesterday I spent the afternoon and into the evening riding my horse, enjoying my horse friends and helping my joiner/carpenter fix some new partitions in the barn.  And guess what, I had a great nights sleep, I woke up full of energy and I’ve been super productive all morning.  Editing the copy for this website has been fluid and fun and I’m on target to launch this website later today.

I know it might feel counter intuitive in the moment but give yourself what you need to reach your highest performance.

How can you find a way to add movement and exercise into your working day?