If the stress of these last couple of years has thrown your sleeping habits out of whack, you’re not alone. Research published in The Lancet Neurology Journal found that sleep disturbance and insomnia rates have increased all over the world since the start of this global pandemic.
You may have heard that classic expression, laughter is the best medicine. As cliché as it might sound, it’s actually the truth. In past iterations of The Productivity Box we’ve talked about how mental health and stress management have an impact on your job performance. In this month’s edition, let’s turn the lens on laughter and examine how this positive emotional release can make you more productive, whether you work from home or in an office.
Mindfulness has found its way into mainstream culture, but does it have a place in the business world? Research points to a connection between mindfulness and optimal work performance, specifically the practice of meditation.
Change is the new normal and we’ve all had to manage major shifts in our lives since the beginning of 2020. The larger and more impactful the change, the more of a paralyzing effect it can have on resilience, flexibility, decisive action, and productivity. However, change is necessary in the workplace. While major transformation can feel unbearable to manage sometimes, some smaller, consistent changes are easier to handle and can lead to major impact.
Does it ever seem like there’s a clock in your brain that wakes you at the same time each morning and sends you to sleep at night? No worries, we all have it ticking. Its scientific name is the circadian rhythm. And it regulates the cycles of alertness and tiredness you experience over a 24-hour period.
It’s no secret that hydration has an impact on your physical health. But just how crucial is it for your cognitive function? Like all influencing factors revealed in our journeys out of The Productivity Box, hydration has an unexpected effect as well. If you don’t hydrate enough on a daily basis, you may find your performance at work is affected in many ways.
The shift to summer brings along the much-needed sunny, warm weather we all have been waiting for after a gloomy winter. But are you aware that too much heat (or too much cold, for that matter) can make you less productive on the job? If the temperature in your office environment causes discomfort, it can impair alertness, focus, energy and workflow. And there’s scientific data to prove it!
No matter where you work, the environment you surround yourself with matters. Temperature, air quality, lighting, noise conditions, colors, and even plants, all shape your work performance. In other words, your workspace greatly influences your productivity. Therefore, it’s time for us to get out of the productivity box once again and learn more.
Regardless of what priorities and responsibilities dominate our schedules on a daily basis, time is a resource that all of us must learn to manage. How we make the most of each 24-hour cycle determines how much we will accomplish and how productive we can be.
When was the last time, you wrote something by hand rather than typing it on a keyboard or mobile device? In our fast-paced, digital work culture, it can feel like handwriting has become a lost art. Writing by hand is often seen as tedious and inefficient compared to the ease and convenience of typing. Yet, there are many cognitive benefits associated with putting an actual pen to paper.
