Leverage Your Environment & Body Position for Peak Productivity

It's time to flip the script on our modern notions of workplace productivity and embrace the ancient wisdom of our bodies. Harnessing a simple adaptation ingrained in our biology, we can find a method to significantly enhance our focus, energy, and peak productivity levels. You may ask, what is this secret? The key lies in constantly shifting your environment and body posture throughout the day.

In today's demanding world, we often find ourselves stuck at a desk for hours on end, stuck in a cycle of diminishing productivity and increasing fatigue. But, could this physical static be our downfall? Is our traditional way of working, unknowingly, sabotaging our true potential? The surprising answer is yes.

The human brain, nestled in the relative comfort of our home or office space, operates on the basic principle of adaptability. It responds to novelty and change with a boost of dopamine, a neurotransmitter closely tied to focus, reward, and motivation. When we sit in one place, static and unchanging, our brain slips into energy conservation mode, progressively weakening our effort, productivity, and problem-solving abilities.

Conversely, when you alter your environment - stand up, move around, change your perspective - your brain responds as though you've stumbled upon a treasure trove of new opportunities. A dopamine surge heightens your alertness, increases your energy, and sharpens your problem-solving skills. Essentially, changing your surroundings acts as a stimulant for your brain, with the power to refresh and renew your focus, mimicking the effects of finding an oasis in the middle of a desert.

Perceived exertion and effort, how hard you feel your body and brain are working, are also greatly influenced by your work environment. By alternating positions and locations, you can effectively cheat fatigue and restore your stamina, akin to clearing the cache on a computer to boost its performance.

So how can you incorporate this into your everyday work routine? Well, it's simpler than you might think. You may have read my blog about my preference for sitting on the floor but - that doesn't work in all environments.

So, my suggestion for most people is to set up your primary workspace to accommodate sitting, standing, and even walking. The goal is to challenge the idea that working equals sitting. Invest in a standing desk for better posture and to experience a state of flow, a term popularized by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi to describe a state of optimal experience and extreme productivity.

Incorporating standing and walking intervals in your work routine can lead to reduced fatigue and stress, better blood circulation, and increased alertness and cognitive function.

Even small changes, like taking phone calls while walking or switching from a chair to a stability ball, can work wonders. Naboso's Standing Mat is perfect to stand on with your Standing Desk.

Secondly, aim to establish at least three different working environments. By changing your workspace frequently, you trick your brain into perceiving less exertion and effort than actually spent, thereby reducing fatigue and increasing focus. These don't have to be elaborate setups; it could be as simple as moving from your office to your backyard or to a quiet corner at a coffee shop.

Remember, the key is to encourage novelty and stimulation while keeping distractions to a minimum. As you move from one environment to the next, treat each switch as a new event, an uninterrupted block of focus and flow. The more distinct each workspace is, the more you reset your perceived effort, stimulating a fresh burst of productivity.

In conclusion, the power to supercharge your productivity lies not in pushing yourself to the brink of exhaustion, but in listening to your body and leveraging the natural mechanisms already at play. By simply changing your position and environment frequently, you can tap into your brain's inherent capacity for focus and motivation. Let's break the chains of traditional work habits and usher in a new era of flow-based productivity.