How To Be More Productive
An unhealthy diet and a lack of exercise make us less productive at work, a new study finds. As Chad Brooks writes in Business News Daily:
“Research conducted by researchers from Brigham Young University, the Health Enhancement Research Organization and the Center for Health Research at Healthways found that employees with an unhealthy diet were 66 percent more likely to experience a loss in productivity than those who regularly ate whole grains, fruits and vegetables.
In addition, employees who exercised only occasionally were 50 percent more likely to report having lower levels of productivity than employees who were regular exercisers, while smokers were 28 percent more likely to suffer from a drop in productivity than nonsmokers.
The research found that a number of other work-related and personal factors contributed to a decrease in productivity, including not having enough time to perform job duties, insufficient technological support and financial stress.
‘It’s critical that companies look deeper at productivity loss and measure it to understand the impact it is making on their bottom line,’ said Jerry Noyce, CEO of the Health Enhancement Research Organization. ‘Business leaders have the ability to reduce the factors that significantly impact productivity loss by implementing comprehensive, best practice workplace wellness programs focused on well-being improvement, which in turn can lead to improvements in employee satisfaction, productivity and profitability for employers.’
The study, which was based on surveys of 19,803 employees working at three large, geographically dispersed companies, was recently published in the Population Health Management journal.” Read more here.
This study is a good reminder that “productivity”—how well we learn and perform—is not just a matter of good work habits or professional self-discipline. It is intimately tied to the rest of our lives, and in particular to our physical health. Learning doesn’t just involve the brain; it is a full-body activity.