On days when I’m not feeling well or my energy isn’t at a level where I feel productive I end up doing the following: indulging in watching Youtube videos, consuming carb loaded take aways and playing pointless games. So, the question I ask myself what set of diagnostics could I run to determine this problem?

So over this period of March, I have decided to run a checklist. Now, obviously when I’m in not in the mood to do anything I don’t run this checklist through. I practice this when I’m feeling motivated which makes it easier to focus on things that led to me feeling unproductive.

I focus my checklist of the following issues:

Sleep

1. Have I had 8 hours of sleep in a continuous row?

2. Have I have been using my phone till late at night?

Meals

I do confess of eating take aways and why not it’s engineered to taste good. The end result of this action is a lethargic evening. However, I ask myself the all important question.

1. Have I consumed enough veggies in the week?

Coffee consumption

Generally, I consume around two cups of coffee and two cups of tea everyday. So, it only made sense to consider if I am over consuming.

1. Have I consumed more than two cups of coffee during the day?

2. Have I consumed coffee 6 hours before going to bed?

Exercise

1. Have I exercised enough during the week?

Water

Hydration - I’ve noticed living in a colder climate my urge to drink water is limited. And because of this I find myself feeling sluggish and tired. I’ve also experienced being around a new environment, I don’t have the natural habit of going into the kitchen and start drinking water. I’ve specially noticed this while at work. Nevertheless, I ask myself the following question:

1. Have I consumed my 6-8 glasses of water within the day?

So far these are the only variables I have been able to account for that have affected my mood. I would very much interested to know what diagnostics tools you guys use I love to hear your thoughts and to those new viewers please consider subscribing.

I hope you guys have an awesome day. See you next week :)

My favourite things this week

1. Podcast - The productivity show by asian efficiency talked about the idea of TEA framework to get laser focus in the eventuality of a productivity dip. TEA is an abbreviation that stands for Time, energy and attention. In the podcast, the idea between the three components were discussed how limiting of one of the component can hinder our productivity. So check them out, guys!

2. Article - “Sleep Deficit: The Performance Killer,” Charles A. Czeisler, the Baldino Professor of Sleep Medicine at Harvard Medical School". It is well known that sleep deprivation can have multitude of effects on the human body - staying awake for more than 18 hours can cause reduction in reaction speed, the ability to focus diminishes, cognitive speed and spatial orientation begins to suffer. Czeisler highlights that sleep deprivation is a dangerous management. Witnessing the workalcholic culture of professionals who adopt into with idea of logging in 80 hours a week or doctors working relentless specially now with COVID-19 on the pandemic. I found this to be an excellent read where the author talks about additional factors affecting sleep. Definitely one to read!

3. YouTube Video - “How to Use Writing to Sharpen Your Thinking | Tim Ferriss” provides useful advice on how to improve writing and make it a daily habit. Tim elaborates on the concept of morning papers which is a mechanism of brain dumping in the morning all your thoughts, ideas etc..

Kindle highlight of the week

First impressions are important - Superhuman social skills

A very true statement but the take away from this I noted was you don’t get a second chance to make a first impression.

This week's Video

5 Productivity tips - highlighting the importance of most basic ideas that I practice in my day to day life.

Hi Guys, My name is Abhishek. I am a graduate engineer working in Leicester, UK. I have a blog channel - I use that platform to write about all things produc…