Subjectivity of Productivity

I’m a big advocate of reviewing, rethinking, and reshaping the way I live in order to become a more productive person. Examining one’s self is the first step to becoming more productive; you can’t eliminate bad habits and form new good ones without first identifying what your habits and tendencies are. From diet and exercise to emotional well-being, I always try to examine where these things lie in my life and how positively they are impacting me. Two major factors in my march toward optimal productivity and the two factors I want to discuss here are sleep and work environment.

Let’s talk about sleep, specifically naps. We were told to take naps as children… why? I think naps would be far more beneficial in college and beyond. Our bodies go through cyclical hormonal changes each day, these changes can affect our level of focus and alertness throughout the day. Between 12-3pm each day our bodies experience a natural drop in energy and a spike in how sleepy we feel, dampening our ability to work effectively. Not surprisingly, as kids we would take naps around this time, or even slightly before. Instead of fighting our bodies circadian rhythm we embraced it. By doing so we were able to boost our energy and get through the rest of the day. As children, this energy boost manifested itself in the form of excitement to play and interest in various activities. As, adults this energy boost can manifest itself in the form of more productive, focused meetings, efficiency in the completion of tasks, higher levels of focus, increased creativity, and a slew of other benefits.

I have been following a biphasic sleep schedule for about 3 years now. Biphasic sleep schedules are defined as sleep schedules that have one main block of sleep, avg. 5-7 hours, and one midday nap, lasting 20-90 minutes. I tend to take 20 minute naps because they are long enough for me to gain the benefits of a nap without falling into deep sleep and potentially waking up mid-sleep cycle. On days when I don’t take a nap I feel significantly less productive and my body feels sluggish and heavy. This may be a result of training myself to take a nap at certain hours, however, I clearly remember that before training myself to follow a biphasic schedule I would still experience a heavy drop in my focus and alertness around the middle of the day. When I do take a nap my days are far more fruitful and productive. Waking up a 6, going to the gym, having breakfast, then doing some work is extremely draining; but, regardless of how dead I feel, that nap at 12 or 1 perks me up and I’m reenergized for the rest of the day.

Biphasic sleep isn’t for everyone, especially with the time restrictions one might face during their day. However, this isn’t a PSA for biphasic sleep, rather it’s a plea for people to question their sleep habits. If you notice that there are times in your day when you feel extremely drowsy and sluggish, maybe an alternate sleep schedule would eliminate that drop in your focus. There are a multitude of sleep schedules, I urge you evaluate your own and potential shift to a schedule that would best work for you.

Now let’s shift to work spaces. The concept of the ideal workspace is completely subjective. No group of students or employees is going to work at their maximum potential in exactly the same space. Some people thrive in busy, noisy environments whereas others may need silence to really focus. One person might love open spaces, while another requires a sectioned of space to do their best thinking. A dimly lit café with light noise just might be better than a silent library lit with fluorescent lights. There are a multitude of factors that go into making a space one of productivity rather than stagnation and it is to each of our benefits to find the combination of factors that best suit our work styles. Identifying these factors and getting ourselves into our personal, ideal environment is essential to boosting our productivity on a day to day basis.

I urge you to question yourself after reading this blog post. I want you to think about what works and what doesn’t work for you. I want you to question your sleep schedule and find your working environment. The keys to productivity are subjective, so find the ones that fit you.