Food is a source of physical and mental energy. The food we eat affects our mood, willpower and energy levels. All of these are key regulators of procrastination. Improved nutrition can therefore boost productivity.
If your energy levels often crash shortly after meals, it might be caused by the food you eat. Foods with highly processed carbohydrates and sugars, like white bread and sugary drinks, can cause blood sugar levels to spike for around 20 minutes and then crash. Low blood sugar can cause tiredness, demotivation and procrastination. Changing to foods with less processed carbohydrates and sugars can positively affect your mood and motivation. It can be as simple as replacing white bread with whole-grain bread or juice with water.
Eating large meals can also contribute to a drop in energy after eating. Reducing the size of your main meal and eating healthy snacks like fresh fruit, nuts or seeds regularly throughout the day can help avoid post meal procrastination.
Caffeine can help temporarily boost mood and alertness if used occasionally. However, when used regularly, our bodies quickly grow used to caffeine and develop a tolerance and an addiction to it. This lowers our overall mood and energy levels when we aren’t using caffeine. That is why regular coffee drinkers need coffee to stop feeling groggy in the morning. To caffeine addicts, it feels like caffeine is providing an energy boost in the morning, but it is mostly relieving the painful symptoms of caffeine withdrawal.
Too much caffeine can trigger significant fluctuations in mood and energy levels throughout the day and disturb sleep, which is vital to productivity.
If you think caffeine might be affecting you negatively, consider reducing your caffeine intake to find out. Trying to quit caffeine cold turkey can be surprisingly painful. Gradually reducing the amount you drink daily over an extended period is much easier.
Hunger is a natural and healthy mechanism that focuses our attention on finding our next meal. Unfortunately, hunger can distract us from what we are doing and deplete willpower. Because of this, fighting hunger can drive procrastination. Being mindful of your hunger and regularly eating healthy and filling food can therefore decrease procrastination.
Weight loss diets often require constant use of willpower to overcome hunger, thereby reducing willpower available for other tasks. Diets that significantly reduce calorie intake also reduce the energy we have to be productive. If you are dieting and struggling with procrastination, consider whether changing your diet might help. A weight loss diet that focuses on longer-term, relatively small calorie deficits and includes whole foods, vegetables and other filling foods is less likely to cause procrastination.