How stress affects Productivity
If you notice your employee’s productivity or your own, dip in the afternoon, the afternoon slump may be to blame. This slump seems to be a problem that touches a lot of people. It doesn’t matter what industry you’re in – you or someone in your department has dealt with the after slump.
If you’re unfamiliar with what I’m referring to by ‘the slump,’ it’s that time (if you work a standard 9 to 5 job) around 3 pm when you feel drained. You are mentally drained and just keep watching the hands of the clock slowly tick by. Every time you look up it feels like it’s been an eternity but it’s only been two minutes. These are those moments you think to yourself, “if only I had another cup of coffee. Another muffin would help me make it through the day. Don’t I have some candy in this desk?! Gosh, I need a soda!”
As I said – the slump seems to be a problem that affects many, regardless of your industry. Why is that? What’s really going on here?
Stress. Stress is the culprit.
Many blame their poor eating habits at work on a lack of willpower but that’s just not true. The stress they are avoiding dealing with is decreasing their job performance. This isn’t about will power, it’s not only about breaking habits – it’s about understanding what your body is trying to tell you so you can manage your physical, mental, and emotional health better.
Because let’s be honest – it’s hard to leave the job at work and our home life at home. The two have become so intertwined. When we let this emotional baggage build up and up and up – eventually some pressure has to be released. Que blow ups at work, rude customer service experiences, increased health insurance rates because your employees are progressively becoming more unhealthy which leads to more missed workdays and less getting done to keep business moving forward.
In one of my workshops, I talk about the polarity of food and lifestyle. If life is a system of opposites and your body is always trying to balance itself out, when we are under chronic amounts of stress from work and life, our body craves something to help it relax. This is where poor eating habits start and become an outlet for many people’s stress. Their environment is creating their cravings and they are not finding outlets outside of food.
This is part of the puzzle when it comes to increasing employee productivity. This is also where I come in. My job is to make navigating this path as simple as possible by helping your employees learn what specific stressors are triggering their poor choices and which ones enhance their performance.
When addressing this slump issue, we aren’t just looking at one piece of the puzzle – I help you look at yourself as a whole. How you do one thing is how you do everything. This is why creating a lifestyle that works for you isn’t about will power, it’s about breaking habits & growing into the 2.0 version of you.
Until you learn what needs in your life aren’t being met & until you understand what’s going on with you on a deeper level, the behavior won’t change. You cannot will yourself into changing long-term.
The afternoon slump and the cravings will continue getting worse until you address what’s going on underneath the surface. Your confusion around food will remain and you’ll keep spinning your wheels never getting where you truly want to be.
If you are looking for training for you and your employees please reach out and schedule a free strategy call to find out how we can work together to make your team more productive and efficient. https://www.rebeccabranham.com/work-with-me/