Stories | The Forum | How to be more productive

Decorative image — The new science of productivity
From the instant you open your eyes in the morning until the moment your head hits the pillow, there are people promising to optimise your day. But what actually works? Here’s what the science says.
Written by
Joel Snape

What do you do the moment you wake up? For most of us, the answer’s some combination of: stumble downstairs, check the news via one glowing screen or another, and pop the kettle on. For a new breed of productivity hacker, though, the answer might be anything from “go outside to look at the sun” and “start work immediately” — depending on which version of modern productivity science they subscribe to. But how much of the advice you see on social media is evidence-based, how much is wishful thinking— and which bits of it are actually practical for someone with an active social life, small children, or an aversion to cold showers? Here’s what science says.

For almost everyone, the path to a productive day’s work starts with a decent amount of shut-eye the night before — but what that actually means can vary more than you think. “A lot of people worry about getting eight solid hours, but most studies on sleep look at averages,” says Professor Russell Foster, author of Life Time: The New Science of the Body Clock. “But a healthy range for sleep time might be as few as six hours or as many as 10.” If you find yourself getting tired during the day, then, the answer might be as simple as going to bed a bit earlier – but tweaking your daily schedule can help you drop off a bit faster when you get there.

Firstly, organising your day to see more sun can be helpful – seeing some light early in the morning seems to help keep your body clock in working order, and at least one recent study found that getting more daylight during office hours improved volunteers’ sleep quality and cognitive performance. In the afternoon, experts recommend quitting caffeine around 3pm – it has a half-life of around five hours, so any later and there’ll still be a lot of it swilling around your system when you’re trying to sleep.

“The path to a productive day’s work starts with a decent amount of shut eye, but what that actually means can vary more than you think.”

How elaborate should the rest of your morning routine be? There’s not much agreement. The general consensus in the self-optimising ‘biohacker’ community is that you should be aiming to get into what researcher and psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi termed “flow”, that state of concentration where everything feels effortless, and practice time just flies by. How you can best access that state, though, is very much up for debate.

Flow seems to relate to dopamine – so cold showers, which seem to ramp up dopamine production, might help – and it’s also been linked to mindfulness and meditation. Some flow researchers, though, suggest that since flow ‘proneness’ is at its highest in the morning (thanks in part to the reduced cognitive load you experience in those hours away from screens) waking up and getting straight to work might be the best way to access the state.

One thing that’s guaranteed to knock you out of flow, however carefully-calibrated your pre-work routine, is multitasking. More correctly referred to as ‘task-switching’, trying to shift from emails to prepping for meetings ensures you’re wasting cognitive energy on shifting gears from task to task — with one study showing that almost a quarter of interrupted work was not resumed on the same day, and other studies suggesting that interrupted work leads to higher levels of stress and frustration. The simplest fix? Using a timer, like the popular online “Pomodoro” counter (it means tomato in Italian) to help you alternate between periods of focus and deliberate breaks.

On the subject of downtime, what you do during your lunch break can also set you up for a productive afternoon, especially if it’s not more time staring at a screen. “Any form of movement is going to help,” says Charlie Watts, a personal trainer and gym owner who leads Fora’s Restore fitness and wellbeing facilities. “So, finding what you enjoy first and foremost is probably a good start. But the basis of any of the training or movement programme is going to be centred around some sort of combination of mobility, resistance training, and increasing the amount of movement you’re doing – whether that’s working or something more strenuous. In the context of work, just finding a bit of space to disconnect can help with your productivity.”

You could just go for a walk and it might not matter where. There’s evidence that taking a walk in green spaces can improve focus and reduce stress, but one recent study suggests that even if you’re in a city just focusing on the odd tree or patch of grass can improve your mood. But if you’re up for something more strenuous, you can still keep it simple.

“It’s all dependent on your goals, but if you’re doing resistance training just for health and vitality, some sort of routine that includes the basic movements we all have to use regularly — a push, pull, ‘hinge’, squat, and carrying something heavy, will give you the most bang for your buck.” says Watts. “In terms of mobility, most people have tight hip flexors from sitting down all day, so anything that opens them up is ideal.” One simple movement is the moving butterfly stretch: sit with the soles of your feet together in front of you and your knees out to the sides, then support your bodyweight on your hands as you move in and out of the stretch.

“Psychologists increasingly believe that play holds the key to true productivity, partly because it provides a sense of psychological relief.”

What are you having for lunch? If you’re thinking productively, it should be the same as your other meals: a healthy mix of protein (to aid satiety and stop snacking), healthy fats (for brain function and focus), complex carbs (for slow-release energy) and nutrient-dense fruit or veg (which can come with a multitude of beneficial effects, including reducing stress or anxiety). If you can’t manage salmon, quinoa and steamed spinach at your desk, consider supplementing with the nutrients you’re missing out on: “I use Examine for a balanced view on the benefits of every supplement I consider taking,” says entrepreneur and productivity specialist Daniel Nilsson. “For me, the non-negotiables are magnesium for sleep, and Vitamin D when I’m not getting enough sunlight.”

If you’re suffering from the mid-afternoon slump on the reg, then it can help to identify the moments when you’re least capable of focused work, and use these for less demanding tasks: emailing, invoicing and responding to comments can all fit the bill. But don’t rule out finding ways to make your work more enjoyable, notes Ali Abdaal, YouTube creator and author of Feel Good Productivity. “Psychologists increasingly believe that play holds the key to true productivity, partly because it provides a sense of psychological relief,” he explains. “As one recent study put it: ‘the psychological function of play is to restore the physically and mentally fatigued individual through participation in activity which is pleasurable and relaxing’.” That might mean having more fun at work, but it could also mean making time for hobbies or games in the evening, rather than just vegging out in front of the TV.

As for the frequently-seen advice to give up screens an hour or two before bed, there’s a chance you don’t actually need to worry about it that much: in one of the most commonly-cited studies on the subject, volunteers looked at an eReader on its highest brightness for four hours, immediately prior to bedtime and only delayed their sleep by ten minutes. And when it’s finally time to hit the hay, there’s endless advice about how to sleep better, but the simplest solutions can be the best. “Try box breathing,” suggests Ultimate Performance trainer Mark Bohannon. “As you take in a four-second breath, visualise travelling up one side a square box. Now imagine moving around the square as you hold for four, breathe out for four, and hold for four more seconds.” You should be asleep in minutes – and ready to do it all again eight hours later.

KEEP EXPLORING

Why productivity is less about time, and more about attention

Future of Work

The new science of productivity

KEEP EXPLORING

Why productivity is less about time, and more about attention

The five 'W’s of asynchronous working

Do not disturb: find your focus in these 5 distraction-free spaces

Cities

London Areas

Cities

London Areas

Cities

London Areas